Bowhunting prep work?

How early do you guys trim shooting lanes, change tree stand straps ect? Thanks in advance.

I usually do my trimming from spring turkey season till now. The earlier the better so there is no drastic changes right before season. I hunt out of ground blinds so no help on straps, but I would change them once a year at least. No reason to chance that. I fill my feeder full 2 weeks before bow season and don't go back till season starts. (That is provided I have good equipment)

I've always thought that if you have your setups ready to hunt by the beginning of September you are fine. If a spot requires some serious tree/brush clearing you may want to have that done earlier, but if it's just a few limbs and a small amount of brush that you'll be taking out then one month before the season opener has always been fine for me. It doesn't take long for the deer to find a new feeder or one that you just started feeding from, so one month before the opener should be more than enough time to get them coming in. Of course, there's no reason not to have all this done before that, either.

I want to be done by early Sept. If everything is in place by then and the feeders are full the deer will be used to your new pop up, etc and they won't think 2x about it.

dont forget to plan out you path to the stand; remove anything that makes noise, crap to trip on, etc. Helps in the dark...

I have been trimming up already. I will do one last finally walk through before dove season then I stay out of the area.

Make sure and check some of those limbs a few weeks before the season. Last year I trimmed both of my treestands earlier in the summer and found out opening morning some limbs had grown back quite a bit. All my stands and feeders are already up. I'll put out a pop up about a month before the season starts so I have a bad weather stand.

Anytime from now through the end of August. And definitely DO change out those nylon straps on your ladders and stands. I put new ones on and then cut the old ones off with my knife and I am always amazed at how rotten they are after just one season.

Also - make sure you have your hunter safety equipment in place. I had my then 12 year old son fall out of a hang on tree stand a few years ago and his safety vest saved his life. He got stung by a wasp and panicked and stepped off the tree stand. He said he dropped about down to his waist to the bottom of the tree stand and then swung over to the ladder sticks and climbed back up and resumed his hunt. We hang our stands high (25-30') so it would not have been a good thing for him to fall to the ground.

Watch out for poison ivy this time of year too when trimming. I got into that last year.

When you cut limbs for shooting lanes. Paint the end, that will not allow new growth and you will not be kicking yourself later.

When I set up a stand, whether it be a old spot or new spot, I try to place it where I have to do very little or no trimming at all.

I'm the same way. I even set up my tree stands so that my main shooting lane is on my left side. Since I shoot right handed, I never even have to stand up to shoot. The less movement the better.

Same here. Been a long time since I had to stand up for a deer. And when I did for that one, he slipped in from behind me and came up to my right. Had one small hole to shoot thru, but still had to stand and turn without being noticed. It was a 13 yd shot and my biggest deer to date.