Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting What do you need to do before next opening day?

I got off the central Texas lease, need to find another stand location at East Texas lease, mow, put up stand and feeders, need to rehab frame and box stand I brought back first. Need to put up another hog catching pen too.

Move one stand from down the road to the property camp is on.
Kid is getting married and his wife hunts so I also need to find her a spot to hunt, set up etc.
Normal mowing of the fire lanes/roads

Get permanent insulated boxes up for the wife and kid. Should be fun digging in rock in the driftless region.

Build 2 5x6 box stands
Mow roads
Put in a food plot
Cut shooting lanes through a sumac thicket 15 feet wide and about 300 yards long
Reroof and paint cook shack at lease
Build 2 feeder pens and get feeders in them

Blackheart will be along soon to tell us we ain’t worth a cshit as hunters if we put out feeders and stands.(hint)

I could just load up and take a rifle and get in my existing ladder stands and tag out.
But I will do a lot of things in preparation. I just got a scope back from the manufacturer that failed on initial sight in a few minutes ago. I have brass to load.
We are finishing the inside of a new camp and have alot left to do.
Will trim limbs back along trails. Cut firewood. Plant some plots.
My wife wants to hunt so I will build her a box blind.
I will put a couple of feeders out in August. Put some minerals out soon.

Put out fertilizer and lime on green fields, take down 2 big tripods that we don’t use anymore, put up a new ladder over a new logged area that should be prime next year, fix my pole trimmer so I can trim a couple pine-lined shooting lanes, put up my 21 ft ladder stand by the cabin property, cut and mow briars on some access routes to ladders in the hardwoods. Then there’s two work days at the club tbd. Drink a cold one…

Not be sick prior to, and during hunting season like I was this past yr and I'll be set. Had a lot of ground on public land I wanted to hunt but I was in no shape to be climbing around on mountains so I stuck close to home.

Get hang ons in trees late September. Trees are already marked, ladder sticks on most of them.
Couple practice arrows per day through the summer leading into the season.
Bout it.

I am getting a barrel in 300 H,&H to swap out with a 7mm mag barrel. So I need to get components and work up a load. I am also moving from Amarillo to Los Fresnos so I need to find some hunting down south

Pretty much the same as others.
Put up a couple of stands, hang a couple of feeders. Work weekend at camp. Maybe put in a couple of food plots. Not enough rain last year around planting time to make it worth while. Hopefully next year will be better.

Deep, deep, Deep South Texas

Dispose of this guy! He is tearing up my pens jumping in. He has no brand and all the steers they bring on after deer season and take off just before have been rounded up. Evidently they have tried to catch him an pen him up have not worked. The ranch hand that works the ranch sez' he is a mean mo'fo'.



As near as I can tell that is a South African Zebu Bull rather than a Brahma. Evidently it and a couple cows escaped from a Game Ranch somewhere nearby. I let it walk all last year, and the last Pix I have of him until today was the 11th of November IIRC. I had hoped someone would have done for him, but.......




As such, it is an exotic and can be taken.

Lotta work there. Especially when temps get crazy.


ya!

The doctor prescribes a dose of .300 Weatherby applied subcutaneously.

Actually, I was thinking more like this.....



Double Rifle chambered for the 405 Winchester.



ya!

GWB

Kill that SOB quick GWB, best have help, plenty ice chests and ice

About all I need to do is refresh camera batteries and maybe replace some ratshit straps on my ladder stands.

I've got a pretty long list, but I just retired so time is on my side:

Fertilize my trees (fruit, chestnut and oak) in my deer engagement area
2 food plots for deer, 1 milo plot for doves/quail
Put in 1 or 2 quail feeders
Load development for my 300WM for elk in the fall and Afrika next summer
Put up 1 more stand on my neighbor's place
Usual annual trail maintenance and mowing
Set up my hunting practice shoot lane. I might add a ram silhouette this year at 547yds

Work on some stands..

Got a box i need to put silicon on some of roof screws.

Build a couple more trough feeders.

The #10 sweet feed worked well this season. About the cheapest to feed now. ( $10/50#).

Want to start it earlier in the summer this year.

Late summer - bush hog and glyphosate food plots.

He'll fry up.

Done, as pictured. Had my fill of blind construction in the heat which lasts pretty much until November.

Get my rifle from the closet. Put an extra handful of cartridges in my pocket. Grab my binoculars. That it.

Hanco: Nothing! I am ready.
Just have to wait.
225 days til the Deer/Elk Rifle opener here.
Counting down.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I need to pick a state and make a road trip. Stayed home and hunted local the last two seasons. It’s time to stomp around on some new ground.

