Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting You eastern thick woods deer hunters: tree stands or ground hunting?

I still use a climber for bow and gun season . This year in Wisconsin is going to be very cold so I wont be out more than 2 hours. Sunday morning is calling for -1F. I might not even go out. The day is coming when I will make my own ground blinds and I will likely do more slow walking and sitting. I just cant sit for more than 2 hours in gun season when its so cold. For bow, I will still use my 14 lb Lone Wolf climber but I am noticing I dont go as high , 10' is plenty and the deer dont seem to notice . Deer hunting is going to really change next year cause I will be 60 then. I'm telling the boss I am taking off when I want , will work 20 hrs . and if I smell a walleye or a whitetail wind, I am gone.

I like these, too, but shouldering a scope gun and getting a decent sight picture is a pain when I'm leaning back. It's fine with open sights or looking down a vent rib.

I like a turkey seat with a comfy tree to lean against. Have small plywood backrests at my favorite spots.

I use mostly ladder stands in my part of virginia. I think i have 10 all together. Most all single man. I do have a couple of the millenium strap on treeseats. The are hard to beat one the ground, very comfortable.

There’s no mention of any restrictions in the regs, and a couple are very visible in an area that has been under a good bit of maintenance the past couple of years, but they were left alone. I keep them well cabled-up to discourage theft, and have never seen any sign that they were used by anyone else, let alone the target of theft. They are a good ways back, about 3/4 of a mile, and it was quite a chore to get them back there. Others have stands here and there as well and it’s common to see climbers left at the base of trees.

Wifey and I put up what will be my last one in September, a 15’ ladder. Killed a doe on my second sit, in about 15 minutes. That one’s only a half mile in, and the drag was all downhill.

This is my preferred method. However if no snow, it's climber for me.

I'm done with climbers and hang-ons. My knees and shoulders aren't the best. It's either ladder stands on my own properties or I'm on foot. Will use blinds once in a while.
Probably will be putting up atleast one box stand on each property in the next few years for bad weather rifle hunts.

That summit climber , Goliath as mentioned is the cats meow for climbers
Lightweight, sturdy , sure grip , and about as easy to climb with as a ladder stand .
And damned near too comfortable
Not hard to take a nap in and just about impossible to fall out of .
Yep , like mine

But on the other hand natural blinds like lap wood or tree base uprooted .
I like sitting in corner of trunk with roots on one side or the other of me
Have killed just as many like this as from a stand
Actually more
Just started using a stand 8 yrs or so ago on a regular basis.
Kenneth

Be surprised how much warmer you stay in the ground without all of that cold air up under your feet and your backside.

I do have a 3" or so thick thermaseat that I use when sitting in a stand.

my favorite stand is a 5 gallon bucket thats camoed, also used white drywall bucket in snow . can carry extra gear , snacks etc. can move if wind changes, etc. have killed all my big deer from ground.

I do both. Lot's of lock-on's, a couple ladder stands on my farm, most places I use a saddle with platform (climb with aider). Out of lock-on's I use a saddle as my safety harness...nice to be able to face the opposite direction comfortably. I do most still hunting when it's raining and/or really windy. I carry a thin pad to sit on while still hunting when I stop in a spot for a while. One place I hunt has lots of "shooting houses/box blinds" but I rarely hunt out of them.

If I am hunting a place once. I sit on the ground. If it is a proven good stand. I would put a stand up. Ladder or if I know it is reliable a box or tent blind

An elevated stand is usually more productive. I've used them in the past. I'm 64 now. I can still walk up and down the mountains, but I am a little slower. But I'm not as agile as I was when I was younger. I gave up climbing trees years ago. I might use an elevated box stand with a ladder if the opportunity came up.

Most of my hunting is on public land and virtually none is level. If I'm sitting on the ground on a hillside, I see no point in being in a tree.

You’re right about sitting on hillsides. A good cushion with a padded back makes it pretty comfy, and a strap-on tree seat is the beans, as it lets you stand and stretch or shift direction easily and quietly.

There’s a big rock outcropping I like to sit on. Has a nice flat shelf at the perfect height for a seat and rises about 15’ behind me. Great view of a little flat and the facing hillside.

The only request my wife has made concerning hunting was not to use a tree stand. Connecticut and Maine deer hunting has been on the ground. A 5 gallon bucket worked for many years. A buddy gifted me with a camouflage bucket seat that rotates. Works pretty good.

You really need to be off the ground around here. The visibility and available shots are much better. Bigger trees with a lot of ground clutter. You don't usually run into obstructions from above until you get more than 20' up.

I didn't really start killing a lot of deer until I started climbing in the early 90's when I bought my first climber. Back then, I was hunting all over the place where ever I had permission and on public land as well. In the early 2000's I got away from all of those other places and only hunt on the farm where I killed my first deer in 1978. The problem with this place is there's not a lot of straight trees suitable for climbing. Over the years the land owner has allowed me to put up 3 ladder stands which are very productive. I've been able to cut shooting lanes for each one. It's nice not to have to carry the stand out and set it up, take it down and a lot faster to get in and out also. Not as much noise either. I'm very fortunate to have a great place to hunt for free. It's a really good set up with a lot of deer.

Bow hunting I use a lader stand. Gun hunting I have a 4x4 box blind or I just sit on the ground.

Bow hunting I use a lader stand. Gun hunting I have a 4x4 box blind or I just sit on the ground.

I like to hunt the woods in the morning and the fields in the afternoon. In the woods I use pallets nailed together and a folding swivel chair. Makes an excellent blind especially for turkey hunting.
Looking east farther than I can shoot.

Looking west farther than I can shoot.

Can only see 7 deer at the moment. The feeders go off at 5:30 and there should be 30+ deer within shooting range by then.