"Even in their summer pattern, when they haven't been hunted in months, bucks are still pretty smart," he said. "They may lag behind the does and stage back in the woods off the food source. You may see six or seven does feeding in a bean field without a care in the world, but it will be close to dark before a buck will come out."

That's where finding a faint trail that intersects a main feeding trail a short distance away from the food source may put you on the avenue that bucks are using as a travel path.

The care with which you approach a scouting mission may have a lasting impact on your success, especially where bucks are concerned.

"One of the biggest things to me about scouting -- it's as important as hunting -- is that you can't be sloppy or smelly when you're scouting," Lyndon said. "When you go in to scout, you need to wear your rubber boots and a scent block or Scent-Lok clothing. I spray myself and all my equipment down (with a scent block), because you don't want a big buck to smell you when you're in there scouting."

Naumann is careful to enter an area with the wind at his face when he's scouting, believing that a big buck will bust you when you're wandering around scouting as easily as he will if he scents you while approaching your stand during the season. In that regard, Naumann not only scouts stand sites, but he also scouts out different ways to get to those stands, always moving in from the right wind direction.

"One thing I think is very important is going into your stand and leaving it," he said. "People typically take the path of least resistance when they're going from where they park to their stands -- but you don't always want to take the short way. You don't want to walk past the bedding areas on your way to your stand; you don't want them to know you're there.

"I always take the wind direction into account when accessing my stands. You'll see more deer and have more success if you're smarter about how you walk in."

Naumann and Lyndon both agree that bowhunters don't need to be 50 feet up in a poplar tree to get good shots at early-season deer. Because leaves haven't fallen in most places, getting off the ground a reasonable distance will usually put you in the strike zone.

"I don't go any higher than 20 feet," Naumann said. "I think that's where cover becomes critical to concealing movement. You have some movement with a bow you don't have with a gun -- you have to be able to draw without him seeing you. You can do that between 15 and 20 feet high, but any lower and you have to take the amount of cover you have into consideration."