When is the best time to hang a Tree Stand?

An often asked question is when is the best time to hang a tree stand for whitetail hunting? 

The best time I have found is late July early August in the mid afternoon or late morning when they are bedded down.by doing it at this time of day you give the area and the deer time to relax if they get rattled as your walking in to complete your current project. When it gets to the awesome wonderful day some call opening day your smell and any other smell will be long gone before you get set up to harvest that trophy you been stalking since spring. While there take notes check out aerial maps and windage(this will be very important come hunting season). Make sure your stand is facing accordingly. One of the best tools I use is what I call an entrance strategy....... which simply means look for a easier and quieter back door to get to your stand with out the slightest detection. Also remember this will be your entrance and exit during the season.

The day that you set a side to hang your stand(s) make sure you have a plan. I heard an old timer tell me once "plan your hunt and hunt your plan" make sure your prepared which means having a survival kit and all the tools necessary and ready a head of time. here are a few ideas of tools you might need...Saw, rope, windage tool, rake, range finder(optional), bow hanger(unless your on public land), water.Completely check all your equipment( bolts, screws, ropes, straps, seats, ladder joints etc). It would be a bad idea to just hang it with out going over your equipment with a safety check. make sure that you hang everything that you will need hung that day because you don't want to continue to go in and out of the area more than you have to. You really shouldn't go back in there unless your checking game cameras or hunting on opening day."To much smell in the woods makes the hunt no good" The last but most important tip I can give you is that you WEAR YOUR SAFETY HARNESS WHEN HANGING YOUR STAND AND WHEN YOU HUNT!!!!!! 

We want you to have a safe and successful hunt regardless of when you hang your stands in July or August. Be safe Good Hunting and God Bless!!!!!

 Written by David L. March sr.
Photos curtisy of 3LM Productions

My first time in a tree stand----Taelour's tell

My first time in a tree stand 

  This was my first actual time hunting in a tree stand, Although it wasn't a long time in the stand it still was a great experiance. I plan on doing a lot more of that this coming season. I thought it was going to be scary, and that I was going to fall out of the stand, but it was really fun and I want to do it again. I am going to rewind a bit now to the start of the day to when I was in the ground blind about a half hour before I went to meet up with my dad David March. I was in an open field on a well used trail by my self in an Ameristep Blind trying it out, and my dad had just poured some Shake N Bait out about twenty yards from where I was. Twenty minutes has past and I was beginning to get cold and when I was about to give up on this area I heard some ratteling and moving going on behind me, so as I went to grab my bow the noises stoped and was gone. I was starting to get mad and frustrated but I didn't let that stop me from having a great time hunting in the woods in my first set up by myself. For the first time I was hunting with out my dad sitting close by( thank God for cell phones).

 so about ten minutes went by of me waiting and calling and nothing happend so I texted my dad and said I'm done and its cold so I'm about to pack up and come towards you, so I got everything packed up and ready to go. As I was walking down the trail and I heard something take off as if I had startled it and it ran away, so I kept walking and as I came around this corner two guys was walking along side each other talking loudly and I said to my self "there goes my chances of getting one today" i could hear my dad say" That's public land hunting for ya". So when I finally got to my dads stand he whisperd down to me " you almost just got shot, I thought you where a deer coming this way" he was joking of coarse. As he got down he said " get in and start climbing"; dad likes the hands on teaching methods. Of coarse he let me use his harness with some adjusting. I was happy and scared at the same time. Now I bring you back to where we first started. As I was climbing up I noticed I was very high so it seemed (15ft) according to my dad. So I locked the stand into the tree and turned and sat down and waited, the air was a little more colder in the stand than in the ground blind While in the stand a couple of times I thought I was going to fall because I was shaking so much. Even though I was nervous I learned alot in my time in the woods, and there is still so much to learn. I learn so much when ever I'm out with my dad. Rather it be survival things in the woods or everyday moral and ethicle things. As a female hunter I encourage fathers to spend time with there daughters rather hunting, fishing, walking anything like that. The outdoors are a great place to explore and connect. Not just for fathers and daughters but families all together. My dad is a serious advocate for the outdoors and involving friends and family in the outdoors. I for one am glad he shares his passion with me and others. My sister and brother have been apart of the outdoors in so many ways and have learned the benifits both food and morally of being in the outdoors. In the words of my dad " Being in the outdoors always brings you closer to God",

I look forward to this up coming hunting season. There will be a lot of time in the blind and in a tree stand. I wonder if Gorilla makes a pink Mossy Oak camo climber?

