How high?

[musky hunter]

I'm sure this must have been asked before, but if you can't find a good tree in thicker cover, and the best choice is a tall slender tree that is kind of "naked", how high to I have to go up with my self climber? Some of the pines and aspen where I hunt may be up to 35' high before the first branch. A doe the other night, at near dark, busted me on sight at about 16' high. So I'm just wondering how high folks go up and why.

[Archerysniper]

normally in that situation I'm up 25 to 30 feet still been picked off at that hight.

[TProGuy]

I like to be a minimum of 25' any time I am out. I try to go as high as I am comfortable (depinding on the wind, etc.), and would say I average close to 30', but have been as high as 35' from time to time. I do it because I feel it can help keep my scent above the deer as much as possible, and helps to keep the deer from spotting me, although it still happens from time to time.

[Esox_Magnum]

Think outside the box, use whats already there, clump of trees, fallen brush ect and stay on the ground. I hunted off the ground for years, your mobile, can set up at several different angles to play the wind and leave a smaller footprint. Yes a little more challenging but so much more rewarding in the end. I have shot all but 1 deer from the ground with a bow and all with a gun and a few as close as 15 feet.

[Bear55]

I usually like to hunt a minimum of 20 feet but as the leaves fall I often go where the best cover is so sometimes that is a little lower but most of the time that is a little higher in the 25-30 foot area. Some places I hunt don't have much for huntable trees so I might only be 5-10 feet off the ground but its usually pretty thick stuff.

[eyeguy 54]

Ground Blind :>)

[Esox_Magnum]

Ok since I have mainly always been a ground hunter how can you steady your shot in a tree thats swaying in the wind when your 30' off the ground??? Also where does a guy find a tree thats clear of branches that high to allow a climber??? Thats one of the main reasons I left tree stands and this was long before todays high tech climbers and stands. One thing that always struck me as funny is the guys trespassing on our ground that I scared when the walked near me not knowing I was there when I asked if I could help them Keep in mind I retired from bowhunting a few years ago after 30+ years of doing it.

[Bear55]

Esox

You make some very good points, I've been in trees like that before wondering how I am will get a shot off, it's usually rare that it is that bad but it does happen. Many of us have treestand hunting flowing in our blood and it is a tough thing to get past sometimes. A lot of my scouting leads me to areas that have little to no huntable trees and I will be giving some ground hunting a serious look this year or next.

I should add that I can just about always find a tree for my climber, it might need a little trimming but not too bad. There also aren't too many trees you can't get a good hang on stand with climbing sticks into. The modern stands really make things easy these days.

[KG243]

just think of the vantage point of being able to see farther in a tree stand so you can be ready. I have to think that if you are that high in a stand and you get busted it was your movement and not your scent.

[kevfish1]

I only go 12 ' high. I am just not comfortable any higher. I ussually get a deer

[deerminator]

I would go to the ground. I was just out today and placed a ground blind in a good spot (hopefully). Sunk it into some thick brush near a field edge and off to the side of a creek crossing through a thick island of trees surrounded by fields. It looks like a cattle trail through the beans and through the woods into the next beanfield and then the corn. There were no good trees for a hang on for my liking. None were very straight, big or at an elevation given the rolling terrain that would offer me much cover.

Bear55, how do you put a straight climbing stick on a crooked tree, one that has a bend, or do you? Is it a matter of not having all of it touching the tree? That concerns me a bit in terms of stability.

Also, when you say you have put stands 5-10 feet up, can you elaborate? Is it so thick that you'll have enough cover? I half contemplated hanging a stand today in a thick mess of a tree about six feet off the ground. The tree is on a gentle sloped fenceline overlooking a natural grassy funnel (slightly lower in elevation than the fenceline) along a creek from a main bedding area heading into numerous crop fields and tree filled islands. I thought, I might have good cover in there but I'm not very far off the ground. In fact, I probably wouldn't even need a climing stick given the branches intertwined everwhere. I may have to give this a try.

[DanOmite19]

I think it's a little silly to say that you need to be 25-30' high or higher? Why? If you prefer taking longer shots or making that 20yd shot by shooting the deer in the back, then by all means. That is if your in the middle of the woods... If you're on the edge of a field, what's the advantage? A deer 100yds away will see you move whether you're at 16 or 35'.

[Rippinlip]

To each their own, let safety and cover make the decisions.

Personally I have out 7 stands and 1 climber in the truck and none of them are over 18' to the platform.

There is 1 I may have to go higher or move, due to the cover diminishing.

I as an archer want a more side to side shot through the deer and less down angle.

The doe I harvested 2 weekends ago I took from my 18 ft stand and the shot looked good initially, found out I caught her too far back, but ended up taking part of the liver. The arrow entered vertically where I wanted and it came out under her left front leg, still deadly, but I would have preferred more horizontal entry/exit.

Most of ours are around 12' and work out well.

[BuckKiller]

How ever high you need to go to see clearly. I've hunted as low as 5 feet off the ground up to 30 feet off the ground and got deer at all hights.

[bottom-bouncer]

I like being as high as cover will allow for a couple of reasons the biggest being wind wind wind wind I know there are alot of EXPERTS on here but you can never over compensate with the wind and scent. People claim all the time how you just need to play the wind. this is true but no matter how well you choose stand placement the wind will get you unless you only hunt on days with a sustained wind of twenty miles per hour or more you can not beat the wind. Dont believe me go outside on any given evening and build a small fire watch the smoke swirl count how many times the wind changes direction in an hour. Now do you still think you can play the wind? getting up as high as you can is the single best thing you can do to help with this. But please do not go higher than you are comfortable with I have had to talk 2 buddies down a tree because they were scared sh!Pless when it came time to climb back down.

