How high is your treestand?
 

I've heard that tree stand height can vary widely based on where you are in the country. My company manufactures a hunting safety product for tree stand hunters. I'm hoping the members of this forum will help me gather some information about tree stand heights.

I just have a few questions:

1. How high is your treestand?
2. What is the highest you've ever heard of a treestand being?
3. What part of the country do you live in.

Thanks for your help with this.

Gunslingergirl

I live in Maine and most tree stands here are between 12-15 feet off the ground. I have seen them up to 40 feet but those are very rare.

Thanks for the information. I appreciate it.

GSG

I hunt in VA. I like my treestand to be 20-25ft up. The lowest I like to be is 15ft. I'll go to 30 or so if I can, and I'm hunting w/ a muzzleloader or rifle

I have read a lot on this subject and after many years of bow and rifle i have found unless a deer walks right under your stand like he did monday, the ten to 15 foot up is enough to give you better seeing ability without the harsh shooting angle. at the same time lots go higher to allow there scent to dissapate in the tree tops, personal preference i suppose. i dont see a need to get high because i dont like hights PERIOD
kt

Yeah, I'm not a fan of having my treestand in the very treetop. The first time I went to strap my stand on a tree in the back yard, I had a branch break above me and come crashing down. I heard the crack, saw my dad look up, and never even wasted any time to look up. I took off running and the branch came right down beside my stand. If I hadn't taken off, I would have been in the hospital or 6 feet under.

I go up about 20 to 25 feet and when that tree starts swaying I start praying. I have seen guys up around 40 feet, and no deer is worth that to me. If they can smell me at 25 feet, they can live another day. Plus, I have seen way too many guys smoking in their stand and peeing out of their stand kill plenty of deer, and decent bucks too. So, the extra height just isn't worth it to me.

By the way, I always wear full orange coveralls during muzzleloader and firearms season and I always use a safety harness when I am in the treestand.

Safety first, venison steaks second.

Oh yeah, I live in Maryland and do most of my hunting in Maryland.

18-25 feet usually, have hunted as high as 30-35 before. really don't need to hunt that high, but they'll never see you there (unless they are coming off of a hill).

gd

I'm securely in the not liking heights camp. I can't imagine hunting from 40 feet up in the air.

Also, good reminders for everyone about being safe. Fabsroman, that was a scary story. You were very lucky.

The whole tree tree swaying thing would do it for me. Guess that's why, should I ever take up hunting, I'll be doing it from the ground.

Thanks for the information. It is really appreciated.

GSG

fabs story reminded me of this, about 6 years back i had got a new loggy stand, a buddy walked with me in then continued to his stand, about an hour into light, on the most calm day ever a monster of a tree nearby for no reason that i could see started to creak and just uprooted. if a tree falls and you are in the forest... it is loud as hell! ten minutes later i hear smashing through the woods and it was my buddy flying back down to ease his imagination about the sound of a tree going down where i was. the tree looked fine, on another day i may have strapped to that one (freaky)
and another thing about swaying trees, once you are up there on a windy day try to keep on a target its not easy in a stiff breeze, sometimes it is better to come back down halfway
kt

KT,

That's scary. At least we know if a tree falls in the woods and there is someone there to hear it, it sounds loud!

It just kills me every year when I see stories about hunters who are hurt or killed because they didn't take basic safety precautions.

I hope everyone here is remembering to be safe.

GSG

It all depends. Ive never seen the need to go above 20'. Sometimes it will be considerable higher than that off one side of the stand, if its on a hillside.

IMO, stands are to get you where you can see and where your out of the line of sight of the deers normal vision. I have stands right now set from 8' to 18'. Just depends on the situation.

I cant think of one single reason to have one any higher. Alot of times if you get too high, other tree tops come into play on your shooting lanes.

I can't think of a reason either, but I'm being told that people are hunting from 30 to 40 feet up. Seems odd to me, so that's why I asked the question. I'm also trying to get a feel for whether or not it is a regional thing and if terrain has something to do with it. So far, it seems to be more personal preference.

Thanks for the feedback.

GSG

When I use my climber I have a rope that's 18'. I climb until my bow (32") is off the ground, so I'm roughly 21' to the bottom of my stand. That's a typical setup, but I'm in the big PA hardwoods and there's plenty of big tall straight trees that can go much higher. 18 - 20 feet is more than high enough in my opinion on flat open terrain. Back drop has a lot to do with stand height and placement also.

