Tips & Tactics

Milk Jug Range Markers

Milk Jug Range Markers

By Mel Smith

As a bowhunter who likes to hunt from permanent treestands, I have found an inexpensive way to clearly mark my ranges.

It's easy; I save plastic milk jugs and use scissors to cut out numbers and staple them to trees around my stands.

For instance, I have a stand positioned near a place where three trails intersect. I picked out about 30 trees ranging anywhere from 20 to 62 yards away to hang my numbers on.

Now, a deer can come from any direction, on any of the trails and I don't have a problem ranging its distance whatsoever.

The plastic from opaque white gallon jugs work best, since they contrast against the bark of the trees and are easily seen in low light conditions.

The size of the numbers will depend on the strength of your eyesight. You'll want to test this out before you go cutting a lot of them.

When setting up the markers, you can step off distances from your stand, or it's easier to have a friend sit in your stand and range trees with a rangefinder, calling out the distances to you.

The thing I like about the markers is it allows you to leave your rangefinder at home and you'll use less hand movement at the moment of truth.

Milk jug plastic is free and will last for many years. Just remember to remove them if you ever decide not to hunt that area any more.

Copyright 2024 by Buckmasters, Ltd.

Copyright 2020 by Buckmasters, Ltd