Getting to your deer stand discussion(ground or tree)

[NBK]

I can't add any better advise beyond what's been given.  Great and timely thread.
That said there are two things that I do that may or may not help.
First is that I often wear my rubber hip boots to my stand. I hunt big woods of northern Wisconsin. I usually have such a long walk in that raking a trail isn't a possibility. I keep my hip boots solely for these walks and think that it helps with minimizing my scent left on vegetation on the approach.
Secondly there are few times I can get in real quiet once the ground freezes. I will often move in at first light and cluck softly on my slate turkey call in an attempt to give a "reason" for all the commotion!

[Whitetail Addict]

Originally posted by NBK:
I can't add any better advise beyond what's been given.  Great and timely thread.
That said there are two things that I do that may or may not help.
First is that I often wear my rubber hip boots to my stand. I hunt big woods of northern Wisconsin. I usually have such a long walk in that raking a trail isn't a possibility. I keep my hip boots solely for these walks and think that it helps with minimizing my scent left on vegetation on the approach.
Secondly there are few times I can get in real quiet once the ground freezes. I will often move in at first light and cluck softly on my slate turkey call in an attempt to give a "reason" for all the commotion!

Then I'm not the only clucker here, lol. I've had a few deer show up at my ground blinds soon enough after getting there, that I'm sure they had to have heard my approach, so I know the turkey act works at least some of the time. Turkeys too, and they're legal here in bow season.

Bob

[Ryan Rothhaar]

Originally posted by jonsimoneau:
Ryan, I noticed from a thread you posted last August about hanging stands that you seem to use a lot of low impact entry routes. I think I remember one in particular just off an old logging road. What do you do if you find a really good stand site while scouting that you know will be difficult to access like if you have to walk across a bunch of fallen leaves? Do you not hang a stand there? Rake out the leaves? Move on to something better? I'm really thinking a lot of us are fairly competent at choosing good stand sites but I think we blow it getting in and out. Really good thread.

[Ryan Rothhaar]

Jon, I'll rake once in a while..first time I remember the Old Man showing me this was 1985 (geeze, 30 yrs ago).  Not with a rake, though, but just with the side of the foot, one hole for each step, ends up looking like a bunch of 18 inch scrapes every couple feet.  Frankly, tho, not very often, the problem with raking is maintenance...a couple weeks more falling leaves or a good wind and you gotta do it over.  Mostly I avoid long stretches of open ground in big timber for approach, so leaf probs don't come up too often.  I'm mostly in ditches/draws/drainage and stuff has a tendency to be wet and quiet in there.  I would avoid cornflake leafy ridges, and hunt another stand on quiet, dry, frosty AM's. I normally have at least two stands on any major situation, so usually there's an alternative.

R

[Ryan Rothhaar]

I have been known to pause and make noise like Turks scratching in the leaves too.  Also, pay attention to the cadence of feeding and traveling squirrels, often if I have to cover a short noisy space I'll regulate my steps/pauses to sound like a squirrel. Mostly where I hunt in the fall there are squirrels moving all the time in the daylight.

You know, that's not even something that I thought about earlier, or consciously think about doing, it just happens.  Thanks, Ray for starting the thread, makes one think.

R

[highlow]

This thread also has me thinking. Like some of you, I used to go in well before first light. However, with the tremendous increase in the bear population here in NJ, I've had to rethink that approach. Was turkey hunting a couple of years ago and had to answer the call of nature at just about first light.  As I was progressing with the necessary steps involved with that call, I happened to notice this rather large, black blob lying against a tree not twenty yds. away. It was what I thought it was. Very unnerving but definitely aided in ending my "movement". Bears usually scatter when approached but I'm not taking any chances. Especially if I happen to encounter a sow with cubs. Getting in at first light hasn't diminished the number of deer I see from my stand as far as I can tell. Is there anything more disheartening than having a shooter come in but with too little light for a shot? Had that happen a couple of times.

[Ray Lyon]

I'll clarify my raking a little. As mentioned above there is lots of fall activity in the parts of the farm with apples. When I do my short path raking i drive right up to the orchard edge, leave the truck running with music going (T. Nugent's 'Fred Bear'of course    ). I'll make lot's of noise banging stuff at the truck. Rake quickly and get out. Preferably in rain and mid day.  Up at camp in the big woods I take one of those little kid rakes with wooden handle . I cut handle so it's two feet long and carry in with my stand. Here I'm in stealth mode. Quiet in . Quiet stand set. Rake my way out. More like Ryan's scrape example instead of a path.

[Jake Scott]

Lets keep this at the top.  Great thread, Ray.  Ryan, thanks so much for sharing your knowledge so feely.

Jake

[Homey88]

Great thread!

[BUCKY]

I go in just as you can see without a flashlight for reasons Highlow said. If I'm with someone i'll go in when it's dark. Yes I'm scared of bears!

