Don't know about you guys but all my buddies make fun of how low I hang my treestands. Two years ago a friend nicknamed one of my stands "The Ground Blind" if that tells you anything.
I like them low because first off I think I get a much better shot picture when drawing on a deer. Secondly and more important is I believe if you are to high hitting both lungs is much harder or impossible.
Am I alone? Do you all go low or high???
About 8'. How high is yours? Ken
Ken, that's because you don't have any trees over 12' in Texas, you don't have a choice. Haha.
My stand heights get lower every year. If they are in the right spot considering wind and cover there is no need to get a nose bleed.
I try to stay as low as possible in a given situation...that could be twelve feet early in the season when I have good cover or 25ft in a climber in late season hardwoods...it all depends
My feet are usually at 12-15'. One hole high and one hole low left a pretty good trail to follow, at least for me.
25 feet............YIKES. One arm would be wrapped around the tree and it's a sucker to shoot that way, for me. LOL
Mostly on the ground now but 15 foot was TOP for me, and Ive shot em with my feet low enough to kick em in the head if a bit closer.
Ill agree on shot angle. Lower is better.....and why I hunt on the ground. *grin*.
That and when I fall its not so painful now. LOL
God Bless
I used to average between 20-25 feet, but for the last couple seasons it has dropped down to around 17 or 18. I can usually feel, while I'm hanging the stand, if I need to go higher. Every tree is different. Background, trunk diameter, shadows, etc., etc.
kinda like Guru said. it depends on the woods and time of year i am hunting in. last year i hunted in a lot of different stuff and ranged from 12-30 feet. that was with a wheelie. I need to get the climber out and practice with the curve.
It don't matter how high you go you can get the same picture and arrow angle at entry if you just shoot them a bit farther from the tree.I hunt with platform 20ft. If a deer walks too close to the tree I pass untill he is out far enough for a good shot angle.I had much rather have a 20-25yd shot on a deer than one at 10yds anyway.Close shots are great on the ground but the under the feet stuff is not the best shot from above. jmo
KentuckyTJ, That is a vary good question, I have only hunted out of a tree a few times, 99% on the ground, still hunt & spot and stock all my life.
Because of Tradgang, I been looking into the trees, even got the Wensel's tree stand book.
(http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w27/kingwouldbe/DSCN3640.jpg)
I have shot about 4 bucks from a tree, I like how unaware they are, this 5x5 came to 11 yards and I was about 12-15 feet up, standing on a branch ( no stand).
(http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w27/kingwouldbe/DSCN2821-1.jpg)
This was the Hope bow for 2007, this buck came in to around 14 yards.
(http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w27/kingwouldbe/DSCN2806.jpg)
We have a lot of geography out west and I am putting my stand up high, around 15-30 feet depending on the situation, because of the wind, it swirls a lot.
I do like how you can really wait for the perfect shot to unfold, on the ground you don't get that all the time, I usually take the first shot I know I can make.
I know I'll learn some great stuff from this thread.
20-25 feet unless i have a lot of cover. I like to be able to move around without being spotted.
I like to keep my feet 12-15 feet from the ground. The higher shot angle as one moves higher in the tree actually reduces the kill zone size. It also increases the likelihood of a spine hit, which doesn't always bring the animal down.
I am with Orion. 12-15 feet.
Jack
I used to go 20+, but now try to get around 13-14'. I may go higher if needing to get into the canopy some more.
I am of the 12-15 ft camp......I like being able to get a side shot at 8-10 yrds. I have found if I go higher it becomes a shot through the top of the back as an option and I have clean missed a couple of those that if I was lower I think I would have made meat. So I like to stay low so I can't fall as far, and so I increase my chances of a good hit if my arrow is a little off. Having said that each situations different, maybe high is the only spot in a set up then you gotta do what you gotta do.
Allan
I can't remember how many deer and hogs I have killed sitting in an 8' tripod....but it has been a bunch.
Billy
A few questions please, I'm a newbie to tree stand hunting: why so low? (other than shot angle is better).
What about wind if your 8-12 feet off the ground?
Why go in a tree if your only 8 feet off the ground?
What about being seen coming to full draw?
The few I have shot were from much higher than most, it seems the higher the better, with a high quartering away shot, especially with heavy hunting tackle, the exit is usually coming out it's hart, on the bottom with massive leakage.
