Silhouette example

[giles]

I just had a great example of what deer see happen to me.

I was just walking past my front door and it has little side windows. In one of them I seen something and I froze. I didnt even realize I was looking out the window but I seen something that isnt normally there. I stopped dead in my tracks and looked.

This fat bastard eating a little Debbie! As the treestand selfie thing has become popular, I notice alot of people really stick out in the wide open. I dont tree stand hunt alot but I do make sure my backdrop is as flawless as I can. If you have hunted long enough you have been busted. When you know they didnt smell you, you didnt move, and they still locked up and got funky, THIS is likely what happened to you. Keep that in mind as we enter this next phase of deer hunting. Backdrop is very important as we are in their house and change is easily noticed when you aren't even looking for it.

Feel free to share stories of being busted, lol. Besides Joe, we dont need hear about his alone time.

 

[brock ratcliff]

Valid point!
I’ve never read about it or heard it discussed at length, but I firmly believe if a guy is in a tree after the foliage has dropped, that guy is far better off being in a saddle, preferably standing and facing g the tree. I believe the angle of a man’s body, being connected to the tree at the feet and leaning away at the shoulder, gives a natural sprouted from the trunk appearance that is not nearly as alarming to deer. I swear I’m not a trend chaser, but I believe saddles do hold an advantage over any other stand type once the foliage is gone.

 

[bowhunter1023]

Valid point!
I’ve never read about it or heard it discussed at length, but I firmly believe if a guy is in a tree after the foliage has dropped, that guy is far better off being in a saddle, preferably standing and facing g the tree. I believe the angle of a man’s body, being connected to the tree at the feet and leaning away at the shoulder, gives a natural sprouted from the trunk appearance that is not nearly as alarming to deer. I swear I’m not a trend chaser, but I believe saddles do hold an advantage over any other stand type once the foliage is gone.

I've never given that any thought, but it makes perfect sense.

For more than a decade, I have been very intentional about how I place stands so I can either stand with my back flat on a tree that's wider than me, low in fork where I can blend into multiple trunks, or I'll have on the backside of the tree. I used to stand on the end of stands that were not hung with much thought and got busted more than was necessary. Since I got wiser with my sets, I haven't had any issue with ones exception. I have a stand behind the house in the right spot, but no right tree exists because of the topography. I definitely get silhouetted in that stand, but it's a killer spot that works 75% of the time. But the elevation makes it so deer can get eye-level inside 50 yards and there's nothing you can do if you get caught off guard and aren't hugging the tree. Even when I've added branches.