how important is cover for your TREESTAND?
 

so i use a climber stand and like everyone else, even though you might find a perfect spot to hunt, you might not have that "perfect tree". thats my exact issue, i found a perfect new spot on my property-a natural funnel with 2 intersecting paths- but there is one lone tree in range of the spot. i feel like if i am in that tree i will stick out like a sore thumb. there is no other cover near my tree so a deer would prob pin me. how important is cover for your stand and should i find a spot that doesnt make my location so obvious? Thanks!!!

Now days I cant stand it if I don't have some cover. I climb in trees that most other people wouldn't even think about. My favorite tree in my favorite spot has 4 trunks. The other trees work as my cover except that last year one of them broke off in an ice storm and kinda messed it up for me. I'm hopin some new limbs will grow out of it. It is an awesome spot.

Don't know where you are from but here in Pa the deer look straight up as often as they look side to side. If I couldn't find a tree with cover there is no way I would set up in a tree where I could be skylined or just plain out busted. I would use a groundblind and break up it's silhouette with whatever vegetation is around.

I think it depends on where you are hunting. Like posted above, deer around here are hunted alot and are always looking up... Depends on deer you are hunting and location... I have a stand that is very low, but very well concealed and I kill deer often out of it.... I also have spot where I use my climber and i need to go very high to due to the lack of cover available... all situational. Ideally, or given the choice, take the cover.

I'd sure rather have cover, but hunting some of the places I do in Texas cover is a luxury!

Background cover is a must, tree cover is a plus.

I rarely ever go above 15 feet, but if there is no cover on the tree I will go up another 3 feet or so.

The main thing is to limit your movement. Deer really don't have great vision, but they can see movement really well.

If you can't get the cover you need go 5 or 10 feet higher.

If ya feel as though yer gonna stick out, build a "black hole" on the ground in some bushes and tree's.. You will need one fer morning and another fer evenin...they, or it, should look like a black spot in the bushes when ya look at it

I like to have a backdrop, something to break up my outline to a deer. One tree, I would feel like I would stick out. Maybe put the stand up a month earlier and put climbing sticks up to it and just let it set for a month so that the deer can get acclimated to it. :happy0001:
BigBuck95:cool15:

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