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Tree Stand Height

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Tree Stand Height

Postby mjblowers » 08 11, 2014 •  [Post 1]

What's the minimum? I'm not a fan of heights. I generally hunt solo and walk far so I'd like to take in just some screw pegs and a seat and I don't feel comfortable up at those 20 foot heights.... What's the minimum I can sit and it still be worth doing?
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Re: Tree Stand Height

Postby Swede » 08 11, 2014 •  [Post 2]

Height improves your chance of not being scented, in many places where we hang our stands. How high to go really depends on several factors. You can sit on the ground and be effective in some places and at some times. Another thing to consider is where on the landscape you are placing your stand. If you are on a hill side or ridge, in some good tree limb cover, then you can be lower than if your are in a basin. As a general rule I like to be in some cover, and be high enough that I don't get busted be shifting winds. It has been my experience, that the best time of day to ambush an elk, from a tree stand, is the last hour of shooting light. At that time the diurnal winds have shifted, and are going downwards. Often that means they are carrying your scent into the area where you would expect the elk to show up.
Many people have a fear of heights. Hunting alone only exacerbates those fears. I stay secured to the tree I am climbing, from the time I leave the ground, or the ladder that is secured to the tree, until my feet are back on the ground. I use a HSS safety line in my tree and hook into it every time I ascend or descend the tree. I often climb about 25 feet up a good sized tree, and on occasion go even higher. I count the height, from the level I expect to shoot the elk, so if the tree stump is 10 feet above the water hole, I mostly likely go up the tree only about 20 feet. That gives me 30 feet of elevation advantage. I have one place I can sit on the ground and shoot nearly 60 feet straight down into an elk passage. I do not want a tree stand there.
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