Good things come to those that wait, but that does not necessarily equate to whitetail hunting. For example, put off tweaking your ambush site, and it could leave you in a pickle when the season arrives, and your hide lacks allure for deer. Take a weekend or two, and fine-tune your whitetail ambush now.
If you have procrastinated on setting up an ambush site, that is job one. Hanging treestands, placing a permanent blind, or at the very least, trimming out a location to stake a future ground blind needs to be completed first. These chores create a disturbance, and wildlife will sense your presence due to the sweat equity. Do not worry. By getting the work done in summer, wildlife will have weeks to forget about your ruckus. To minimize the disturbance further, coordinate your chore when farmers are using tractors on nearby fields or engaged in livestock duties.
BE THE MAINTENANCE MAN
Some of you have stands and blinds already out, and in that case, safety and maintenance become priority one. Rodents, like squirrels, love chewing on anything soft, and that means treestand straps, or ladder straps could have been targeted. Check them with purpose.
Most treestands are constructed of welded metal and permanent stands include welded connections. Steel especially sees the effects of years of outside deterioration, but even aluminum can crack from significant use and abuse. Inspect all welded joints and seams for signs of cracking and rusting. As easily as metal rusts, wood can rot, and your permanent blind may have wooden steps or framework. Inspect all wood for soundness to ensure the structure is safe to use.
Now continue the same thorough inspection of your steps, ladders and climbing sticks. Lastly, if you still utilize screw-in steps, check to make sure they have not loosened. It would be best to remove them and utilize ladder sections or climbing sticks. Throughout any ascensions, utilize all approved climbing and safety harnesses.
Keeping with the theme of time invested now also equals more hunting time in the fall, shaping up the area.
BECOME A LANDSCAPER
Summer allows you to view the forest in its thickest wardrobe. With vegetation in full foliage, you can clearly see the amount of trimming that needs to be undertaken for the cleanest shooting lanes. You also have the best view of how much cover to leave as camouflage for your stand or blind. As you clip, trim, and saw, be prudent. You do not want to remove too much as tree limbs will not regrow before fall. Leave enough to cloak your outline in a treestand and to shade any windows in your blinds. Mother Nature makes the best camouflage so utilize anything that is not a shot spoiler.
Summer is also a suitable time to clear pathways to redirect deer right past your ambush site. Deer prefer to take the path of least resistance. Use a pruner, mower, or even a weed eater to whack out a winding path past your ambush site. In brushy patches, you will need to clip limbs so deer can easily see an open path ahead. In grassy areas, mowing or weed eating creates a Yellow Brick Road.
Deer will soon discover and follow any new trails you make. And while you are at it, clear all trails you use to access your stands. Clean pathways allow you to bring in gear, like decoys, without making extra noise. Removing limbs and branches also removes foliage that can brush against you, possibly leaving a trace of scent that danger is near.
BE A PARTY INVITER
You do not want to be alone at your ambush site so invite deer with incentives. Create reasons for deer to linger at your stand or blind site. Consider adding a mock scrape or a rub post in the summer months. It is never too early to clear an area out for bucks to investigate. The scent of fresh earth attracts whitetails and just before season you can add a scent dripper, like the popular Wildlife Research Center Magnum Dripper, to the scrape.
To add a rubbing location, visit your local lumber yard and purchase a cedar fence post. Dig a hole two to three feet deep and tamp in the post. Research shows that bucks rub on the most aromatic trees in their home area. Bucks will be attracted to the scent of the post and begin rubbing it to mark their territory. Throughout the rut, they may step up to the post simply to reveal aggression pent up from surging testosterone. Regardless of the reason for a buck to visit a rub post, it will make them pause and give you time for a clean shot.
BE A PHOTOGRAPHER
Finally, get those cameras out. They are not doing you any good sitting in your storage space. Whitetails begin solid patterns in the summer as food options begin maturing. These summer patterns exist into early fall for an early-season game plan. Mark your trail camera locations on your HuntStand hunting app to help you with pattern planning as images emerge. Putting up trail cameras in the summer and monitoring them into the fall gives you valuable insight on the movement of deer, and other wildlife species. You will have evidence of bucks living on a hunting property and verification on whether you may need to adjust an ambush setup due to agriculture rotations or habitat alterations.
As a word of caution, after you put up your cameras, curb your enthusiasm to check them often if you do not use cellular models. Too many trips to a camera can tip off a mature buck you are invading its home. Load your cameras with long-lasting lithium batteries and large SD storage cards for plenty of memory. Check them every other week until you confirm a pattern.
Procrastination is a faulty trait of all humans. This summer, procrastinate a weekend of golf and tweak your whitetail setup. The payoff could result in inches of memories.
SIDEBAR: THE CELLULAR ADVANTAGE
Cellular trail cameras add an additional expense in operation with wireless plans. Despite this added expense, you need to consider the actual savings you achieve. Models, like the Stealth Fusion X wireless cameras offer many advantages. And forget about the hassles of setup. A quick scan QR setup feature ensures your cameras are up and operating without adding in tons of data on your behalf. So, what can a cellular camera give you in additional savings?
Out of the gate, cellular cameras are time-saving devices that save you a trip to your hunting property to pull cards. With fuel prices rising because of out-of-control inflation, cellular cameras also save you money on filling your hunting vehicle with fuel to repeatedly visit a property. Add in the fact that cellular cameras are less intrusive than sneaking into cover and possibly spooking game. Finally, look at cellular cameras as the hunting partner you never had. They work 24/7 without complaining.
The Stealth Fusion X Wireless cameras operate on both AT&T and Version plans making them functional across whitetail country. Get more information at Stealth Cam, www.stealthcam.com
