crazy4COUES Report post Posted January 12, 2009 Just hanging out at work pondering my first season in a treestand thus far. There are a few things I will do differently after my first days. Just wanted to hear from all you fellow treestand hunters, what lessons have you learned? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
willhunt4coues Report post Posted January 12, 2009 The first thing I learned was too hang the tree stand in a tree (for some reason I thought you used them on the ground), second always look in all direction because these coues deer are snekee, and third use a real tree stand not a used truck. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
crazy4COUES Report post Posted January 12, 2009 That really helps! road hunter trying tree stand tactics. I think in the users manual it will tell you to hang the stand on a tree.........you must be as bored a I am. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
willhunt4coues Report post Posted January 12, 2009 That really helps! road hunter trying tree stand tactics. I think in the users manual it will tell you to hang the stand on a tree.........you must be as bored a I am. I am very bored. I don't hunt tree stands so I am pretty much useless. But I do hunt blinds. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Red Rabbit Report post Posted January 12, 2009 Consider the afternoon sun. I once hung a stand on the only downwind tree, where the afternoon sun beamed on me till it set. Got a nice facial tan, but no elk from that tank in two days. It was hot and hard to conceal oneself. I notice some hang a stand on the front of a tree. I prefer on the side, so I can draw the bow back without the elbow hitting the trunk. Look behind the treestand to see if there is cover to hide you, or if you will be skylined. Wrap something around that pinon pine where branches are trimmed, so sap does not drip or you can lean back against the trunk without getting sap on the camos. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TREESTANDMAN Report post Posted January 13, 2009 Be very careful climbing up and down the tree. Always wear a safety harness!!!!!!!!!!! Practice shooting sitting down on a chair at home to build those extra muscles and become comfortable with it. When you are frozen solid, it is even harder to pull your bow back. I always practice shooting from the highest point of my parents roof. You will see that your arrow will hit several inches higher than a normal 20-30 yd shot. I always aim at the lower part of the heart or stomach depending on the angle of course. The coues usually ending up crouching at the shot and I hit them high, which is fine due to the sharp angle. Sit very still and keep any type of movement to a minimum. For me, it really helps if I know a really big buck or 3 run the area. Enjoy man Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
COUESAZ Report post Posted January 13, 2009 You all need to listen to Treestandman. He has hunted from a treestand for along time and he knows his stuff. The good and the bad. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TREESTANDMAN Report post Posted January 13, 2009 You all need to listen to Treestandman. He has hunted from a treestand for along time and he knows his stuff. The good and the bad. Thx Jade. When he says the bad, he is referring to me falling 20 feet to the ground, fracturing 3 vertebrae with compression, dislocating my arm, and breaking my left leg. I'm lucky to be alive:) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bowsniper Report post Posted January 14, 2009 My only comment is DO NOT USE A GORILLA "SAFETY" HARNESSSSSSSssssssss.......... My Gorilla "Safety" harness failed, I fell 25 ft onto my wrist. 2 surgeries and much pain later, I need a wrist fusion and I'm still trying to reach a settlement with Gorilla. Mark Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cpugsie Report post Posted January 15, 2009 Don't cut sapplings at an angle, 12" from the ground right under your stand. Take a pee before you get in your stand. Take some snacks up with you. Dont' leave too much scent around the tree or on near by trails. Wear rubber foot ware to keep your scent down. Where some kind of scent blocker clothing and take a shower as much as possible. This is one place I feel that scent control is most important. Do not climb the tree with your bow in hand. Bring a rope to pull your bow and pack up to your stand. ALWAYS WEAR A HARNESS. If your stand is far from where you park, hike to your stand with an extra pair of clothes or just wear the basics to keep from getting all heated up. In extream cold, bring some hand warmers and feet warmers with you. Cold extreminties will end your hunt quickly. Some bring a pee bottle up in the stand with them. Continually look around 360 degrees slowly. Even though your up in a tree keep movement slow and to a minimum. Try to hold your bow ready as much as possible. I like to attach my bow quiver to the tree to leave my bow lighter and more manuverable. Walk off known distances and mark with something natural (wood, cowpie,...whatevers around). Bring a small saw and/or pruning shears to clear shooting lanes. Try to do this before the season opens or you plan to hunt the stand. Bring some little screw in hooks or extra tree steps to hang your bow and pack from. And include what everyone else all ready said. I love tree stand hunting!!! All the deer I've ever taken with a bow have been from a tree. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Red Rabbit Report post Posted January 15, 2009 How about a Double Bull blind instead of a tree stand? