I have seen them pretty low in my time, even lower than nine feet. My hunting buddy killed a doe from a stump that was not even three feet off the ground. He put his bucket on there and sat for an hour and a half and shot a doe. As for myself, I dont like hunting very low. I prefer atleast 15 feet and in my climber I will hit thirty. I have been up that high when the wind starts and I must say it gets pretty hairy. You better have balls of steel when you get up in to that range. So my college friend I would recommend that you pass on about your next ten 12 packs and buy something you can use.