How high are most of you? Some shows looks like guys are 25ft plus. When portable sticks barely get you to 20' and most ladders are under 18' is that where you guys are at? Just times I feel like 20' isn't high enough but where I hunt. We don't have too many trees that don't Y well before that.
I'm also in that 18-22 ft range depending, of course, on how much effort I want to put into the ascent/descent. I usually don't like to put that much of a stretch between sticks and the most sticks I have at one location is a set of 4. Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk
I only hunt private land and always have. I think I killed 200th deer with a bow last year and I know I've never been over 18' in a stand. Most every stand I've hung over the past 40 years have been around 11_12 feet. If I hunted public and had to deal with deer looking up, I'd quit. I get the "willies" over 15'. I HAVE sat a bit higher on limbs when younger in big burr oak and was OK with that though.
Barely off the ground to 20ish. Depends on tree. Used to go a lot higher but the shot angles could get ridiculous. Don’t like going above 20 now. Stay still and play the wind. Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
I've been hunting public land the last few years with no success. Didn't have much time with online degree and newborn. I actually have some time now and feel like the deer always look up. My current stand is 22'. Feel like I should be higher but don't know if it matters that much.
depends on terrain/back cover, tree I'm in ... typically, I like 18-21 ft with my Alpha II and 4 LW sticks ... there are a few locations I'm lower and it feels like my ass is dragging the ground, but they work 'cause the tree has good back cover .. when I had private to hunt(18yrs), I had a few that would go 25 ft or so, but then I was using screw in's, which can not be used on our state lands I'm on now .. .. a good linemans rope and a good harness are a must ..
No more than 20 ft until the leaves fall from the trees. Then I'm at 25 ft. I have been 15 ft depending on cover. No sense getting high if you can't see. The higher the better as far as scent control. Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk
Deer can get conditioned to look up. The best way to avoid it is get a good back drop. And don't sit in the same spot
20 ft min usually, have hunted up to 30ft. Shot angles get weird at that height. I Always try to hunt trees with cover and branches, much better now with the sticks and hang on. When I hunted the climber exclusively I would go higher due to less cover.
I’m usually at 20-22 ft when using a lock on. Like others have stated, your backdrop is the best key to eliminating your silhouette. I will always look for 2 trees close together so I can use one as my background cover.
Totally situational. Usually Early season lower 12-15ft to be at or under the lower canopy. From about Halloween on depending on the leaves usually about 18-22. But certain trees and situations call for different heights. Ive hung a stand 4’ up in a cedar and 40’ up on the side of a ridge. It took 10 sticks to get up where i had to be but where my shot was going to be was equal to maybe 15’ up on normal flat ground.
I've taken one of my biggest bucks from a totally bare tree at 10 ft with him coming straight down hill to me. So he was face level for quite a while and I was in total head to toe hunter orange. He was literally 3 yards from my stand having waliked under me before I could raise my shot gun to shoot him. . So for me,it's not the height it is the movement and the wind.
BTW my biggest lesson, the deer you never see are the ones that saw you moving in a tall stand from a long distance. If you spot your stand at a distance ,keep your head / view at the same position then walk toward that stand you'll find it leaves your field of view. There is no need for deer to " look up" to see you. Most big buck never need to.
Yes and believe me here after a few days in gun season buck are definitely on full alert more so than in bow season. But don't believe me, watch some hunting public and beast videos. Dan sometimes sticks himself low and in what seem like the toothpick sized trees. And shoots big bucks. Movement and wind. Most of my ladder stands are 12 to 14 ft to seat. Without a single branch around me and on the edge of fields.
My first bow kill was opening weekend in 1980. I was on a 10 ft ladder stand. That evening I shot at a bobcat and barely skinned him because of a limb. Then I shot at a 4 pt later smelling my bobcat shot arrow. Missed completely because of same limb. I grunted to keep the 4pt from blowing at me. After the grunted I heard another deer 7pt coming straight to me. He walked directly under the stand and past me looking into the field behind me. I had to turn around the tree to shoot at 3 yards. Got him. Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk
A big thing I remember is waiting the 30 minutes after the shot to go look for the deer. 30 seconds after the shot I hit the ground to look. I jumped the last couple steps down and a cloud of dust came out of my camo. The dust was baking soda I dusted with to help eliminate my scent. I still use it. Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk
I'm generally between 15' and 18'. All depends on the terrain and back ground cover. On a hillside deer coming from my uphill side are almost straight across from me in some cases, so I will sit higher in that instance. I'll also sit higher if there isn't a lot of cover and I'm worried about being sky-lined. My area is all conifer trees, so other than Tamarack losing it's needles I don't have to worry about leaf canopy going away. In most cases 16' is plenty. It still isn't real common around here for people to sit in trees, deer aren't used to looking up for danger. Most units do not have an archery only season and it is just an any weapons season. 99% of people are packing rifles and just still hunt or sit against a tree on the ground.
