-By Brandon Wikman
I've finally finished dangling from oaks, pines and elms to hang my tree stands. It is good to be back on the ground.
I began in Wisconsin, hit up Minnesota and declared myself hung up in Illinois. It's never fun hanging tree stands, but once they're up, you're anticipation of killing something out of a set escalates.
Between mosquitoes, sweltering in the heat and the annoyance of your buddy always being unsure, undecided and unwilling to help (other than pointing out where to ultimately hang the set of stands) . . . It makes for one heck of a day.
But to be honest, I'm no different when it comes to questioning stand placement. It's very tough to find that "one" spot, in that "prime" location. Toss in the variables of hunting with a cameraman and you've got yourself a mind clustering mess.
It's always a little tougher to hang two stands in a tree. Making sure the tree is big enough and has a sufficient circumference to diminish the skyline effect.
When you watch hunting videos and shows, beware that most setups are tailored to the cameraman rather than the hunter. Our job is to retrieve the best footage possible, even though it may not be the perfect stand within 15 yards of that beaten-down trail, it's a site where cameraman and hunter split 50/50.
Amongst all odds, luck and hope, I can only wish the grueling work of scouting and hanging will pay off come fall. And you will be the first to know if it just so happens that I did my job right (or wrong) this season by the encounters and kills.
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