I went out today and worked on a spot I found last season to put a tree stand for next season. It' s only May now, but I figure it' s better than waiting until the season starts. Anybody else been out yet this summer deer scouting? I' ve been hunting the same 100 acres for the last 10 years. Every year it seems like I find a new hot spot. [8D]

hey 1950 kid you sure are brave leaving your tree stands out. there' ve been quite a few threads on tree stand thieves. not to bust your bubble but you might think twice about leaving it out so long. just my .02 cents.


been out scouting but have seen very few deer but lots of elk

The only " scouting" we can do right now is seeing deer in the crop fields. The woods are just gettin too much foilage to really see much.

Unless something has really changed in your area the deer will not really change their patterns, habits or routines much (that is til firearms season!)

We have more than enough stands out already on the property that adding or even moving one really won' t make or break a thing. But we do venture out into the woods on the property. And we have been peeking around a bit on some newly aqquired land that the state has purchased that ajoins a really piece of land that the state has owned for some years.

BIGGEST THING(S) to be aware of this time of year..........TICKS, CHIGGERS & ALL THE NASTY INSECTS THAT WANT YOUR BLOOD!

Uncle Matt (in IL)

I get everything trimmed out and ready a couple months ahead of time, but I don' t actually place my stand in the woods until just before the season starts. By leaving it there, you do risk getting it stolen, the weather takes it' s toll on it , and others may move in to take advantage of what you found.

I use Loc-on stands, and it isn' t in the tree yet. I do have steps in the tree and some shooting lanes cleared.

I have been scouting deer and I have seen some too.

1950kid~~I know we are from the same area so we are probably seeing about the same deer activity. I actually picked out another stand site the other day while I was out stump shooting. Going to go out today and do a little shooting lane trimming. On the property I was hunting last year I had stands up from Sept until the end of January. I had no problems with thieves. I guess I was just lucky.

we leave our stands up year around. it all depends upon where you hunt.2 years ago the place i hunted was horrible.they stole everything and even went in and out of our trailor.nothing was stolen there.i have a 10' tall 5x7 metal insulated blind. we have stands along the river and they have not been bothered. we also leave our feeders up.the owner lives about 300 yds from the gate.

Yeah, as long as you don' t have the ' stolen treestands' problem, there' s no better time to do it. Gives the deer 4-6 months to get used to it, and the trimmed branches, and everything else. It' s a whole lotta fun in the dead of summer, too God bless Camelbaks!

I have two (2) wooden ladder stands on the property I hunt and they stay up year round, been in one already as the PA bucks are starting to sprout their antlers. Seen a few bucks so far but as has been said before, the deer are still using last year' s travel routes.