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So the chess match begins !!!

Decided to take a day off today and hit the woods. I went to the area that I call my rut stand to assess what damage had been done to it from the storms. Surprisingly not much affected the deer runs except one big tree. Last year I made 2 different runs in there by cutting the saplings that dominate the area. You know the ones that are 4-6 feet high and make the areas impossible to walk through. It worked and I took a buck using one of the cut lanes. Unfortunately there were 3 other areas that the deer used to skirt my area. Well took care of those today. I recut the one lane again but lengthened it by about 50 yds and cut two others to draw the deer closer within bow range. I will get to the other area at a later date as it I will require a path of about 100 yds or so.

This will also give me multiple areas to set up for different times of the day. The wind is consistent and all the lanes were thought out ahead of time. There is no spot on these lanes that the wind is directly in the deers nose they are all crosswind so the deer thinks they might have the wind in their favor, but it favors me more

Anyone have any tips and tricks they use to tilt the scales in their favor in the woods ?

That's awesome! Are u cutting with a hand saw or power device?

I've tried laying logs and dead limbs across runs like a wall, to force movement with so so results. Looking fwd to see all the comments on this.

I've never tried anything like it. Seems like a good idea! I've been toying around with making a couple mock scrapes or a horizontal rubbing treeing this year.

I've never cut any trails but that definitely sounds like it would work. I like sitting over natural funnels. Breaks in rock walls are awesome. Down in PA I used to sit over a break in the barbed wire fence. Got many deer there. My buddy hunts a huge apple orchard in my neck of the woods. He sits next to the hole in the fence and gets them coming through. I have another stand that's in a nice little ravine. They usually walk the flat ground at the bottom instead of on the side of either hill

I like to block off runs I’m not hunting to funnel movement. Also, I rake the run I’m hunting down to bare dirt. It seems to draw them down that run, and a great way to monitor tracks on the fresh dirt. I also tried fertilizing the white oaks near me. I’m not sure if that did anything?

I don’t have a record of success to back it up, but my gut feeling is that it’s best to leave things undisturbed. And my gut is enormous, so maybe there’s something to it.

Come November,..

Make sure you fertilize with the proper fertilizer,..

For example 30-10-10 will create lots of leaves (great for grass)

10-30-20 will create lots of flowers and fruits,.. (great for acorns),..

Make sure not to throw down the wrong stuff or drive in spikes that are for leaf growth,..

Generally, I would throw down a few pounds of super phosphate depending on the size of the oak,..

Will. I am using a pair of clippers down here there are little saplings that grow to about 6-7 ft tall. They are everywhere!!!! Different woods down here because of the scrub pines and oaks. Not much in the way of mature hardwoods in the areas I hunt. So clearing a lane or two to funnel deer to me works like a charm. Deer will take the path of least resistance if given the opportunity

I cut trails to my stands often to move them my way . I have also made breaks in walls to get to cross the wall where I want . I have stand on a hillside and the deer go up and down the hill sometimes behind me . I bought single strand wire and hung three courses of that behind me from the field edge to my stand to force them out in front of me

The amazing thing, is that they are so athletic, they could jump a fence or barrier, or just walk around stuff... It's cool that we (in theory) have a cognitive advantage :)

That said, this all is making me think of how turkey's could hop or fly over a stone wall or 2 foot wide stream/seep but will stop as if the great wall of China lay's before them...

Animals are weird...

Animals are weird, true enough. But so are hunters. If you think about it, we know the animals are weird but we'll stand silently on a tiny platform 15-20 feet up a tree for hours waiting for one of them to walk by.

And apparently standing/sitting isn't enough. This weekend a bunch of us are gonna try to learn how to essentially hang from our crotches while waiting for the weird animals.

If that ain't weird I don't know what is. Can't wait...

Ha - very true Bruce. Heck, I'm not even interested in hunting out of one of those things, so I'm just going to watch a bunch of guys hang from the crotch... Any one do therapy? I may need some. ha ha ha :) (Hey that land we discussed and you tried last fall got logged this winter - looks different for sure!)

Will. It's ok, this is Massachusetts.

Tekoa

You know I just figured something out. The deer are playing chess, and I’m playing checkers.

Yeah the deer jumped my queen last year !!! She never got over it and I have been hearing about it ever since. Lol

years back I cut a trail to a stand in mid summer. went in for hunting season and it was officially a deer run. sign everywhere. I couldn't believe how they used my trail. crazy how it works..... sometimes.

DFA, we managed to fell some scrub pine for the food plot area. I was impressed at how quickly the deer adapted to the paths to/ from it. Smart critters, tasty too

Death, I strive to find short entrance that I trimmed that don't cross runs, near brooks, swamps, briar and cover near natural land funnels or crossings. Have had more successes set up around 25' deer don't seem to smell me as often , prefer hemlock or pines for cover. If a hardwood I try to brush hang on stand in. Like to cut runs back yearly now or in summer I try not to cut out too much, they like their cover, Hav a hot stand with sun at back up on side of hill seems the silloutte effect works! Picked that tip up from the Indian on Jose Wales! LOL I am constantly looking for my next hot spot, for as hot as they are hot they can go cold real quick. Had a reallygood stand go cold last year on Conservation land, seems a couple of guys on quads were building a cabin about 80 yard infront of me. WTF! I left a map of conservation land in their cabin, oh and I circled where their house was located as well as the new cabin. I went in a week or so ago to check out tree damage and the cabin was completely gone! I really didn't want to get them in trouble, nor confront them. So glad it worked!

Well just got back in from getting 3 stand sites set up for the coming year. These are in areas I could not get a conventional stand into because of the size of the trees. These are prepped for the eventual " kestrel " I am going to buy. Decided to go with the fully setup package. MRW said it best. It's only money !!!

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