A Favorite Tree Stand

[Swede]

Over the decades I have had some excellent tree-stand locations. None were really at what I would call a "honey hole," but were where a deer or elk might come at any time of the archery season. I have never found the perfect tree to set in either. They all have their shortcomings. Some were cold in the morning, some were hot in the afternoon or exposed to a critter's view from one direction of travel or another, etc. Worst of all, none lasted for many years. My favorite was logged over and has now been burned over. It is toast.
Like all of you that hunt, I have had to change and adapt. I have moved on and found new spots to hunt and they are as productive as my best old ones. Where I like to hunt now there is no guarantee but always hope.
I will post a picture later of an old favorite. There is not much happening on the forum now, please share something about your favorite tree-stand place and/or set-up.

[Tigger]

OK Swede, give me a determination: Is a box blind a tree stand? I put one up this year in our willow swamp. No trees where I wanted to put this. So does it count or are you relegating my stand to second-rate? Mine is 14 feet in the air by the way. And comfy? Oh my, I sit in a plush office chair that is waaaaaay too nice for a deer stand but it was free. After sitting in a portable deer stand in a real tree for the last 30 years, I kinda think I earned the comfort. Although I didnt start the heater. Yet.

By the way, I shot that buck out of it the 2nd day.

[Swede]

Tigger: That sounds like a great stand to me. I posted on the tree stand forum because I am fine with whatever kind of critter you are hunting be it deer, elk bear or something else. If you prefer a ground blind, or a platform on a tripod it is ok.

[7mmfan]

I think I may have found the perfect tree stand location for Blacktails this year. It's in the cut that I killed my buck out of this year. Within 2 years, that cut will be too grown up to hunt from the ground, but the deer will live in there for another 5 years after that. It is surrounded by mature timber on 3 sides, and along that edge was a big gnarly old maple tree. It's got good cover, and a commanding view of the cut from 25-30' up. I think if I put a stand in there, I should be able to see down into the reprod really well. I've been threatening to do this for years, but always find another properly aged cut to move on to.

[Swede]

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For years this was my favorite tree stand. The ladder had to be changed after about 15 years out in the weather and I used the next for about 8 seasons. I suppose it is gone as this whole area was burned over this past summer.

[Elkhunttoo]

Its interesting to me is that several of the spots that i have set kinda become my "favorite" spot at the moment. Hopefully we are sitting a spot we are confident in every time we place a stand. So far the one i have enjoyed sitting the most is a stand we call "fools gold". The first year my wife and i found it (end of the 22 season) it had been hammered. We sat it for a lot of the 23 season and the elk just weren't in the area like they had been the year before so my wife named the stand. i thought about relocating in the off-season and choosing a different main stand but i just felt that this stand checked all of my boxes. So, '24 found my wife and i again using this spot again as a main spot. The elk returned and used this stand multiple times throughout the season. I think the main reason i like this stand is the confidence i have getting in and out of it without bumping game. i spent alot of time deciding my best approach and really love what i was able to find with this spot. Also when im in this stand the wind is just a non factor. There is no perfect tree in this spot. i dont mind the tree i am in but wish it had a little more cover to break me up. The elk and deer didnt even notice me this season when they came in so i guess it is good enough. 2025 will find me back at fools gold hoping that the results are different then they were this season.

[Elkhunttoo]

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[Swede]

If you look closely you can see the stand in the tree above my ladder. The seat of the stand is between 22 and 23 feet above the ground, and the base is about three feet above the wallow and spring below. The stand is in no cover, so I had to stay still when elk were approaching from the front. This was the third different tree I rigged at this spring. The first one had me very perplexed. Every time I was gone for just a few days the elk were there. At no time while I was there, did they ever come around. That lasted long enough that I concluded something was wrong with my stand location. After a while I realized my scent was coming down in the morning and evening when I would have expected the elk to come around. After raising my stand height and moving to a larger tree up the hill just a short distance away, my success there immediately changed.

[Elkhunttoo]

The main stand I sat in 2022 was a water location where there were trails above and below me. In the evenings when the wind would switch it would blow my scent straight at one of the main trails below me. The first few days I used my wind indicator and was worried about elk smelling me if they came in below me on the ridge…about day 3-4 it was confirmed. It was getting towards evening and crash boom bang I can here an elk running away that would have been coming in right where I was worried about….i think the way the wind blew down that draw I could of been at 35-40 feet and still had a problem with that one trail… I would stand up and hold the indicator as high up as I could and poof…the wind would just take the powder right to the trail….and I mean straight down….only location I’ve had that….I probably could of switched trees but this was the only tree I could find where I could shoot both the top and bottom trails…this was the farthest from the road stand that I’ve had….it is a good location but I probably won’t be back there in the foreseeable future….