Tree stand Access

[Czabs]

Another helpful tip is to take a lot of pictures or better yet a video of your access. Review it prior to your hunt. This helps a ton and reminds you of the challenges.

I take scouting videos of tree setup and access often times. It's. Great refresher before getting into a spot you haven't bee since spring
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[Czabs]

Another helpful tip is to take a lot of pictures or better yet a video of your access. Review it prior to your hunt. This helps a ton and reminds you of the challenges.

[ Post made via Android ]

I take video notes on my phone when setting up tree/stand and access routes. It's a great refresher for it when comes time to hunt, often times things look A lot different from late winter/spring to September

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[fishlips]

Thanks for posting. Brings up a lot of stuff I have never considered.

[Edge]

Great posts guys, I appreciate all the knowledge you guys drop on here!

Quick question: how far should you walk out of your way to allow your entrance scent to disperse enough to be non-alarming if the bedding your hunting is downwind of your entrance trail (this is assuming you cannot enter your stand location from downwind)? I know different terrains/terrain features interact with scent dispersal differently but I guess I'm just looking for a ball park estimate....300 yards? 400 yards?

I have shot a buck after crossing upwind of his bed, I stayed about 400-500 yards back and moved pretty fast. Have a few spots like this with limited access so sometimes you just have to gamble. If you can stay further back I would.

Ok good to know, I think I have a about 400 yds to work with for the particular spot in question. The only other issue is that the upwind area from the bed from about 150-400 yds out is a ridge line of oaks and beyond that is private so it's a delicate situation.

[Edge]

Planning the access is step one, but it can take some effort to make it work. The last 5 years or so, I've spent more time prepping my access than my stand site. Sometimes it's clearing out down trees in waterways. Sometimes it is clearing sticks and logs out of ditches. Sometimes its as easy as moving "hidden" sticks buried under leaf litter for the final approach. Not only does it improve stealth, it gives you valuable familiarity prior to the actual hunt as oftentimes it is my first time in the spot.

[ Post made via Android ]

Those are great ideas and are all steps I plan on taking this upcoming spring and summer. I'm new to the forum so I'm just starting to learn all the little details that pay big dividends in the long run. When I originally scouted this piece of public land I wasn't seeing the big picture but now, thanks to all the information you guys graciously share, things are starting to click.

[Wlog]

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

[ Post made via iPhone ]

I have places where I have to cross fields to get access. There just isn't any other option. But the chances are the deer that you are worried about alerting when you leave through the field are going to be alerted by your ground scent you left on your access route. I agree with JoeRe on this. I'm more concerned about my approach on the way in. Once you've hunted that spot you've already burnt a bridge. I try to go around the non target deer in the field when I leave if possible. Your ground scent is already in that same field and that will alarm them more than seeing you from a distance IMO.

If I have a way I can exit through the woods without doing more damage then I will. There may be another area that I would burn by walking down through the woods and crossing more deer trails. If you go back out through the field the same way you access then you're probably doing less damage in that situation. Most of the time it's dark when you leave. The deer may hear you or see you in the dark and spook but if they don't smell you they may not know what it was that spooked them. It's just like walking into a bedding area with the wind in your face and jumping up a deer. If they don't smell you they won't go far a lot of times and in some cases they will come back.

I've spooked deer in the morning going into a stand, get set up and have them track me right to the tree. They don't always do what you think they're gonna do. I do know that they trust their nose more than any other sense. I'll take my chances trying to go back out through the field and risk bumping them out there instead of leaving more ground scent back in the woods closer to their beds.

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[Buckfever]

On my primary set on the new public I'm now hunting it's a 1.6 mile loop so that I slip right into the funnel without ever stepping or laying any scent into the bedding. No shortcuts, you just can't do it. Not only for the immediate hunt, but to keep the hunt good for the long run.

[SHoff10]

When we go and hunt our spots in Kansas, the majority of them are small islands of timber surrounded by fields on all sides? What are everyone's recommendations for access in these scenarios? The majority of them also do not have any water to utilize.

