lol sounds a lil funny, but my buddy just suggested to get a fake xmas tree, drill lil holes, like a wood pecker would, and stick em in the tree fer cover, he swears by it.

In situations where there is little cover, I go higher, as high as 30' at times. Not the ideal, but if you have a spot that is prime, you have to adjust. For me, the back cover is the absolute key. Also, if you have good cover on one side, but not to hot elsewhere, set your stand so that you are going to be using that cover to its full benefit. You may end up being off-center of where you would ideally be, but it serves no benefit to be sticking out and get busted, even though you can see/shoot easier.

from my experience i find that easier never works when it comes to bows.

If there is no cover go high . 25 -30 feet and stay close to the tree, this is where good camo excels . Add some branches to your stand. be prepared to be spotted when you pull back. do it when thier head is blocked by a tree

How high and how far from the trail are two things to concider. If the treestand is "off to the side" away from the trails, you wouldn't need more cover or as much height, BUT if the treestand is positioned where the deer will be walking directly toward you then you'd want more height and/or more cover to blend in.

i saw a guy hangin a dummy in his tree stand, wearin the same camo he is gonna wear.
he said he did it for the last 5 years,
he even just tied it to a tree and took its place standing there, and was beyond successful.
he said he would take the clothes off the dummy and put it in the bushes til he was done huntin.

plenty of time til season..give er a whirl.

Dunno about using an artificial tree(scent issues maybe???), but I would definitely put up some sort of backdrop several weeks before season...

The key to artificial cover, is to put it there weeks if not months before you'll be hunting it... The deer will question it and be leary for a few weeks, but eventually get used to it. This is the premise for box blinds.

my thought has always been to hang perhaps a fabric camo back drop on the back side of the tree... Something with a lot of light and dark variation to match the further background from their view.

I've even known guys to go as far as to put mannequins and plywood cutouts on their stands to get deer used to seeing the "blob"

I don't hunt much from hang on stands, but when I set trees for them before season, I always carry pruners and floral wire along to hang some oak braches above and below the platform. Oak leaves will stay on right through the end of late season.

I hunt 90% of the time from a climber. I always try to hunt on the opposite side of the tree from where I expect deer to come from, and whenever possible, I look for a tree with multiple trunks. I agree that going high can help, but I don't believe its a magic bullet. I'll take 15 feet with adequate cover over 30 in a telephone pole tree any day.

Tyler