So I have a great stand location, the problem is the only tree that is really useable has no cover around it at all, and I am constantly getting picked off. Does anyone have any ideas of something I can use to hang from the branches above that will provide me with some cover? I am thinking some kind of fake vines or something. I was even thinking bundles of pine branches that I could pull up with fishing line and tie off at the necessary height. It is on my property so appearance is not that big a deal as long as it hides me a bit! Any ideas?
I would think that cutting branches would be the best and most cost effective method. The trick to that is mounting them in a way that they provide good coverage but yet are shooter friendly. One thing that I will do if my only option is a tree with little to no cover is hang the set on the backside of the tree and shoot around it. Obviously there are some limitations with that but it has worked pretty good for me in the past. Post some pics of what you decide to do when your all done!
I wear a leafy camo suit during early season on into fall. I also, have used zip ties to hang them from my stand. Another thing you can do is use screw-in steps, and place them at various places around the tree above your stand. Make it look like various limbs growing all over the tree. Then cut branches off a similar tree in that area and zip tie the branches to the screw in steps. Be sure not to put any in a spot that will impede you drawing your bow or block the camera if you film. I did it this past year and it worked really well for me. Most screw in steps look like this. . Screw the step all the way in until curved bottom of the step touches the tree and you cannot screw it in any further. Then, wedge your branch in that gap between the tree and your step and zip tie it to the top of the step.
Thanks guys, I think between hanging a bunch of bundles of pine branches from overhanging limbs around my tree, and using tree steps to mount branches above my stand height angling down, to give me cover, just might work. It ain't gonna look natural at all, but if I do it in late summer the deer will get used to it by hunting season. This spot is just too good to not hunt it, and a ground blind won't work, too much ground cover to see and shoot through, have to get above it all. Gonna be a lot of work, I hope it pays off!
Check out CamoFlex! (Google) It's not cheap, but it looks like it will take care of the blob in the tree problem. I'm going to give these "branches" a try. I was wondering when somebody was going to come up with this idea. Looks very convincing.
Early in, you weren't lying when you say Camoflex it's not cheap! I just found something from a company called Blinded hunting, called the Crows nest, that you wrap around a tree and put branches in it to create cover. Much cheaper, check it out. They make a cool treestand safety strap too called the Q safe. I think I'll be buying both.
I'll use camo cloth and put dead branches underneath it and around it to break up the shape and use large zip ties to secure it to the trees.
i use ladder stands if i used a climber i would never pick a beach i have red oak white oak hickory some crappy pine tulip and beach i try to set up in the beach very full of limbs down low and the beach will hold its leaves much longer than most of the trees ie good cover This year i have been hinge cutting and plan on kill food plots based on deer movement and the closest beach tree we will see how this worked next season
This time of year look for used fake Christmas trees at garage sales etc. I take a 1/4 " drill bit and drill a hole in the tree. Shove in the branch on any angle you want. Next year the tree will have grown in around the branch and will last for years.
If it's your land transplant some balsam trees around your stand. They can always be trimmed for shooting. With some help you can move 20'+ trees. They grow fast too. I move balsams every year it seems. I have even moved some 4-5' ones along a trail to give me chance to draw. Cover does not have to be next to you. Heck, I have used old wooden snow fence as a visual barrier for deer a time or 2. I even stained one dull green....because I had some.
I use a climber and go about 22' to the base of the stand, but because there is so little cover I constantly get picked off. Can't go any higher, the tree gets too gnarly.
I don't mind a little work, but planting 20' trees is a bit much. No way to get them into where I hunt anyway. I want something ready to go by next season, I'm getting a little old to be waiting for cover trees to grow. Under the right circumstances it is a great idea though.
I thought you might be lower than that and that might be your problem. I hunt some trees with no cover and as long as i'm 20' or over I don't have many problems getting spotted. One area I hunt the timber has been cut pretty hard so there isn't very many trees to start with, its pretty open, and I still don't get picked off as long as i'm up pretty high, 20 feet or so. I cant go much higher than 20 feet, my pull up rope is only 25 feet. Do you hunt that stand often? Maybe they are use to looking for you.
This summer is the best time to camo your stands. Find some oak trees and cut a few branches off that have leaves on them. As they dry they will stay on the branches at least through the entire deer season and sometimes til the following year. I use bungee cords to wrap around the tree first and then start sticking the branches in until I get as many as I feel necessary. You can then use a ratchet strap to go around and tighten them good too. I usually will have the bungee about chest high and have several branches go up and several go down but it's important to blouse them out to provide you cover from the sides without interfering with you while hunting. You can then take smaller oak leaf branches and zip tie them to your stand here and there as well.
Something else you could look at that is pretty inexpensive is Ghost Blind's Manscape. Its fake vegitation that could be put anywhere!! Heres a website for it: Ghost Blind Manscape
I only hunted it I think 4 times and got busted every time. Definitely not my scent either, it's just so wide open I am silhouetted against the sky. This tree is on the edge of very sparse woods at the base of a very steep hill, but the lack of trees lets a lot of sun reach the ground so the ground is totally overgrown providing awesome cover for the deer, but not so much for me up in the tree! This spot also happens to be on an awesome bottleneck between the point of a steep hill and a large pond, and it's between feeding and bedding areas too. It really has it all except treestand cover. Once I use a combo if the ideas I got here I won't stick out nearly as much. Gonna be a bunch of work, but I have a feeling it will be well worth it.
