I am old enough to remember a time when treestands were a rare sight in the Maine deer woods.
A lot of hunters in those days had a few favorite places to sit, while others preferred stalking or, once snow arrived, tracking. Whatever the preferred mode, it was on the ground.
That changed in the early 1970s when the first climbing stands were popularized in various hunting magazines and it seemed every hunter had to have one. Over the next couple decades, the popularity of hunting elevated only increased as hang-on and ladder stands hit the scene and design and safety features improved. More recently, saddle stands have only made hunting above ground more popular.
According to the Treestand Manufacturers Association, a nonprofit trade association, there is no official count of how many treestands are sold annually because manufacturers do not release that information. But it’s generally accepted that hunting above ground, especially for deer and among bow hunters, is one of the most popular means of hunting today.
The reasons for that are pretty obvious to those of us who use stands. Hunting elevated not only offers better hunter visibility, but deer survive by their nose and eyes. They have no natural enemies that kill from above, so a hunting position that offers better scent control, concealment and a high, unsuspecting ambush point are also major advantages.
But how high is high enough?
After years of hunting from a treestand, I’m convinced there is no one ideal height. My personal preference is to hunt higher rather than low because I am a firm believer the advantages increase higher off the ground. With that said, I’ll stick my neck out and say in general stand height from 15 to 20 feet is high enough for most Maine hunting situations.
At these heights we have done just about everything we can to reduce scent without dressing in plastic, and at normal bow and crossbow range a deer’s vitals are still large enough for lethal shot placement. That window gets smaller at more extreme heights, especially at close-range situations, increasing the chances of missing the mark.
But even that is a generalization. When setting up or moving a stand we take a few factors into consideration and height is not always at the top of the list.
Concealment is.
On our property we have a half dozen stands ranging from 12 and 15 feet to 20 feet. My favorite 20-footer is situated in the hardwoods. Before the foliage drops during the mid and later weeks of the October archery season, concealment is not an issue to my right, left and especially to the rear. Even though it sticks out like a sore thumb, I still like to hunt it in November and especially during the muzzleloader season when the oaks are nude of leaves because deer always check the area for leftover mast.
That is one situation when sitting high is a major advantage.
Our shorter stands, those from 12 to 15 feet, have proven no less productive over the years, but we just have them placed or place them in different cover or terrain whenever we move them.
Providing she has a shot window or two, my wife, Diane, loves to hunt the greens, dense spruce, hemlock and pine habitats, especially where they overlook a clearing in the woods or along the edge of a field because they offer plenty of cover throughout the deer seasons.
What we’ve come to learn is stand height for the sole purpose of getting above a deer’s nose isn’t everything. It’s important, but plenty of natural cover for concealment is just as important, and the two factors should work hand in hand.
And there’s one more thing: the personal safety level.
I have a hunter friend who simply won’t hunt from a stand regardless of how low it is because he hates heights. Most times when he requires the use of a ladder at his house, he calls me. My wife will tolerate 12- and 15-footers but gets nervous in anything higher.
For me, height isn’t an issue. It’s important to feel safe and at ease hunting above ground because when you’re not, accidents happen.