Howdy Gang!
I have been resenting tree stands for a number of years now, so I find myself on the ground much more these days. But I also find myself setting "low" tree stands a good bit too. Have not taken a deer yet from one of these set ups but have seen plenty. I find I really like the "low" tree stand set ups. By low I mean the platform is head high or less when you are standing on the ground.
One trick I have learned is to try to use the topography to my advantage. I have had a couple stands about 3-4 feet up that would put me 10-15 feet over where I expected the deer to be.
Anybody else like to hunt this way? I would sure like to hear your tricks and tactics for optimizing low tree stands. A few good stories wouldn't hurt either! :campfire:
I absolutely love sitting in big cedar trees 6-8' up. Most of them you can trim just a few limbs for the stand and shooting room. Then use the remaining limbs to climb up or add a couple tree steps. I really like doing this if I am hunting anything that is public or walk in areas because you can just use a lightweight hang on and carry it in/out with you. Pretty good wind block too.
I have had better experience as you describe above by being 10-15' above the deer. I hunt a lot of ridgelines with creeks/bottom areas below if I can. The wind will swirl a lot in these areas from my experience is why I like the cedar trees.
Lots of cover with basically holes to shoot thru!
Good wind currents help too.....
Plenty of growth behind as well as in front, similar to a ground blind. Movement seems to be extremely crucial. I get busted a lot due to moving too much. I have 5 stands less than 10 feet up.
Cedar trees for me too. If you can find a hardwood tree in the middle of a cedar cluster-sit just high enough to peek through the tops
Some locations can handle low, others . . no way.
I hunt in the marsh. Cover is thick and low. In some spots I can be 6 feet off the ground and not be seen. One spot, I could touch the platform from the ground, maybe 8' high, and I had a doe and button buck walk right under me.
You need to pick your spots carefully. Hunting early season (leaves still on the trees) really helps.
ChuckC
I to love cedar trees. Most of the time I only need one maybe two steps. They work great to help overpower human scent too.
I have also used fresh cut cedar to make ground blinds works great.
I had 3 brain surgerys less then a year and a half ago and promised my family I would stay closer to the ground. I never hunted very high anyway so not to much of a change, I always hunt by the wind but I do camo my stands with ceder branches more now to help with movement.
I will dig up some picks but I killed a buck in Mo.this year Stand was head high 12yd shot. Killed a Kansas buck and two does from stands no higher then 8ft all shots 10 to 15yds this season.
Never really noticed any problems hunting at the lower elevations over the years and I move around quite a bit on the stand to so I'm surprised. My biggest buck to date with bow 190 inch B/C was killed at 8ft. so I wouldn't be to afraid to try it.
Tracy
I too am a big fan of low stands in more recent years. During the whitetail bootcamp sessions I run each year some guys can't believe how low some of my killer stands are. I too prefer thicker cedars/junipers but you can get away with multi-trucked hardwoods too if you detail them some. The key is good cover around you and consistent wind directions at the location. A couple more things I do, say you are expecting your shot on a pinch point at 15 yds. I'll add some brush and/or leafy branches about half way between my stand and the spot where you think the deer will be. Just make it low enough so you can be sure to shoot over top of it if needed. Doing this will draw attention away from yourself in the tree and you'll be less likely to be busted. Hard to explain but it's like being behind and shooting over a wall. They will be less likely to see where you trimmed limbs to get into your tree. And sometimes your upper torso is all that's exposed. If you feel exposed just add cut leafy branches and/or some additional cedar limbs carried into the ambush. Wearing a leafy Ghilli suit in low stands is another option. Keeping stands low you'll be less likely to be back-lighted with the distant ridgeline and/or timber behind you. I almost got a giant buck a couple weeks ago (it got dark too soon) from a stand where the foot platform wasn't 7 feet up. He was only 20 yds. away lokking and never saw me in a timed half-hour. I've killed some monster bucks over the years when I was less than 10 feet up. No problem. bw
I do hunt lower stands and dont feel exposed as I like to make a hidey-hole out of them. Get just high enough to be able to see real well is my goal as I use them on edges almost exclusively.
Here's my stand in Missouri at KennyM's this year were I shot my buck, stand is right in the middle of the pick on the bare tree six feet off the ground.
(http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac248/TmPotter47/null_zps81827b9e.png)
View from the stand once I brushed in a few branches.
(http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac248/TmPotter47/null_zpsa84869d9.jpg)
Tracy
Like UB I have used and love a low stand, one of my best stands was so low all I had to do is reach up and hang my bow on the platform from the string and use one tree step to climb up. I brushed it in with the branches from a fake Christmas tree and was good to go, they never turn brown and you can bend them where you want them. I had 12 shots from that stand in one year( that's another story) and never got seen. I also like it because the trees are wider down lower and hide me better.
