BOWHUNTING ????

[Bartfrncs]

My son can finnaly pull back 50# were going to hunt elk with the bow this year. Tell me of your sucsess tree stand hunting elk? A few suggestions on equipment would be appreciated.
Bart

[dotman]

Came to the right place, our member Swede wrote a book on it and elknut sells it

[cnelk]

in 2011 i shot 2 elk from the same tree stand.
One archery season, one rifle season

The keys is stand placement. You just cant set up a stand in 'any ol place' and expect good things.

one of my best stands has no wallow, water or feed. it is just the perfect travel corridor.
It took me several years to pinpoint the exact spot...

good luck!

[CrazyElkHunter]

I tree stand hunt over wallows that are being hit in the evening and hunt on foot in the mornings. Any hot spots that elk are hitting, wallows, water holes mineral licks. is a very good spot to put a stand. I have a wallow a 1/2 mile from camp that elk hit on a regular basis the 1st 2 weeks of the season. I have hundreds of trail cam pictures of elk visiting them and put a stand over 1 every year for evening hunts.

Here is a small 6x6 that I shot at 25 feet when he walked right under the stand in 2011.



Here is another one that was hitting a water hole in 2010



Another one I shot that was hitting a wallow in 2012

[CrazyElkHunter]

I do agree with cnelk, If you can find a trail, ridge, bench that elk frequently use you can have very good success. My hunting buddy has a spot on a ridge that has no water, wallows or mineral licks. Its just a area that elk travel back and forth to bedding areas.

My favorite wallow.

[Swede]

Bartfrncs, congratulations to your son. Your question about equipment is valuable for anyone interested in long term or day long tree stand hunting. Absolutely, equipment is a critical component of tree stand hunting success. Comfort and safety are vital to long term success. On occasion I get my elk early on the first morning, but on average it takes about ten days. The foundation of effective tree stand hunting is the tree stand. I know that is a "duh" statement, but there is a lot of mediocre and poor equipment in the woods. I still have some uncomfortable stands I use on occasion, where theft is is distinct possibility. Overall you will limit yourself with light weight, uncomfortable, and noisy stands. Considering all I put into my hunts, I am not going to scrimp on the stand.
Where I hunt, stand weight is not as critical. I am not packing my stuff in for miles. I did my home work before the season, and I have several stand locations, so normally I do not relocate my stands often. I use only fixed position stands and tree steps. Also I have built 17 foot ladders, of native poles and 2x4 material, to get up part ways to many of my perches. If you build a ladder, don't make junk. The tree stand I prefer, above all others, is the Millennium M100. I do not get anything for saying that. There are other good ones out there, but the M100 is my choice. You can get an extra hanger for under $30.00, which gets you an additional tree in which you can hang your stand in if you want to make a quick change. The tree stand, tree steps, and two or three bow hangers is about all that is unique to tree stand hunting as far a equipment is concerned. Good luck.

[>>>---WW---->]

Dang! You guys all beat me to the punch. Swede did write a book on treestand hunting and Elknut sells it on his site.

Also, BB is quite the treestand hunter. He is a member here but doesn't post very often. You could get nose bleed from BB's stands. He likes them up about 20 feet off the ground. LOL!

[Swede]

I did not post anything on tree stand height due to the original question, but I too am a believer in setting them high off the ground. This is especially true in basins and draws. I do not want the elk to scent me. WW's comment about elkinc's elk urine on another thread has me wondering if I could use it effectively from my stand, when I see or hear a bull down wind. The only problems I see are getting the good stuff and keeping it fresh. A problem I am still having with tree stand hunting, is the darn critters won't cooperate with my schedule, and they don't always come in the way I want them to. I seem to always have to accomodate them!

[CrazyElkHunter]

I am by no means a expert in tree stands being raised in the west. When I do use my climber stand, it is fairly heavy. I found useing my pack frame getting it to and from my favorite wallow, a lot easier. My ropes that I use to pull my bow and pack up are 25 feet long, so when they start to lift while climbing, I know I'm at the 25 foot where I want to be. My buddy from Texas scares me when I see him at 30 feet. He is a big guy, 64 years old and those Aspens really move in the wind and have short roots to keep them in the ground.

[Herb]

The one time I elk hunted from the tree, once the elk showed up, I wished for ways to get to the ground!!

I know it works.......not my deal.

My buddies tree stand bull, his first sit ever!!

Hilgbull.JPG (39.86 KiB) Viewed 3698 times

[ElkNut1]

Herb, wow, great bulls by both you & your friend!

ElkNut1

[Coveyleader]

I've killed my share of elk out of treestands and make no mistake about it, they're deadly. Almost cheating. I have water sources on heavily hunted OTC areas that are great in the AM and others that are good in the PM. One spot I'd give another hunter 10 sits in the evening for 1 in the AM its that good in the AM. The closer to the bedding timber you are the better.

Also, If you can find a saddle the elk are using, treestands are great. Most guys kill elk over water when in treestands, finding that saddle/travel corridor will keep you hunting on wet years where you're not getting consistent weather patterns and lots of rain. There is nothing worse than planning that early season out, finding those out of the way places only to have it rain a bunch. Well, then you get to hunt the rut so all isn't lost!