What is everyone’s thoughts on tree stand height? I’ve had a buck on camera coming in to a SW wind. How he is approaching and being a mature buck he has the advantage. With work I have limited time to catch him during the early season. He will likely break his pattern after this first week or two of season. With that said does anyone have any information on getting higher 30+ ft to null the wind. I don’t expect a north wind and would like to take advantage of the time I do have to hunt. There are a couple forums out there on this and some articles but want to see if anyone has any experience or tips Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
30 + feet won't do it. I have had times like that before and just had to go scentless. I took bath with scentless soap, poured baking soda over my head and body before getting out of shower. Sprayed down bow boots clothes with spray. Scentless spray. Used the rest of box of baking soda once I got to my stand. I have some spray for my mouth once I get in my stand. I only use sprays with no scent. I don't want to smell like dirt or anything. I have had some great success like this but other factors can derail it like sweating while walking in to the stand. I won't try this if it's to hot. Hope this helps. Good luck. Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
I prefer 22-24 ft. Good shot angles and not so high the canopy blocks shots. As stated above bowhtr1 one has an excellent sent control routine. I wouldnt hunt when it's really hot. As for sweating I am a heavy sweater so I designate certain cloths for walking in. When I get 2 the base of the tree I remove all clothing except maybe bass layer on legs for short walks in. It all goes in a scentloc roll top scent bag. I then put fresh cloths on which are compression strapped to my bag. Fresh dry cloths not soaked in sweat. Keeps me warm in the cold and dry when it's warm, plus helps eliminate smell.
I'm more concerned with shot angle, I like fifteen feet. Works for me provided wind/thermals are favorable, If they aren't , I'm hunting elsewhere .
I hunt over 20 ft all the time unless the vegetation dictates otherwise. My lock on sticks are 25 ft but I don't move them up to 25 until gun season. Sometimes you only get one chance at a great deer and the conditions aren't always the best. At times it's worth the risk to just go for it. I would prefer not to hunt a bad wind but I will if needed. Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
I really like being high but when you are 25+ feet and the deer is only 15 yards the shot angle can sure cause some issues Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk
Wait for the conditions to be right before you try to hunt it. You aren't going to gain anything by trying to cheat the wind. No matter what you do to take scent precautions (i.e. shower, baking soda, sprays, etc.) you aren't going to fool a deer's nose. A mature buck will try not to travel with the wind at his back anyways. You might also be able to use thermals to your advantage. Air currents will rise uphill in the morning and downhill in the evening. The way to determine how your thermals are moving is with a solid wind indicator like milkweed. You can follow it longer and it gives you more than just wind direction. You may be able to play your thermals it carries over the top of him. The wind doesn't have to be blowing from the direction he's coming from for it to be the right wind. If he's traveling towards the SW, I'd wait for a NW wind and hunt on the S side of his trail. As for height, I've killed deer at 10' and I've killed deer at 35'. Your height should all depend on cover and shot angle, not so much wind.
I'm no expert on the wind, BUT I used to hunt in my climber at 30' for self filming. It does make the target smaller. That being said, if you do plan on hunting that high, you absolutely positively MUST practice a LOT from that high with a 3D target.
You don’t say whether you are trying to hunt mornings or afternoons. The distinction is huge. Going higher for morning hunts might help in certain situations depending on surrounding terrain and other factors but generally it’s not going to make a difference. Going higher will do absolutely nothing for you on afternoon hunts and if there is little to no wind it could actually make things worse. For the most part your scent leaves your body in the mornings and goes up. If you are a reasonable height up a tree and have practiced good scent control you should be fine and even have a decent chance to avoid detection by downwind deer. In my opinion most people get busted on morning hunts because of their back trail and things they touched in the dark. Keep your boots clean. This means you don’t wear them to drive. You don’t walk around wearing them anywhere other than to and from the tree stand. Wear gloves in the woods during hunting season. Scent deposited by touching is worse than scent left just by passing through. In the afternoon your scent falls from your body like a cone around the base of your tree. Wind then pushes that cone in one direction or the other. Think of it like a cone of liquid. It falls from your body like a shower and when it gets close to the ground it runs into the lowest places just like water would do. This means in the afternoon deer coming from below you (terrain wise) are more likely to smell you than deer coming from above you. Being higher in a tree won’t help this on the least. So the moral of the story is if you are talking about a morning hunt then go for it and just pray you don’t walk across the top of him getting to the stand. If you are talking an afternoon pattern you can basically forget it from a tree stand if the wind isn’t right to hunt it. Only other thought would be to try a ground blind and get in there with an ozonics unit and maybe you could get away with a bad wind but it may be too late to be putting a ground blind in his path. Good luck!