Thanks
around here it helps to get above the foliage to see what is coming. If I get 2 high I have to cut a lot of branches usually and may be very limited on shot distance. It may matter where people are at and what the trees are like.
that wind is tricky stuff. I have sat in a tree with the wind in my face and got busted on deer. So I came back and used some of those wind floaters and holy cow the wind was circling back and going right to where I was looking. terrain really messes with me here. I don't buy the getting high and deer won't smell you.
King, hitting both lungs becomes almost impossible when a deer or hog is directly under you. The reason I prefer the lower height is so I can easily hit both lungs with higher percentage no matter if my shot is 5 yards or 25 yards.
You hunt big open country and trailing wounded critters probably isn't a problem but if a deer or hog is only hit in one lung and you miss the heart as you know it can run a long way. Around here we hunt small farms and when a deer runs onto the next door neighbors and they catch you on their place they don't appreciate it very much after you have kicked them off your place for years.
As far as the wind being bad. Even if you are higher and a deer is down wind most of them smell you and leave and you don't even know it. Scent mostly falls to the ground no matter how high you are. Like Brandon is saying with all our folage here in the east its very rare when you can hunt without a swirling wind anyway.
Like was said before...I live in Texas....12 to 15 is Max!! (not by choice...just cant get higher)
Tripods rule the roost here!!
Thanks Tj, some times here in SoCal, I have put a stand on the hillside 6 feet high on one side and 30 feet on the other, shooting down to the water.
Because the deer are coming from the hill side, if you put a stand down by the water they would be looking down on you.
You have to put it pretty high just to be above there line of sight.
As you can see in this pic the hill drops down to the water, this buck came in chasing a doe and gave me a 13 yard quartering at me, thous the far back exit, but he took a few jumps because the arrow jumped through him so fast he never knew what happened until gravity took over.
(http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w27/kingwouldbe/1214X3-1.jpg)
If he was on the other side it would of been about a 25 yard shot steep down hill.
here where i live at i have no need to get any higher than 18' but i have a 10'er that i love to hunt out of i gues it's just preferance and what your area dictats
8 - 15 feet for me depending on the cover I have . I do most of my pratice out of a 8 foot step ladder and have hunted several times from a 8 foot step ladder . My Father and I have killed quite a few deer using the old portable step ladder in heavy brush where there are no good trees to hang a stand on or just needing to move to new deer sign but not wanting to stink up the place . Just make sure to put it in good brush with heavy cover and tie it off well with rope .
Mike
12-15 ft. for me. I just like the shot angle better.
King, by no means do I think for a minute that you of all people need any assistance in any hunting situation. I'm just not falling for that one.
We do have our extremes here as well. I've been 30' high in trees here in Kentucky and looking straight out 90 degrees for oncoming deer as well. But that's an extreme case. I'm referring to the majority of our setups here in the south.
Around here unless you are in a very clear area going over 20ft will have you looking down at so much canopy from smaller trees you have no shots.Sometimes I can get higher and do but without a bunch of trimming most times 20ft is about it.Higher is always better for me.Helps with the wind and gives you a better birds eye veiw but it is not always an option.
I prefer to be abou 18-20 feet up but if there is great cover lower on the tree Ill go there. I usually let the location dictate how high I need to go up the tree. If I can get the platform of the stand sitting just above a branch with cover Ill put the stand there everytime as long as it is over 12 feet up. I have noticed that when I get above 20 feet. My legs shake the first few times I get up there, until I get used to the stand and know its not going anywhere. But as for the shot angles. I will never shoot a deer inside of 5 yards of the tree I am in. Too many things can go wrong with those kinds of angles.
I hunt lower every year. With good background cover and slow movements 12 feet is high enough where I hunt. I prefer 10' or on the ground if the glades' allow. Someplaces I hunt, the grass is so high(for miles)that you wouldn't even see the deer's vitals from the ground.
When I lived in Western NY I hunted higher, about 15'.
At 25' I would be hugging the tree with both arms and legs from sheer terror!
When I use to hunt with my comound I use to go 15'-20'because with a shorter bow I could get a way with a steeper shot angle. Now i try to stay 12'-15' tops. Plus I seem to be losing my nerve and I dont use a safety harness, so I really dont want to fall from a far distance.