Hey, I found a great piece of public land close to me but when I started scouting, its hard to work through the really thick stuff. I'm not how to start finding deer sign and once I do find establish deer trails, bedding areas, I know how to locate a stand. One big question is the development around my stand. Is it a good idea to cut small shooting lanes and trim a lot of foilage to place a stand? I was just wondering how much is a good idea because I really appreciate the public land but without cutting some lanes, hunting seems impossible. How would you guys go about scouting public land new to you? Thanks for any help!
I try never to trim lanes on public land. But then.. the public land around me is EXTREMELY hard hit due to the closeness to a large city. Trimming just leads to sweat and stink.. which leave the woods full of your sweat and stink. Unless you're going to trim in a heavy rain.. look for areas within the woods that allow for short 10-20 yard shooting. I've never not found these and I've hunted areas so think a man can't crawl through. Also.. don't worry so much about height of your stand. Thick areas often have great background cover just 6 or 7 feet up. I've had the drop on many deer from that height. Plus it allows for further shooting much of the time.
