Matt Morrett, a Hunter's Specialties pro staff member, practices the art of summer stand preparation. His fall hunting schedule is a nonstop whirlwind of trips planned around capturing hunts on video all across North America. When he's not hunting, he's conducting seminars throughout the winter and spring, leaving him only the summer for truly putting in time on stand prep.

"Like everyone, my finding time to get out and prepare stand sites can be difficult," noted Morrett, "and you sure don't want to be wasting valuable hunting time preparing tree stand sites. I do most of my tree stand preparation in June and July, when I'm not on the road. That means trimming trees for stand placement and cutting shooting lanes. Even if I don't actually hang the stand in the summer, the location is ready to go when I return for a hunt."

My latest backyard trophy fell to a summer setup. After spending most of six weeks on the road, I did an all-nighter to hunt my close-to-home properties. The first stand I chose to sit was visited by several does and fawns, but no bucks. At noon I decided to move to a stand adjacent to a "refuge" on the neighbor's property. I didn't have to wait long for action.

While hanging my daypack on a hook above me, I turned, only to see a buck and a doe running into range, quickly closing the distance from 40 yards to less than 20. Using my True Talker grunt call, I brought the buck broadside for a top-pin shot. The tall-tined 8-pointer stumbled into an opening before dropping.

Toiling a few hours during the lazy days of summer paid off with a Pope & Young trophy. Doing the same right now can be your hot ticket to hot whitetail hunting this fall.