Get the 2006 SCDNR deer hunting regulations and check the specific season openers for your area. It's simple to determine in the regulations, but far too complex to try and detail here. Suffice to say, there are gun season openings on Aug. 15, Sept. 1, Sept. 15 and Oct. 11 in different parts of the state. There are some muzzleloader opportunities available at different dates and often archery openers will be before gun season. Figure it out for your area and get busy now.

Since the Lowcountry gun and bow season is upon us, we'll first take a look at some of the factors hunters in this area can focus on now to improve their odds. If you're hunting upstate, as your season-opening, crunch time approaches, you, too, will need to be considering these same stages of preparation.

First of all, hopefully, most (or all) of your pre-season scouting should be complete by now. In fact, except for short, quick checks of your specific hunting area to fine-tune your exact location for hunting, you need to be avoiding the woods now if you're a Lowcountry hunter. Excessive human intervention can and will cause the deer, especially mature bucks, to leave the area or change their habits. This rates right up there among the last things you'd want to have occur a week or two before the season opens.

Granted, a lot of folks in the Lowcountry legally use corn as a drawing card for the deer, so that's a process that will be continued. But it's likely that's been ongoing and already a part of a pattern and not alarming to the deer. I'm talking more about deep-woods intrusion now: randomly scouting and walking around, bumping or otherwise disturbing deer.

By now, your stands are either built or, if you use climbing stands, your potential tree sites have been selected based on prevailing wind, terrain and deer patterns. Many hunters will have already placed the stands on trees, again just to ensure the deer have plenty of time to get back in a normal routine.

One buddy by now has his opening day and opening week stands set and ready. The specific one he will hunt will be selected right before the hunt based on wind/weather conditions. He will also have stands set for normal early-season patterns during the next few weeks.

Other stands will be in various stages of preparation for when the weather and deer change their habits to get into a pre-rut and rut mode. Essentially, the entire season is a series of change and never-ending scouting, preparation and hunting. Which is what every red-blooded deer hunter lives for anyway.

One thing you need to do is some spot-checking on deer activity during the days immediately before the opening week of hunting. Again, you're not going for a deep intrusion into the home range of the deer; you're simply checking to see that the deer are using the area and that their patterns haven't abruptly changed.

Check for recent sign, or if you are using corn, check on the status of that. Quickly scout the areas you intend to hunt. A midday check for sign when the deer are most likely bedded down away from the feeding areas is apt to be the least intrusive method.