Mid-July, What are you doing?

[Goose]

Well its mid-July already and I was wondering what everyone was doing to get ready for the upcoming season?
 
We have got all our stands hung from scouting trips this past spring. We will put up a couple more after we use the ground blind and spotting scope to figure things out.
 
We are running our scouting cameras as well and checking them weekly. We are practicing scent control  by wearing knee high rubber boots,gloves,and spraying down whenever checking or handling the cameras.
 
We will also be putting in our cool season plots within the next couple of weeks depending on the weather.
 
At the end of July my lovely wife will be switching from regular laundry detergent to Scent Killers laundry detergent on all of our clothes,towels,and wash cloths.
 
 
 
 
 
 

[OHhunter]

I've got a few stands hung, plan on waiting to put up the rest closer  to season.  I need to go out and do a little pruning.   The camera is out, will probably move it to a new location in a week or two.  
 
Been shooting my bow about every other day, and watching the bean & clover fields a few evenings a week.  Running and hiking several times a week trying to stay in decent shape for the season. 
 
We' ll start washing everything including myself in scent killer soaps and detergents towards the end of August.

[DeanoZ]

OK guys I gotta ask....why wash EVERYTHING, including yourselves in scent free soaps and detergent as early as August?  Is it just because of the sheer amount of time your in the woods even though your not hunting?  I get washing your hunting duds and selves prior to a hunt...but in Aug?

[69Viking]

Wow Goose, you are prepared, you even got the wife in on the act LOL!

I have limited access to the property I hunt during the offseason so I'm not as far along as you are. We are looking at getting to the property in the next few weeks, our bow season down here doesn't start until mid October so we still have time.

On my next trip to camp I'm going to do some scouting and place some cameras out and try to get an idea of where I might setup for bow season. All our stand sites for gun season are pretty permanent so we don't have much to do in that area. We'll definitely I.D. some trees for our climbing stands during bow season based on our scouting observations. About the end of August to early September we'll plant the fall food plots.

This year will be my second year hunting with a crossbow in Alabama and first year hunting with a bow in Florida so my main focus right now is to find places to practice since I live in town and can't practice in my yard.

Probably the most work I've done recently though is research information on food plots. Where we hunt during gun season we all have our "favorite" stands that look out over 2-3 small food plots and every year we disc them in the fall and plant annuals that die out and then we have to disc and replant the following year. At my "favorite" stand I'm taking a more active role in managing the two food plots we have and my goal is to plant a mix of perennials in each that will grow year round in our southern climate. With the right mixture of clover, chicory, and brassicas I think we can put together a couple of nice plots that we don't have to disc and replant every year. We'll just need to mow and keep the weeds in check. If I plan it right we'll just need to broadcast the brassicas to grow in the fall and let the clover and chicory take over the rest of the year. I'm gathering information from places like Biologic, Pennington Seed, and Whitetail Institute and then I'm going to work with my local feed store to make my own blends that mimic what the big companies sell you premixed in a bag for twice the price. If my experiment works I'd be willing to bet some of the other guys will try the same with their "favorite" stand sites. I never thought I'd get this into it but the more I do the more I enjoy the overall experience of hunting! It sure seems like a long 3 months before my season starts, I can't wait!

[passin through]

Sweating a lot mainly[:D]

Other than that we have hung all the stands we are going to and mainly just running game cameras.  Waiting on planting time which will come for us in late August early september and sharpening saws to cut firewood for the camp...one box stand to build for a buddy

[gunther89]

I got a new stand hung and all the shooting lanes cut and ready to go.  Also got all the camera's out and am shooting the bow as well.  Also I am doing some velvet footage this year.

[Goose]

ORIGINAL: DeanoZ

OK guys I gotta ask....why wash EVERYTHING, including yourselves in scent free soaps and detergent as early as August?  Is it just because of the sheer amount of time your in the woods even though your not hunting?  I get washing your hunting duds and selves prior to a hunt...but in Aug?

Yes 69viking, I have a great wife!!!

The reason I am doing this is because too me, what good does it do ya to wash up before a hunt,grab a towel that is not washed in scent free soap, then put clothes on that are not washed in scent free soap, only to get to your hunting spot and change into your scent free hunting clothes?
By starting in August a good majority of the clothes,towels, and wash cloths have been washed at least once in scent free soap.
Then when you take a shower before a hunt you'll be washing yourself in scent free soap, using a scent free towel, putting on scent free street clothes, and then changing into scent free hunting clothes.

Obsessive compulsive? Yeah I know....[:)]


Oh yeah....our season in WI opens Sept. 12th, so its not too far away!

[DeanoZ]

ORIGINAL: Goose

ORIGINAL: DeanoZ

OK guys I gotta ask....why wash EVERYTHING, including yourselves in scent free soaps and detergent as early as August?  Is it just because of the sheer amount of time your in the woods even though your not hunting?  I get washing your hunting duds and selves prior to a hunt...but in Aug?

Yes 69viking, I have a great wife!!!

The reason I am doing this is because too me, what good does it do ya to wash up before a hunt,grab a towel that is not washed in scent free soap, then put clothes on that are not washed in scent free soap, only to get to your hunting spot and change into your scent free hunting clothes?
By starting in August a good majority of the clothes,towels, and wash cloths have been washed at least once in scent free soap.
Then when you take a shower before a hunt you'll be washing yourself in scent free soap, using a scent free towel, putting on scent free street clothes, and then changing into scent free hunting clothes.

Obsessive compulsive? Yeah I know....[:)]


Oh yeah....our season in WI opens Sept. 12th, so its not too far away!

Ok gotcha...not OCD at all..makes sense now that I have the frame of reference.  I have a set of standard sweats that I wear in the car on my way to my hunting spot, and they get thrown in with my hunting stuff and washed in scent eliminating detergent the day before my hunts.  The towels I have not done, but that does make sense and I'll start adding that to the list as well...thanks for the explanation!

[ranwin33]

Practicing, practicing, practicing with my bow.

[OHhunter]

ORIGINAL: DeanoZ

ORIGINAL: Goose

ORIGINAL: DeanoZ

OK guys I gotta ask....why wash EVERYTHING, including yourselves in scent free soaps and detergent as early as August?  Is it just because of the sheer amount of time your in the woods even though your not hunting?  I get washing your hunting duds and selves prior to a hunt...but in Aug?

Yes 69viking, I have a great wife!!!

The reason I am doing this is because too me, what good does it do ya to wash up before a hunt,grab a towel that is not washed in scent free soap, then put clothes on that are not washed in scent free soap, only to get to your hunting spot and change into your scent free hunting clothes?
By starting in August a good majority of the clothes,towels, and wash cloths have been washed at least once in scent free soap.
Then when you take a shower before a hunt you'll be washing yourself in scent free soap, using a scent free towel, putting on scent free street clothes, and then changing into scent free hunting clothes.

Obsessive compulsive? Yeah I know....[:)]


Oh yeah....our season in WI opens Sept. 12th, so its not too far away!

Ok gotcha...not OCD at all..makes sense now that I have the frame of reference.  I have a set of standard sweats that I wear in the car on my way to my hunting spot, and they get thrown in with my hunting stuff and washed in scent eliminating detergent the day before my hunts.  The towels I have not done, but that does make sense and I'll start adding that to the list as well...thanks for the explanation!

 
Same line of thinking here, but would like to add that starting before season with the scent free showers and deodorant helps to get all the scent from regular soaps, shampoos, and deodorant out your system. 
 
Before I started this, I could take a scent free shower before a hunt but if I started sweating I could smell the shampoo I used on the days I wasn't hunting.  Once I started going totally scent free well before the season I have had no issues.