These hot humid days of Summer are the days I have waited for since those bitter cold days of last January. However, this past beautiful July weekend, I was not out on the water fishing or relaxing up North enjoying the weather as many people were. Instead for me, the hot grueling dog days of July & August is when my work in the woods begins for me as I really shift gears to my true passion of hunting whitetail deer. It seems as every year passes, this passion of mine grows and eats up more and more of my time. I pretty much have whitetails on the brain, 365 days a year now. Along with that my fishing season has become shorter and shorter which is different, but ok by me. I spent pretty much the whole day down at the “Honey Hole” last Saturday. I went down to this MN farm to get that property ready for the upcoming archery season. The trail camera pictures of the deer on this report are from last year and we did not hear of this deer being harvested. If this is the case, he is #1 on our hit list on this farm. I had encountered him one time last year and decided to pass on him @ 12 yards broadside in mid October. Stacie and I sure hope he made it through. If given the chance at him again this year, he will not be so "LUCKY". Only time will tell if he made it as I just put out a camera in the same area and he was not camera shy last year.
I made the trip down there solo as my wife Stacie was back home in SD for a bridal shower. My day began as I had washed my clothes in scent free soap the night prior and went through my pre hunt ritual of showering etc. before hitting the road at 8 am which would put me down on the farm by 10 am giving the deer some time to bed down. It was a perfect day to do this deer season prep work as a strong NW wind was howling @ 25 mph to not only keep my scent out of the bedding area but to also muffle any noise I might make. After getting dressed and spraying down, I spent the entire day clearing shooting lanes, moving stands, hanging new sets, putting out a trail camera and replenishing a couple of mineral lick sites. The mineral licks I started down there 2 Summers ago, are really starting to take off. I noticed they were really starting to hammer one pretty good last year as I had my trail camera set up over one. Well, I went back this Spring and dumped another bag of Hunter Specialties Vita Rack 26 mineral supplement to help replenish some essential minerals to the fawning does and help the bucks after the rigors of last years rut and Winter. I was quite surprised when I walked up on this particular mineral lick this past Saturday as the deer really pounded it in the last 3 months. The basically ate the ground and dirt aw ay and created a good sized crater in the ground as shown here in a few pictures. The other mineral site was also hit pretty decent but not compared to the crater. Well, I freshened both of these mineral sites up with Evolved Habitats Black Magic Deer Cane and hung my camera over the crater again. As always when doing this preseason work, time flew by and the next ting you know it was 6:30 pm and it was far past the time for me to get out of there. 
So by the time I stopped to eat and got back home it was past 9 pm and there would be no rest for the wicked as the crew (Brad, Craig D and Dean) and I were headed down to Buffalo County to do it all over again on Sunday. So after a very long day on Saturday I got home and re packed the truck with more stands, trail cameras, powerade, clothes, waters, etc so I could be @ Deans house by 7 am to head to WI. As always, it was great getting together with this group of guys as we all share a deep passion for chasing deer with our bows and I’m looking forward to chasing deer with them all this Fall along with Ricco from the site here. It was a lot warmer on Sunday and definitely a lot more hills down there. We repeated pretty much exactly what I had done the day previous in MN as we set out trail cameras, hung stands, cleared shooting lanes, put out a few mineral licks in this whitetail mystic Mecca. Words definitely can’t describe how excited and how much anticipation I have for hunting this world wide known area of Buffalo County. To top things off, this entire area is absolutely beautiful to the eye. I can’t imagine how much better it will be with the Fall colors showing and monster whitetail’s running recklessly abound come the end of October and into the beginning of November.
Well that about wraps up this last weekends chores and know I need to start planning for the upcoming weeks duties of starting to tear up new food plot ground up at the families “Ranch” North of McGregor and replant some existing plots from the past few years. This coming weekend I will be up there doing some clearing and spraying of the plots to get them ready to till and plant the following week. I will also be checking shooting lanes and hanging hopefully one ladder stand for a morning bow hunt. The time is here, doing some of this hard work in the preseason can pay HUGE dividends come later in the Fall. So make sure you get out now and clear those shooting lanes, hang some stands, put out some minerals, put out trail cameras and start thinking exactly how you are going to get the upper hand and put the squeeze on that big boy that has been taunting you in your dreams since last season. 
Hang on, this Fall is going to be a wild ride here @ iDoHunting.com. 
**CLICK ON PICTURES TO ENLARGE**
Great Report Rob! I think we put out 5 stands, and we have 7 camera’s out now. It doesn’t sound like alot – but when you put into perspective that the property is 600 acres, climbing the bluffs and hills, come monday morning my body hurt just a little. Bring on Opening Day
Great weekend recap Rob!
Now is the time to put the finishing touches on your stand locations and leverage the use of trail cameras. The season is right around the corner and you don’t want to be pushing deer off your property a week or two before you hunt it.
Trail cameras are such a valuable hunting tool and can help a hunter in so many ways such as determining deer travel patterns and identifying which bucks are in your area.
