I know deer season is quite a ways off, but when someone asks me a question, I have discovered at my age, it is best if I reply as soon as possible or I have a tendency to forget!
I have started making it a habit of keeping all my articles in a file on my computer, and when they are posted, I will delete them from my files. But I can also review the topics of my articles, and hopefully I will not repeat them.
In the earlier stages of my hunting career, I would do a lot of pre-season scouting, and I had "special" trees or bushes I selected for hunting spots. Many times, when I would enter the woods in the darkness, usually about an hour before first light, I would have trouble finding my pre-selected spot.
I would use a small hatchet and "blaze" several small trees to follow them to my spot, but that started becoming an eyesore. My intention was not to damage the trees. I started hanging fluorescent orange surveyor ribbon on twigs and branches, but I was then indicating to the entire world where my hot spots were.
Sometimes, if I walked along the field edge, I would take a fallen tree limb or branch and place it pointing the trail entering the woods. Or I would lean a broken limb against the side of a tree so it looked like it was naturally the result of wind damage and not a visual indicator or directional marker.
Well, those days are over. I know many of today's hunters have gone to the electronic age, and they are using GPS systems and their cellphone. What I prefer, which is a whole lot cheaper, is I started using reflective thumb tacks. You can buy them in most sporting goods departments like Walmart, Dunham's, Dick's Sporting Goods, Bass Pro Shops, Cabela's, etc. Usually, they come 50 in a square, plastic box, and you can carry them in your pocket. They are well worth the small investment.
They last forever and are economical. They simply push right into the bark of the tree. They don't penetrate the bark very deeply and will not damage the tree in any way. I like to place them fairly close to the ground because, as I enter the woods in the pre-dawn darkness, I don’t want to shine my flashlight beam very far off the ground because I am trying to enter the woods undetected, and a deer can see a flashlight beam from a long distance.
I recommend placing the thumb tack 12"-14" from the ground. If you feel insecure about getting lost leaving the woods in the dark, you can place thumb tacks on the tree marking your way out of the woods.
If you want to remove the tacks after the season ends, that is very simple to do. You can use a pocket knife or small screwdriver and simply pry the tack off the tree. I have a property where I placed several reflective tacks on trees leading well off the road, up and down oak ridges, and through a swamp to a hot spot treestand where I have taken several respectable bucks.
If it were not for the reflective tacks leading the way, it would be impossible to locate in the darkness. Those tacks have been in the tree bark for more than 15 years, and they are still as bright as they were when I first put them there. They have more than earned their keep.
If you are adventurous and a DIYer, I have made some reflective thumb tacks myself. I purchased some of the reflective tape from auto parts stores and even on eBay and then purchased some regular thumb tacks at Walmart. I cut the reflective tape and stuck it on the head of the thumb tacks, and they worked pretty well.
It was somewhat difficult to cut the tape in a perfect circle, but it wasn't intended to be a masterpiece. I promise you will never be concerned about not finding your hunting spot or getting out of the woods again when it is dark.