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bowsniper Report post Posted January 15, 2009 Don't cut sapplings at an angle, 12" from the ground right under your stand. Take a pee before you get in your stand. Take some snacks up with you. Dont' leave too much scent around the tree or on near by trails. Wear rubber foot ware to keep your scent down. Where some kind of scent blocker clothing and take a shower as much as possible. This is one place I feel that scent control is most important. Do not climb the tree with your bow in hand. Bring a rope to pull your bow and pack up to your stand. ALWAYS WEAR A HARNESS. If your stand is far from where you park, hike to your stand with an extra pair of clothes or just wear the basics to keep from getting all heated up. In extream cold, bring some hand warmers and feet warmers with you. Cold extreminties will end your hunt quickly. Some bring a pee bottle up in the stand with them. Continually look around 360 degrees slowly. Even though your up in a tree keep movement slow and to a minimum. Try to hold your bow ready as much as possible. I like to attach my bow quiver to the tree to leave my bow lighter and more manuverable. Walk off known distances and mark with something natural (wood, cowpie,...whatevers around). Bring a small saw and/or pruning shears to clear shooting lanes. Try to do this before the season opens or you plan to hunt the stand. Bring some little screw in hooks or extra tree steps to hang your bow and pack from. And include what everyone else all ready said. I love tree stand hunting!!! All the deer I've ever taken with a bow have been from a tree. cpugsie, you are a smart, experienced treestand hunter. Very good advice. Mark Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
huntswnm Report post Posted January 15, 2009 I hunted an area this year where no matter what the wind was doing here in town you could not gaurantee it was blowing the same direction up there. My drive to my stand took the better part of an hour. So, I placed a stand on the east side of the trail I was hunting (wind primarily out of the W/SW) and an Ameristep ground blind on the West side of the trail for the days the wind was coming out of the East. SO........here is what I learned......... Treestand was pretty much like everyone said so far as far as placement, sun shine, cover, etc. Now one day I was in the stand and had a little too much water on the way in and really had to pee. I didn't have a bottle, just my camelback in my pack . So rather than getting down and going back towards the truck I just let it go, over the side of the stand. About 20 minutes later a doe and small buck come down the trail and start feeding around. Buck was too small so I just watched them. They ended up feeding right up under my stand, almost licking the ladder below me. The doe walked around and stuck her nose right in the pine needles where I had just peed and went on with her business. Not even the slightest bit of alarm. Now I am not saying that people should not worry about sent control, etc but it sure didn't bother those deer that day. Maybe drinking only water helps cut out any "odd" odors that the deer may associate with humans???? Now for the ground blind....I set it up about 2 weeks prior to the season thinking it would have enough time for the deer to get used to it. It was brushed in really well. I was shooting some new expandables so rather than use the shoot through mesh I unzipped it about half way so that I had a clear opening. (It had been shut the two weeks prior) The very first deer to come along that day...two bucks... immediately hit the breaks the first time the looked in my direction, started stomping and walked off stiff legged and nervous. Couldn't figure it out, I was dressed in all black and sitting on the back edge of the blind. That day when I left I left the blind with the window half down. Next day went back in there, wind had shifted so I had to use the stand. WELL as soon as the sun came up over the ridge that ground blind was almost glowing in the sunshine, even with all the brushing in I did, and the half open window looked like a Black Hole going into the Abyss in the surrounding vegetation. No wonder those deer did what they did. They noticed that black hole immediately and knew something had changed in their backyard. I left the window down the rest of the hunt and used the ground blind about 2 weeks later and by then the deer were once again coming through unalarmed and "used" to the hole. So I want to experiment more with expandables through mesh, or just go back to a fixed blade so as to be able to utilize the shoot through mesh for what it was intended for. jeff Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TREESTANDMAN Report post Posted January 16, 2009 I pee off my stands as well. Human pee doesn't bother them at all. I've pee'd in my mock scrapes and had bucks scrape the heck out of the same scrape moments later. Other scent does bother them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cpugsie Report post Posted January 16, 2009 I've heard that human pee does not scare away deer and that some people do just as you mentioned by peeing in mock scapes and from the tree stand. I've hunted from trees sinced the 1979 and out of habbit just never peed from my stand. That is until one day in Montana when I just couldn't hold it any more. Your right, it didn't seem to bother the deer that came buy my stand later that morning. Some old habbits are hard to break. One more thing to check is that your stand is DEAD SILENT. No squeaks AT ALL when shifting your weight. A squeaky stand is a deal breaker every time. Mark, Thanks for the kind comment!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