I like to use the multi-trunked trees as well if you can find one in the area you need to be. You have to consider where your most likely shot will be and set up accordingly because one of the trunks of the multi-trunk will no doubt prevent you from shooting in all directions. Most of my stands are 10-12 ft
Rodney
If possible, some pinoak limbs ziptied to the stand to help block your sillouette will help too.
Or 3 trees like the short stand on the corn if you luck out and find such! :D
Multi trunk, zip tie limbs...that's how I hunt from low stands. I sill find higher is better though in most cases. I'd like to be lower, but in Michigan, about 20 feet gets you in the zone. Lower and the old does just love finding you. Illinois and indiana, I've gotten away with 12 foot. A whole different game.
I hunt like that a good bit. I try to get in a cluster of trees or get where there is something knarly behind me. I have had pretty good luck hunting low. And trying to let the animal get into or by me before I move. I also set up sometimes so face away from the direction I expect animals to come from n hide behind the tree. Works for me. Plus I feel safer.
Low for me is 8-12ft.
Wear gloves and a face mask.
My son and I have used the "1 stick" method of setting stands for years now and have had great luck. Multi-tree groupings is our best bet and the trees can be small in diameter. We've taken 4 this year in stands we can touch from the ground.
I love multi trunk trees. I set my stand in the middle. It is amazing how much you can hide without much movement.
Frank what do you mean by the one stick method?
Quote
They will be less likely to see where you trimmed limbs to get into your tree. bwI can't imagine a deer differentiating a tree with cut branches and it recognizing it as a place where a hunter climbs to his stand...but maybe? Set me straight. Certainly I respect Barry's opinion. I've never seen a deer visually recognize cut branches or brush I have made in my shooting lanes.
Not a big issue either way and I get the point; no cost in being conservative in this regard.
Certainly I have witnessed, as we all have, a deer detecting scent where we have climbed to our stand...absolutely. Our bare hands on foot pegs or steps are dead giveaways.
Visual recognition seems like a human quality we may be bestowing upon Mr. White-tail.
Kris
Not to get off. But I am curious how many sticks you guys use? Or what's your setups? I mostly use lone wolf hand climber.
Also for the cut limb question, if I need to do that. I will reach into the soil grab a handful of dirt and Mash it into the end of the cut off limb. Dirt camo. Makes me feel better. :D
I'll hunt as low as I can get decent cover and generally add at least some cover to a stand. Oak branches cut in summer or late fall work best and will not lose their leaves. If setting up on a particular trail I want to be on the inside of a bend if possible or set so the deer dass from behind so deer aren't looking directly at me when coming in. Like Barry, I try not to cut lanes any lower than necessary.
Every deer I killed with a bow, I only had the tree stand between 12' and 15' off the ground. I just make sure the stand is concealed good.
I use the top section of ladder stands a lot and place them in thick cover. . .usually juniper.
They work well on deer and exceptional on pigs.
Mike
I'm usually up a little higher (16-20 feet) no fear of heights - use to be a steel worker in my younger days. but i do love a multi trunk tree as others have said. it was one of the reasons I invested in mu leverage climbing sticks....you can get up in multi/split trunk trees that a climber can't get into.
(one of the other reasons was to prevent theft...but thats a different story).
Ironically, I stumbled upon this thread as I sat working on an article titled "Hunting From Elevated Ground Blinds". The piece I'm doing concerns tips and tactics of hunting while perched in low hanging treestands, to be published in 2015.
Here's one of many deer that I've taken over the years sitting in one of my "elevated blinds". Virtually all of my stands are between 7-12 feet; the rest of my sets are either brush blinds or well concealed popup blinds.
In ways similar to Uncle Barry's situation, I am also concerned with a mature deer's eyes following the line of a tree trunk where I have sawed off limbs to ease in climbing into the stand. To avoid getting busted I either remove the limbs from the back of the tree OR tie up brush or a fallen tree between the tree trunk and where I expect deer to approach.
(http://i994.photobucket.com/albums/af64/wildart2/photo_zpsa47ea73c.jpg)
(http://i994.photobucket.com/albums/af64/wildart2/photo3_zpsded204d0.jpg)
(http://i994.photobucket.com/albums/af64/wildart2/photo5_zpsb86b236f.jpg)
(http://i994.photobucket.com/albums/af64/wildart2/photo2_zps2d7310eb.jpg)
Kris: Misconception I believe. As I said, hard to explain. To clarify, I'm not speaking about them seeing the actual cut limbs. I'm talking about hiding the opening you cut into the cedar's density/thickest part in order to climb up through the lower limbs to the platform. The suggested added brush half way to the target area is to help conceal the opening in your tree from the sweet spot where the rest of the tree is more dense. I've had them bust me visually (one last week). But I can't tell if a more open cut spot in a thick softwood caught their eye or a fat guy in a skinny tree wearing a slightly different shade of camo than the rest of the tree. bw
Where I hunt, we don't have many cedars, especially large enough to hunt from. I try to be in front of, behind, or in holly trees-we've got lots of them. I like one that's 8 or 10' feet tall and hang my stand behind it so that most of my body is behind it when I stand up.