On one particular long public hunting land, there is a access drive for one leased field. No matter which way the wind is blowing the guys march in down that same field drive.  They all want to hunt the same 200 yard tree covered slope near that field.  when there is a west or southwest breeze the wind circulates the entire slope. If the deer were on the slopes to the south they can smell, hear and see that they have company. If the deer are in the slopes opposite and along the private land side to the north and east they hear and smell that they have company.  I can count on it that the deer will not be anywhere near them and any deer that gets moving will move around and away from the other hunters.  Luckily the state bought more land so now it will be easier to anticipate that, but now the easier access will come from the north and all of those that pay no attention to wind or sight will come form the north.  It is very important to anticipate deer movements caused by others.
  From one climbing tree stand location, I shot five deer in two years. Not from the the stand, but sneaking to and from it.  On busy weekends, I could count that when all of the other hunters bailed out and headed for their vehicles, about 9 a.m., that the deer would be moving, but not to where I was sitting. So I moved to a funnel travel way that always had other stands occupied by hunters that bailed out first, but once those stands were vacated it was the prime area for deer sneaking away from other hunters.  Most of the time the number of hunters in our small public hunting patches greatly out number the deer.
  If I am forced to walk in with the wind at my back there needs to be a plan to take a hard turn into the wind before I reach where I am going be.  It has been much better for me when I can still hunt all the way to where I am going hunt, it takes much longer, but at least I am hunting then and not fruitlessly marching. The negative aspect is that I rarely ever get to that spot before sun rise.  The positive aspect is that I have taken many deer while sneaking to or away from where I sit.

[Ray Lyon]

So I was out placing my stand in one of my favorite spots yesterday(pinch point where 4 fingers of cover come together)and freshening the scent rope that I have hanging there.  This is how I've cleared the 60 yards from the edge of the orchard to my stand tree that has a ladder stand that gets me up to the regular stand. You can see the multiple trunks on the tree which helps break up my outline even after the leaves fall.  There is a lot of orchard activity around this stand until November 1st, so getting this done now will help for the peak of the rut 6 weeks from now.

 

[Dave Lay]

Ray, you will probably find deer tracks in that trail.. they also like to travel the path of least resistance and where they can keep quiet. One thing I might add to this good thread is that if you just have to enter from a direction other than the "back door" I would rather come straight in to my stand to where if a deer hits my scent it should be directly in front of me and not before getting to the stand...

[ron w]

Some cool stuff and info.......One thing where I hunt is the wind. It's never steady from one direction. As much as I try I can never trust it to stay in my favor. I don't know why, maybe the lay of the land, but it is just constantly fickle. I almost always make my spots from 2 angles so I can try to play the wind.

[Ray Lyon]

Dave, yes there are tracks in the trail from time to time however its hard to see with the ferns in the picture but in a half circle around the other side of the tree for about ten yards is a pretty thick swath of juniper shrubs. Three trails converge below the juniper bushes about fifteen yards out. The path essentially dead ends at the tree.

[ChuckC]

If you use a walking stick of some sort, or the lower tip of your longbow, add another step into your cadence and you sound more like a 4 legged walker and not a two legged being.  
ChuckC

[Charlie Lamb]

I often "maintain" trails that the deer like to use. Making them more attractive to traveling deer.
I can often manipulate their movement that way.

Also by enticing them to move on the manicured trails it keeps them away from the areas I tend to use on my entrance to the stand.

I've got one stand spot where the deer were passing too close to my stand so I piled logs and brush to steer them a little further out.

I'm also big on removing sticks from my approach routes. Rustling leaves is minor compared to breaking sticks. Lots of things rustle leaves but man is the main one that breaks stuff as he walks.

Nothing is 100% but if you ain't thinkin about what you're doing out there you are setting yourself up for failure.

[Charlie Lamb]

While I'm at it... as careful as we might try to be deer will eventually cross our entry routes. To me this is where scent control really becomes important.

A lot of guys poo poo the notion of staying scent free quoting the old saw, "just hunt the wind". They don't seem to take into account that sooner or later (usually sooner than later) deer will figure out you are coming and going from a particular place.
The longer you can put that off the better your hunting will be.

I believe in using chlorophyll for reducing my personal odor. That's one part of it.
 Next you want to want to hunt the wind from the time you leave your vehicle until you get to your stand.

Wearing rubber boots helps a lot with the ground scent you leave. I think the no scent sprays also help. I apply liberally to pant legs and boots.

Then I avoid touching brush or anything else along the way in. A pair of pruning shears stays in my pocket and I clip anything I might brush up against.

Steps or ladders I grab as high as I can reach so I don't leave scent low where a deer can smell it.
A light pair of Jersey gloves sprayed with scent killer helps in this situation.

[Skipmaster1]

I'm one of the guys who prefers getting in really early. I used to go in when it was just light enough to see without a flash light but I've found that I end up busting lots of deer that way and then the woods don't settle down until after first light. Getting in at least an hour before light, I've killed lots of deer that came in, in the dark and hung around until I could shoot. Late season or if I know a big buck is using it, I'll get right in a bedding area 2 or 3 hours before daylight and many times kill them right at daybreak. That all being said, my best stands offer quick and quiet entry and exit routes. One thing guys screw up all the time is getting down when deer are around at night. If I have to, I'll stay in my tree an extra hour until the deer move on.

[carbonflyr]

oh lordy, i forgot to buy my concentrated chlorophyll tablets for this season!!
thanks very much charlie for the reminder!