Back then, humans with their bows often hunted from a tree branch, mostly to have a secret and more accurate vision over the target and to avoid directly encountering dangerous animals such as bears or lions. This hunting technique is maintained up to now and even widely applied to spot games. If you are new to this information, you might wonder, “What is one advantage of hunting from an elevated stand?”
What Is an Elevated Stand for Hunting?
Learning from the custom of old hunters. Morden hunters came up with the elevated stand to make it easy and safe to climb up and down the tree; meanwhile, they can still entirely focus on the targets.
As you can see above, the elevated stand looks like a chair secured onto the tree body by a heavy-duty Fall-Arrest Systems (FASs) consisting of a harness, rope, suspension relief strap, belts, and chains. As a result, it is more commonly known as treestand.
Interestingly enough, what we introduced you right above is not the only treestand type. In fact, the stand comes in various common types, including the climbing stands, ladder stands, hang-on stands, and tower stands.
Climbing stands
The image is an example of climbing stands.
Those stands are the most popular because they are often as small as four sq.ft or so. With such a compact construction, the stand is often portable for any hunting activity. Nonetheless, it would help if you had separate climbing aids to install the stand, such as the climbing sticks or segmented ladders. It would be best if you then walked the stand up to the tree by carrying the top part with your hands and the other parts with your feet. The two, then, are connected with a rope.
Ladder stands
The chair section looks quite similar to that of the climbing stands. However, instead of walking the stand all by yourself, you can lock the ladder from the ground, thanks to a spacious and sturdy platform of 10 to 20 feet. You can then position the ladder on the tree body, climb up, and secure the top seat in place.
The stand is far bulkier than the climbing stand and more safety to enter and exit, as well as move around. Just take notes that you should never place the ladder too straight up or within too much angle. Otherwise, it might kick out from the tree and cause dangerous falls.
Also because of its large and bulky size, the stand often requires two or more hunters to get involved and set up the stand a day before the official hunting days. Excitingly enough, more than one person can hunt on the ladder stand, as long as the platform is heavy-duty enough.
Hang-on stands
The hang-on versions were introduced years before and quickly became popular due to its lightweight-ness and relative strength. Similarly to the climbing stands, the hang-on stands will be locked onto the tree, but with a very sturdy mounting system.
Although its performance is a no-brainer, the hang-on treestands are often expensive and hard-to-handle by entry-level hunters.
Tower stands
You can call this stand an elevated stand, but not a tree stand, for the fact that it is freestanding on a ground/firm base thanks to tripod legs. Like the ladder treestand, you can set up one or two chairs on the top.
What Is One Advantage of Hunting from an Elevated Stand?
Elevated stand is useful equipment for an effective mule deer hunting trip!
In regular hunting fields, you have a hard time preparing for the shoot. Not to mention, all movements and scent might betray you and make the games go away. With the elevated stand, it is a different story.
There is not one, but several benefits of hunting from an elevated stand that you might be interested, say:
- That you will get an open field of view is the most significant advantage of hunting from an elevated stand because you are clear from the trees and bushes.
- Next, you can hide your body, movement, and scent from the game field of vision and smell.
- As your games do not detect you, they will act normal and more stable. Thus, you will have time to plan for the best shot. More importantly, a good backstop from the higher position allows the bullets and arrows to enter the right point and penetrate deeper.
- Plus, you are more visible from other hunters, meaning the less chance of stray bullets.
However, Hunting from an Elevated stand Might Also Be Dangerous!
Apart from the advantages, prepare yourself and put safety first. Treestand might be even more dangerous if you fail to control the case.
Here are some common accidents reported:
- A significant chance of falling from a very high position.
- Limited in movements and shooting angles.
- Unless you wear warm clothing, you will have to stand against wind and cold weather. Take care!
- Bulky hunting equipment that causes you to be less responsive throughout the hunt.
- You might not be alerted about this, but look out for snakes and other insects in the tree.
- Hunting stands are eyesores for those who enjoy the wood rather than hunting. Then, they can damage the trees and stand when you are away.
