It’s hot! With recent heat indexes soaring near triple digits in much of the country, that last thing on your mind might be the fall deer hunting seasons. Preparing for them shouldn’t be, however. Regardless of the heat and humidity, if you expect to have success this fall, then you’d better get busy checking off boxes now.
Trail Cameras
As each day finds bucks’ antlers adding more inches, setting up and placing trail cameras is important if you want to know what kinds of bucks you have running around. They will also let you know where they are – and are not – frequenting.
Water sources are always good places to set up a camera or two. Also look for well-used trails and set one up wherever you find one, especially if you find an area where more than one trail come together.
Avoid putting them in areas that will cause you to be too intrusive in order to check them. You don’t want to spook deer or allow them to pattern you before the season starts. Of course, if you are running cell cams, then this is not a concern.
Scouting
Scouting doesn’t start as the season draws near; it should be a continuous process throughout the year. Scouting in the summer is as good as any. It allows you to identify areas, travel routes and feeding areas that deer are using when there is no hunting pressure, which can be invaluable for those first early season sits.
It also enables you to see how many, and what types of bucks, you have hanging around. Often, they are in bachelor groups this time of year, making getting an eye on them easier.
There is no need to go deep all the time on your summer scouting trips. A lot of the time, you can spot bachelor groups of bucks and other deer feeding in crop fields from the road. Or consider parking and walking a short distance to a fencerow, hill, or other easy to get to spot where you can glass the area without tromping through the woods.
You’ll be surprised what a little scouting can do that trail cameras can’t. You’ll see well-worn trails, old rubs and scrapes, and bedding and feeding areas that cameras can’t find.
Treestand Preparation and Placement
We all hate it, and a lot of people put it off until closer to the opener, but putting your treestands up and preparing them now is a good idea.
There are valid points in wanting to wait until closer to season to hang stands. Deer patterns can change between summer and fall, requiring you to move a stand or two after putting them up, but overall, where you place your stands now will still be the right decision come fall. You don’t want to wait until season approaches to start hanging stands.
If you have properly done your scouting and studied your trail cameras, you should already know where you need to hang them.
Sure, it may require torturous hikes through standing crop fields to hang them now versus later, but the extra work now will not only make you more prepared come fall, but will allow you to leave the area less disturbed as the season approaches.
Hanging stands, and all of the trimming, etc. that goes along with it takes a ton of time. Doing it now may be hot and sweaty work, but it’ll be worth it come fall.
For those of you hunting out of saddles, the same prep work applies. Trim the branches and lanes now, so your hunts go as smoothly as possible this fall.
In addition to hanging stands and trimming shooting lanes, think a bit deeper. Clearing brush, weed-eating or weed-killing entry and exit trails will make getting to and from your stands a lot quieter. Obviously, this isn’t necessary for stands on field edges and the like, but for those hung in the timber, think about getting rid of as much of the debris as you can along the trail in order to make those calm morning entries as quiet as possible.
Food Plots
That’s right, depending on what you intend to plant, now is the time to plant food plots if they are on your chore list.
A wide variety of crops can be planted this time of year. Beets, oats, tubers, alfalfa and greens like brassicas are all best when planted in the summer heat. They are heat and drought resistant and come up in time to coincide with when you plan to be hunting over them.
Shoot Your Bow!
It should seem obvious, but I know a lot of guys who do everything else, yet neglect the most important part. You don’t want to be playing catch-up a few weeks before season. Yes, it is somewhat like riding a bicycle to pick up your bow and shoot kill shots at 20 yards and under. To become consistently deadly at longer distances takes practice and a bit more dedication than that. Make sure archery practice is part of your daily summer routine as we turn the corner towards the fall season.
Conclusion
There really is no off-season when it comes to serious deer hunting. In fact, if you do it right, there is a lot more work to be done now than once it’s time to be out hunting. So don’t let summer get away before knocking out the chores mentioned above.
