Krotalus

I am really afraid of heights, but i went ahead and bought a tree stand to try and force myself to work my way through the fear.

I have been practicing climbing at my inlaws with ok results. I can make it about 10-12 feet up but it takes me awhile to settle in. On the positive side i did shoot a 3 arrow 1.5 inch group at 20 yards on Sunday. No bad considering my knees were quaking and my heart was racing, buck fever will never compare to that

my goal for this year is the 15 foot range, then try to work my way up to 20 feet by next year.

Charlie P

I didn' t like heights when I first started using tree stands either,after time it bothered me less and less.

Ken/WV

I hated it when I started 4 years ago. But I very quickly got used to it. The longer you say in the stand, the more you get used to it.

coyote170

One reason I like my ground blind,to each his own!!

wear

What type of stand did you start with? I know when I started hunting, I used an old lock on type stand. I didn' t feel secure in it. I tried a few climbers and again I didn' t feel secure.
Ladder stands I have found are pretty stable. Their not mobile at all, so if you have one you won' t move it very often.
If you own or lease land, ladder stands are the way to go. But if you hunt public or multiple properties which you don' t own, climbers and lock-ons are the way to go.
Either way, it just takes time to get over the fear. Hang in there though and wear your harness!

RAKTRAKR

when i was younger i didnt care, but now that im older and wiser i tend to find myself no higher than i need to be. one thing' s for sure, wear your safety gear

JeramyK

I' m afraid of heights. Yet I have a strange fascination with roller coasters. I have a hard time adjusting and in some cases I cannot adjust. Such as tall buildings, cliffs, etc. It took me a few weeks to get used to a tree stand. I started out by finding a spot such as a creek bottom where I could setup my stand on a nearby hillside. The natural elevation would be 10=15ft and then I' d put my treestand about 5ft off the ground. This worked well for me. As I felt more comfortable I would go a little higher. I now am comfortable up to about 25ft. Though on windy days the swaying of the trees still makes me a bit nervous but doesn' t discourage me.

The biggest thing that helped me was getting a solid treestand with a large platform. My API has a 20x29" platform and is rock solid. It also came with a nice full body harness which helps me feel more secure.

Good luck. As your comfort level goes up you' ll find yourself going higher.

HANKFAN

Yep add me to the list. I used to be scared to death of heights. I simply made myself climb into my stand. However over time I have gotten over it. I still don' t love heights but with the proper saftey gear I feel at ease in my stands. The biggest thing that helped me was simply to keep hunting as much as possible. I spend almost 6 weeks straight in a tree stand each season so after a while it doesn' t seem to bother you.

Bowhuntrey

Cant say i was ever really scared of heights...but when i first started climbing, I would get a bit uncomfortable around the 20' range. However, since I am in east Texas and the opportunity is plentiful, I am usually found about 30-40' up if I just want to watch...To hunt, i' ll scoot down so that the shot isnt a vertical one. But being up there 40' with the wind blowing is pretty interesting...I always wear a safety harness, cause it feels a bit like being drunk when you start swaying....

wvvet

I know how you feel. Get good safety equipment. If you know you are safe, the less fearful you will be.

Personally I not afraid of heights. I just don' t like that sudden stop at the bottom.