[harvey lee]

I also would use the ground cover or a ground blind. Getting up real high does help but if they silouette you, the game is over. Your shot angle will also be tough so if you do go that high, practice first or it could be a much longer tracking job.

I am hunting a spot this year that I have wanted to archery hunt for years with really no trees at all. I set my blind up last weekend and will see in a few weeks if this spot pays off.

[Bear55]

Bear55, how do you put a straight climbing stick on a crooked tree, one that has a bend, or do you? Is it a matter of not having all of it touching the tree? That concerns me a bit in terms of stability.

Also, when you say you have put stands 5-10 feet up, can you elaborate? Is it so thick that you'll have enough cover? I half contemplated hanging a stand today in a thick mess of a tree about six feet off the ground. The tree is on a gentle sloped fenceline overlooking a natural grassy funnel (slightly lower in elevation than the fenceline) along a creek from a main bedding area heading into numerous crop fields and tree filled islands. I thought, I might have good cover in there but I'm not very far off the ground. In fact, I probably wouldn't even need a climing stick given the branches intertwined everwhere. I may have to give this a try.

deerminator

Obviously there are some trees you just can't get any stand into but I probably should have said I can always find a tree in an area I want to hunt. On leaning or twisted trees I try and keep the sticks on the uphill side of the tree, this might mean staggering your sticks so when you climb you go up and around the tree instead of going up a strait line. It might sound like you need to be a monkey but its not that bad.

Some time the cover isn't there or the tree just isn't big enough to climb up high in the locations I want to hunt so by getting only 5 or 10 feet up it can be enough to help shoot over the brush.

[Bear55]

People claim all the time how you just need to play the wind. this is true but no matter how well you choose stand placement the wind will get you unless you only hunt on days with a sustained wind of twenty miles per hour or more you can not beat the wind. Dont believe me go outside on any given evening and build a small fire watch the smoke swirl count how many times the wind changes direction in an hour. Now do you still think you can play the wind?

BB

No doubt a swirling wind is a much harder situation to hunt and playing the wind in those situations is difficult to impossible. However when the weather report calls for variable winds I like to hunt an area where I will have the thermals to my advantage, they can be far more consistent then the wind on many morning and evening hunts. This might mean not getting into a location until you have a thermal in your favor and sneaking in for a short hunt.

Just to sum everything up most of the stuff I talk about with playing the wind is for mature bucks because I believe no amount of scent control is going to fool them, most of the time you really need to have the wind in your favor. If someone just want to go out and shoot any deer it's pretty easy to shower up, go as scent free as possible and have them coming in from just about any direction.

[harvey lee]

I would guess that during the last 30 plus seasons of archery hunting, the majority of my archery deer have been shot at 20' or lower. Its nice to get higher but one does not have to climb to the clouds.

[bigbucks]

I'd say 12-16' is where the majority of my stands are. Sometimes a little higher or lower depending on cover or what I want to see over or under. I've got a few ground spots, where there just aren't suitable trees. They work fine I just can't see as much as I want to. I'm a fidgety person, so most of my stands are set where the deer doesn't have much reason to look where I am. As long as you see them first, you've got a pretty good chance even if you move too much. You don't have to be behind something if the trunks as wide or wider than you are & the direction they're looking from puts you with the trunk behind you.

[musky hunter]

Thanks all for the replys and good advice. Seems that the silouhette is the big thing. If there is enough cover, lower is better. Lack of available cover, then it has to be higher.

The safety comments ring true. I had a friend suffered a nasty fall this year wearing his harness, although it was incorrectly positioned with the tether well below his head height so he fell quite a bit before it engaged, but it still probably saved his life. I have a climber and always have the tether head height or higher.

If my area had oaks or maples with broad branching beams I most certaily would be looking at a hang on and climbing sticks and lower levels because such trees do provide much better cover.

[bottom-bouncer]

Bear thats kinda were I was going with my theory on how high. down here in the s.e corner the wind is always swirling I swear it never blows from the same direction for more than five minutes

[spivak]

What a good topic. Just this morning I was wandering around in the dark trying to find a decent tree to go up with my climber. There are climbable trees everywhere--it looks like the valley of the giant matchsticks. Very little cover anywhere. It goes from mature forest to brush with not much in between. I found a double stemmed tree with the trunks close together. They hid me a bit. I'm in the Duluth city hunt in an area where only treestands are allowed and where I need to be far enough away from buildings and trails. I've been in areas where I just can't find a reasonable place to hang a stand which provides me with cover. I get a little shaky over 16-18 feet. I agree with the wind comments. I try to use the wind but in the woods it is eventually all over the place.

[certified jumbo]

wow, i never new that many people went 20 - 30 ft high. i personally don't like to go that high, i'm just not comfortable with it.

all of our groups sets range from 10 - 18ft. Most falling in the 13 - 14ft range. shot my big buck last year in a 10 ft built ladder stand.

regardless of what height you choose, i highly recommend wearing a safety harness.

[engfish]

+1 on the safety harness.

Not to be a skeptic, but are there really that many that go that high? I'm okay with 20 ft. but I'm not convinced that's the magic number. I'm not real crazy about going much higher, and the hardwood lots I hunt don't have many trees that would allow me to go much above 20 without lopping off a lot of limbs. I like the concealment I get from the bigger trees.