Unless I draw out on some earlier doe mule deer and/or doe pronghorn hunts (won't know until Summer out here) I know for sure Me & Son in Law #2 (the Marine) are Booked for cow elk next December. But we both shoot as much as we can all year, so lots of reloading/shooting until then. How well do I remember and "do not miss" those hot/humid days in SE Texas getting stands ready, helping other guys on their leases, phew!

Get at least 40 yrs. younger!

Hip

Hey Hipshoot! Sell me Two Swigs off that bottle that takes those 40yrs off.. one for me, and one for my wife! ha

Rehabbing deer stand. Adding a landing to this one. I always like the little doors, so I could have a full size window, but I’ve grown tired of that as I’ve gotten older. I’m gonna redo stand, put full size door in it. I like 4 foot x 4 foot stands, but have one 6x4 for grandkids. I made landing removable.

Wow Hank, thats some serious Welding you got going on there. Did you do that for a living? Were you a Pipefitter too? I tried to be a welder, and the "Uphill Filet Weld" Test (Lee College, Baytown) looked like grapes hanging off it, ha! I transferred out to another class before I failed and lost my "Early Out" from the Army, ha. I had to sign an agreement that I would go back Active if I failed before my ETS date! I admire anyone that can work metal though. Where is your East Texas deer lease at?

Yes was a Plumber/ Pipefitter/ Welder. Pretty good with backhoes and excavators also. The East Texas lease is in Weirgate, Newton county. Built the frame in 82. It’s been to four different leases through the years. It’s getting a little beat up. It seems like I’m making something all the time.

Built this not long ago



Built this frame for a friend this summer





Rebuilt bush hog about a month ago, son in law had it all jacked up. Skirt torn up, three point hook up was bent

Over the years, I've acquired an assorted selection of rifles & calibers but now have just about everything I need & not a lot of room in the gun safe to add much more. While acquiring the rifles, some of my optics were bought simply because it was a deal & I had a gun that needed one. So I have some great scopes that aren't sitting on the optimum rifle since they were paired in chronological order because of convenience & it was an adequate solution at the time. I'm going to make a project out of pulling a bunch of scopes off, reassigning them to get all them matched up better, zeroed in & performing their best. It's going to force me to spend a lot of time at the range between now and the fall. Don't you just hate that?

I also had an old friend & hunting buddy retire recently so he could help his aging parents around their farm. I want to build a shooting bench & setup a range out there so I can drive out to visit him and we'll have something fun to do. My local public range is limited to 200 yards but out at the farm we could shoot a lot farther than that with a river levee as a backstop. I haven't had much need to shoot long because of the woods I spend all of my time in but it would be fun to stretch out a bit & improve my skills. It would be nice to start shooting some more skeet occasionally. My shotgunning skills have relied more on quantity than quality lately. I absolutely need to spend more time shooting my bow from an elevated stand. I need to practice, practice, practice which translates to a lot of enjoyable spare time.

I still have to get back to my lease in Alabama to moth ball for the summer. But before next season I will need to change the oil in my camp generator Ranger and Foreman ATVs. All I really need to do next October is haul out my two climbers and put them in my trees and get my cabin back up and running.

Before next season I need to be "a friend" of hanco's.... I'm not a shooting house hunter but I'd like to put a frame like you made on my farm. Nice job!

RE bush hog: A quote from my father: "A sledge hammer and a welder are required tools to maintain a bush hog"

Y'all are on top of things. I'm still visiting properties to take down lock-on's from this season.

Draw a tag.

Ha! Got you beat though - I already bought my General Buck tag. Just need to stop counting days til the opener, put my boots on and start walking.
Hanco that tall stand is pretty badass

Edited to add: folks talk a lot of smack about stand hunters but I have to admire the amount of resources and work you guys put into it. Impressive.
Very different game here.. I've never been in a tree stand in my life. Sneaking around quietly is what most of us do here on the wet side of the State. Lots of days in the rain.. then these blacktails just appear in front of you. Same place you were glassing just a minute ago and there they are

Thank you

I hunted one place you could walk and stalk, jump deer and Javelinas out of canyons. It was fun hunting

Mow shooting lanes, repair the feeders that the bear tore up. re build one set of steps .Also looking at building a 6x8 box stand 16' high to be able to see into the turnip patch.
Plus all the normal stuff like trim high branches with the pole saw in some shooting lanes and such.

That’s a big ass stand

I need to find a place with more deer

Get at least one knee replaced. Work up a load for the 100gr TSX in 6.5 Grendel. Check zero on my Excalibur.

5 X 7, very comfortable for two.

Well I made some scope mount changes on three rifles so now I have to shoot and re-zero a 338-06, a 35 Whelen and a 260 remington.

I need to clear some Cedars and Autumn Olives in front of one of my ladder stands. Need to get the camera's out around 1st September to see what we have on the farm.

Sounds like quite a few folk earn their deer!

ya!

