5 Top Lessons Learned from a Lifetime in Tree Stands

The first time I bowhunted from an elevated position I did not use a stand. An ancient cottonwood in the middle of a grassy drainage area in standing corn served as my elevation. Scrambling up the branches and into the nook of several limbs, I sat with my old Bear Whitetail compound bow for several nights until a 1 ½-year-old buck rutted past. I tagged my first ever deer from that old cottonwood.

My elevated stand hunts have changed from that adventure more than four decades prior. Nevertheless, the lessons learned from countless hours in stands have helped hone any upcoming adventures in the air. I discover wisdom every time I tie off in a tree or sit back in an elevated permanent stand. All the hours add up to increased success when a whitetail finally passes nearby.

ZONES OF OPPORTUNITY

After securing myself and hoisting gear into my stand, the first thing I do is evaluate all zones of opportunity. Basically, where are the shots going to happen. On a field edge the opportunity zone ranges near and far, but in a wooded setting you quickly see where shots occur with the trail you set up next to as the major focal point.

Analyze that trail. Although you set up for a slam dunk at 15 yards, the trail likely offers several other shot opportunities. Find them. Now find every other opening that a deer could wander through off of the trail. Remember, whitetails follow patterns, but acorns, off-trail deer, rut behavior, a fallen branch blocking the trail and other anomalies cause deer to veer.

After mentally locating possible shooting lanes other than your target area, begin ranging each area with memorization of the distances a priority. To help you, locate standout features, such as stumps, logs, bushes and the likes to help you remember yardages. You may even wish to use small utility flags and largely write the distances on them with a Sharpie to provide quick information when buck fever abounds.

STAND UP AND BE COUNTED

Everyone loves a big, comfortable cushion for their bum while sitting in a stand. It becomes critical for all-day sits. Even so, when prime time arrives or I see deer on their way to my stand, I slowly rise to the occasion. As noted in the previous section, deer do not always follow a trail. Despite setting your treestand in the ideal position to take a shot sitting as a deer passes on a trail or field edge, whitetail spontaneity could cause deer to swing behind your stand, dart underneath or traipse to the opposite side making a sitting shot nearly impossible.

Standing gives you more flexibility to twist your hips in a wider range of motion, shuffle slowly to adjust for a shot in the opposite direction or simply turn around for an over-the-shoulder shot behind.

This preparedness becomes particularly important during the rut. Think back. How many times have you had deer run past in chase mode that dodge your main shooting lane? A noontime buck caught me off guard in Iowa. The sound of crashing corn awoke me from a nap and the surprise appearance of a rutting buck followed. Had I not slowly stood up there would have been no way for a shot as he passed by on the opposite side of the tree.

WEATHER A LITTLE WEATHER

Nobody appreciates being in a treestand with gusty winds causing the very trunk of the tree to sway. Not only does safety become a concern, but making an ethical shot suddenly jumps to the top of your anxiety list. I rely on the detailed forecasts from my HuntStand hunting app to help me choose days to hunt and what stands to occupy.

Hurricane winds aside, a lesson I learned over years of trial and errors is that modest weather events help more than hurt your cause when hunting in the clouds. Downpours and blizzards join hurricane winds in weather experiences I typically avoid, for comfort and safety. Drizzle, snow squalls and best of all, a light breeze, give me pause to reconsider a hunt. Why?

These small disturbances all create a background din of noise and environmental commotion. Leaves rustle, branches sway, vision becomes slightly obscured and other natural distractions mask your moves, or even mistakes you might make. Although I trust my gear to not make noise, it happens. But when the leaves rustle or the pitter-patter of raindrops land, that small mistake blends into the background along with your slow-motion move to adjust for the perfect shot.

SCENT DISTRACTIONS EQUAL BETTER SHOTS

I get a kick out of the art of the ruse. Not only does satisfaction cross my face when I dupe a deer, more importantly, any ruse distracts a deer away from my stand. That means my draw goes unnoticed as a deer focuses on the ruse.

The art of the ruse should be subtle. Mock scrapes and scent wicks top my favorites list of ruse practices. Either can be utilized beginning in September and extending into December. Position them in an ideal shooting lane, no need to get out beyond 25 yards, and place them so whitetail visitors give you a quartering away shot.

Early in the fall I prefer using straight doe urine or a dominant buck lure. In mid-October the scent of choice becomes any estrus flavor, such as the popular Special Golden Estrus from Wildlife Research Center. And lately, I have used their Golden Rope Scent Rope kit not only during the hunting season as a shooting lane distraction, but in the offseason to bring deer in front of trail cameras.

TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING?

Decoys also provide a great distraction ruse. Again, subtle is best and having a decoy off to the side of a trail instead of smack out front in a roadblock fashion proves best. When whitetails only get a few seconds or minutes to interact with a decoy you get better results. Deer personalities differ, but on average, the longer a deer stares at a decoy, the more anxious it could become. The good thing about a decoy could become its worst if deer have too long to analyze it, especially along a field edge. Set it off to the side in a natural state for deer to evaluate its temperament and give you the distraction for a shot.

Calls also can be too much of a good thing. Rattling or grunting with deer in full view could cause alarm instead of curiosity. A rule of thumb to follow when rattling is to never rattle when deer are inside 100 yards or in full view. With grunts or bleats, 50 yards is acceptable, but emit the call when deer pass behind habitat barriers such as tree trunks or bushes. If deer progress toward your stand, shut up and let them do the driving.

Like all whitetail hunting situations, individual deer character determines most hunting situations. Using your past experiences though, increases your odds for a better outcome even with this known unpredictability and that’s why I make note of all the lessons learned while hunting from the treetops.

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