Many hunters have questions about treestand placement. Every situation is different and there aren’t any rules where there aren’t exceptions. However, here are 4 general tips for treestand placement that will help in most situations.
1.Play The Wind And Thermal
Once you have your general area selected, pay heed to the wind and thermal current in the area. You want to remain downwind or cross-wind of where you think the deer will be. This is the most important of the four.
2.Use The Available Cover
This kind of goes hand in hand with treestand height – in a bald tree you’re more likely to go higher than in a tree with good cover. Look for trees that lose their foliage late, clusters of trees, or trees with a “Y” in the trunk for concealment.
3.Pick A Tree That Is Easy To Climb
If you have a great spot, but you alert every deer within 400 yards by making a commotion while climbing your stand, your great spot will go for naught. Use enough tree-steps or climbing sticks so you can scale the tree easily, safely and quietly.
4.Prepare The Site To Make The Shot
So you have a good spot, you have a stand in the perfect ambush tree, but what happens if a deer walks through and there’s no way you can take a shot. (We’re obviously talking about when using archery tackle). Take the time to trim some shooting lanes or “windows” so you can sneak an arrow through when the “moment of truth” arrives.
Remember, there’s also nothing wrong with a good ground blind. But with whitetails you’ll need to set the blind well in advance of the hunt or “brush it in” well and camouflage the blind to blend in with the surroundings.
More whitetails are harvested by archers using treestands than by any other method. If you choose a stand that you feel safe in and use these basic treestand placement rules, you’ll be on your way to harvesting more deer, bigger bucks and maybe that trophy of a lifetime.
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Bonus Tip from OutdoorMetrix
Considering the time and effort involved in picking spots and hanging stands, you should also take a few seconds to log each hunt in every stand. By tracking your hunt log data with OutdoorMetrix, you can measure exactly how good each spot is, compare hunting results with weather conditions, manage hunting pressure, keep spots fresh, predict when to go and hunt a little smarter.
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