Climber stands-How high

[selinoid44]

I was wondering if I could get you guys that have climbers to tell us how high up you prefer to hunt from? I personally have a Summit Viper and my climb hieghth is 22 to 25 feet. I judge the distance by the length of my rope that I pull my bow up with. I climb this every time I go up. If the limbs on a certain tree wont let me climb this high, I find a different tree. Just out of curiostity I wonder what the average is. So lets get this thing going.

 

[hunter46140]

I go between 20 n 25' also. I have a buddy who ges 30'.

 

[rabbit]

Around 20 feet but I have gone higher!

 

[ironjaw]

I climb until the knees start to shake, then I go back down about 3'.

 

[Midwest207]

I have the Summit Goliath climber. I do the exact same thing. Using my rope on my bow as a gage. 25-30 feet. My height up in the tree also depends on the trees around me. If they have a lot of limbs below 25-30 and I find it hard to shoot I don't go up as high.

I feel that if you are up 25-30 there is more cover and deer are less likely to see you or look for you. The down side to this is that a broad side shot is smaller as you are now at a steeper angle.

Pros and cons to everything.

 

[snapping turtle]

Sometimes only 15 feet. sometimes 25 to 30 and on occasion very high. I have one tree i could go up to 50 feet in but getting the cable right for a tree that high is tricky as the base is much larger than at say 35 40 feet.

 

[UltraRick]

16 - 18 feet bow season. 30 feet gun or muzzleloader

 

[patience0830]

depends

I'm always looking for limbs/concealment so where ever the best back cover is that gets me close to the trail is the height I use. usually works out to be 15-20'. I've been as low as 10' and shot deer though.

 

[yotewacker]

Never seen a stand to high. The higher the better. Gets your movement and scent out of the equation. Besides being able to see further.

 

[Dukshead]

Same here. I usually like between 20 -25ft with a bow. I also look for a little concealment up in the tree. This might take a shot away but it helps with cover. I also like to dry climb a tree and cut branches away before I hunt if I have the time. Can't tell from the ground if limbs will be in the way or not.

 

[M4Madness]

I use a 20-foot rope that I pull my bow up with to let me know when I've reached that height. I feel that any higher with a bow is too steep an angle. With a firearm, I usually climb as high as I can.

The key is to wear a good safety harness, and either use bungee cords or ratchet straps to secure both sections of the climbing stand to the tree at hunting height.

 

[Bradsknives]

Interesting that this topic has come up...I was sitting in my tree this morning (trying not to get blown away by the strong winds) thinking about this...actually thinking should be higher. Anyway, I'm usually between 18' & 20' because my pull rope is 20'

 

[Fishersjohn48]

I usually set up on a fairly steep hillside so height is realitive. 30 feet behind me I am at ground level. 30 feet in front of me puts me 30 feet up from that point. The stand itself is at about 12-15 feet in the tree. I have used an old borrowed Lone Wolf arm climber that we had to rig up with a zip tie to get it to stay on the tree. I climbed in the dark to what I was sure was 25 feet. Sat there shaking in the dark, afraid the zip tie would break and waited for sun up. First light came and I started looking around only to find ou I was only 10 feet in the air. That stand got retired.

 

[Ed p.]

Early season bow i usually only go up 20 to 25 feet as there is plenty of cover left on the trees.During gun season and all the cover is gone i will go 30 feet or higher to conceal my movement.

 

[ISP 5353]

Usually 15-25ft up.

 

[Jack Ryan]

I go as high as I figure I need to. No higher, no lower. Just saying "I'm going to put my stand X feet off the ground" every time seems silly to me.

I've consider several things and try to get as many to my advantage as possible, wind direction, scent, morning or evening, sun direction and shadow, vegetation at head hight for the deer and cover available around the tree I want to hide in, the shape of the terrain like a hill side and if the trail I plan to shoot to is down hill or up hill or over a hill.

You just have to consider it all and take your best guess to which advantages are more important and go with it. It all plays in to how high you need to go.

I don't care how long my pull up rope is. If it's too short then the weapon starts comeing up with the stand the last few fee that's all. Sometimes I just lay the gun on the bar and climb with it right in front of me with no pull up rope at all. No biggy.

 

[EPD1102]

It kind of depends on the tree you're climbing and the surrounding brush. Sometimes it's harder to see thru the surrounding limbs if you get too high. I usually go at least 12-14 but usually not over 20 or so.

 

[ShelbyCo.]

I also use my pull-up rope as a guide, but also use terrain and limbs make the final decision. I love being as high as possible(better view) but need to be comfortable with the shots that may be presented.