Journal entry for Jay Alspaugh first year bow hunter Pt.2

Journal entry for Jay Alspaugh first year bow hunter

  I did the next best thing, sent a broadhead into my target bag. I then found out that my target was stuffed with strips of cloth. I then found out I had to get some new parts for the mechanical broadhead. It was a learning experience for me and now I know the size of the hole it will make. I felt like I was ready to go hunting, I had the practice and the equipment. I went a few times early in the season I would ask others the most important question, “How do you know when the rut is in full swing”? The short of the long answer is when you cover yourself in doe urine and a randy buck sniffs you out. That will be my response to anyone who might ask me the same question. Then of course you have to get out into the woods as many times as you can, covered in doe “scent” to figure out for yourself if the rut is now. As a gun hunter we would use cover scent and be as quiet as possible in the woods. With the rut, you are out there smashing antlers together and buzzing a grunt call. Completely different landscape then gun week. I liked the potential interaction and not just sitting still moving only my eyes left to right. After a few weeks and seeing a few deer and taking one shot at doe I probably learned more in those weeks then I will over the next couple of years. The big take away for me that when I was practicing for months in the summer not one time did I shoot with my gloves on or any of my other hunting gear. See the two pictures, I am man enough to admit my mistakes.
Now I am out at the practice range wearing what I think I will have on out in the woods. The bow is not your only piece of equipment you need to work with, you clothing, boots, gloves, hats, bags and knife are all essential components. You need to know how things work and work together in the environment. The 2014-15 hunting season I was extremely blessed with mentors and friends that provided patient guidance and loving correction. I was able to harvest my first buck with a bow in early November. I think my family, friends and mentors were just as excited as I was! I am looking forward to the 2015-16 hunt. This buck put about 60lbs of free range meat in my family’s freezer. My family enjoyed the “wild” meat.

Hunting Season Preparations

While many of us have different rituals and preparations for the coming hunting season I've found these following steps to be very helpful. Although not a self proclaimed know
it all in hunting world. I have done these things for years and it has brought me success. I trust in old school ways and have put my own twist on them. Grand father told me " if you find something that works stick with it... if it ain't broke don't fix it" here are some simple things that I have found to be true and worked for me.

If you shot archery
1) Practice Practice Practice. Find different ways and positions to shoot from. I stand, sit, kneel, crouch and if you have enough room or in an adequate space shoot from your blind. Come up with different scenarios in your mind that happened the season before that could improve your accuracy the up coming season.

2)Heart rate and Breathing control..... Try running if your able to about 20-40 yrds (or at least till the heart is pumping)  then back to the bow stand grab your bow draw then fire. What this does is when your adrenaline is pumping from that giant buck walking into the kill zone you will be able to control your breathing and the obvious shaking from the nerves being stimulated. Do this as much as possible. Remember practice makes perfect.


3) Let's talk cover scent  ........... I try my best to air my clothes out at least once a month. Because although you might have the high dollar scent bag or totes some way some how the smell through out the summer from heat and the humidity gets in there. So what I do is air them out pop them back in the #VacSeal bags with a fresh dirt scent dryer sheet. Then by the time hunting season comes along your clothes and gear are ready to get out there with you on opening day.

4) How about your Health... During the off season one thing I try to do is walk/hike as much as possible. Closer to season i try to put the exact weight of what i usally carry in my back pack. Then as we get closer to season like around end of August I hike with my climber not a long way just enough to exercise and stay comfortable with the weight I carry into the woods. Which brings me to my next point....

5) What goes into your back pack. In my back pack I usally carry a little Bible( there is no other place better to read your word than 20' up a tree.... 20' closer to God) I also make sure i have a first aid kit. Now most people might say this is over kill but I like to bring along a few tools that I might need for a quick bow repair. However i would rather have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it. I alos like to have a little bit of candy( halls, jolly ranchers etc). one of the most important things you can have is a Pee bottle. if you drank coffe that morning or water eventually it's gotta come out. Speaking of water I always ALWAYS have two bottles of water. 1 bottle for drinling and the other bottle for rinsing hands, knives and even after you fielddress your harvest. Which brings me to the next item GEAR. In my pack I bring not 1 but 3 knives including the one I use to fielddress my harvest, The other two are just incase knives(protection, cut rope or what ever) again rather have it and not need it than to have it and not need it. I also pack a lighter, compass, whistle and a reflective item( mirror or polished aluminum) anything for survival. I always make sure my cell phone has a full charge on it. I also carry my side arm( Ruger 9mm). Last but not least I make sure my hunting license and tags are up to date and in a water proof package.

Now this is just my opinion of what to do to prepare for the hunting season. My list continues but I picked out some key elements that would be a great starter for you. One thing that is very important is to create yourself a check list and keep refining that list. If these ideas here seems like something that could help you in your preparation for a succesful hunting season  GREAT. However if not please remember one thing " I would rather have it and not need it than to need it and not have it"
Good luck and God Bless. If you have any questions feel free to comment. Also check out our Youtube channel March's Outdoor Adventures and also our website Click here