Hunting Tree Stand Overview
For those who don’t want to or physically can’t spend hours and hours doing the oldtime walk and stalk hunting, hunting tree stands are a great alternative. Tree stands allow the hunter to sit or stand for long periods of time and watch for game with a bird’s eye view of the lands below. Properly placed, they allow the whitetail hunter to find a good spot and just wait for the game to go by and take his best shot. Long before commercial meat raising and slaughterhouse operations, man was no doubt dependent upon hunting the local environment for food. For centuries, he used whatever tactics available to succeed at bringing home dinner, including climbing trees to hide and watch for prey. In the 1970’s, technology caught up with what hunters had always done and the manufactured tree stand hit the American market.
Portable hunting tree stands quickly made random and risky perching on tree branches a thing of the past. Several decades later, improvements have made prefab hunting tree stands a convenient (and if used responsibly, safe) way to bag a trophy whitetail. All it takes is a little understanding of whitetail behavior and the patience to adhere to a few simple rules of the game to successfully use a tree stand. There are now so many makers and styles in different price ranges that any whitetail hunter has access to the stand of his or her choice. This has been a great boon for the last few decades of whitetail hunters and stand hunting has become almost an art. As with any other part of this great sport, the years of trial and error have led to a lot of wisdom out there among hunters.
Where to place Tree Stand
The first and most obvious thing to learn when using a tree stand is that it 
must be placed near a spot where deer are likely to be. It doesn’t do any good to just pick a nice tree and set up shop. At least a couple of weeks ahead of time (and a month may be better), the hunter needs to go out and scout for a good location and determine the usual wind patterns. Ideally, placement should be where there are obvious trails or funnels or nearby feeding spots such as acorn laden oak trees, corn fields or other crops, water sources or bedding areas. Choosing a juncture of several trails naturally increase the hunter’s odds as deer may approach from several directions. Since whitetail are fairly predictable in their habits, it’s not overly difficult to determine their path from bed to feeding or to follow trails of buck scrapes to determine their usual pathways. All that’s left for the hunter, when placing his tree stand, is to make sure that he is downwind enough to avoid being scented (and realize that savvy bucks will usually skirt a bedding or feeding area from several yards away downwind to test the area before making their approach) and to place it within an appropriate shooting range for his weapon. For a bow hunter this would likely be as close as possible, say from 15 to 25 yards, while a rifle could allow for distances of 50 to even 300 yards, depending on the marksman’s skill. Of course, it’s also important to have a fairly unobscurred line of sight in order to have a clean shot.
Safety Considerations
The condition of the tree stand needs to be carefully inspected prior to each use. A little practice at ground level in the backyard is a great idea before taking a new stand out – not only will this familiarize the hunter with it before it’s 15 to 25 feet in the air, but it will also reveal any squeaks and rattles that need taken care of beforehand. Reading the manufacturer’s instructions is not just for wusses – it’s just common sense to get to know a piece of equipment that’s made to hold a couple hundred pound hunter a few stories off the ground. Equally important, the tree stand needs to be carefully set up once it’s in country in order to allow for a safe climb. Far too many hunters have been injured, disabled or killed by one careless moment – tree stands are not for anyone who is shaky, intoxicated or afraid of heights. (Even a common cold or sinus pill can affect balance and alertness – things that are vital to anyone climbing to these kinds of heights.)
If using tree pegs, they shouldn’t be placed more than a foot apart and 
should be double checked to see that they are secure. Ladder stands need some concealment to hide the steps but this can’t be so thick and close that the climber will get tangled up in it. When possible, setting a ladder stand up a few weeks prior to a hunt will enable it to blend in both scent- and sight-wise plus give any nervous deer time to get used to its presence. The platform needs to be secure, without any wiggling, and the hunter should be able to climb up and lower himself instead of attempting to drag his body up over the edge. The hunter should not attempt the climb burdened down with gear. Guns should be unloaded, arrows secured and all equipment should be fetched up to the tree stand via a tow rope once the hunter is in place. Common sense says the six pack should left back at camp.
Stands should be securely strapped to a sturdy, healthy and straight tree preferably where there is a little cover from surrounding trees. It’s good to position the hunting stand so that there is a little flexibility in order to see deer approach and leave and to be above the trail enough to minimize detection from sight and scent. This will give better odds than just a straight on view or allow a chance for a second shot if it’s needed. Intruding branches can be carefully removed to allow for good vision; this can be done from the ground with a long-handled pruner if it’s easier. Removing enough branches to give two or three shooting lanes will help also. It’s a balance – there needs to be enough cover or a blind so that an alert whitetail deer is less likely to notice any movement from the hunter but the hunter obviously wants to be able to see in as many directions as possible.
At any time when climbing or sitting in the stand, the hunter should wear safety straps, preferably a fall arrest system/full body harness approved by the Treestand Manufacturers Association, a group that has done its homework on tree stand safety. (A lot of great information can be found on their website at www.tmastands.com.) It’s also not recommended that anyone use the old fashioned homebuilt wooden stands. They are too subject to weather damage, rot and loose ladder rungs, etc. Wood, left out in the weather can also grow a treacherous slippery layer, not to mention get a frost film that makes footing dangerous. It’s not worth the risk to life and limb to maybe save a few dollars with the do-it-yourself route when there are so many safer and tested options on the market.
Once the hunter has gotten and inspected his stand, learned how to use it safely and picked what’s hopefully the perfect spot for it, a final precaution that he should take before the hunt is to let someone know where he’s going. Tree stand hunting with a buddy is great but if this isn’t possible, the smart hunter will notify the game warden or let family and friends know where to look for him if he doesn’t return on time. Even with a harness, a person can die hanging from the tree if no-one knows where to find him. Communication devices like walkie talkies and cell phones are a good extra precaution if hunting in range of signals. At the very least a good whistle is better than nothing. These items need to be carried in a pocket or secured to a belt where they can be accessed in the event of a fall – they won’t do any good if they are ten feet above on the platform while the hunter is dangling from the tree. Accidents can happen, even to the most experienced hunter – it’s only smart to be as prepared as possible to get out of a bad situation.
The rewards
Hunting tree stands can give the hunter a great vantage point to watch for the big ones, a real bird’s eye view of the surrounding terrain and deer hiding spots. They allow sitting or standing in relative comfort instead of tramping through wet woods and snow covered fields all day loaded down with gear. Properly used, knowing both the gear and the prey, tree hunting stands can mean the difference between bagging that trophy buck and returning to camp with nothing more than cold feet and a bad attitude.