Whild_Bill
Member
Honestly who all likes to get lit while in the stand? Ate some mushrooms last weekend in the stand and had one heck of a fun hunt and we always carry a cooler of cold beer with us too
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Hunting under the influence
- Thread starter Whild_Bill
- Start date
Later, dude.
Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
These guys in NE Pennsylvania built a 35' high tower for a hunting blind, then they sold the 100 acre property right after hunting season. The 35 foot high wooden tower blew over the next winter before the new owner even got to use it, and since he bought it without any warranty he was a bit sore about this, so he called me as a barn builder to rebuild it, since I had built his garage for him. I told him I'm not interested and then he started really begging me to reconsider.
I told him that I like to sleep at night without guilt and the liability of a 35 foot high hunting tower wasn't worth any money, and how would he feel if one of his children fell off of there and got killed? He said never even thought of that. Just like this Bill guy hunting 50' high, this proved that this guy doesn't think a lot (because of too many mushrooms), but it really does prove his point that he likes hunting high (pun intended)
9x56MS
Active Member
I never wonder why people act stupid.
Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
That was my point exactly. Many downsides, from poor shot angles, safety, cost and effort needed to go hunting, ugliness etc.. And here you have a guy who claimed to climb 50' high in a tree?
I admit, I have hunted at 25' in a climber in certain situations, and 20' in a two piece climber with a rail and harness for safety is often my norm, and I like my hunting blind towers to be 16' high for scent control and visibility in hilly PA terrain. But 35-50 feet???
yoderjac
Well-Known Member
You are absolutely right. Over most of my bowhunting career, I hunted in stands that were 20-25 feet above the ground. This worked well with both a climber and hand-on stand. It was high enough for scent control advantages. It allowed me to get into the midstory for good front and back cover so I was not silhouetted. It still presented good shooting angles to the ground. The higher the stand, the more larger the area directly surrounding the tree where the angle is too sharp for a good shot. The lower the stand, the harder to get a low exit wound for a good blood trail. I found that 20'-25' gives me a good shooting angle at deer between about 5 yards to about 30 yards. Since 30 yards is my limit, it seems to be the sweet spot.
This all applies to ground that is relatively flat immediately around the tree. When hunting on a hillside things change.
Now that I'm old, I've been hunting more from box blinds. Some of the windows are as low as 12' above the ground. I'm finding this flatter shooting angle leads to higher exit wounds for a given entry wound resulting in more difficult blood trails.
