Up a Tree [Archive] - The Bowhunters Group of Australia

13-08-06, 11:07 AM

Guys

About 18 months ago I lashed out and got myself a neat ameriacan tree stand , its a portable hang on type and though I have put it up once and sat in it to give it a go its sat in my office here ever since.

Last week I think I found the perfect spot for it overlooking (18yards away) a wide deep fence crossing where a group of Chital are coming out of their bedding area into a field to feed of a night , there are good rubs all around this area and there is more than one very good stag in the area as well.

I have never taken a shot at deer from up off the ground , but this looks like it may be the ultimate set up , the big gum tree I have in mind branches into three about 25 feet up and is good and leafy with good covering trees around it. The game trail goes right under it.

I am going to hunt this spot with my newly aquired Wes Wallace longbow
to see if I have any luck , its a lovely bow and as quiet as a whisper with 600 grn arrows , I have just re touched the broadhead on old lucky and he has dibbs on the first shot.

Have any of you tried getting up in a stand to hunt deer ???

Kimall

13-08-06, 12:01 PM

Yer that seems like a great idea Steele it might the change of luck you need. :roll: (please note rolling eyes ikon here because we dont have a green jealousy one).
Best of luck mate.
Cheers KIM
PS You can use the saftey harness to lead the deer in and out of the paddock too.(another green ikon here)

Piggy

13-08-06, 12:40 PM

Simon just made sure you use a HARNESS !

I have hunted in them and the boredom catches up with you.
I fell asleep in one accidently and was smart enough to be wearing a harness so I just slocuhed over otherwise the ground would have woken me up

Jeffro

13-08-06, 02:36 PM

Kimall I pm'd you the link and get any emoticon you want
dunno if these guys are jealousy or not but they're green

http://users.telenet.be/eforum/emoticons4u/mad/1188.gif

http://users.telenet.be/eforum/emoticons4u/evil/1138.gif

Kimall

13-08-06, 02:37 PM

Yer Jeffro he looks about right thanks. :D
Cheers KIM

Mick Smith

13-08-06, 03:04 PM

Hi Simon

I've often thought about getting a treestand for myself. If I was you, I'd set the stand up somewhere and try a few practice shots out of it before you try it out for real. You will have a tendency to shoot high when shooting either steeply up hill or steeply down hill.

I have a spot where there's a hole in a rabbit proof fence between state forest and private property. This hole is used by all the animals in the area. I've nailed two foxes by simply waiting for them hidden in some undergrowth beside the hole. I'd love to set up a treestand there. One day maybe ...

Mick

Dave

13-08-06, 04:30 PM

Simon just made sure you use a HARNESS !

There is nothing like the gentle sway of a big eucalypt to rock a grown man to sleep http://forums.mathewsinc.com/images/smiles/icon_smile_sleep.gif , has happened to me before :D :D

Scott

13-08-06, 05:15 PM

Steely, hunting from a stand can be very rewarding, I have done a bit over the years. Something that I became aware of is that its best to think about where the you want the arrow to come out not where you want it to go in, very easy to shoot to low. All depending how high you are and how steep the angle to your target will make a big difference. Personally I would try a few practise shots before hand. Good luck! Scott

13-08-06, 07:15 PM

Thanks Guys this is all good advice , The stand came with a harness and a safety video , it seems like america has its share of injuries from guys who wont or dont wear them , I sure will, Im no good with heights on any day , I am really looking forwards to this , I did get up on the roof this arv and let a few go at my target butt , and you do have a tendancy to shoot high so I will keep practicing , It looks like the shots will be short if it all goes my way.

Its just another way to hunt I guess , I know I like to stalk them best of all but as they say dont knock it till you try it , and I have never seen a better set up spot , so here is hoping.

I was inspired to give it another look after reading the latest addition of NZ bowhunter magazine where they use stands to hunt the White Tail deer on Stewart Island , and I know quite a few use them on Samba and Hog Deer in the thicker cover as well.

What height have you guys perched at ? I have read conflicting reports on what is best , to a degree my Bravery will regulate this :roll: you could nearly base jump out of some of the big gums up here.

Piggy

13-08-06, 08:19 PM

The one's I have used on guided hunts were around 4m high

Best of luck with it mate I'm sure you will do well :D

jason

14-08-06, 06:30 AM

i used them at bill Bakers and had deer directly under me. dropped sticks coughed etc and they never looked up. They were about 4-5m up but deer did spot movement in them from a 100 out. I have A.d.d so i just could not handle sitting in the one spot waiting for action and the times i did the stags stayed 50+ out so no shot was offered. But a lot of deer taken on toomba are from tree stands so they well and truley work.

