August is an itchy month. Not just because it’s hot and buggy, though it’s that, too; it’s itchy in a way only deer hunters understand. You’re pretending to care about mowing the lawn, but mentally, we’re already watching first light turn into dawn from a climber. It’s that time of year when we keep “accidentally” walking through the sporting goods section at Walmart. We go in for batteries, but we end up spending a half an hour browsing through broadheads.
But here’s the thing: it’s okay to have one boot already in the treestand, even if the other is still strolling the beach in a flip-flop. Because while it’s still too early to hunt, it’s way too late to do nothing. August isn’t a throwaway month; it’s the month when your prep should get real. What you check off now sets the tone for opening day.
Here’s how to put that preseason itch to good use without driving yourself, or your family, completely insane.
Watch the Deer, Not the Calendar
Velvet bucks in August aren’t all that different from teenage boys burning through summer break. Both stay on a predictable loop of food to bed to food, repeat. If you’re paying attention, you can pattern that behavior.
For deer, that means glassing bean fields at last light, running cameras smart, and resisting the urge to stomp through your property like a Lab puppy with boundary issues.
This is the time to observe, not disrupt. Hang cameras on trails between bedding and groceries, not smack in the middle of either. Cellular cams help you stay out of the woods, but if you have to swap cards or change batteries, do it at midday, and keep your entry and exit quick and clean. August deer will forgive a little pressure, but not much.
And this isn’t just busywork. The intel you gather now will still matter when the season opens. Bucks may shift once their velvet peels, but most won’t go far. What you learn this month could set you up to tag out on one of the first sits of the season.
Get In Your Stand Well Before Opening Day
Treestand maintenance isn’t sexy, but it's necessary. It could save both your shot and your neck once hunting season opens, so don’t put off till tomorrow what you should fix today. That includes silencing squeaky platforms, replacing threadbare straps, and evaluating rusty ladders.
Go ahead and brave the sweat and the mosquitoes and get up there now. Tighten bolts, replace anything that’s worn out or sketchy, and check your safety lines. You don’t want to have to MacGyver your way out of a preventable mess on opening morning.
Train How You Hunt
While you’re up there, shoot. Wear your harness, not just because it’s the safe thing to do, but because you don’t want any surprises when you end up staring down a wallhanger on the opposite side of your pins.
Wear your boots. Twist and lean, set up awkward shots on purpose. It’s a lot more realistic practice than pegging a block target while standing on your lawn in Crocs. Now is the time to build muscle memory, because in the heat of the moment, you won’t rise to the occasion, you’ll fall to the level of your preparation. So set the preparation bar high. At least as high as your treestand.
Break Out the Saw
Now is also a good time to take in the view. See what lanes need to be cleared. Don’t get crazy with the limb saw, though. You don’t need a logging road, just a clean shooting window. Think like a sniper, not a bulldozer.
Food Forecast
Right now, a whitetail’s world looks like an all-you-can-eat buffet. It’s easy to find deer around anything green and palatable. But don’t stop at what the deer are eating today, because the menu is going to go through a massive shift in the coming months.
White oaks will start dropping early. Cornfields will turn brown and noisy. Food plots will dry out. And when that happens, the bucks you’ve been watching all summer might vanish overnight.
That doesn’t mean you need to charge into your timber. Instead, take a low-impact approach. Scan the edges for oak trees that look loaded. Use binoculars to check mast production without tromping into bedding. If you’ve got previous seasons’ pins or memories of where acorns fell heavy, now’s the time to revisit those notes, not the bedding areas.
Also, think about the broader landscape: Which crops are coming down early? Which fields will get pressure first? What natural browse is holding up when the greens fade? That kind of forecasting gives you a leg up when deer start changing their routines.
When the food changes, the movement changes. And if you’re a step ahead, you won’t be playing catch-up once the season kicks off.
Dust Off the Gear Pile
August is the perfect time to dig into the chaotic mountain of camo, gear, and forgotten amd stale snacks you swore you’d “sort out after the season.” Don’t wait until the night before the opener to remember your rangefinder batteries are dead and your favorite knife still has dried deer fat on it from last December.
Go ahead and sharpen your broadheads (assuming you’ve already gotten your whole bow setup dialed in) and your knives. Clean out your daypack, and wash your hunting clothes in scent-free detergent before storing them somewhere that doesn’t smell like the garage.
Zero, Dial, and Practice
This is also the time to knock the rust off your skills, not just your stuff. Check the zero on your rifle. And while you’re at it, actually shoot it. A few rounds at the bench won’t cut it. Shooting is perishable, and if your shoulder hasn’t seen recoil since January, you owe it to the deer to tighten up.
If you’re a bowhunter, shoot more than you think you need to. Practice tired. Practice with bad footing, weird angles, and adrenaline. If you’re solid at thirty yards, start practicing at fifty or sixty. Those longer reps will make your close shots feel automatic. Better to blow a group now than blow the big moment when a 10-pointer is staring holes through your soul.
Fix Your Entry Route Before You Hunt
You can have the perfect stand and a hit-list buck showing up on camera, but if your approach is sloppy, none of it matters. Loud, brush-choked trails. Entry routes that cut straight through bedding. Scent left behind like breadcrumbs. It all adds up, and can burn you fast.
August is the time to clean that up. Trim your paths. Flag your routes. Figure out how you’re getting in and out without blowing the entire woods. Once you’ve got it dialed, hang reflective tacks so you’re not bumbling off-course in the dark and wrecking everything on your first sit.
Because what looks easy on a muggy afternoon in August can feel like a freakin’ maze before daylight in late September. The woods change at night, even with a headlamp. Prepping your entry isn’t glamorous, but it’s the kind of boring work that keeps mature bucks unbothered.
This is also a good time to double-check access. Confirm your hunting permissions. Reread public land regs. Walk those property lines. Don’t assume anything until it’s locked down and squared away.
Final Thoughts
There’s a difference between being busy and being ready. August gives you just enough rope to hang yourself if you squander it, but just enough time to get dialed in if you take it seriously.
This is the month for sweating through your shirt, wading through ticks, swatting mosquitoes, and putting in the quiet work that pays off later. You’re not chasing velvet. You’re chasing confidence. And you build that now, when nobody's watching, and nothing's guaranteed.
So, scratch the itch. Do the work. Fall is already a whole lot closer than you think.
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