Hunting season is here, so along with your luxurious canvas tent you may be looking for other ways you can take your hunting to the next level, and upgrading your tree stand is definitely one great way to do that. Not only do you spend numerous hours there, but getting it right can make a big difference in your success as a hunter.
Here are some tips for how you can improve your tree stand game.
Make It Comfy
Alright, you’re going out into the woods to hunt down a wild animal wearing camouflage, luxury may not be the first thing on your mind. Just think about how long you spend in the tree stand, though. As long as it doesn’t change the effectiveness, why not make it comfortable? This will also help you to sit still for longer, and avoid scaring away the deer.
Nowadays, there are plenty of companies making both functional and comfortable tree stand seats from a variety of materials. Consider upgrading your seat, and spend all those hours in comfort.
Make It Quiet
Of course keeping quiet is an essential of hunting, but somehow a lot of people neglect this when it comes to their tree stand. By simply adding some cloth or felt strips to particularly noisy joints or surfaces, you can make a big improvement to the stealth factor of your tree stand. This will be one less thing to worry about when the big moment comes, and it’s time to take the shot.
Always Secure Yourself with a Lifeline
Come on, you’re several meters up in a tree, while falling from this height might not kill you (but then again, it might), it’s pretty likely it will result in a hospital trip. What reason is there not to spend a few more bucks and a little bit of time adding a lifeline?
Get the Height Just Right
You might consider putting a little bit more thought into the height at which you’re hanging your tree stand. This seems like common sense, but a lot of people don’t spend too much time on it. I generally always check the view as I’m climbing the tree, and pay attention for the angles it offers me in relation to where the deer is likely to be. It doesn’t take much effort and it could make a big difference.
Clear Shooting Lanes
Naturally, you need to have a clear shot where deer are likely to be. If you see a lot of deer traffic in a certain area in relation to your stand, it’s a good idea to cut down limbs and clear the way for your shot. Of course, you also don’t want to cut down too many limbs and kill trees, be reasonable about it.
Engineer Your Deer Zone
Ultimately, you want deer to be coming to hang out by your tree stand, which means rather than just try to determine where they’ll be, you can encourage them to congregate in various ways. Of course, there are different laws about how you can do this in different places, but you can put out food, water, brush piles, and even mock scrape surrounding trees.
Add Hangars for Equipment and Items
You’re going to be in the tree a long time, and you may have various equipment or items you want to have up there with you. Hangers allow you to keep several items close by and within reach, so that you can take every advantage for a shot you get.
Entry and Exit
You want to have plenty of cover where you’re going in and out of the tree stand, and for it not to be too obvious to the deer that a human has been around. There are many ways to do this, whether by strategically choosing your location so that there’s cover terrain to allow for stealthy entry and exit, or by planting shields that will conceal your route. You don’t want to spook deer too often, or they’ll stop coming around.
