Treestand Height

[vabowhunter06]

What is the best height to be at in your deer stand for deer hunting?

[ACPOSSETIM]

Generally a good rule of thumb is the higher the better but a lot depends on situation and your comfort with heights. The majority of my stands are close to 20 feet, however I've had stands I use for gun season where I'm set off a trail or on a field edge so the deer are at a distance that have been 8-10 feet up. On the other extreme I've got stands in big trees that are 25-30 feet. The biggest thing to take into account when setting your stand is available cover, you can be 30 feet up a tree but if you have no cover (branches/leaves) you will get skylined and any movement will get you picked off or you can also be 10 feet up in a really thick well concealed stand and never get busted. Another thing to think about is shooting lanes. When I pick the tree I'm going to set a stand in, I'll set up my ladder stick or rapid rails and start to climb. As I reach what I think is my desired hunting height I'll start to look at available shooting lanes if nothing is available I may go a little higher or lower to take advantage of openings that are already there so you don't have to trim as much.

[oneshot]

I think it just depends on the area your in. here in southwest Va. we usually don't get over 16-18 feet because of the thick trees.( if you get too high you end up looking through the tops of other trees) When we go west we tend to get a little higher 20-24 because the timber is usually more open. Just remember to have enough cover around to help hide you and your movements. I like to hang in big trees so I have a background to break up my outline.

[vabowhunter06]

thanks for the advise. this is my first year bow hunting and i didn't know what the best height to be at. you 2 have been a great help. good luck this season.

[MOvenatic]

Your pull up rope gives you a good idea how far up you actually are.

[MCFantail]

another thing that you have to think about is the higher you go the greater the shot angle. Most of me bow stands I can only shoot 20yrds or less so if i go to high i will get some pretty steep anlges on the shot making it harder for double lung shot. Food for thought.