Tree Stand Preparation

As most of you are sitting in your comfy work chair, whether it’s actually at work or your home office, you may take a glance at the calendar and realize that there are 50 or less days till opening day of deer season and less than 20 for some of you lucky folks in states like Kentucky. However, with the count down on, are your stands ready for this season? Whether you left them hanging in the tree from last year, or if it’s time to hang new ones, it’s time to get it done. For those of you that have the “Lucky” tree where you kill a wall hanger every year, it’s time to make sure your spot is ready to go for opening day. Hopefully, after all the shed hunting you did in February and March you found out how the one that got away got away and scouting has revealed to you a nice new hunting spot to help you slide an arrow through him this year.

When getting your stand ready it doesn’t matter whether it’s an old stand or a new stand, you need to check all the straps to make sure they are good to go. Check for dry rot, and squirrel and mouse chews. Also make sure all nuts and bolts are tight before jumping into it in a tree. For those of you that have been hunting the same tree stand setup for the past 10 years, it’s still time to go and check those shooting lanes making sure there isn’t any new growth in them and make sure no trees have come down on any major runways, creating a natural road block. When trimming shooting lanes this time of year make sure you cut out branches lower than you need because when the leaves start dropping those branches will rise with less weight on them. The last thing you want in November is a leafless branch blocking vitals on a shot that would have been open in October. Lastly, but probably the most important and overlooked thing when getting stands ready is your entrance and exit path. Taking a few extra minute to clear these out can make a big difference in success. Clearing out these trails makes for less noise and can cut down on scent as well.

Last Updated: August 24th, 2013