I don't feel penalized at all by hunting lower when my primary cover is mountain laurel. I lke to "nestle" in it so that about all that is really exposed from the deer's perspective is my head/neck when seated. I can stand when the deer's head is down to get the shot clearance that's needed. When I get a smart-elic doe with her well educated yearlings doing the head-bob thing and me standing/sitting back down it probably looks like some twisted version of whack-a-mole!
No matter how much cover the tree affords I feel too exposed to scent and movement detection if I'm lower than 12'. Most of my stands are 15-18' high.
I also love the cedar tree for my stands. I don't like cutting the tree up for shot windows but some is almost necessary. I'm a fan of using rope to pull back some limbs and tie them out of the way instead of cutting them. This way if I make a mistake I can reverse it.
I also sometimes cut cedar branches from other trees and tie them in places to increase the cover if it is lacking.
I will admit this thread and some of the well-hidden low stands pictures are compelling.
I have seen some old stands (40 years ago) that I thought were just high enough off the ground to expose the hunter more than if he was on the ground.
I have some pop-up stands that I use for turkeys. I would love to use these more with deer but if I brush them in and leave them during deer season cows find them, even when the tract isn't supposed to have cows on it!
I envy you guys that have 40-60 foot cedars big enough to hunt in. I was amazed at some of Barry's stands when I attended his boot camp. I was also amazed at the size of rubs he showed us. If I had the brutes walking around that he does I would hunt low also as I might shake so hard I would shake myself right out of the stand :)
Bucky, We have the tree ladder sticks 5' long each and we have set our stands using a single stick for years. Once we started doing that we have seen absolutely no difference in the number of close encounters with deer and it sure is nice knowing you could literally just step off the platform if you wanted to. I shot my doe this year at 3 yds. after she came in an sniffed my ladder! My son shot his buck at 12 yds.
Frank you have pics of your setup? 5ft, thats amazing!
I've killed several deer out of my preferred stand, an 8 ft. aluminum tri-pod. My feet rest on a rail at 7 ft. with my butt in a boat seat about 12 to 18 inches higher. I shoot sitting down with very little movement. I prefer to place these stands in thickets with heavy cover behind and preferably next to a tree or two. I find that cover behind consisting of briars or vines are particularly effective because you do not have to deal with falling foilage, which leaves you open during the late season. Most shots are 12 to 15 yards and the deer seldom know I'm there. Of course I only hunt these locations when the wind is in my favor. :archer2:
Bucky, I'm buck hunting this weekend, I'll get a picture for you.
Barry - thanks for your explanation.
BTW - I was visually busted just before the gun season here in Wisconsin through the thickest part of my Eastern Red Cedar stand at 15' up. The wind was blowing from a small six pointer into me, as I watched him approach from 75 yards out.
My slight movement and he was dialed in, looking straight at me. He slowly and cautiously walked away, then ran. I was very surprised he saw anything but good for him. Hope he grows for another three or four years!
Kris
I'll tell you, regardless of height, cover is so important. But even more successful for me is not hunting the Same spots. I rarely sit the same spot, especially if I get busted. I use either climber or usually the alpha with sticks. After using them for years I'm pretty efficient. Still, 18+ is usually best. Wish I could go lower
Hands and face covered. Avoid eye contact. I always set the stand above the lowest limb. I like 5 to 10 feet but have not hunted out of a stand this year.
Another vote for using a single section of a climbing ladder. I secure a lone wolf versa button so I only have to take the strap in. The ladder section stays at the site all year.
Cedars are thick and dark. If your camo (or face and hands) are light colored, you stand out just the same.
CHuckC
QuoteOriginally posted by Overspined:
Multi trunk, zip tie limbs...that's how I hunt from low stands. I sill find higher is better though in most cases. I'd like to be lower, but in Michigan, about 20 feet gets you in the zone. Lower and the old does just love finding you. Illinois and indiana, I've gotten away with 12 foot. A whole different game.
Somebody needs to shoot some does.
homebru
Funny about the cedars being brought up. We don't really have cedar trees here in pa but we have hemlocks. And my favorite stands are in hemlocks.
Longbowman,
Ever get those pics?
I like all sorts of tree stands, so this "trick" or what not isn't specifically aimed towards stands closer to the ground but....
I really like to take old fake Christmas tree's that people throw out, and use them to tie behind the stand/on the ladder if that's what you're using.
Many people throw out fake trees every year so there's usually plenty to go around.
Red shaft it was me who wanted them
QuoteOriginally posted by BUCKY:
Red shaft it was me who wanted them
Yeah your right. I also want to see em. Like posted on here. It was a reminder for him. I'd like to see em.
As mentioned above I'd love to see pics of some set ups.
As mentioned above I'd love to see pics of some set ups.