Some of the rut sign from last season is still visible, especially rubs. Getting out in the field and walking properties you plan to hunt will reveal rub lines and isolated rubs. Marking these on your aerial map will show you how deer move about the lands you hunt, too.
Source Credit: RealTree.com
By: Josh Honycut
Photo credit: John Hafner
Learn The Land It’s also very important to not only improve the land but to learn it, too. During the post-season, I always get out and walk the properties I plan to hunt the following season. You wouldn’t believe the things I learn — both how the land lays and how deer use it —…
No Off Season – Improve The Land There are countless ways to improve the land for the deer we love to hunt. Whether that’s by providing additional food sources, additional bedding cover, or adding a water source, everything helps. Do what you can even if it’s on a small scale. It’ll help both the deer…
The off-season is the best time to trim shooting lanes. Right now the leaves haven’t budded out throughout most of the country. You can still sit in a stand right now and see what the shooting lanes will be like this fall when the leaves drop again. In my experience, it’s better to trim lanes…
Another thing that has changed the way I hunt is studying past trail camera photos. I look at the direction of travel (the deer), dates, temperatures, wind direction, barometric pressure, etc. and see how those things match up to the food sources and bedding areas around that camera location. For daylight photos, I really…
Similar to the previous slide, mapping trails, bedding areas, food sources, watering holes and other land features on aerial maps can help to paint a better picture of the land you hunt. It’ll show you how deer use a property, rather than just thinking you know. I’ve learned that from experience. Using this process has…
Tree Stand Maintenance Get ready to learn more about tree stand maintenance. Tree Stands are just like everything else — they break. Fixing them is an option if the problem isn’t significant. Throw it away if the stand is a safety hazard. It isn’t worth an injury or death to hunt from an unsafe perch….