For morning hunts....do you recommend going in at gray light through fields to ensure deer aren't in the field? Or do you recommend going in a couple hours prior to saylight?

What do you recommend? Thanks in advance.

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[Jay]

It's been awhile since I've been on. Best thread I've read yet.

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[titan23_87]

When we go and hunt our spots in Kansas, the majority of them are small islands of timber surrounded by fields on all sides? What are everyone's recommendations for access in these scenarios? The majority of them also do not have any water to utilize.

For morning hunts....do you recommend going in at gray light through fields to ensure deer aren't in the field? Or do you recommend going in a couple hours prior to saylight?

What do you recommend? Thanks in advance.

[ Post made via Android ]

Also would like to hear thoughts on this. I'm asking relatively the same on tips accessing small patches of cover in primary Ag field areas.

[jman22]

Bump for a good thread. Over the past few years I have focused much more on entry and exit. Creeks, corn fields and ravines have become good friends to me. One particular stand I hunt requires access through a pretty steep creek bed. Last yr I was walking in and looked up only to see a small 6 pt bedded towards the top, looking over the fields. His eyes were closed and all you could see moving were his eaRS and head from time to time. I walked right under him and he never knew I was there.

I love creeks as well and I think they are extremely overlooked by most hunters. I especially love the ones that have a little flow and noise to them which eliminate any noisy steps you may take.

Corn fields are another favorite. Arms up to deflect the stalks and corn spiders! I will say this about corn, although I never see boot tracks in it, I find deer tracks all over the fields even when the corn is high. Doesn't matter if it's the edge or the middle of a big field.

Hope more will chime in add some specific examples of good (and overlooked) access they have.

[hunter10]

I use anything I can to access my spots without tipping off deer with my intentions. I hunt farmland. Standing corn and ravine or ditches are the top 3 "hide" factors. As for the posts above about small woodlots surrounded by ag, I have a couple tactics I use. If I have to access right through a field in the morning I know my chances are slim. If it's a night hunt and I have to leave through the short crop field, I'm usually not coming back to hunt there for a while. Use fence rows, ditches, get permission to walk neighbour land into your spot, tall crop fields are the best as said. Other than that, it's tough to access those spots. This past weekend I prepped a tree in a bedding thicket that is overlooked and in the middle of fields leading onto neighbour crp. It's standing corn on 2 sides so my access this year will be through corn. On years it's beans my kill chances go down a fair bit. I'd bet I've been seen walking across those fields before I am even close

[jman22]

I couldn't agree more with the challenge small woodlots can pose when it comes to access. It can be quite dilemma when a big buck walks out at dark into a crop field you need to walk out of. I like hunter10s advice to ask a neighbor to you use his/her property for entry and exit. I've heard another technique of having someone drive a vehicle out into the field to push the deer off. Not always feasible if crops are still standing, but it makes sense, although I have no experience first hand.

[dan]

When we go and hunt our spots in Kansas, the majority of them are small islands of timber surrounded by fields on all sides? What are everyone's recommendations for access in these scenarios? The majority of them also do not have any water to utilize.

For morning hunts....do you recommend going in at gray light through fields to ensure deer aren't in the field? Or do you recommend going in a couple hours prior to saylight?

What do you recommend? Thanks in advance.

[ Post made via Android ]

The thing to remember in open farm terrain is to not just walk into the wind to your spots. Bucks bed wind to back watching down wind. They will spot your approach if you don't keep this in mind with your approach. Most guys come into the area wind to face and are falling right into the trap. The biggest thing, is to know they bed on the edges watching down wind, then you can consider angles you can come in from hidden from that view.

[jman22]

. Most guys come into the area wind to face and are falling right into the trap.

I was definitely one of those guys that would fall into this trap. It's what I was taught to do. I did not have a good understanding of bedding and I think a lot of hunters dont. I also think a lot of guys don't want to put the effort in to access. If they can drive a truck half way down a field and walk 75 yds, wind to face, to their stand instead of a half mile loop for safe access, they are gonna choose the easy route. The good thing is these are the guys I'm not worried aBout tagging the big buck I'm after!