Video: Testing the Greatest Treestand Peak for Bowhunting

If you wish to slay huge bucks, you higher draw a 70-pound bow and hold your treestand at the very least 25 ft up. 

Or, perhaps not. There are a handful of articles and movies on the market about choosing the proper treestand peak. Most of them point out the 20-foot mark as a type of customary. Then there are hunters who argue for climbing even larger so that you’ll be much less simple to identify and fewer prone to be smelled. On the flip aspect, some hunters argue for hanging decrease, so that you’ve got a greater shot angle at close-range deer. 

So who’s proper? I made a decision to really check these theories to assist illustrate the professionals and cons of bowhunting and capturing at totally different heights. Right here’s how I did this yard check and what I discovered. 

The Check

I hung 4 treestands in my yard, all in the identical tree. I hung them at heights of 10 ft, 15 ft, 20 ft, and 25 ft. I then positioned a 3D deer goal at 18 yards from the tree, measured the angle from every peak (with my Bushnell R5 Collection Rangefinder) after which did some capturing. I carried out this check on a day with 10 mph winds, that gusted perhaps to fifteen mph. 

After capturing I evaluated entry and exit factors within the goal and checked out how the totally different heights allowed for vertical margin of error on a double-lung shot. The chest of my 3D goal measures 14 inches, or about the identical dimension as a small whitetail. 

At every peak I additionally used a wind checker to judge how scent may drift all the way down to deer, or above them. 

Variables to Take into account

Concealment

Generally, the upper you’re, the tougher it will likely be for a deer to identify you. Nonetheless peak shouldn’t be the one think about a sneaky good stand, in reality, it may not even be an important. The quantity of canopy you have got behind and round you is the actual key. In a super state of affairs, you’ll be  searching in a tree that’s wider than your shoulders and has limbs branching out round you, to interrupt up your profile. On this case you will get away with searching decrease. 

Shot Angle & Presentation

The upper you hunt, the tougher the shot. Keep in mind that the typical distance for a bow shot is about 20 yards. The upper you climb the steeper that shot angle turns into. These are the approximate shot angles measured from every peak with the Bushnell R5 rangefinder:

• 10 Ft: 15 levels
• 15 Ft: 20 levels
• 20 Ft: 25 levels
• 25 Ft: 30 levels

Steep shot angles are difficult for a pair causes. First, very steep goal shows provide much less margin for error vertically. In different phrases, in case your shot is de facto steep, it’s tougher to hit each lungs. On a high-angle shot, it’s worthwhile to hit larger on the deer in order that the arrow exits the underside of the offside lung. However should you hit too excessive, you’ll miss the frontside lung.

Second, it’s merely tougher to shoot a bow properly at a steep angle. I skilled this primary hand whereas capturing from the 25-foot mark. At that peak the tree was swaying extra within the breeze (a serious problem when making an attempt to shoot precisely). Plus, the downward angle was so excessive that it was tougher for me to maintain constant type. I simply didn’t really feel comfy. 

Scent

The hunt-higher camp will say that while you’re 25-plus-feet up, your scent will catch thermals and blow excessive of deer, as a substitute of all the way down to them. Whereas utilizing my wind checker 25 ft up, I did discover that it was blowing away and never all the way down to the bottom. I do consider that if a deer had been 15 or 20 yards downwind of me, my scent would have blown excessive of it. 

Nonetheless, the scent would drift all the way down to deer peak finally. Deer that have been perhaps 100 yards away would definitely odor me. Searching larger isn’t going to make you undetectable to a whitetail’s nostril, however it may provide you with a slight benefit on close-range deer. 

Treestand Peak Takeaways

After capturing a lot of arrows and evaluating my hits, I settled on a couple of particular takeaways. The primary and most vital level is to at all times use a security harness and a lifeline when searching and hanging treestands. If you’ll fall out of a stand, it’s probably going to be while you’re climbing into it or out of it, so being harnessed up solely whereas within the stand shouldn’t be sufficient. You should be linked to a security system from the second you allow the bottom. 

You’re Not As Excessive As You Suppose

One of many issues I seen straight away is that only a few hunters are literally climbing to twenty ft or larger (measured from the bottom of the stand to the bottom). And an sincere 25 ft was shockingly excessive. 

For instance, to hit the 20-foot mark, a long-legged hunter would want at the very least 4 climbing sticks, if he spaced them out very aggressively. However most of us would want 5 – 6 climbing sticks to hit that peak comfortably. 

Even the treestand gear isn’t marketed precisely relating to heights. For instance, the lifeline system I used on this video says it was good for searching as much as 30 ft. Nonetheless it wouldn’t even attain our 25-foot peak (once more, measured to the bottom of the stand). I had to make use of two tethers to rise up to 25 ft. 

A lot of the stands that I’ve seen hung by different hunters on public land or on outfitted properties are about 15 ft and decrease. The hang-and-hunt guys are unlikely to be climbing larger than 15 ft in the event that they’re solely packing in three to 4 sticks. 

Shot Angle Isn’t a Downside at 10 to twenty Ft

At common archery ranges capturing from from 10 to twenty ft up in a tree ought to be comparatively simple for a practiced archer. At any of those angles, should you shoot the buck by means of the highest of the guts (entry) the arrow will come by means of the underside of the guts (exit) and also you’ll have a brief blood path. 

Nonetheless a really shut 10-yard shot from 20 ft up will create a super-steep shot angle and a marginal shot presentation. 

Shot Angle Turns into a Downside at 25 Ft and Increased

At common archery ranges, you’re making your shot way more difficult should you hunt larger than 20 ft. The margin of error is much less and the capturing itself is tougher. I feel most hunters could be clever to hunt at 20 ft or decrease (once more, measured from the underside of the stand). 

15 Ft Is the Candy Spot (for Me)

For me, a super treestand peak is about 15 ft to 18 ft and a super capturing vary is 15 to twenty yards. This provides an excellent quantity of concealment and cheap shot angles. Should you can hunt decrease whereas nonetheless hiding properly, go for it. 

However the actual takeaway right here is to not get obsessive about treestand peak. Understanding conceal your stand in a tree and when to maneuver on a deer is extra vital than the peak at which you’re searching. There’s no shortcut to fooling a mature buck. You’ve acquired to do all of the little issues proper, not simply hold your stand an additional 5 ft larger.