Ideal time to prep stands?

[mainebowhunter]

I will add, your prep work really is going to depend on the areas / terrain / state you live in. I have a lot of landowner permission where I live. Very little public ground. I hunt a lot of destination food sources...within 100yds of bedding. Your not shooting 20yds shots out of any of them without spending bunch time with a pole saw.

Just like anything else...different terrain, different laws, different states...different tactics for prepping.

[Mathewshooter]

I always prep my spots in the spring that way I can go in September and just put my stands up and with minimal disturbance. I dont like making trails or shooting lanes too close to hunting season. I always have deer start running any trails I might clear out. Its a catch 22

[Buckinator]

Prep stands.....what’s that?

When I hunt a spot the only evidence I leave behind is maybe a few scrape marks on the tree from my stand or sticks.

Don’t have the luxury of prepping stands. I can’t trim stuff out because it’s illegal. Basically I choose a tree while scouting and don’t go back till I hunt it. Very rare that I can’t make it work on the fly with a stand/sticks or saddle. With a climber it would be seriously tough.

Same here Dewey. I have not prepped a tree yet. All my sits have been one and done. I may only move 50 yards, but havent sat the same tree. My prep includes, at most, preselecting a tree if it is an area Im scouting in the spring. But I am pretty new yet. Do you ever go back to a tree you used in previous season?

[Dewey]

Prep stands.....what’s that?

When I hunt a spot the only evidence I leave behind is maybe a few scrape marks on the tree from my stand or sticks.

Don’t have the luxury of prepping stands. I can’t trim stuff out because it’s illegal. Basically I choose a tree while scouting and don’t go back till I hunt it. Very rare that I can’t make it work on the fly with a stand/sticks or saddle. With a climber it would be seriously tough.

Same here Dewey. I have not prepped a tree yet. All my sits have been one and done. I may only move 50 yards, but havent sat the same tree. My prep includes, at most, preselecting a tree if it is an area Im scouting in the spring. But I am pretty new yet. Do you ever go back to a tree you used in previous season?

Yes. I have multiple trees that I have hunted for many years that produce almost guaranteed buck sightings but the key is to only hunt them 1-2 times per season, on certain days and of course in the right wind. As the years go on you accumulate a lot of these spots and some really start to stand out. Figuring out when to hunt them is the key.

[Rob loper]

Prep stands.....what’s that?

When I hunt a spot the only evidence I leave behind is maybe a few scrape marks on the tree from my stand or sticks.

Don’t have the luxury of prepping stands. I can’t trim stuff out because it’s illegal. Basically I choose a tree while scouting and don’t go back till I hunt it. Very rare that I can’t make it work on the fly with a stand/sticks or saddle. With a climber it would be seriously tough.

Same here Dewey. I have not prepped a tree yet. All my sits have been one and done. I may only move 50 yards, but havent sat the same tree. My prep includes, at most, preselecting a tree if it is an area Im scouting in the spring. But I am pretty new yet. Do you ever go back to a tree you used in previous season?

Im just marking trees on my phone in spots im finding then in early season. Ill just go in there sticks stand or saddle and see what comes out.

[JoeRE]

Here's a bit of a loaded question; sorry Joe. How do you differentiate spots? What makes a spot a slam dunk spot? Is it based on the primary bedding you found or the quality of the buck you expect to be using the bedding you found? Or is it that there's a higher likelihood of seeing a target buck at the spot?

Thanks

Good question! Yea there isn't a simple answer as you probably knew. Its a whole bunch of factors lining up. How much do I think a mature buck is using a bedding area and at what time of the year? That's a guestimation, but there are many more spots that hold good bucks infrequently and then there are a few spots that hold mature bucks a lot - maybe all the time, or maybe just certain times of the year. For instance in the pre-rut time period I really key into certain secure buck bedding areas close to large amounts of doe bedding that seem to hold a big buck every late October. Some of it is sign, tracks and observations during the season, consistently tall rubs when scouting post season. Some of it is just feel. That is the hardest part - you just gotta look at 500 potential buck bedding locations and you start to see some are better than others. You can't sneak up on them. They get rarely disturbed. They have several foolproof escape routes. Its just the best of the best. Anything else just doesn't get as much use by mature bucks. I am not interested in a spot that might hold a good buck for 2-3 days sometime in October. I want to find the bedroom that has a 20-30% maybe even higher chance of holding a good buck at a certain time of the year. Maybe pre-rut, maybe early season when the white oaks nearby have acorns. Do I find many of those....nope....but I am slowing adding to the list and its a beautiful thing

Same with rut stands that might be more travel route focused. Some rut cruising travel routes get a ton more use than others by mature bucks. I know that from hanging cameras and letting them soak on them all fall. Deciding on those great travel routes is often based on feel too. Sure, there should be a few tall perennial rubs along the route. Usually the best ones are sort of mega funnels, every buck for a long ways around is going to pass thru there in the rut. But on top of that the best rut travel routes are super secure....so usually they are not obvious. Every inside corner and strip of timber connecting bigger blocks of timber is obvious, sure they can be good but more often they just get too much pressure. The best rut travel routes I have seen might be an almost unnoticeable saddle in a real long ridge system with bedding on both sides, or a long bench on a hillside with lots of doe bedding both up and down the valley. The harder to find and harder to hunt the more consistent you will see fully mature bucks there IMO.