GWB

I’d hate to know how much I’ve spent and hours working on deer lease things, but I enjoy it very much.

I used to compile a Lease To-Do list almost from the last day of the previous season. No task too large, I would work unfettered for weekends on end until the task was finished & waiting to be transported. In the year-round humidity of the Tx Gulf Coast, I would sweat it out. I would mostly work in my lounging shorts so I could just drip sweat. I would make repeated trips, no matter the mileage, during the off-season so that opening day was everything I dreamed it could be. My longest one way drive was 400 miles & thought nothing of it.

After not one, but two near miss accidents on the lease, it finally occurred to me that I was on a collision course with a possible life altering event if I kept up that mentality. I decided to the impetuous behavior & downsize my operations to a single trip pre-season/post-season.

I operate much safer now & I no longer stress over any of the preparation. I actually look forward to its simplicity. It's nice to have good tools.

The is no more strain for any of it, either mental or physical. Whomever all of my things go to, after my demise, will have some nice stuff.

Knock yourself out, but I kinda like just throwing my schitt in the truck and driving 20 minutes to the WMA. I guess that’s not as simple in TX as around here……

Find a new place to hunt. “F’ing” Weyerhaeuser sold the property I have been leasing from them. 35 years of only memories now.

That happened to me about 6 years ago.

Need to figure out why my Bobcat isnt snapping a cap. Weak spring maybe? Havewnt taken any game with it yet and I'm itching to.

I will not screw with cloverleafing loads.
I will not screw with cloverleafing loads.
I will not screw with cloverleafing loads.
I will not screw with cloverleafing loads.
I will not screw with cloverleafing loads.

Get into shape

Walked a 3 mile loop yesterday and just about died. Been a couch potato all winter

Same here, been fighting it since 2018. Blew ACL in 94 with meniscus tore up. Knew it was coming someday, now is the time.

Obviously do not have huge expectations for this fall. Will be doing a lot of rehab and sitting with bow and rifle.

Maintain 6 food plots on my property. Blinds are already placed and producing nice bucks. Just bought my wife a Ravin R26X for her birthday. Just need to get her zero tweaked so she can get her spring turkey and then wait for fall.
All the heavy lifting has been done over the past 5 years so now we can relax and enjoy life

Same as every year, find a public land buck that I will shoot (150") minimum.....Hb

Moose are deer.

Clear some deadfall and alder thru a couple routes in for about a mile from the road for walking in, decide on a camp site, find and prep a-couple tree stand sites and clear routes to them, portage a canoe into 3rd lake and set up camp a few days before, for quiet access

I too preferred slip hunting the area before antler restriction went into affect. Jump shooting slot-limit bulls out of their bed doesnt give time to both determine legality and shoot usually, plus, last year after 14 years absence, I found Deadfall, alder growth and chest high grass makes slip hunting the bedding areas ( greatly expanded now) to be almost impassible and dangerous. The moose love it, and in the brief time I hunted last year, I located 3 bulls, so I know they are still there, tho in reduced numbers, but hunting pressure has dropped off to almost nothing. I can live (or die) with being the lone idiot in a hell-hole with fewer bulls than there were.

Btdt several times before- just haven't been this old.... If necessary, plan B is smaller pieces and/or more packing time/ and/or younger packers, even if they turn out to be one-time pussies. Got at least one potentially lined up.

First, kill a moose!

Decide on which rifle. I would prefer the 725 .260, but probably take the heavier Ru77 .338WM. Thars bar in them there woods. Big, brown ones. Never seen a blackie in there.

Got some loading to do for sure, 26 Nosler, 270, 338 Federal, 270 Weatherby, some others too

Still trying to find another affordable spot to hunt before its tag application time here. No dice so far... ain't paying 4 figures to hunt a 7 day season.

I'll just hunt public over the line in Indiana if I don't pull something in state before applications are due.

Find a place to hunt.

1. Sell a few guns off.

2. Check zero on a couple keepers and do load development on a 30-06.

3. #1 makes life easier.

Better get going. My wife had one knee done late last summer. She is just getting some good mobility now.

Sight in my slug guns. The cheap 3-9x Tasco on the 20 ga gave up the ghost last year and has been replaced with a 2.5x. Burris. The 12 ga needs to be sighted in with a new slug brand as the previous one is no longer in production.

Put up a new ladder stand, the old one is in a dying tree and I expect the tree to fall over one of these days.

I mostly hunt on my property, not much I need to do for that.

I need to find a couple of boxes that haven't been on the shelf of any gun shop I have been in. And obviously load some favorite loads in .250 Savage and 7-08.

Plant the food plots. Put out corn. Grab a rifle and get in the stand.

After my TK, took me 18 months before I could climb stairs without deliberate weight adjustment.

