Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Stand Height

I'm like hh4, conditions dictate where I hunt. My box stand is 12' high, it takes this height to see/shoot over the top of a small rise in the ground. Usually about 15-20 for gun hunting, but sometimes on the ground. Bow hunting- I've been busted more than once at 20' +/-, so I went to 30-35 ft. and haven't been busted so far.

Highest stand I had was in thinned timber. Had to get high to see over the regrowth. I was 50' +/- up a pine tree, looking up a logging road. For years, this was my go to stand, if I needed a deer to finish filling the freezer or only had a few days to hunt. I was a lot closer to the wood ducks flying overhead than I was to the ground.

It depends. I built a box stand 22 feet high overlooking my CRP ground the year we planted it in trees. That was 1998. We could shoot 300+ yards in the brush. Now you can't see 20 yards because of the canopy so we nailed a lower box stand onto the poles and now our feet are about 2 feet off the ground. Now we can see 200 yards in places. I investigated a good many hunting accidents and tall stands were probably involved more often than guns. I once watched a video by a Dr. McGuff about 12 things to avoid if you want to live and one of the things was ladders. Old men and ladders are a bad combination.

15 feet to platform

Edwin it will depend on the maturity of the Pine trees. New growth you will want to get above it, old growth you will want to stay under the canopy usually.
A ladder stand 14-16' with at least three sections would be versatile. When I hunted East Tx. it was mostly permanent stands in oat pastures or at the edges of open fields. None of those were over 20" in height but where you are may be very different and more heavily wooded.

Along the Trinity river the cover was so dense you had to get above it for any visibility, either a tree or a high bank. Check google earth and see what you can tell about the cover height if possible.

from 0-16'.

I go roughly 16-17ft with the climber depending out surrounding coverage, trees, branches, etc. Whichever height over 12ft that gives me the clearest lanes for archery.

I’m hunting at the White Oak Creek WMA in Omaha, TX. I’ check out google earth today.

12' always seemed fine. Just make sure you dont silowet . I think that is the most important. I like being in clumps of trees that are close together. I think it is a bit safer if I ever did start to fall I could likely grab a tree. Never happened yet thought.

I’ll be wearing a full body harness. I’ll also be connected to the tree from the time I leave the ground.

Hanging another one Sat after bowhunting an 18 footer in the creekbottom.
This one up in thorn patch up top, will be 20 ft.

Love me some EZY screw in steps.

Not many groups of trees where I hunt.
Most like telephone poles.
Most of them dead (elm).
There is one good three trunk, and I had a stand in it last yr.
Deer never busted me at 17 ft.
But it is close to the property line and I don't want to blast that close to the neighbors (they are up high).
Bowhunt it's OK, and we are all cool with recovering on each others property.

But I think it best to try and keep em down on my side.

Sure as chit, zip one with bow and it'll cross over.
Have to go knocking on the door.
Landowner is cool, doesn't mean whatever company he has on the weekend (mother in law?) will be.

Try to keep it mellow.

So I'm hunting farther in, where the trees suck.

Got pretty good winds today/tonight. Wonder how many of the dead elms will be crashing.

Buy some old 24 ft. aluminum extension ladders cheap. That gives you 2 12' ladders, enough for two permanent stands. If your platform is 12 feet, when you are sitting in it, your eyes are 4-5 feet more off the ground. With a little camo netting around it, deer won't even know you exist unless like any stand, you get a lousy down draft to their nose. I've seen 10 ft stands that were just fine because of the topography.

Funny, our landowner owns the whole bordering field too.
Got a ladder around the corner, people up top let friends hunt.
Its on our field.
Guy next door has a hunter,
Everybody drives their trucks across the field to haul the deer out.
Nobody ever asks.

Rivers Edge Bowman ladder stand looks decent, 19 ft, and on sale for 130 bucks.

My problem is trespassers.

I like to hang a stand and removed bottom 4 steps to keep people out.

So ladder stands just aint my thing.

We've got some poachers and punks doing stupid stuff where we hunt.
That's how we got it, to run them off (buddy grew up there).

He has the DNR on speedial.

Whatever height you try, if all you think about is how high you are, you're too high.