Cutting too much cover, even if it does not alert a deer immediately, can thin this disguising cover and reveal your position as a deer approaches. It's a rare stand that will not require some amount of trimming to ensure the best shot possible to all likely approach trails.

All Or Nothing
There are hunting spots that not only facilitate repeated stand locations but make them practical. Planted food plots, small farm fields, acorn-bearing white or red oaks, an abandoned farmstead orchard, all bring deer to the same location year after year. Other hunting areas simply offer limited cover; shelterbelts or isolated creek beds traversing otherwise wide-open prairie or farmland.

On private lands, hunters have time to thoroughly prepare. Time is available to cut shooting lanes in summer months to ensure deer accept them in advance. In these circumstances there's no reason to leave anything to chance. Grab the chainsaw; cut virtual fairways. Sew them with clover or winter wheat to attract deer or bring them into the open.

On leased or public lands there's no reason not to invest in prudent summer trimming (where legal) around a sound site you hunt each year with success. Ridgetops, saddles, vegetation bottlenecks or river crossings are obvious sites that repeatedly produce. Like rinsing off a plate before leaving it in the sink for later washing, cutting ahead of the season makes your job easier once you begin hunting--without worry of spooking bucks you'll soon be hunting. In other areas, it's possible to trim away then hop right into your stand without spooking deer. On a typical working farm, deer become accustomed to human activities and take changes in stride. Once, hunting whitetails in Iowa, I watched a fencerow corner visited repeatedly by nice bucks. After lunch, my farmer buddy and I took a look and found the ultimate scrape; as big as a pickup hood and pawed a foot deep. I had a stand hung within 15 minutes. Before my buddy departed I pointed out a problem branch across an obvious approach corridor. He walked right up and hacked at it noisily with a dull hatchet, dropping the substantial branch in the middle of the field edge. My friend's a heavy smoker, his coveralls perpetually stained and smelling of diesel fuel. I hoped a drizzling rain would wash the scent away before a buck arrived come evening. My buddy waved and turned heel before I could signal him to drag the branch away.

Thirty minutes later, two record-book bucks made their way up the field edge, quickly approaching the scrape and the dropped limb. As they advanced I was fairly panicked, wanting to force a shot before they reached the dropped limb I was sure would spook them. No shot developed and I was forced to wait. When the smaller buck, easily 140 inches, stepped over the branch, I held my breath. He took no notice. The bigger buck followed, stopping right on top of the branch I so feared. I put an arrow through his heart and collected my best whitetail ever.

It just goes to show, you never can tell. Every hunting area's different. Every deer has its own level of tolerance. Whitetails keep us guessing. If in doubt when creating shooting lanes, err to the side of caution. Take steps to ensure that the big buck you're after has no idea he's being hunted. A clear shooting lane ensures a clean shot, and a clean shot is a deadly one.