WMA's are too much hassle in TX. Draw hunts are a 0% success rate for me after 20 years. 95% of TX is privately owned. So, there is nothing simple about it. The WMA's take about the same physical effort as a leased property for hunt area setup. ON WMA's you must remove ALL gear after the hunt. Therefore, I prefer leasing in TX. I currently pay $500 annually for an 80 acre lease. It produces plenty of freezer fare. It is only 150 miles one way. I am happy.

That's not bad really. When I lived in TX, I was asked to pay 350 a DAY to shoot coyotes....

Wow! You ought'ta get paid to do that.

I’m trying to get loaded to go to lease now but the rain is slowing me down, but it will settle the dust in Weirgate

I've been threatening to put in a couple few small food plots....

Feed program starts Feb 1
Food plot maintenance, install,etc
Road,right of way, bridge maintenance etc
Equipment maintenance/repair.Tractors, hvy equip,bushogs, discs,trucks, buggies, atvs,utvs etc
Fence management/repair
Storm damage/repair
Lodge/camp maintenance
Trapping as needed, hogs,predators,etc
Treework. Removal, plant, fertilize
Prescribed burning
Firewood
Box stand, treestand maintenance
Bushhogging, mowing, spraying chems etc
Equip failures
Etc etc etc
To be continued
Deer season will be here before long

Food plots, stand renovations, cut firewood, and pick a rifle! Then, load development for said rifle. Load for family members rifles. In the process of writing new bylaws for cabin members, trying to keep cost down but fair,,,,,,,

Make a few refinements to my new stand. We used it last year but it needs some changes. I also want to put a camo paint job on it.

Just grab my mediocre rifle and cheap scope and walk across the road to 10 million acres of public land to shoot my 6 deer this year. Just joking. Cut the roads back and plow the food plots in September. Good to go.

GreggH

My hunting buddy & I split the cost of an elevated box blind that we got locally. Comes in two big heavy boxes that are now in his brothers garage awaiting nice weather. Come spring we can assemble it on a leisurely schedule on his brothers property. Planning on getting one of those mini propane heaters for it, and have already got 4 of the disposable propane cylinders for it that were on sale.

Get into my stand.

Find sum .300 Savage 150gr bullets

These stilted houses… sheesh. I hunt in some unforgiving terrain but will make a ground blind sometimes. Takes 15-20 min

Check the wind and weather on the phone. Get dressed for the weather. Get rifle,ammo and hunting backpack and shuffle out in the back yard somewhere on our 34 acres. Set up and wait comfortably. I have ground blinds and chairs. Limited by my prosthesis on L leg. Can’t go too far or climb. I’m still dangerous tho , even at 74. I see deer and wildlife just about every day. Been here since 82 and know the lay of the land. The land has been owned by my wife’s family for over 80 years.

Good question Hanco - for myself, shedding any extra winter weight and planning some trout fishing on streams in areas I’d like to track next season.

Cheers!

Nada. Just need to load up the backpack.

I'll be hunting mule deer here in Washington again. Hunting season is a great motivator for me to stay active, keep up the hiking and workouts, and keep shooting.

I like to get out and hike the areas I'll be hunting. Good conditioning for the ol' body and I just enjoy getting more familiar with the land. Maybe I'll even see a buck or two in my rambles. Camera always comes along, sometimes a rifle for coyotes. Try to get a good hard hike in once a week, all year. Even on snowshoes in the winter. Helps keep me moving & reasonably fit in my late 60's.







Regards, Guy

Win this big lottery, otherwise I'm good

I like to sit downwind of game trails.

Perforate more hoglets!



and trash pandas.



ya!

GWB

Not much to do. I'm planning to hunt a generally familiar area though I plan to poke into some new parts of it. All I need to do is check my sights, load my pack, and .. go. I could possibly use some new gear but I don't really need it.

I’m in line. Had my preliminary cardio and dental checks done. Waiting for a date from the surgeon.

I'm buying my neighbor's Honda Pioneer 520. I'll need to get a rifle scabbard and mount, and something to store my extra rope, and snatch block. If the winch has steel cable on it, I'll replace it with synthetic winch rope.

Got stand loaded today and put together

Scout, move some stands around. Nothing major.

Currently pulling all cameras while we shed hunt only have about 10 left to pull.

Lose a couple three decades of age!

There is That, I’d like to be 40 again

Got pig/ deer feeder pen rehabbed. I raise the two pieces on each side of gate back to 5 foot. The pigs were hitting gate at an angle going over either side. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it. I made. 2’ section to let deer jump in. The also go through the gate if it’s open. I made a 4 foot piece to drag in front of 2’ section if trying to catch pigs.

Got stand, feeders[u][/u], feeder pens/hog catching pens put up, about set for this deer season.





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Feeder pen/pig trap I made for son in law