cootershooter

Hi, this is my first year bowhuntin, well seriously anyway. But I'm huntin some public land here in WI and I can't hag my stand and leave it overnight, and I dont want to try to do it in the morning cuz it's a royal pain in the ass and noisy. So I found some good scrapes, and I'd like to set up like 25 yards away as I'm spot on to 30, but it's gonna be on the ground. Any advice would be awesome, and thanks in advance. It's about 250 yards back in the woods, not real thick, if the wind's right I found a spot with about 4 good shooting lanes, but it's about 20 yards to the trail, so I'm conflicted I guess, don't know what to do. THanks again

unbridled

You don't think your stand would be OK even if you padlocked it in the tree? I've done that and also have taken the steps out of the tree. The combination of no steps and a padlocked stand could be enough of a deterrent to prevent theft.

If it is illegal to leave a stand but you still want to hunt from a tree stand, make sure you mark your location well with those reflective tacks so you can find the place easily or with a GPS so you can find it easily. It's super difficult to hang a stand in the dark quietly and the only way I would think would be an option is to go in a very long time before daylight so you have a couple hours for the deer to settle down before dawn.

If there's no choice but to use a ground stand, scent control is going to be your biggest priority.

cootershooter

That's what I was thinking too. I bought Robinson Scent blocker camo, gloves, hood with a spf rating of 50, I keep em in a sealed bag with dirt wafers, boots outside, and I use scent spray before i walk into the woods, and I dont suit up til I'm at the woods...not sure what else I could really do for scent control, but I'm open to suggestions. Thanks for the quick reply

nksmfamjp

Get a climbing stand for public land. They are quick up the tree, quiet enough and safe. I use the Equalizer Tree Stand. It is nice because it can be leveled up in the tree and is a bit more stable.

To be completely honest, my $100 Walmart special was pretty quiet. Absolutely quiet when hunting and can be pretty level if you can guess what level will be. It was fine. People will tell you you need a $300 - $400 stand now, but cheap worked pretty well for me.

DeerandbearhoG

What kind of stand is it? If its a climber, you should be able to set it up without making too much noise. Yeah, setting up a stand in the dark is a pain, I do it every morning, but IMO your odds of seeing the buck, before he sees you, drawing on him, and fooling his nose, go way up, when your high in a tree, as oppose to sitting on the ground, so its worth the extra trouble, I think.

If you have a climber heres some tips.

1st go out after dark tonight and practice attaching and detaching your stand till it becomes 2nd nature.
get some hockey tape and put it allover your stand to dampen the sound.
tie any small loose items on your stand w/ string or zip ties so if you drop them, you dont have to go searching through the leaves, in the dark, for them.
get to you stand location way before daylight so you have plenty of time to set up.
if you hunt public land alot and you dont have a climber , get one and learn how to use it. IMO a good treestand is as important a tool as your bow.
Oh, AND USE A FALL RESTRAINT SYSTEM!
good luck!