I would add....I am learning a ton about good versus great spots by setting up cameras and leaving them all fall. Use the info next year, most great spots usually are perennial....

[Babshaft]

Here's a bit of a loaded question; sorry Joe. How do you differentiate spots? What makes a spot a slam dunk spot? Is it based on the primary bedding you found or the quality of the buck you expect to be using the bedding you found? Or is it that there's a higher likelihood of seeing a target buck at the spot?

Thanks

Good question! Yea there isn't a simple answer as you probably knew. Its a whole bunch of factors lining up. How much do I think a mature buck is using a bedding area and at what time of the year? That's a guestimation, but there are many more spots that hold good bucks infrequently and then there are a few spots that hold mature bucks a lot - maybe all the time, or maybe just certain times of the year. For instance in the pre-rut time period I really key into certain secure buck bedding areas close to large amounts of doe bedding that seem to hold a big buck every late October. Some of it is sign, tracks and observations during the season, consistently tall rubs when scouting post season. Some of it is just feel. That is the hardest part - you just gotta look at 500 potential buck bedding locations and you start to see some are better than others. You can't sneak up on them. They get rarely disturbed. They have several foolproof escape routes. Its just the best of the best. Anything else just doesn't get as much use by mature bucks. I am not interested in a spot that might hold a good buck for 2-3 days sometime in October. I want to find the bedroom that has a 20-30% maybe even higher chance of holding a good buck at a certain time of the year. Maybe pre-rut, maybe early season when the white oaks nearby have acorns. Do I find many of those....nope....but I am slowing adding to the list and its a beautiful thing

Same with rut stands that might be more travel route focused. Some rut cruising travel routes get a ton more use than others by mature bucks. I know that from hanging cameras and letting them soak on them all fall. Deciding on those great travel routes is often based on feel too. Sure, there should be a few tall perennial rubs along the route. Usually the best ones are sort of mega funnels, every buck for a long ways around is going to pass thru there in the rut. But on top of that the best rut travel routes are super secure....so usually they are not obvious. Every inside corner and strip of timber connecting bigger blocks of timber is obvious, sure they can be good but more often they just get too much pressure. The best rut travel routes I have seen might be an almost unnoticeable saddle in a real long ridge system with bedding on both sides, or a long bench on a hillside with lots of doe bedding both up and down the valley. The harder to find and harder to hunt the more consistent you will see fully mature bucks there IMO.

I would add....I am learning a ton about good versus great spots by setting up cameras and leaving them all fall. Use the info next year, most great spots usually are perennial....

Thanks for the help Jo. Definitely going to have to look at more bedding areas that are more difficult to access. I'll also have to look at prioritizing my scouting to give more time to what I expect/hope to be the better spots.

Also, while I have your attention, thanks for all the podcasts you've done. They're all some of my favourites and have helped me tremendously.

Cheers

[JoeRE]

Thanks for the help Jo. Definitely going to have to look at more bedding areas that are more difficult to access. I'll also have to look at prioritizing my scouting to give more time to what I expect/hope to be the better spots.

Also, while I have your attention, thanks for all the podcasts you've done. They're all some of my favourites and have helped me tremendously.

Cheers

Thank you. Just for the record I am not an expert at what I was describing above....I see this stuff sometimes, but am still guessing wrong by far most of the time. I have been looking at bedding for a few years...someone like Dan has been looking at it for 40. I've got a lot to learn and hopefully many years to do it....don't want people getting the wrong impression Im some kind of master.

[Bigb]

Any major trimming I do (Private) will be done before April. We had a spot that needed a pretty good amount of trimming for a gun stand and that was done in January. All other stands will be done in the next couple months. After that, they will be touched up in August just to get the growth that has happened since then out of the way and then we won't see them until they are hunted. Funny though, I've had spots where we have trimmed in September with a camera on that area and then in the next two days, the spot is loaded with does and bucks feeding on the branches we just cut down.

[MN_DeerHunter]

I’ve never trimmed a tree outside of season. To me it doesnt make much sense to cut things now because it’s going to look much different opening day. Plus I don’t want another hunter to see a nicely trimmed tree and set up in it.

[Rob loper]

I’ve never trimmed a tree outside of season. To me it doesnt make much sense to cut things now because it’s going to look much different opening day. Plus I don’t want another hunter to see a nicely trimmed tree and set up in it.

I was that guy for years. I would go out every September find spots put bait down and set stands trim lanes etc.
now im choosing trees where the only trimming i do is maybe a small finger sized branch or a twig thats really in the way.i carry a small saw for this if i know i have to cut something. I also have prepared trees for climber and come back in morning to hunt and find a stand in the tree so now i keep scouting and set up notes on all my spots so in September when i go through the rotation of my spots i can reference the notes and see if i need to trim anything if so i bring my small saw or snippers

[Babshaft]

Thanks for the help Jo. Definitely going to have to look at more bedding areas that are more difficult to access. I'll also have to look at prioritizing my scouting to give more time to what I expect/hope to be the better spots.