I've been hunting a scrape and rub line the past week and the stand I'm hunting in is a lock-on that's probably barely 15' (only because I ran out of tree steps) Thinking this may be an issue, I found out not so, since the placement of the stand is perfect. It sits on a 16" Red Oak that spits an old logging road. There is very dense cover on either side of the road, so by the time a deer steps out it's too late. I've also proven that this is high enough as I've had several deer come right down the road and pass directly under my stand. Normally I'm 5-6 feet higher, but am very comfortable with this particular setup being not as "high".

So my answer depends on the actual location of the stand and the setup. Typically, it's around 20 feet....but I've proven 12-15' works just as good even in high winds, depending on the actual location and what's around to break up your outline.

Also, note that I use my bow rope (which is just parachute cord) as a guage of how high I am when climbing up in the dark. WHen I feel the tug of my bow, I've hit 18ft!

Thanks for the info.

I'm getting some really interesting answers to this. From what I can gather, the average tree stand is somewhere between 15 and 20 feet.

Personally, I'm not sure why anyone would go higher but that is mostly because I'm not a big fan of heights.

I sure hope everyone is being safe and using their harnesses.

GSG

Mine is about 15 ft above the ground...I aint afraid of heights...but I aint goin no higher. The woods are real thick here so unless you got a real good spot..goin above 20 ft er so dont do ya much good.

10' is enough for me. I get nose bleeds at anything above that. Besides that it's a shorter distance for me to fall. And yes boys and girls I have.

Ain't no fun slidin' down a ladder when your face gets smacked by every rung. Sides that it broke my upper dentures.

I'm getting older and just don't like tempting fate anymore. Whenever I do anything anymore and have to trust to luck, I don't do it.

I always thought that being higher up cut down on the shooting lanes and lessoned my chances. But that is just my opinion.

I don't plan to upset the whole forest just so I get good shooting lanes. Reforestation is no one of my stronger attributes.

Billy,

That sounds seriously painful. I'm glad you weren't hurt more seriously.

I'm with you, anything that I can fall out of I want as close to the ground as possible.

GSG

My tree stand is at the base of the tree. It is a hunk o ground covered in pine needles.

GoodOlBoy

GOB,

Kind of hard to fall out of that one, huh?

I guess the best you could do would be to fall over. :D

GSG

Depends on how much of that clean liquid from the mason jar I have had.

:D

GoodOlBoy

Water?

:confused:

mmmmm not quite. . . . .

However it looks alot like water. . . .

GoodOlBoy

Hmm......

Vodka? :D

GSG

Durn Yankees! I am talkin about Shine!

GoodOlBoy

I knew that GOB.

I was jist funnin wit' ya.:D

I don't believe I've ever tasted moonshine.

I'm starting to think a trip down South might be in order.

I'll be in Florida in January, but I'm told that's not considered the South by some.

GSG

What part of Florida? I'll be down there in December for Christmas visiting my in-laws. Some parts are like the south, and other parts are full of retirees from the north. That state is too flat and too hot for me. The first time I went down there, we went in October. Went out for a walk with shorts and a t-shirt and I was sweating like you wouldn't believe. I guess the silver lining in the cloud is that you don't have to worry too much about getting cold while hunting.

I'll be in Orlando at the Shot Show.

Probably won't see much but the Convention Center and the Condo.

Guess it's a good thing I'm not into tanning. Sun and fair skin do not mix.

I've never been a big Florida fan. I have always wanted to see Texas and Louisiana though.

GSG

Tree stands etc
 

I used to get 10 ft up...but as time went on the deer started lookin up so I went higher. Depended on the area but quite a bit of the time I was 20-30 ft. But I really knew the area I was hunting and where the deer were likely to be comin from.
Fabs when cigarettes were much cheaper I used 'em for a kinda bait. Leave a few camels around the stand tree and they were always gone come mornin. Deer loved 'em....and a lot of 'em came back for more...while I was there!! In Md the deer are so close to humans they don't seem to worry about the smellin so much any more...But if'n they smell ya and see ya you're done fer certain.:eek:

That might be so on the Eastern Shore. Around here, I can easily get to within 30 yards of a deer out my garage door and they don't even move. I had 4 of them standing watching me the other day while I was taking pictures of them. If I was using a gun instead of a camera, there would have been at least one dead deer out of that group.

I went for a 30 mile bike ride yesterday, 15 miles out and 15 miles back, and in that 15 mile stretch of road, I saw 3 dead does and thought I smelled two more in the bushes off the road. They usually pick up the carcasses pretty quickly too. That is just how many deer we have around here.

I bought a 16' ladder stand this summer. I've taken two nice bucks out of it. One at 5yds one at 50yds.

I also have an old climber that I like to be at least 20' off the ground, 30' is even nicer...depends really on surroundings.

I haven't heard of any stands higher than that.

I'm in south central Virginia.