Someone recently asked me how many deer stands I have out. Well, I had to stop and think about it. After recounting a few times, I finally answered 39. They then asked me how on earth was I was going to be able to hunt all those stands in one fall. I told them I have no intension of hunting over half of those stands. The reason they are there is “just in case” I see a shooter in that area or pick them up on a trail camera. I want to be prepared and keep the woods as clean as possible during the hunting season.
Thanks guys. You are right and very good point Brad. So many people wait until the last minute to do these things when it is more convenient and cooler out. These mature bucks do not withstand any disturbance on their core area especially when they are close to shedding that velvet. Getting in now and making as little impact as possible by eliminating as much scent and picking windy or rainy days, those mature bucks and does will have forgotten all about it by the time season rolls around. I tend to think it is all the little things I do, that make me successful in the woods and this is just the start of it.
My sleepless wreckless nights started in again last Monday. I hope they don’t stay until opener.
good read rob and good luck guys hope all your hard”work” pays off
now where are those buffalo county stands i need to know so i can be there while you guys are at the ido fishing gtg sept 16-20
NIce job and great read Rob
Lip:
This is an interesting read for me. I’ve got a fair amount of deer hunting experience with shotgun and bow. However, because I’m not as much a student of the game like you and Brad, and I obviously am not as passionate about it like you both are, I’m learning with each sentence you guys write!
Here’s a question…….how late is too late as far as going in and setting up stands? I’m sure it’s not a date on a calendar, or a hard/fast rule, but when do you start to feel uncomfortable in terms of being too close to the season opener when changing up the area?
Joel
Joel,
I know one landowner in Buffalo County doesn’t go into the woods after June 1st. For myself, I will finish some stands in Minnesota this weekend, then stay out of the hunting area until opening weekend or later. I will position trail camera’s on the outter boundaries of the travel corridors to take an inventory of the deer in that given area. I’ve learned to check camera’s once a week, typically during the midday (12:00) noon – most of the pictures on the trail camera’s are early morning and late evening. This year, I will have multiple camera’s out on one trail, I want to see which route the deer are traveling during pre and post daylight periods. This is one of the Bucks that is on the HIT LIST!
Great read Lip. Put out a stand last weekend with my brother and a couple mineral licks! In a couple of weeks will put out the ground blinds on the fields edge! It’s getting closer! Every weekend is booked from now until the opener!
Thanks for the advice, esp. the part about setting up the trail cams on the boundaries of your hunting areas, rather than at a stand location or what-not. Not sure if I’ll be able to get all of my stands up and ready this weekend or next, but I’ll be doing my darndest. I’ve got a ladder stand or two to setup on some ag-field edges, which are much less intrusive areas to get in and out of. Interesting how careful all you deer guys are about your hunting land.
I spooked two decent bucks out of our land last week while weed-whipping a foodplot. They actually held tight the whole time I was working down there, and didn’t move at all. When I drove the wheeler into the garage, I saw them crossing the road and leaving our property. Guess they’d just had enough of the racket? Couldn’t see if they were shooters or not, but they were good deer. Probably just larger 2.5 yr. olds.
So when is seriously the last weekend you’d be comfortable out there working on stuff?
Joel
It depends on the stand location. All day sits or “rut stands” should be done ASAP. If it’s an evening only stand (like on a field edge), you can get away with putting it up a week before the season starts (the sooner the better). Like others mentioned above, pick a windy/rainy day and go in there when you don’t expect the deer to be around.
Joel, for me in the beginning of the season I would say at least 30 days but I prefer 45. This sometimes might depend on stand location (perimeter or deep core areas). Mature deer (does & bucks ) are a little more tolerable of things right now as they have not been really hassled much lately (depending on shed hunting pressure it may have been a long time). So they are pretty relaxed in their surrounding, thus seeing bucks out in daylight hours like we do in July & August. Doing it 30 or 45 days in advanced really gives these bucks to settle back into their pattern they prefer. Doing it on windy or rainy days like I had last weekend really helps cover a lot of noise and if you pick the right wind keeps your scent from disturbing their bedding areas on most stand locations.
I still need to make some impact on a few of my properties as I’m putting food plots in, but I’m still about 47 days away from archery season there. Plus the food will also bring them in and is usually a little ways from their bedding area. At food Sources they accept putting up with a little more disturbances then they do at their core bedding areas. Remember even when we think we have not been busted, we most likely have been. Your scent lingers in the woods for days after you leave. Even though we did not see a deer and they might have not seen us (not likely)they still know we were there by what we leave behind.
I guess in my mind the earlier the safer you are. You have to remember these mature bucks are usually on their A game and have been outwitting us for a few years. They are not dumb, although once in awhile it seems like it during that magical time. When a mature deer is hard horned they really do not put up with much disturbance or something that seems out of place. They know that place you call your hunting property just like you know your bedroom. Remember, overall they have been winning the Chess match and have beaten you more times then you know.