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Tree Stand Height?

I watched a video of Barry Wensel, giving a seminar, at ETAR. Of the many tips he shared, one was that he is rarely over 10' or 12' off of the ground, when in a tree stand.
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He said it depends on the area, but he's often only 8' up. In his opinion you only need to be out of the deer's line of sight, downwind, make sure your background is good and be still.
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Whether in a tree stand or a tree saddle, what are your thoughts on this as a hunting height?

Bowhunter57
 
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Sgt Fury

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I’ve always tried to be between 18-22 feet up. Always try for the best wind direction and good back ground cover. I’ve hunted as low as 10-12 foot and as high as 40 foot, but those were dictated by the lay of the land. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve leaned heavily toward the use of ladder stands and I buy the ones that are either 20 foot or will buy a 17 footer and a five foot extension.
 
This is my first and only traditional bow kill, 1991. I climbed into the tree that I thought I wanted to get into, but as I climbed up, I ran into a 4" branch and that's when I discovered that I was in the wrong tree. It was too close to hunting light, so I decided to stay put and deal with it. As it turned out, I was about 11' up when this buck strolled by. He "seen me", but couldn't figure out what was out of place. He kept sniffing the wind, which was in my favor. Finally, at 12 yards, he turned away from me to lick his opposite side rear leg and that opened up the shot opportunity that I was hoping would happen. :cool: I don't climb any higher than necessary with consideration to good background cover. A double or triple tree is always good. (y)

Bowhunter57
 

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The situation dictates the height. Anything from a folding stool to about 20' of altitude I've found. Incidentally, a 30' height is 10 yards. So on level ground that is a 45 degree angle. Since I hunt edges and bottlenecks I don't need more then ground level to about 10' of boots off the ground. That puts my body at the first branches of most trees.
 

bowhunter1023

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I need @swantucky here to talk about my creek bottom stand and @5Cent can weigh in on hunting from trees that are 15' on one side, and 30' on the other 😂 I put Randy in that creek bottom set in the dark and the uphill side was a 12' fall, but you were falling 30' out of the other side onto rocks in the creek. When it got daylight and he realized his predicament, I got some colorful texts! Damn flatlanders 😂
 

brock ratcliff

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When I was dumb(er), I’d climb super high. I was dealing with a lot of myths back then and didn’t have experience to prove the myths wrong. I only get high enough to hide now and if I can’t hide in a 15 foot ladder stand, I’ll find someplace else. Too old, fat and stiff to roll like a squirrel these days, or maybe I’m just smarter than I once was.
 
Not too high anymore, the struggle is real as you get older to get down fast enough when you have to shit! LOL we have 3 new ladder stands that were 21 ft. to the seat which would make the platforms around 19-19.5 ft up. They are perfect for most situations where the ground is sloping as they most often are slightly downhill from the area deer would pass by. Several other hang ons are based mostly on cover and the height of the climbing stick, most are around 20 ft. The stand I killed Pete out of was at about 17-18 ft due to a short climbing stick and a couple individual step sections above. Any higher and we would stick out like a sore thumb in that tree. Just high enough to be tucked behind a few branches and cover that it worked perfectly.
 

5Cent

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It's all situational, do the best with what you have is what I prescribe to. I believe the enough to be out of deer line of sight works, but there may not be a good tree where needed to achieve it easily, or a spot in the tree where you are forced to go higher or lower to avoid. Throw in hills, approach angled, etc., yep, might be 15' on one side and 30' on the other. I use a harness, a life line and am clipped in at all times so I donr put much thought into it if the view from the stand works.
 

jagermeister

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Broken record... But I too will say that it's all based on the situation at hand. On a generic set, I'll be 16-22 feet off the ground. Oftentimes I'll hunt lower, and more rarely I'll hunt a little higher. The stand I killed my buck from last fall was less than 7 feet off the ground. But it was the perfect tree, in the perfect location.

When I was younger I thought I had to go 25-30 feet every climb. I had one on public ground back in 2005 that was 50 feet off the ground. Awesome gun stand... Terrible bowhunting stand... and still gives me the willy's thinking about hunting out of it. It was in a tall pin oak, overlooking a marsh. The branches were so thick, I only needed a 6-ft stepladder to get off the ground, then it was all limb-climbing the rest of the way. I could see everything from up there. But still... It was stupit.
 

Fletch

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As said by numerous people, stand height depends on the surroundings... Some areas you can get away with 12 ft. where other areas you'll be busted at 12 ft. Max I'll go is around 18 ft... Much higher means a sharper angle for a kill shot, so I'll pass...