Welcome to BGH Michael
I have attached some pieces of pvc pipe to some of my stands. I cut off some cedar branches to stick in the pipes to help cover me up some.
As for shooting lanes, the fewer the better to keep you concealed, but I like to have a couple in front and one to the back. Definitely want lanes open to trails.

Good Luck

Welcome michael,

You might want to consider a Ladder stand. They can be built inexpensively and moved easily. I use them regularly. I use a pair of pruning shears to trim shooting lanes and tie on branches and limbs that I trim onto the stand to provide cover and keep it natural with materials from the area.

As redrider says...use as few lanes as you can get away with, especially if the area is already being used by the deer. They will notice the altered site.

i have the same problem, i have a small foodplot in a pine chop between a creek/swampy area and some sandpines, i had a ladder stand set up that was well hidden, but the deer alway came out of the pines into the plot, there was one good pine near the plot, but no cover, so i took some time and trimmed the branches so i could get about 25 feet up, then i chopped some of the scrubby bushes that are all around, i then tied these off and pulled them up and hung them upside down( thats how the forks in the limbs worked) to creat a backdrop so i would not stand out as much, it looks good..but i wonder if the deer are thinking.."why are those bushes growing upside down in a pine tree"....??.............. i have not taken a deer or hog out of that stand yet, so far my archery season has been a bust. oh yea, wear a harness if you attempt this, it involved a lot of unnatural movement and reaching from the stand.

good luck