A Great Debate: More Cover or Clear Shooting Lanes?

Question: I struggle deciding how much trimming to do around my treestands. I want to stay hidden but still want clear shooting lanes. How do you handle it? —R.Harris, via email

Answer: This is nearly a “chicken-and-egg” dilemma. Which comes first — concealment, or making sure you have a clear shot when opportunity knocks? My motto is, err on the side of clarity, meaning I trim ample shooting lanes.

I can trade maximum concealment by relying on two things — awareness and stillness. Awareness is ensuring I see or hear an incoming animal at the earliest possible moment, affording me the time to position myself and my bow. That allows me to capitalize on maximum stillness when game is close.

Creating shooting lanes is most efficiently done pre-season with two people, one in the stand directing the other with a 15-foot Wicked Tough Pole Saw from Wicked Tree Gear. You can trim specific twigs and branches without having to cut large limbs just to get that one branch obstructing your arrow’s path. The pole saw also can be used from the treestand for discretionary trimming of shooting lanes and limbs that may obstruct your ability to spot incoming animals.

Some bowhunters fear that cut branches will alert a buck that something is amiss, but don’t give animals too much credit. Limbs fall in the woods all the time, and I even use the cut limbs to block trails I don’t want deer to use, such as the trail directly under my stand. I often wear latex gloves to reduce my scent on the limbs, but if this work is done well in advance of hunting, the deer will get accustomed to any changes.

You may end up hunting a treestand you didn’t hang, or one you haven’t been to in a long time. Invariably, and especially if you’re a saddle hunter, there will be a limb that affects your drawing motion, or a twig dangling in a shooting lane, which is why I always carry a folding saw in my pack. But there is a new option out there that doubles as a pole saw and a pack saw. It’s called the SABR Saw from Tethrd. This pack saw can be attached to any appropriately sized stick and used as a pole saw from the ground or from your perch.

In times of desperation, I have tied a small stick to my pull-up rope and thrown it over an offending branch and yanked it out of my way. It works in a pinch, but I could have used a SABR Saw many times over the years.

Having to watch a buck walk away because I didn’t have a clear shooting lane is a worst-case scenario in bowhunting, and it spawns paranoia in me. Whatever it takes, I must have multiple, clear shooting lanes.

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