Hang a stand on a field edge that gives you a good viewpoint, just for the sole purpose of glassing before the season? My reason for asking is the trail cam pics I got off my card yesterday were off the edge of a very large bean field, with some wooded points running out into it. A lot of bucks were showing up for the camera both during daylight and after dark. My thought was to set up my Lone Wolf stand and sticks a good distance away from my camera's and other areas I think deer may be entering the field, while also being in position to slip out undetected, and prepare for it like I was going to be hunting (except with a video camera).
I've done it quite a bit. I like to see if I can find a feeding pattern of a decent buck and hope it holds on until hunting season opens. It's nice that the Wi season opens in Sept. because there is a good chance the bucks are still in their bachelor groups.
Really, it all depends on crop rotation on the property that I hunt. The last few years, the farmer has planted corn right up to the edge of the woods making glassing a bit difficult.
Done it a couple times this year. Seen some does and fawns and one small buck while I was there. Even had the video cam with me.
I do the slacker version, since I live on a hill I can see most of the fields I hunt on and near I just take the binos and sit out on the porch. Saw 2 little guys tonight.
Take the lazy man's way out and buy a plot watcher camera....takes time lapse videos for about a week period, records a pic every 5 or 10 seconds during daylight and rolls it into a video. Set it up with a good vantage point, and go check once a week to monitor an entire field...see where bucks are entering, feeding, exiting, what times, and just as importantly when they aren't there. Trail Cams cover a tiny area, this one cam alone can cover a very large field.
