I usually but not always try to place my tree stands 12' in the air. Measured to the bottom of my feet. I have very rarely been detected at this height. I often hear of guys talking about 30' in the air and wonder if I am too low. I hunt in Kansas and if I get much higher I limit my shooting radius because of tree branches. If Let me know how high and where you hunt. Thanks, Kip
If you are not getting busted than you are good.
Most of my stands are vegetation dependent but I really get over 18' but I do have some side hill stands where I am maybe 30' on one side and 18' or so on the other. Getting to high effects angles to much for my liking.
C
I'm about 15' currently to the platform. Depends a lot on local cover and the tree I am in. I like to "nestle in" with branches behind to break up my outline. 12' to 15' is normal for me.
12 is about what I do.....I rarely get busted, but I move slowly.
Easier to double lung at your height.Stick to whats been working.Each height has it's advantages.Here where I hunt 20' seems more the norm to obtain good cover.
16-18 feet.
Don't get up in a tree very often, but when I do my haul line is 15' long and I use it as a gauge, it always has slack in it...lol!
I prefer 10 to 12 feet in Oklahoma. I like the shot angles from lower stands.
I had one at 9 ft and shot my share no problems. My avg at about 12 ft.
Depends totally on the situation. If I'm in open woodland with reasonably flat ground, I'll go between 16-20 feet. In tight cover with lots of ground cover a lot lower. I just hung 2 stands the other day right on the edge of a bedding area. Fully covered on one side, 45ยบ open slope on the other side. Both stands are at about 8 feet. Any higher & I'd be skylighted from the slope.
I too like lower stands... 12-14' to the platform. However, in late season with the leaves off I get busted more often at that height.
I have buddies that will never hunt lower than 25' and they hunt big bucks exclusively.
I'm a bit afraid of heights... another reason I stay lower. :banghead:
18 to 25 feet for me. I like to get that height not so much so they won't see me but I've had deer hear me draw back my recurve before when I was lower.
My stands are between 13' and 16' to the platform normally. any higher and my view becomes restricted due to the thick canopy. Was out moving stands this morning through the evening. The older I get the more I hate all the hassel of tree stands :knothead: .
I like 12-15 to platform, I stand most of the time which puts my waist at about 15-18.
Bob
13ft
I guess european animals are much less apt to look up than in the US because they have no predator such as cougars, bobcats and tree-stands are not widely used.
So they are not yet too suspicious
Who knows how long it will last...
10-12' to the ladder stand seat, hunting in the woods. I choose a tree that gives me good cover if possible. In my experience anything over 8' is enough unless the deer are spooky.
QuoteOriginally posted by robtattoo:
Depends totally on the situation. If I'm in open woodland with reasonably flat ground, I'll go between 16-20 feet. In tight cover with lots of ground cover a lot lower.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
The older I get the more it is not so much about height but more of how to hide..... I used to just climb 25-30 feet and not worry about it. Terrible shot angles.
My haul rope is 20' and most days that is about where I wind up. What I try to do now is use adjacent trees next to the tree I am in to help hide me. One of my best trees has a cedar that is about 24 feet right next to my red oak. Talk about hid ! I also like to climb bigger trees if possible to help with back cover. I stand lots of the time on stand and get right back against the tree so I am not standing out in the open skylined.On rainy, windy or wet leaf days I spend as much time standing as possible for two reasons. You can see better all around you and not let deer get by you that you might not hear. Also you are already up and do not risk all the movement of standing to take a shot. Love forked trees too ! With our deer here in TN you best be finding a way to hide or you will get busted ! JMHO
With my climber I am usually 15-18' up to get into the lower branches to break-up my outline. With my hang-on I usually pick a little knarlier trees that offer good cover at the 10-14' range. some of my compound buddies hunt 25' or more and it usually ends up a long track or lost deer, more close in "iffy" shots taken. I tend to shoot much less and only at broadside or quartering deer.
Like already said depends on situation. I rarely go above 15 feet myself. I am no expert but the Wensel's are and that is about where they go. If I am in a situation where the leaves are down and not alot of coverage for stand hunting, use the ground am amazed at getting a shot, just have to play the wind and move slow.
QuoteOriginally posted by fnshtr:
I too like lower stands... 12-14' to the platform. However, in late season with the leaves off I get busted more often at that height.
I have buddies that will never hunt lower than 25' and they hunt big bucks exclusively.
I'm a bit afraid of heights... another reason I stay lower. :banghead:
I'm a 25' kinda guy myself tend to get busted if I go lower.
When ya live in a state with high hunting pressure deer tend to look in the trees. I wish I could get away with 12 for the better shot angle.
i just got done watching a video with paul brunner , to him treestand height is not as important as picking the right tree that will offer you the best shot opportunity. of your are 25 ft high and your in the right tree than thats the right height. if the right tree only allows you to climb to 10 ft , then 10 ft is the right height. im sure other things come into play too such as wind where are the deer coming from , are they in heavy cover shooting light. i guess you have to know your hunting ground weather patterns amount of deer activity, pressured or not. lots of variables to consider. im just learning all this myself. i watched all this in a dvd called street smart bucks. very cool stuff. good luck . ruddy
I cant sit still enough to say so, I usually go up no less than 16 feet to hide my movements unless the tree or terrain demands differently.
