Your stand...and you, should be at the height the background cover dictates. There is no other factor. Being high does nothing to aid in preventing detection from sight or smell. Being high, often gets you nailed from a greater distance.
The major disadvantage to high stands is the shot angle with either firearm or bow. A slight miscalcualtion with either can easily result in a wound that is longer in becoming fatal and much longer blood trails. With an arrow, due to the high and low holes, there is often a scant or no blood trail at all.
You can easily prove this to yourself. Take a lifesize deer silhoutte and draw a circle aruond the vital area. Now, simply shoot it from 15 and 50 feet with a camera. The picture will show you how much of the vitals you can see and therefore hit.
I have no fear of heights. Decades ago, I hung transmitter cans for A cable company and routinely worked at 300-400 feet on the bluffs outside Austin, TX.
As a deer hunter, even years ago, I seldom climbed over 20-feet because there was no need to. As a bowhunter, the key was to be in the cover, not above it. In the last few years, over half my stands are 10 and below.
I know that stand Catman is in very well. I hunted out of it for over 20-years. I have never once had it slip when used properly.
But it dam sure can.
