If they didn't spot your climber they shouldn't spot your lock on.If you can't shoot behind you then add some more limbs for cover if you feel too open in the stand.

I personally don't subscribe to the theory that stands should be in place well before season starts. Most people move stands around a lot during season anyway. I put mine in weeks or even days before because of trespassers and thieves. I think it's more important that you've already done your homework before season so that you know where to put the stand.

Point taken, Redcorn.

I am still wondering if the average hunter/typical hunter/most hunters are simply not taking advantage of the most productive and important off season period: immediate post season through the Spring.

The scouting and work you do during this time frame, in my opinion, will have the most direct effect on the outcome of your hunting season and is perhaps the single most important tactic of the entire year (with the exception of actually hunting).

We can talk about food plots all day long, philosophize about funnels, stand arrival time, all day sits, but if you don't understand the way the subtleties of the way the deer are using the terrain during hunting season, it's all relying on luck.

I do most of this during turkey season. So far, all the scouting I have seen during this time relates to late, late season patterns. But like Redcorn said, the deer on the properties I hunt change too much. Deer do one thing in late Sept. and by mid-october they are on a totally different pattern. By the first on November it is different and full pre-rut. The Rut speaks for itself. I think you are dead-on on your point though. It just isn't relative for my hunting grounds. I wish it were, cause the way I turkey hunt it gets awful boring so I do alot of deer scouting.