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Why I like being 25-35 ft MINIMUM up a tree

I'd be lucky if I could let go of the tree at 20 ft. let alone shoot a bow. There's no way in hell I'd even be able to climb to 30 ft. I don't go much over 15 (and I'm usually proud of myself for going that high) You guys are braver than me.
 
It's all situational. One of my best stands is 6ft high at the platform and it is basically in a bush. The tree is only probably 12ft tall total. It's all about cover, more cover, and wind and most importantly being confident in your setup. The rest are just details.....
 
I'd like to hunt higher, but most of my stands don't allow it. As long as I'm above 15 i'm happy... Although my fave stand (no longer in existence) was only about 10ft. up in an old dead elm, it had very little cover, but as long as I stayed alert I never got busted and had some super encounters in it. I would love to be over 20 ft though. Good thread!
 
My Favorite stand that i have shot all of my big bucks out of is only 10ft to the platform. 20ft is as high as i will go!
 
I hope this thread does not encourage anyone to go higher than they are comfortable with and hang a stand that is not to their normal standards.

I like the 20 mark, but find most trees structure wise work better lower.
 
Field Service said:
I hope this thread does not encourage anyone to go higher than they are comfortable with and hang a stand that is not to their normal standards.

I like the 20 mark, but find most trees structure wise work better lower.
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Great point FS. Stay safe guys. My brother is a 15 foot tops guy too. He does just fine.:way:
 
I hunted years ago on a trip to western in Kansas in a stand my brother put up the day before. It was in an ancient cottonwood. He didn't have any extensions for his stand and had to just keep going up 'til he got to a fork and a trunk? he could get the strap around. That stand HAD to be close to forty feet off the ground. I had to use my binos just to tell if the deer were bucks or does and they were less than twenty yards away!;) I don't think I could have shot a deer out of that stand, I didn't feel comfortable 'til my feet were back on the ground. I will say this, I could have done jumping jacks in that tree and a deer under me wouldn't have had a clue. I'll stick with 16-18' myself. Where I hunt, if you get much higher your have to cut down half the trees around you to get a shot -- good ol' hedge trees...
 
I killed a 200" 6.5 year old deer out of a 10 foot setup then shot a another mature deer the next season out of the same stand. Cover, cover and more cover with one good quality shooting lane. I'll give up a few (maybe) shooting lanes for cover. I've never been higher then 20 feet and have had pretty darn good luck. And the reasoning for never going above 20 feet u ask. Well, I'm afraid of heights. Okay, I said it. Total situational really...Now that I'm hunting with a camera guy everywhere I go things have changed. I'm defintiely (out there) more then I have ever been. But still won't go higher then 20' unless I feels it's really needed.
 
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I've shot deer off the ground with a bow without a blind. My buddies consistently shoot deer from 10-15 feet BUT from my experience there are COUNTLESS benefits from hunting much higher.
Personally, I know I could kill deer at 12' for example but I know there would be many deer I never saw because they nailed me far before I saw them- never knew i busted them ( them getting me far off by scent, visual, etc).
If folks have good luck hunting from 6' OR they don't like heights- by all means, it's totally up to the hunter of course- OBVIOUSLY.
In my experience, I have no reason to hunt lower, I really have found few situations, trees, etc that I saw any benefit to going lower- in all cases I found countless benefits to getting up there (getting spotted - close up OR from distances, cover, scent, MOVEMENT while you're up there, better view, more effective on MATURE bucks, etc, etc.).
*OK- in all fairness, this is coming from the guy who fell 32' hanging one of these in July a few years ago and shattered my arm and broke my 7th vertabrae, etc. :) Don't be an idiot and leave the harness at home that day!
I think I'll post these pics as a reminder to folks a couple times a year!
**IF you are SAFE, my strong preference is HIGH up there to this day though! Just don't be an idiot like me! :)

SkipArm7.JPG


SkipArm2web.JPG
 
All in good fun Skip, ;)

how many of those big mature encounters/bloody arrows do you think would have happened anyway if you were at 16' with adequate cover?

:D
 
Been there done that. I fell from 17' in 06. I was pulling myself up onto a year old setup without checking straps. Busted my ankle tree stand then fell off the tree and hit me in back of the head. You should see the horrible scare on the back of my head from a nurse at the good old Decatur County hospital. She wasn't happy to get a 5am on-call and the stitch job she did on my dome definitely showed.
 
I love being 25-30 feet up. I have had bad luck on low stand sets with being seen or smelled. I have also lost deer with a high lung/liver shot because they bleed internally and just fill up their body cavity with blood but none goes to the ground. Every time I get high and have to shoot almost straight down I have never had to track anything further than 80 yards. If something decides to come in behind me downwind my scent just blows right over them. Also, if some turkeys decide to roost next to you its a pretty easy shot.
 
I don't have adequate cover very often past about Oct 20. Even if I'm in a shingle oak or something else that holds leaves late- the other trees around me go bare. Getting higher is the only way I get above their sight. Even if I am in a cedar tree with cover, those deer stop and look right at me if I'm not high enough (never happens anymore because i don't hunt low). I don't have ANY reason to hunt lower now that I always have my safety harness. My shots are always MONEY when I'm higher plus i seem to get far more 5-10 yard shots as the deer have no clue i'm there. Obviously this is a discussion of what works better for the individual- no right or wrong answer BUT you just ain't catching me any lower than 20'. Me hunting 25-30'; I will say I am in the MINORITY, I almost NEVER see stands that high and ALL of my buddies freak out when they see my stuff- I am in the VAST MINORITY!!!

*Funny story, where I have had permission, the landowners grand-kids would always find my trees where I hunted, I'd come to hunt my stand and there would be a stand 15' below mine in the same tree. They loved to find my spots and hang in them BUT 30' was too scary for them, I'd just climb past their stands on the way to my nose bleed seat.
 
Yet another reason to go high - Not very many people will have what it takes to steal your stand, and they most likely will not see it in the first place.
 
I'm a huge fan of height in most cases although I don't get quite as high as HC. My avg stand height is almost invariably near 25 ft plus or minus a foot or so. Not sure why but they just all seem to end up there. The wind advantage is huge and I will readily admit I DO hunt in a marginal wind at times with a high stand. In certain setups my wind seems to loft right over them even though they're dead downwind.
 
I suppose high is better,,,from a scent/movement perspective, but I have a fused spine. It took me yrs to get up enough courage to climb a 14 ft ladder stand. I have spent too much time in the hospital to take chances. Guess I'll never shoot a brute. To me the property is more important than stand height. Once,, while getting tired of looking at N. Mich yearlings,I paid for a hunt on a B lack Hills cattle ranch. They set me on a pail,,on the ground! The first night I HAD TWO NICE 8 PTS EATING ACORNS 40 yrds from me. Plus a huge 10 pt, that came to a water hole 60 yrds from me, not to mention numerous yearlings and does walking so close I could touch them. these were wild deer too. The difference was they were not harrassed by humans in any way 11 months a yr. The quality of your land,,how much you have, and can keep quiet,,makes or breaks the hunting. I will always be convinced!
 
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