It’s hot out, scratch that, it’s very hot out. Though it’s never a bad time to be sitting on the lake sipping an ice cold Busch Latte, the whitetail hunting season is coming upon us soon and we can’t help ourselves from spending time in the whitetail woods. By this time most food plots have been planted and though our wives think we’re simply searching for excuses to get out in the woods, there are a few things we like to focus on for whitetail prep during this time of the summer; stands, water & trails.
The first thing we focus on is setting new stands based on last year’s knowledge. Are all of our stands in the right location? Do we need to move any or add any new stands? Making sure that all our stands are safe and good to go for the season is also a necessity. The last thing you want is to fall out of the tree on the first day of the season! Outside of this, we have already planted our early season food plots and our late season food plots will come in August. The purpose for spreading out these food plots is to make sure the whitetails always have food year-round, versus mowing it all down before the winter hits.
The next thing we focus on is do the whitetails have enough water that is easy to access. Meaning, on those hot days they can get to water within a few hundred yards or less. The closer it is for them on those 100-degree days, the better. This does not mean you have to go rent equipment to dig a large pond, you can simply head over to your local fleet farm to pick up a plastic cow watering pond, earth pond, big water tote or something that you can dig in to fill up with water for them. We focus on placing these in transition areas, next to food sources or next to bedding for them, making sure they always have easy access to water. If you have access to a ranger or four-wheeler or can get your truck back to it, you can take an old seed container and fill it up with water to go fill the water holes up if rain is lacking like it is here for us in Minnesota.
Lastly, we are always checking in on cleaning up the forest floor to make sure it is easy for the deer to move throughout the whitetail woods. You can also move trees to make it, so the deer use certain trails to give you a better chance at those big deer you’ve been chasing over the years. Along with creating good bedding habitat by hinge cutting trees that are far enough away from your stand so you can get in and out of the stand without spooking them.
If you have high quality food, water & bedding year-round for the deer you will continue to have opportunities to harvest these incredible creatures once season comes!
- Jorgen Dahl // Co-Owner + Team RB
