There are two main things you have to consider when you hang a stand; strength of the tree and straightness of the tree. The tree needs to be big enough to support the weight of you and your stand in a high wind, and it needs to be healthy. Even if a tree is big enough to hold you it may be cracked or rotten. Check the tree carefully, to make sure there are no cracks or rotted areas in it, and give it a good thump with your tree steps or a stick to make sure it sounds solid. If you have screw-in steps you also need to make sure you can get your steps into the tree.
Height
Another consideration in stand placement is how high off the ground you want to be. Height alone can keep you out of the normal line of sight of the deer. Depending on the terrain and vegetation where you hunt, and the speed and direction of the wind or thermal currents, if you are high enough, the air currents may keep your scent above the areas you intend to hunt, and keep the deer from detecting you. On the other hand, if you are producing scents that can be detected by the deer, and there is no wind, the higher you are, the more your scent spreads out around you as it descends. One drawback to height is that the higher you are, the smaller your target zone gets, especially if you are using a short range weapon. The side of a deer or a bear offers a lot bigger target at ground level than the top of a deer or bear at 40 yards.
You should also think about the terrain around you when you choose a height for your stand. If you hunt steep hills and ravines, and the deer are moving below you, there is no need to place your stand 20 feet up in a tree, because the deer may already be 5 to 20 feet below your stand. On the other hand, if you hunt in hilly country or in a ravine or gully, and the deer move on higher ground than your tree, you may have to put your stand higher than normal, because the deer may be moving at about the same level as your stand. When you place your stand remember that one of the purposes of using a treestand is to be above the normal line of sight of the deer around you, no matter how high you are.
Shooting Lanes
While I am on the ground checking to see if my stand is sky-lined I also check to see if I have one or more clear shooting lanes from my stand. If I don’t, I decide whether or not I can cut off some limbs and brush out the area to create shooting lanes. If I have to remove too much vegetation, I look for another place to hang my stand, because cutting too many branches, and removing too much brush, will be noticeable to the deer, and they will be alert when they approach the area. If they discover a sight, scent or sound that is out of place the first time they come through the area, they may spook, take another route or travel after dark. You can avoid this by putting your stand up two weeks or more in advance, and then staying out of the area until you plan to hunt. That way the deer have a chance to get accustomed to the changes when you aren’t there, and without the sight, scent or sound of you.
Access Routes
Once I’ve hung my stands (I often hang two or three stands in the same area so I can hunt according to the air currents) I look for one or more routes I can use to get to my stand. The route I use depends on the time of day I hunt, which direction the air currents are moving, and where I expect the deer to be as I go to my stand. I like to use the easiest route I can find, a route where I don’t have to walk through a lot of brush that I might leave scent on as I walk by. I avoid rough or steep terrain if I can, so that I don’t have to work too hard to get where I’m going, which may cause me to make a lot of noise, and it may cause me to work up a sweat.
Unless I have spent a lot of time in the area, and the deer have gotten accustomed to seeing, smelling and hearing me moving through it, I try to stay well away from any deer trail, especially the lightly used buck trails and rub routes. If I have to cross a trail I try to do it far enough from where I expect the deer to be coming from, and far enough in advance of the time they get there, that much of my scent will have dispersed by the time the deer come through. If there are watercourses in the area that I can walk in, I use them to get to my stand. However, because I often scout my hunting areas every day, checking for tracks, droppings and scrapes, the deer get used to me, which allows me to walk on or next to their trails without them becoming alarmed when I hunt. I believe that if you scout your hunting area two to three times per week, between the hours of 11:00 AM and 2:00PM (when the deer are usually in their core areas) you can get the deer accustomed to your scent, and you can use the same trails the deer do when you go to your stand.
Safety
Safety should be on your mind every time you get into your treestand. But, all too often, hunters fail to use even the slightest precautions when they are in their stands. Climbing 10 to 20 feet up a tree on tree steps, and standing on a two to three foot square platform that high up is dangerous; take some precautions so that you or someone you are with doesn’t fall and get hurt. Use a climbing belt when you go up the tree, and a safety belt or harness when you are in the tree.
When my kids took up hunting I began to worry about their safety, and I realized that if they fell while they were wearing a safety belt, they might end up upside down, or with a severely injured midsection. So, I began working on a safety harness, with straps around both legs to keep the wearer from falling out of the harness, with the attachment for the tether strap between the shoulders, so they wouldn’t end up upside down if they did fall. With the tether strap between the shoulders you could also use the harness as a deer drag. Then I though about adding a couple of rings to the front of the harness, so you could use the tether strap as a climbing belt. I was well on my way to producing the safety harness/deer drag/climbing belt when I found out that there was already one on the market. I firmly believe that a safety harness is the best precaution you can take, especially if you are a heavy person, or for children.
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