Tree stands have made vast advances in terms of safety, comfort, and ease of use. Most are lightweight for quick transportation and require little or no assembly. With all of the options now available, it can be challenging to decide which tree stand will suit you best. By knowing the answers to the following questions, you'll feel secure in the knowledge that your tree stand will support you through many successful hunting seasons.
The votes have been tallied and Game & Fish readers have chosen the Summit Viper SD as the number one climbing stand in the 2013 Game & Fish Sportsman Readers' Choice Awards. Tree stands were just 1 of the 18 categories of new-gear in the survey conducted over a six week period earlier this year. The rules require that entries must have been introduced in the last three years to be considered for the awards. After product submissions were received, Game &Fish then queried subscribers and e-newsletter recipients to determine their favorite gear.
Considering how much time, effort and machinery (chain saws, bolt cutters, ATVs) stealing someone else's hunting tree stand requires, it's amazing these people bother. It's a common problem: You take the time to find a great stand, find a great spot, and put up a great hunting tree stand, and then someone comes along and steals it! We've talked with Glenn Wheeler, a retired law-enforcement officer who now makes a living as a fantastic outdoor photographer and writer, to get some tips on how to prevent tree stand theft and how to recover the stand and prosecute the hunting tree stand thief.
You're not going to be sitting in it for another month, but your hunting tree stand should be on your mind now. Here are some things you can do now to prepare for when that big buck saunters into bow range.
Sometimes it's easy. Take an Oklahoma high-school teacher whose early morning commute took him past a farm he had permission to hunt. One morning several years ago, he glanced over and there it was - the buck of his dreams. The next morning about the same time the big buck was there again, and by the third morning the teacher had a tree picked out. On the fourth, he collected his buck. Normally, it's not that way. Few of us live at our deer hunting area, or get to drive past every morning. And since a buck's travel route changes throughout the deer hunting season, the tree stand that is red-hot in October can be cold-dead in November. Here are just a few tree stand locations to take you through all phases of the rut.
While hunting is a pretty safe activity, one aspect continues to rack up the statistics: falls from tree stands. Would you send your son into a football game without a helmet? Likewise, would you let him hunt from a tree stand without a hunting safety harness? With bow hunting season starting throughout the nation, it's a good time to review some hunter safety considerations for tree stand hunters.
It's likely that at some time during your hunting career you've said to yourself, "I'd love to hunt that spot, but there's just no way." The problem could be a lack of suitable trees for hunting stands. It might be the tall CRP grass and scrub brush that forms an 8-foot carpet over the spot. Or, it might be a huge short-grass pasture the buck crosses on his way to dinner. Regardless of the hurdle, today's tree stand manufacturers are likely to have a solution that will allow you to get on that buck and hunt the unhuntable.
Sure it's hot, humid and miserable. But at night if you catch a breeze on your cheeks, you can almost feel fall in the distance. Yes, it may not seem like it now, but soon you'll be perched on a platform overlooking your favorite deer trails with a cool breeze on your face and a bow in your hands. Or, you might be sitting in a hunting blind watching a food plot in the fading evening light, fingering the safety on your favorite rifle. Regardless of where you'll be or the weapon in your hands, there are things you can do now to up your odds then. Here are some suggestions...
I caught the movement out of the corner of my eye - something crossing behind me and to my right. My heart jumped and pulse rate instantly increased, but when I slowly turned my head to get a look, it was another hunter, and not the buck that made the rub 20 yards in front of my stand. The hunter moved on through the little draw and never saw me 25 feet up a tree in my Summit climber.
Hunting is an extremely safe activity. According to the National Safety Council, far more people per 100,000 participants are injured while bicycling or playing baseball than while hunting. Further statistics show that while around 100 die in nationwide while hunting each year, more than 1,500 die in swimming-related accidents. But, there are dangers. Here are a few things you can do to ensure you don't become a statistic.
Hunters often consider early season the most difficult time to hunt with sweltering temperatures, pesky mosquitoes, and fear-inducing snakes being the main obstacles. Concentrating on deer’s needs—mainly food and water—during the early season can make all the difference to your hunt. When the weather’s hot, deer gravitate to water sources and eat along their path to the nearest pond. Using trail cameras to pattern their movements will help you locate the perfect trees for your stand, making it possible for you to bring the big bucks home. Want more early season deer secrets? For the full story, visit MoultrieFeeders.com.