Also, while I have your attention, thanks for all the podcasts you've done. They're all some of my favourites and have helped me tremendously.

Cheers

Thank you. Just for the record I am not an expert at what I was describing above....I see this stuff sometimes, but am still guessing wrong by far most of the time. I have been looking at bedding for a few years...someone like Dan has been looking at it for 40. I've got a lot to learn and hopefully many years to do it....don't want people getting the wrong impression Im some kind of master.

Very humble Joe. Your attention to detail is incredible. Even though you're still learning about bedding, you're miles ahead of a new guy like myself and your help is incredible. Thanks again.

Here's hoping the guys on the Hunting Public get you on for a full length video podcast!

[mainebowhunter]

Here's a bit of a loaded question; sorry Joe. How do you differentiate spots? What makes a spot a slam dunk spot? Is it based on the primary bedding you found or the quality of the buck you expect to be using the bedding you found? Or is it that there's a higher likelihood of seeing a target buck at the spot?

Thanks

Good question! Yea there isn't a simple answer as you probably knew. Its a whole bunch of factors lining up. How much do I think a mature buck is using a bedding area and at what time of the year? That's a guestimation, but there are many more spots that hold good bucks infrequently and then there are a few spots that hold mature bucks a lot - maybe all the time, or maybe just certain times of the year. For instance in the pre-rut time period I really key into certain secure buck bedding areas close to large amounts of doe bedding that seem to hold a big buck every late October. Some of it is sign, tracks and observations during the season, consistently tall rubs when scouting post season. Some of it is just feel. That is the hardest part - you just gotta look at 500 potential buck bedding locations and you start to see some are better than others. You can't sneak up on them. They get rarely disturbed. They have several foolproof escape routes. Its just the best of the best. Anything else just doesn't get as much use by mature bucks. I am not interested in a spot that might hold a good buck for 2-3 days sometime in October. I want to find the bedroom that has a 20-30% maybe even higher chance of holding a good buck at a certain time of the year. Maybe pre-rut, maybe early season when the white oaks nearby have acorns. Do I find many of those....nope....but I am slowing adding to the list and its a beautiful thing

Same with rut stands that might be more travel route focused. Some rut cruising travel routes get a ton more use than others by mature bucks. I know that from hanging cameras and letting them soak on them all fall. Deciding on those great travel routes is often based on feel too. Sure, there should be a few tall perennial rubs along the route. Usually the best ones are sort of mega funnels, every buck for a long ways around is going to pass thru there in the rut. But on top of that the best rut travel routes are super secure....so usually they are not obvious. Every inside corner and strip of timber connecting bigger blocks of timber is obvious, sure they can be good but more often they just get too much pressure. The best rut travel routes I have seen might be an almost unnoticeable saddle in a real long ridge system with bedding on both sides, or a long bench on a hillside with lots of doe bedding both up and down the valley. The harder to find and harder to hunt the more consistent you will see fully mature bucks there IMO.

I would add....I am learning a ton about good versus great spots by setting up cameras and leaving them all fall. Use the info next year, most great spots usually are perennial....

Good stuff! I would also like to add to that...what you will start finding is in one big chunk of ground, there will be 5% of it that you will keep coming back to as the most high percentage. You might have a 1000 acre chunk of timber and the sweet spot may only be 50 acres or less. But to figure that out just takes a lot of trial and error and a LOT of time.

Ontario is pretty small...

[Babshaft]

Good stuff! I would also like to add to that...what you will start finding is in one big chunk of ground, there will be 5% of it that you will keep coming back to as the most high percentage. You might have a 1000 acre chunk of timber and the sweet spot may only be 50 acres or less. But to figure that out just takes a lot of trial and error and a LOT of time.

Ontario is pretty small...

Hahahaha that made me chuckle. Ya Ontario is tiny haha. The one particular area I've been struggling with lately is a 28000 acre swamp. I think you're right about the trial and error and the time it'll take.

Time to pony up and put some more in!

Thanks for the help maine!

[mainebowhunter]

Good stuff! I would also like to add to that...what you will start finding is in one big chunk of ground, there will be 5% of it that you will keep coming back to as the most high percentage. You might have a 1000 acre chunk of timber and the sweet spot may only be 50 acres or less. But to figure that out just takes a lot of trial and error and a LOT of time.

Ontario is pretty small...

Hahahaha that made me chuckle. Ya Ontario is tiny haha. The one particular area I've been struggling with lately is a 28000 acre swamp. I think you're right about the trial and error and the time it'll take.

Time to pony up and put some more in!

Thanks for the help maine!

I hunt both the midwest and northeast. The learning curve in big woods and lower deer densities steep. Honestly, it can be downright discouraging. There are many years when I felt like I could not hunt my way out of a paper bag. Deer that I PASS on my midwest trips, I have never SEEN from stand here in the northeast.

BUT what it does is really really help you learn to scout effectively and you become a very patient hunter. NOT seeing deer is the norm. One buck I was hunting this year, where I killed him, he was the first deer I saw in 35-40hrs of hunting. 15th sit I killed him.