Ever Hunt Low Tree Stands?

[buckfever1974]

Reflecting back on a couple areas I hunted this past season and the past in general.  If you are hunting public land in most areas, the best bet is to either stay mobile, use natural ground blinds over pop ups when possible and leave a "small footprint".  The latter thought I learned the hard way.

 

Regardless, there is an area I am contiplating hunting next fall that is surrounded by mountain laurel bushes that come up over my 6 foot head at least and I would guess are as high as 7-9 feet give or take.  Someone had once built, probably illegally at the time, a wooden ladder stand that has seen better days.  Problem here is that its very visible in it's approximate location to a hiking trail.  Where the guy built it, he would have been right on top of the deer when they came out.  What I was thinking of doing is putting up one of those cheap "2 man" ladder stands that really only fit one but set it back from behind the wooden stand and the clearing and thus further away from the trail itself.  I believe that the laurel would come really close to being right under my feet at probably 10 foot or so but they aren't likely to see me with the cover until I can see them in the clearing.  

 

Have any of you done well out of the smaller ladder stands in decent cover like mountain laurel or a thicker swamp?  I'm a bigger guy so I may stand out a bit on smaller trees if big ones are not available but again, it's thicker cover that isn't going to lose it's foliage come the fall.

 

 

[Merkel]

I believe 12-16 feet off the ground is better but have used a climber 10 feet off the ground and as long as you minimize your movement, have some concealment behind you and the wind is in your favor, you have a chance.

[Rusty]

I've killed a lot of deer from a 10' ladder stand.  

 

On one of our spots we have a stand that's only 8' high and we kill a bunch of deer and never get detected.  

Edited January 17, 2017 by Rusty

[JHbowhunter]

_{NJ Deer are now genetically pre-disposed to look up 12-25 feet as a way of life... Therefore, you should only set your stands about 6-10 feet.   They will never expect you there and look right over you.}

[BowhunterNJ]

Lots of great deer have been taken from the ground and low hanging treestands.  All comes down to not being detected, the height you're at really doesn't matter if you're stealthy enough to avoid detection.

[B B]

^ and hunting pressure ^

[LPJR]

_{NJ Deer are now genetically pre-disposed to look up 12-25 feet as a way of life... Therefore, you should only set your stands about 6-10 feet.   They will never expect you there and look right over you.}

 

Now that's funny. What is even funnier is I think I need to make an appointment at the eye doctor now.........    

[LPJR]

I've killed a lot of deer from a 10' ladder stand.  

 

On one of our spots we have a stand that's only 8' high and we kill a bunch of deer and never get detected.  

 

 Killed my 6.5 year old buck from a hang on stand I placed next to an old permanent stand the property owner killed dozens of good bucks from back in the day.....

 

It was only 10 feet off the ground!

[tcook8296]

back drop is the most important and camo that blends in. They live and die by their nose 1st and eyes 2nd

Edited January 17, 2017 by tcook8296

[Nomad]

That's plenty high as long as put it in good cover.

[Rusty]

_{NJ Deer are now genetically pre-disposed to look up 12-25 feet as a way of life... Therefore, you should only set your stands about 6-10 feet.   They will never expect you there and look right over you.}

 

 

That's why we hunt from the ground now.    

[Buck154]

If you have the cover and must have the wind right then low stand is ok. I prefer 18-20' helps with wind

[JerseyJaysTaxidermy]

I've got numerous spits where my stand is so low I can just about jump and grab the platform.. killed a lot of deer out of them including my biggest buck.

Most of my stands are only 10- 12ft

 

http://www.jerseyjaystaxidermy.com

[jerseyhunter]

My 2 lowest stands were 12' and 10'.  I've had deer right under me and taken a couple also.

[outdoorslife]

Good cover/backdrop and the right wind...absolutely