Written by: Blake Baxley, Huntstand Inc.
July 30, 2015
The Huntstand Mobile App is a year round tool that can be used to help improve your time spent outdoors. The 2015 whitetail deer hunting season is right around the corner. How can Huntstand be used during this time?
Pre-Season Scouting
As we all know, pre-season scouting is very important. It is a constant battle of patterning a particular buck or bucks and making sure not to pressure your deer. The opening week of the season is a great time to harvest a mature buck but you have to be very careful with your preparation. Monitoring food sources is an easy way to figure out where and when the bucks at your hunting area are feeding. A common way of doing this is to set up and glass known food sources (food plots, agriculture fields, etc.) with a good pair of binoculars or a spotting scope. Once you locate a bachelor group of bucks, use the HuntStand Mapping Tool to tag the location of the Sighting(s) and add any notes you wish to remember later. Knowing when and where a buck feeds (primary feeding area) is a good starting point. Next you will need to slip into the area where you know the bachelor group is feeding and do some more recon. You need to know the approximate bedding area, the trails used in-between that area and the primary food source, and the best ambush location (stand set). This scouting should be done in the middle of the day to help you avoid spooking deer. Once you have found these locations, be sure to tag them on your HuntStand App to help you plan your surprise attack.
Be sure to also tag all your trail cameras, mineral locations, primary water sources, feeders, tree stands/blinds, and any other object of interest.
Pre-Season Food Plots
Most of the time when planting food plots we tend to guess the size (acreage) of our food plots and purchase lime, fertilizer, and seed based off of our assumptions. With Huntstand this problem is solved. There is no more guessing the sizes of your current food plots or the size of potential food plots you are planning to create. The HuntStand Area Measurement Tool is the solution. With the Area Measurement Tool you can accurately measure the acreage of any area.
Another tip: when using Huntstand to manage your food plots, input any relevant information (seed planted, pH level, fertilizer used, etc.) into the notes of the food plot icon. This way you can always look back at your notes for future reference.
Weather
With HuntStand’s Weather Tool you can pay constant attention to current and future conditions and plan your outings accordingly. The HuntStand Weather Tool shows current weather, a 72 hour list view by the hour, a 72 hour chart view, and 5 day forecast. Inclement weather is great for doing work in the “deer woods”. Rain storms help cut down on the amount of scent left behind by washing away a lot of your odor. High winds also provide favorable working conditions, as they make it less likely for deer to hear or see you.
Happy hunting my friends!