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Treestand Placement  |
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Serious bowhunters have had it happen to them at least a few times in their hunting careers and the novice among us have likely experienced it more than they care to admit. The important thing is to learn from it and make the necessary changes to your hunting setup to avoid it.
We are talking of course about being busted by a deer while hunting. Especially important during bow hunting season, getting close to white-tailed deer is not as easy as some may think. Even so, once inside their comfort zone, you have to have the ability to draw your bow undetected to get off a good shot. What most bowhunters have found is that getting archery close and remaining undetected is easiest when done from a tree stand.
Try your luck at hunting from a ground blind of any sort and you will instantly realize the benefits of hunting from an elevated position. While getting above a deer's line of sight is crucial, how high in the tree should you go? Many hunters have a great deal of success in tree stands that are perched from 10 to 16 feet above the ground. While this may seem low to some, it is enough to get you above a wary deer's line of sight and provide you some comfort in your actions when deer are close. However, by moving your stand even higher up the tree to 25 feet or just slightly higher you can also take advantage of a number of other benefits that come from raising the height of your stand. Check out our list of the most obvious below.
View
Just as if you were on vacation and peering out of your hotel window at the surrounding landscape, the higher your floor number, the better the view is. While bowhunters know that the presence of early season foliage on the trees in your hunting area can be a problem, a well positioned stand can still give you a much greater field of view of the surrounding hunting area. While not a necessity, being able to see deer in the general vicinity before they provide a shot can help you prepare for a shot and even allow you to coax a passing deer into your setup. If a distant whitetail seems uninterested in coming your way a few short calls from the grunt tube may change his mind and bring him in on a string. On the other hand, if that trophy of a lifetime is coming your way you have the ability to check for available shooting lanes, ready yourself for the shot and even judge the trophy before he gets into bow range. All of these factors are very important to the serious bow hunter.
Camouflage
Every bowhunter understands the importance of good camouflage while on the stand. Getting yourself up a little higher in the tree is typically a good idea when trying to surround yourself, and especially your backdrop with vegetation and branches. The effect of this thicker cover near the treetops will help to break up your outline and allow you a little more range of motion while on stand. Getting higher in the stand not only provides you with more cover opportunities, it provides the best camouflage of all, and that is simply staying out of the deer's lien of sight. Spend some time hunting from the ground and try to make any movement in front of an incoming deer whether it be drawing your bow or simply scratching your ear. The deer will almost immediately pick up the movement and move to safer living quarters. Try these same motions from a tree stand and you will be amazed at the freedom you have granted yourself with just a few extra feet.
Scent Control
In addition to remaining out of sight, controlling your human odor while on stand is just as important to success. A deer's eyes and nose together are very tough to beat, but a tree stand that is placed high above the ground does just that. Obviously, you are positioned well outside the normal filed of view of a deer, and in addition, your scent will be traveling well outside of your immediate setup making it possible to actually set up on the upwind side of a trail if that is the only option available. That certainly goes against everything you have ever learned as a hunter, but it can be very successful in the right conditions.
While getting a little higher in the tree will certainly help you as described above, it does require a little special preparation for a shot from the often-extreme angles presented in the woods. The best advice we can give is that when shooting form a tree stand of any height imagine the exit wound left by your arrow rather than the entrance spot to help line up your shot accordingly. Almost all bowhunters will shoot high on a deer when shooting form a tree stand so aim a little lower than normal and envision that exit wound to ensure proper placement. In addition, draw your bow as you normally would while on the ground and then pivot at the waist to ensure that your anchor point and grip remain constant in this awkward position. Following these guidelines and moving your tree stand a little higher in your tree will surely help increase your odds of success this season.
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