When I use my stand to shimmy up the tree, the platform of my stand which I stand on is anywhere from 8 feet off the ground to maybe as high as 15 feet or so. MOst often during bow season with foliage still on the trees, I go no higher than 10-12 feet because that gives me the best concealment and also the best shooting angle downward. Also, there is 1-2 tree I favor where I cannot go higher than 10 feet because of branches. During shotgun season, one tree I use frequently allows me to climb up to about 15 feet or thereabout. Funny thing, when I climb the tree at 5AM I have no problem getting up to 15 feet. But when it's daylight out, my knees start knocking anywhere past 10 feet!!! haha.