More Preparations

Wednesday and Thursday of this week I started bush hogging all the food plots so that it will make it easier when it comes time to plant in a few weeks. Almost everyone does this as just a part of the planting process but with me being a bow hunter I need the deer to take the path or trail that I want them to take in order for them to be in range so I usually make two or three lanes into each plot around my stands for the deer to come into the plots out of. Deer are just like us when it comes to walking through briars and bushes, they will avoid them and walk on clean ground if possible which is why I know this helps me in getting them into the plot at a certain yardage so that I have a shot. This also helps play a role in them smelling me before I am able to shoot because I can position these walking lanes to where the particular winds that I will hunt the stand in will be favorable. In other words the most common wind for winter time down here is a north east wind, north west is claimed to be the best wind for hunting, so I will make these trails on the northern sides of my stands so that if they follow the script, which is never even close to a guarantee, my scent will be blowing the opposite direction of the deer. Often times its little things like this that make the difference in you being able to seal the deal on a bow kill or not.  Below I've added some trail camera pictures of a pretty good eight point that I've been getting pictures of for the last month or so along with a few pictures from bush hogging yesterday. As well as a link to a great article on stand placement. I've learned a lot from previous hunting experiences whether they were failures or successes but I have also read a ton of these articles just trying to learn anything new that may help me become a better hunter. http://www.fieldandstream.com/features/deer-camp/tree-stand-prep/