Bowhunting out of ladder stands
- Thread starter Bushape
- Start date
Not with a bow but the two biggest bucks I have ever shot were with a muzzleloader from 15' ladder stands (the bucks in my avatar pic). Both were inside 50 yards. I have hunted out of ladder stands for years and even during bow season have had quality deer well within shooting distance. A lot of it has to do with placement. We always place our stands with a good background of foliage and actually try and find cedar trees when possible.
gobblesandgrunts
Well-Known Member
I just hung a new set(hang on and sticks) Sunday. Took forever! But finally found a cedar tree I could use. Cant wait to sit in it next weekend. Love cedar treessmyrnagc":1c8mww83 said:
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Bushape":3b2ygmre said:
The problem with ladder stands is that once they get put up, most folks are reluctant to move them unless the sightings go to nothing. And, since they are comfortable and convenient, they are often hunted hard.
A friend and fantastic deer researcher had some pretty hard data that indicated that after a stand has been hunted for 15 hrs, that older deer will avoid the immediate area. Moving it 50 yds or so can start the process again. So, yes, for ladders that have been there for a while unmoved and are hunted hard, it may adversely impact seeing mature deer.
Killed a good 8 last year out of a 20 ft ladder. If you hang it in the summer and cut shooting lanes (give them time to get used to it) hang near or provide a food source (acorns, corn or food plot) and attract does. Bucks will show up.
scn":15ujjrg2 said:
Yeah that is sort of what I was getting at. On my lease I fear an easily accessable ladder stand would increase human traffic into a pretty good spot I have located. As long as people are forced to use climbers they tend to stay out of the hollows.
fairchaser
Well-Known Member
In my opinion, hunting mature bucks with a bow from a ladder stand is being defeated before you start. Mature bucks don't get used to anything that is out of character with their environment. I'm referring to hunting in the South with lots of pressure. The Midwest is different for many reasons. Once you've hunted a spot once, you have changed it forever. No one will move a ladder stand every hunt. I believe you should hunt with a climber or locon or tree saddle and move every hunt if by only a tree or 10 yds. I will pull my climber every hunt. I can't over emphasize how vitally important the element of surprise is when hunting mature bucks.
catman529
Well-Known Member
I think overhunting a stand has a lot more impact than the type of stand. A deer doesn't know what a ladder stand but it does know when it sees/smells a hunter in it.
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catman529":2uwr4lsa said:
That's the key! On a 60 acre property we hunt we have six ladder stands covering two food plots, two off the plots in the woods, and we rotate hunting them so they don't get burnt out.
^^^^^^^^^^^^catman529":3rpa9ahp said:
I believe this.
A very good friend of mine, who happens to be a top notch bowhunter, uses ladders exclusively now. He kills mature bucks on his very small property just about every year. The one thing he does, is refuse to hunt them more than just a couple times in a season. He also has quite a few scattered about so he can have good choices for wind direction.
He also takes great care to brush them in, and prefers to place them where he has good background cover. They are also no less than 20' high.
I'm still a climber/hang on guy, but I'm warming to using ladders.
gobblesandgrunts
Well-Known Member
Every stand I put up, hang on or ladder, is a 20ft stand. Higher the better imo
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catman529
Well-Known Member
I hung this stand and didn't even hunt it for a year. I've only sat in it about 3 times now. Haven't seen a good buck from it but have heard chasing through the cedars, just can't see very far is the problem. Notice it's not brushed in, but has decent back cover. I shot a mature doe at about 10 yards and she didn't have a clue I was there.Lost Lake":1ybo3u13 said:
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megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
Gosh, you nailed it exactly!scn":3gfdsiig said:
Ladderstands are fine to hunt out of, esp the first time or two it's been hunted.
But most dont move them often, or overhunt them, and mature deer quickly learn to avoid the area.
I killed my biggest TN buck this year out of a ladder stand with a ML that has been in place for 10 years. I shot him at 75yds, but I could probably have killed in bow range if I had let him come in. But that stand had only been hunted sparingly this year, and only with perfect wind directions. It's a proven producer, with 5 bucks over 130in over the past decade.
I hung a new ladder on my lease in south MS last week. Its on an overgrown ridge that drops into a long drain. I'm leaving it alone until the cruising phase of the rut, and I fully expect to kill a mature deer out of it in bow range when I hunt it in Jan.
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I've killed two bucks with bows from ladders, and seen many more. But, undershot a very large buck the first day I hunted a ladder, and the next day he passed behind me at 50 yards, watching my stand the entire time he was in view. Never ran, but kept his eye on the stand the entire time. Never saw him again. Didn't hunt that stand for a month, then shot a smaller eight point the next time in it. Large bucks are incredibly smart. Better odds are the first hunt in a ladder stand that has been in place for a while, but unused. Best odds are first hunt in a climber placed that day in an area previously unhunted. Bow or gun doesn't matter. Once an old buck has associated humans with a stand, your odds go way down.
Mike Belt
Well-Known Member
Thinking back I can remember BSK talking about the multitude of ladder stands they had on their property. He said they keep track of those locations and the following year they move or add new stands in locations that were vacant of stands the previous seasons EVEN if they weren't in as optimal places as those stands they were moving simply because the mature bucks they were after recognized those stand locations and avoided them.
Out of all the stands I own only 1 is a ladder stand. It's 20' tall. I seldom use it even though by design it's fairly easy to hang by one person and very secure. Personally I just feel too confined on my shooting hunting out of ladders.
Out of all the stands I own only 1 is a ladder stand. It's 20' tall. I seldom use it even though by design it's fairly easy to hang by one person and very secure. Personally I just feel too confined on my shooting hunting out of ladders.
infoman jr.
Well-Known Member
I killed my biggest buck at 10 yards from a ladder stand.
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