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How many preset trees?

I preset a couple trees on public last year, using WE Stepps and a 3 step aider. I removed the bottom stepp and left 3-4 in the tree. Probably won’t do that again this year, I felt “obligated” to hunt those trees because I had put time into setting them up, even if there wasn’t good sign. The times I freelanced and setup a new tree I almost always saw more deer.
 
This will be my first year in a saddle and on public. I have hunted a friends 300 acres for almost 10 years now and i don't have it figured out at all. I used to preset trees with hang ons and sometimes used my climber. But the travel patterns seem to change every year.
So this year i want to try to not sit in the same spot twice and set up where i find fresh sign. I also scouted some public near me and found some good sign there.
I might put some paracord in a few trees on my 38 acres for early morning hunts.
 
I always prep a few trees for hunts early in the year because it is so hot when our season starts.I also prep a few trees in funnel areas that tend to produce for me every year.
 
I’d be very hesitant to leave your Lone Wolf sticks out on public. Your just inviting an unscrupulous hunter a free Lone Wolf stick. As an alternative, you could just mail one or two to me (also for free), a very scrupulous hunter, and feel better about your donation! Haha

Seriously though, I wouldn’t do much presetting on public if you’re comfortable with your climbing method. That said, it would be handy to have a half dozen trees already trimmed for shooting lanes and marked on your GPS app of choice so you can hunt them if you don’t have time to search for the freshest sign on a post-workday hunt or whatever. If you have 2.5+ hours to hunt, I suggest finding fresh deer sign and setting up on that. If less, then having those pre-trimmed spots available is great.
 
NYSFreezerMeat said:
Last season was my first season with WE Steps. I hunt public land in NY and had four presets. I was using the knaider/swaider and getting approximately 4ft/step. I would remove the bottom two steps thinking that anything above 10ft up the tree is less noticeable, and is far enough out of reach from anyone with sticky fingers. This year I'm switching to a different aider system that will allow me to space steps about 6ft apart and only have to carry one step in and allowing me to expand to a 5th preset. My main objective is to get in the woods and up the tree as safe, quick, and quiet as possible.
Click to expand...
Just curious to what your new aider system is. I am looking at different aider systems for the WE steps to test and add to my climbing kit.
 
Trying out the bwaider this off-season. Hoping that I can get comfortable enough by the time the season gets here. I'm aiming for a modest 6ft per step so that I don't have to pull any muscles once it gets cold and extra layers start getting worn.

Sent from my moto z4 using Tapatalk
 
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