Tree stand Access

[Bucky]

I keep harping on this... but I feel many don't understand how important it is. I think if Dan, Stan, and others could discuss access tips it will help hunters understand greatly.

When I'm not using water (creek, river, pond) to block/cover my access trail I know my chances of returning and hunting the same stand are gonna be diminishing returns.

I know Dan posted a pic of set he hunted last year where he went through the middle of the pond to access his set in a small woodlot. Why? Because he knew putting his boot tracks on either side of the pond would alert animals traveling from that side of the pond to his hunting spot in the middle.

In Missouri... I used a river and then a deep drainage to access the hillside I shot my biggest buck out of... my stink trail to the top was in a 7ft water drainage filled with debri... no deer was gonna smell my access trail. And if they did, they would have a difficult time following it up that drainage.

In the bluffs.... if I'm accessing from the bottom, I look for steep hillside drainages with rocks and climb up to the top that way, yes deer typically bed at the top... but by going this way, when I get to the top of the drainage (which is a great funnel anyway), my scent is in the rocks where deer typically don't traverse.

Creeks, I walk the cut banks or actually in the water to access a stand set on the outside bend of a creek, Stan explains this setup well in his podcast. It is worth the listen

In the past, I have used a railroad bed/power lines to get deeper into public before breaking off into the timber. Why? So I don't leave a huge stink trail from the normal parking lot to the deeper reaches of the hunting parcel. Deer catch that stink trail in the dark and they DO follow it to explore where the predator/human ended up

I guess I could get really detailed and do some pictures with prevailing winds...

To me the access stink trail is AS important as where your stink blows when you are up in the tree... that ground scent is what allows deer to pinpoint your stands or can alert them of your local before they get to you. Unless of course they see you moving in the tree

[MOBIGBUCKS]

100% agree. Yup, access is everything.

The buck I killed last year I had to use a drainage in the middle of a cornfield to stay out of sight and leave no scent trail. After utilizing the drainage, I had to cross a deep eroded creek bank to get into the doe bedding area without any ground scent. Perfect setup no ground scent, wind in my face, downwind of prime doe bedding.

I will say it took me two hours in the dark to get to this area. Thinking and planning out your entrance and exit are more important than anything else IMO.

[Hodag Hunter]

Bucky is an intelligent hunter.

This is spot on and so very critical when hunting near food sources where deer and bear expect danger to be lurking.

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[BassBoysLLP]

Truth.

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[JoeRE]

Good stuff Bucky, completely agree. The way I look at it if you don't have good access you might as well not hunt some spots and if you don't have a good exit route you might as well not come back...which sometimes might be ok, you might not be coming back.

You are right on ditches. They are one of my favorite ways to get around. You can stay concealed, often thermals consistently pull your scent right up or down them while you are in them, and often they lead right to stand locations because they creates pinch points along travel routes like you mention.

One tip - if there was a flash flood rain storm any time earlier in the year, that tends to scour ditches out and allow for the most silent travel. However CHECK THEM OUT BEFOREHAND because some ditches choked with brush and debris making for hard if not impossible travel. If you are going in blind have a plan B entrance route. In general though, the steeper the ditch the better I think because the velocity of the water keeps them clean.

Another great thing about ditches....I have noticed deer tend to ignore some noise coming from them as you walk up them as long as you are concealed, if its a deep enough ditch. Lots of critters like raccoons go up and down ditches so as long as you don't sound too much like a human, you can go through crunchy leaves up or down a ditch right past bedded or feeding deer and they don't mind. I have never had one come look down over a bank unless I make a 'human' sound. I have gone past deer as close as 30 yards going up a deep ditch, then got to where I climbed out of the ditch and looked back and saw them in the same spot.

[mastevt]

You make a very good argument, and if I had similar features to access my stands, I may go to those extremes. However, I'm land locked by other properties. Have only 1 creek, and its shallow, and usually dry come bow season. I have no choice to walk directly to my stands. My thoughts are that if I use an extravegent long trail to access my stand, I'm only leaving more scent on the ground, and chance bumping deer along the way. I do however keep my trails mowed down with a brush hog to keep from brushing up against foilage leaving more scent. I can tell you this, I shot my best deer while he was standing on my scent trail from where I made my last 5 yards to the stand. I had the wind in my face, so it was in my favor, yet he smelled the ground and wasn't alerted to my presence at all. He stood 20 ft from my stand and didn't have a care in the world. I guess one can go extreme in trying to have scent prevention. Some may even concider it part of the hunt, and thats ok. Me, and maybe I'm just getting old, but I enjoy sitting in my stand and enjoying life for whatever god brings by me, and I'm not concerned about my scent trail. I'm gonna select my stand for the wind that day, and hunt the wind, and I don't care if I kill anything or not, I just enjoy being in stand. I have also found smoking my hunting cloths has greatly improved my scent down stream while in stand. All in all, enjoy your hunting! If it involves going all out and extreme, go for it! If not, thats ok too in my book! Scott.

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[muddy]

Access is everything, I've been racking my brain on a few places that are difficult to pound by foot. Playing the wind both walking in an in stand are taken into consideration at this point. At this point I'm going to walk thru a freaking standing corn field to make it work.

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[Bucky]

Standing corn is another one I didn't mention... I walk through standing corn without too much concern.

I too weed whip my access trails on the private land I lease.... right to the dirt. I go as far as to kill it with glyphos in spring/summer. It definetly helps... I'm kinda getting to the point that I don't care as much anymore either. I enjoy the woods and quiet as much as the next guy. I'm just trying to help those that so badly want that "wall" hanger think about the things I never thought about until a decade of doing it on my own. Stand access/stink trails are way overlooked and maybe not discussed as much as they should be in regards to trying to out smart older class bucks (3.5yr olds +). 2yr olds will let you get away with it... 4s and 5s very rarely

[Bayshorebuck8]

This is interesting..... just reading this makes me want to be more cautious when entering and exiting my area we should keep this going if theres not already one saved id like to hear what other beasts have to say

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[muddy]

I even hunt new stand locations in the evening first so I can see my way in first, that way when I do a morning hunt I am better about not stepping where I don't need to be.

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[wickedbruiser]

I try to apply all of the above when possible. Bucky, your post is a valuable reminder to not take short-cuts..thanks for that

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[hunter10]

To throw a little twist in things here's something I have had issues with over the years. Let's say an afternoon hunt you access your location from a field.. But on your way out instead of alerting deer in the field you make your way back to the truck through the woods. Aren't you now killing even more ground with scent. How do you sneak about in tha situation

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[headgear]

Good stuff Bucky, completely agree. The way I look at it if you don't have good access you might as well not hunt some spots and if you don't have a good exit route you might as well not come back...which sometimes might be ok, you might not be coming back.

On the flip side this is why us public land guys hunt our sets one and done, there isn't always a perfect access so you have to slip in and burn up the whole area and shoot one or move on. I understand why you might not want to over hunt an because of access but I wouldn't rule it out completely if you know you can move in for a kill. We all know entrance and exit can make or break you but just wanted to post another perspective.

[BigHunt]

Great thread

[HoosierG5]

Great post. I have hunted the same ground for years. I have hunted the same stands also using different approaches with completely different "luck." Between first time sits and minimal disturbance on entry Ive gone from seeing bucks to regularly shooting p and y bucks. Blessed to have decent ground, and also for this site. Now, Ive had bad years too, but they are less frequent now than before.

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