It’s early June and the first days of summer are rapidly approaching. I’ve started checking up on my stand locations to see if anything needs to be cleared away. I want to maintain the area every so often just to keep my shooting lanes open, make sure stand locations aren’t overgrown whether it’s on the ground or up in a tree.
By now, the forest floor in all parts of the United States are shadowed by a leafy canopy and in some cases thick undergrowth. Last year’s deer sign has pretty much disappeared with the exception of a few old buck rubs. Making the trek in an out of the woods during this time of year can be somewhat of hassle because of thick undergrowth, mosquitos and the heat. For the undergrowth, I use an old corn knife to hack away at overgrown tree branches and weeds both for the stand location and the pathway in. What you see now is close to what it’s going to be like in the early days of the early bow season so it’s wise to stay on top of maintain your stand location. Clearing a pathway is just as important as clearing away your stand area. This will cut down on the chance that you may leave scent behind you as walk to and from your stand. And while I’m on the subject, even though I’m not hunting, I still scent blocking spray so as not to drive deer away.
[Side note: I have an awesome homemade recipe for making your own scent blocker spray. It's included with the sale of my book. This recipe alone is reason enough to buy the book. You'll actually save money for years to come just by using it.]
As for the heat and mosquitos – well, that just goes with the territory. Use unscented bug spray to ward off mosquitos and for the heat, bring bottled water to quench your thirst. Clearing away brush, branches and weeds can be a tough job and there is no sense in dehydrating yourself over it. If anyone else has anything to add to this, feel free to throw in a comment or two.
