Need ideas on how you all prep for activity around your honey hole for opening day. Scent products i.e. C'Mere deer or doe scents, feed i.e corn or acorns, decoys, other etc...
- I have a 15ft. stand on the edge of a clearing
- NC opening day is October 17th
- Estimated NC peak rut in my area is October 18-24
- clearing in front, trails behind me
- all shots within 100 yards
- weapon is rifle
- I can visit my stand prior to opening day as often as I want but it is 90 min. away.

Any of your tried and true methods would be appreciated.

If you aren't careful, you'll do more harm than good...

I'm guessing you are in eastern NC...Do you have pin oaks, white oaks, chestnut oaks or beech trees in your woods???

If you do then they have been dropping for about 2 weeks...Make a quick trip in and find where they are feeding, make note of how you can get in and out and set up with a Southeast wind and a North wind...

Then leave the area until opening morning, take a climber and jack up a tree about 20 feet and wait...Make sure you climb so your scent is moving away from the feeding area...

So set up around the acorns and just focus on that? Oaks are limited in my neck of the woods with a few beech around. I do bring them in from the peidmont area and hunt over them which has worked in the past. I have also used buck lure with succes in the past. Are those methods not recommended in your opinion nchawkeye? Thanks

Scents are fine if used during the right time of year...Wait until the end of October or first week of November...I will warn you, they can spook deer as well as attract...

If acorns are scarce in your area but you know where some are then that's where you need to be...