16 ft is as high as I can go. Any higher and I start getting the hebegebees (sp).
A couple of years ago I decided to take a differant trail to my stand and on the way ran into a new hunter sitting in his stand. I introduced myself and was able to reach up and shake his hand. I never commented on it. I figured he had his limits as well.
I am normally pretty high if I go in the climber - hang ons are 18'. Gonna buy a wallie world special ladder stand for 59$ at 15' tall.
I get busted at most any height if I screw it up, no matter what height! up in Pville all the wood ladder stands are 12 had deer walk right by me.
J
We build our to 18Ft at the platform. That seems to put us right at the cover on suitable trees around here.
As low as the cover will allow. Killed my first nice buck with my feet about 5 to 6 ft. off the ground. Have two tri-pods that work great in thick cover. They are 7 ft at the ft. platform. My ladder stands have three sections of which I only use two. Maybe 10 ft. at the seat. At 63 I'd rather be on the ground in my Guille, but sometimes you just need to go up for that perfect shot opportunity.
On Long Island the hunting pressure is so high the deer constantly look in the trees for you. When I went on a hunt in kansas i was so amazed that the deer did not look up once the whole week i hunted.
welp if u get 2 high then u will have troubles with making good clean shots and kill from that angle. i ussually am about 10-15 ft.
Cover is why I am going to rapid rails and a hang on combo. There are MANY times I would have liked to be in a short tree with great cover (branches) near transition areas on public land. Problem was that my climber could not get up in the tree.
This year I found a Perfect tree for most winds on the edge of a pond with acorns all around. Problem....couldn't get climber in it. Rapid rails would have gotten me into that tree. I saw no less than 15 deer within 10yds of that tree. Including a buck you might only see once in a lifetime. I would have only been 8-10 feet off the ground
My point in all this? Height doesn't mean crap, but cover does. Get in a tree that will hide you. If not possible, then height will be a factor.....
18-25 ft
15 ft max for me. I do tend to stay out of open areas however and generally key in the thicker type of stuff.
Depends on the farms and terrain i'm hunting. I mostly hunt from the ground in a chair, for mobility on Public hunting. But i also use two stands as well depending on the place. One a 15 foot ladder stand in open places and this my favorite go to stand when i hunt in timber. As it's easy to take down and move around. I have a extra extension but never used it. Being 8 foot up i put off the side of trails or crossings and try to put it in multiply tree clumps. Been skylined a few times but mostly in rut they never see me. (http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z232/mrvicattheriver/IMG_0009.jpg)
10'-15' depending on area.
Fifteen to twenty feet up in a multi-trunked tree for my part of West Virginia... Deer look up in my neck of the woods! Cross your fingers when hunting the wind... It's constantly changing in WV!
I feel too low if the platform of my stand is less than 12'. Most of the time I place stands, if the tree and terraing permit or require, 15-18' high. I can accept the lower height if I have a lot of background and even forground cover. Sometimess though, I have stands on slight side hills that result in the uphill side being only 10 feet or less below me and 25 feet or so on the downhill side.
I almost never put a stand in a tree that is standing alone or doesn't have branches for cover (and security). My favorite stands are in branch-heavy cedar trees.
Always a lot of variables. Location and wind direction are the primary factors. After that tree configuration, cover, and terrain dictate height. For me it could be 10 feet to 18 feet but generally no higher than that.
18 to 23 ft depending on the hill side , cover etc. I tend to get a little higher because of the wind. It always swirls in the mountains. I never get a consistent wind and a little height might get you a shot before you get busted.
The older I get, the closer to the ground I remain. The higher in the tree, the steeper the angle and the smaller the kill zone. Everybody has their personl likes and dislikes so I say if that is the height you are successful at, do not change it. Personally 10 to 12 feet is all the higher I climb. Two feet would be fine if your silouette is blocked and sit still.
18-20 feet to the base of my platform
I'm usually at 12-15 feet. Really varies depending on the tree I'm in.
Terrain and background cover dictate my stand height. I hunt from the ground all the way up to 25'. I prefer lower, but the place that I have the 25'er is on a hillside near a thicket. I am only about 12' above ground level in the thicket where I expect my shots to be. Mike
Up until year before last it was 16-18 feet. Last year I tested out a theory that I have and I feel in this area I was correct. We have been hunting the same 1400 + acres for ten years and know the deer pretty well. Once the leaves came down the deer would disappear, because I felt they could see us going up into our stands. I started to only go up about 8-10' and ended up having deer walk right under me, I also had a buck lean up the tree like a dog that had something treed, I feel that in this particular spot this is what happens.
The reason I came up with this was that I could see further in the woods when the leaves come down so why can't deer. Like I said it's just a theory that seemed to have worked for me.
I'll hunt as low as I can get good cover, usually between 12 and 16 feet at the platform. I'll often add some cover to the tree and stand.
12-15 ft is typical for me. I have shot deer and pronghorns as low as 7 ft. to my feet. Don't like shot angle on high stands.