Tree stand height

alpha male

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Im 40 years and i have been hunting for 30 years and it seems to me to me that as years have pasted we keep getting higher and higher up in trees these days. As a boy we hunted on the ground with bow rifle or muzzleloader. Then we got to building tree stands where you could find three or four close together but still wont be over 10 ft to 12ft off the ground.Now usually in my climber or my hang on im never much over 20ft which i thought was pretty high. Now listening to some younger hunters and what i see on tv 20 ft isnt nothing these guys talkin 30ft to 40ft!! What do you guys feel is a good height and is getting that high give them an advantage??
 
Depends on whats behind me to break my outline up. I hunt as high as 30ft in my summit. But I have several 15ft ladder stands that i kill out of.I just make aure i have background cover.
 
i used to hunt 15 ft now i hunt exclusively on the ground for the pure joy and challenge of it no matter bow or gun i want to be eye level with em now. i see no need to go over 15ft
 
All of my stands are hung between 18-25ft. I kill plenty at that height, I refuse to sit in the top of a tree.
 
It's all about the cover, I rarely hunt over 20 feet and have one ladder stand that I pieced together that's only about 8 feet tall, I will usually put it in a cedar and a small cluster of trees and have never been seen, if you have cover around you then normally your good
 
All of my ladder stands are 16'. My hang on's are between 21'-24' right now.

I do have one 10' buddy stand set up. It came as a 15' but took a section out because there was a knot in the tree where my back would be. And at 10' it allowed me to be more brushed out than i would have at 15'. I killed a deer at 20 yards last year and she never knew i was there. I've had deer walk 5 ft from me never knowing i was there.

It's all about cover.
 
I've had deer walk right up to me standing on the ground. Do you have to be up high? Not at all. Is it better to go decently high in a tree? Depending on the cover, for the most part, yes. Can you go too high? Without a doubt . 50ft high would make it hard to shoot a deer at 20 yards and almost impossible closer. 40ft can even hinder yo by creating a steel downward shot.
 
I prefer about 20-25 feet. Never go higher when bow hunting, but I have rifle hunted around 50 feet once. And I also bow and rifle hunt from the ground sometimes.
 
30, 40, 50 feet- That is ridiculous. 30 feet is like standing on the roof of a 3 story building, 40 feet is a four story and 50 feet is a five story building's roof!!! Go stand on top of a 5 story building and look down sometime and you will see the ridiculousness of that statement. I can see very few real life applications for a 30 foot tall tree stand, and zero advantages to a 40 or 50 foot one.
I'm calling bull on most of these statements. I am sure there are a couple of real monkey jumpers here that go that high but I am not sure it is ever called for. If you are exposed at 20 to 25 feet off then ground find more cover.
So the next time you are visiting a hospital or office building look out the window of the 6th floor and realize you should be standing about 50 feet from the ground (most buildings are built on a 10 foot per floor standard, right?) SO if you are on the 6th floor then your feet are near the top of the fifth floor which should be close to 50 feet. The fifth floor will be 40 feet, the fourth floor will be 30 feet, approximately, etc.
 
I've got a lot of buddies that claim they hunt at 30+ ft, I've never seen them
Hang a stand that high... I usually stay around 15-25..
I've got a couple on really steep ridges that on the lower side feels about 40ft...
 
I mostly hunt ridges and prefer only to be slightly higher than a deer's line of sight when 10 or so yards from the tree. Most of the deer I shoot with a bow are on my level at around 20 yards. With a gun, especially if shooting a doe is out of the question, I like to be a little higher.
 
Normally 26 foot at my platform. I have a 30 foot rope tied to my climber and when it pulls snug I'm done.

Don't hurt to be high on the side of a mountain because 10 yards behind yo might be eye level.. :)
 

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