Mozza

14-08-06, 08:51 AM

I would have to agree with Jason, they work but can be very boring.
They would be great in the right situation though and like Piggy said, make sure you wear a harness, they are very easy to fall asleep in :)

Hefty

14-08-06, 12:02 PM

Brian Fergusson talks about shooting from tree stands in "Become the Arrow" and talks about aiming not at a spot on the surface but imagining the vitals as a big basket ball shape and then thinking about the penetration you want to cut right through the centre of the basketball.
He reminds you that from a tree stand you'll be shooting down from up high (obviously :) ) so you'll have to aim a bit higher up the animals side to shoot down through the heart and lungs (ie the centre of the basket ball)
All this is great in theory but as I've never actually hunted yet myself, I'm sure it's not as easy as it sounds.

jason

14-08-06, 12:59 PM

macka

14-08-06, 01:49 PM

Hey steely sounds like a good plan to me. I made myself a tree stand come to think of it its still sitting up in a tree atm above a rabbit warren. I shot a heap of rabbits out of the tree stand and the rabbits just played around underneath not knowing i was ever present. Even after taking shots they stil did not go down as they were unsure of the danger.

Here are a couple photo's i took out of my stand. :)
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010567.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010513.jpg

I was only about 2.5m off the ground so diddnt worry about a harness. dont have a harness anyway.

Macka

jindydiver

14-08-06, 02:24 PM

If you were a harness make sure you have a knife easily reachable. if you hang in one for more than about 5 minutes(do not know exact time frame) you will die from the loss of blood circulation in your legs, when you are freed the tissue in your legs will have turned toxic and it will kill you. Something for everyone to be wary of. I wear them everyday at work but never on my own and if i wore one up a tree on my own i would make sure i could not fall and that it restrained me to the tree for the above reason.

It all depends on the type of harness used. I have hung in a harness for hours at a time and never even had pins and needles in my legs, so I am sure I was at no risk of dying from wearing the harness. On the other hand I was at real risk of dying if I didn't have one :wink:

NormGunston

21-08-06, 10:10 AM

Steely, what make and model of treestand did you equip yourself with? I have a Gorilla myself- tad heavy, but a quiet, well-made unit.
Ant

21-08-06, 03:44 PM

Norm

Its a Gorilla mate , as you say well made and quiet , kinda comfortable as well which becomes important the longer you sit there.

She is up at the moment I have had a couple of sits but the breaze has been a little unstable and the deer have stayed away , I may get another couple of shots at it before I head to Arnhem land at the end of the month
will keep you posted.

Simon.

Mick Smith

21-08-06, 05:39 PM

I know this is getting off the subject to a certain extent, but I've been wondering, how would you go buying yourself a cheap extension ladder? You can buy 16 foot ones from Bunnings for around $80. You could then make some sort of seat at the top of it, put a chain on it, to attach it to a tree and then paint the whole thing in a camo pattern. Yeah sure, it would be a bit awkward to lug around, but they are pretty light to carry. Many of the commercial tree stands are big and heavy too. You could even use it to clean out the spouts at home after the hunt. 8)

Is it a stupid idea? :? :)

Mick

NormGunston

21-08-06, 05:51 PM

NOT a stupid idea at all. If it could be made SAFE, quiet, comfortable, transported short distances and set up semi-permanently, why not?
Ant

jerry redman

21-08-06, 06:51 PM

I have been in a tree stand a few times and shot a fellow doe out of it a few years ago, about 4 months ago i had one beside a scrap and had the fellow stag walk past at 10 yards, I neally had a heart attack.

jpbon

21-08-06, 07:01 PM

This may also sound like a dumb question but has anyone heard of setting a tree stand up for goats? I know the conventional way is stalking them but would a treestand or a blind work?

Piggy

21-08-06, 07:12 PM

I had a friend hunt hogg deer this season from a large step ladder, He chained it to fence post and went up it every morning and saw a number of deer and had a shot at two but missed :cry:

With regard to hanging in harnesses if wearing an approved harness as used in the building industry you have 20min before you will suffer leg damage.

21-09-06, 03:08 PM

Well I dont know how Koala's do it , :wink: the danger of nodding off when your up in your stand waiting waiting waiting is very real , and I would never ever recomend anyone ever does it without a harness but it is another enjoyable and interesting way to hunt and take game , particularly in areas where cover is sparce or the ground too crunchy to stalk quietly.

This was my 5th sit up in the stand since placing it and I had my Trykon with me this trip , I noticed this guy picking his way along the pad that passed under my tree from about 70m away and he came to me like he was on a string , I drew when he was almost directly under my stand and shot down at him from only 18 or so yards aiming for a low exit on the off side.

The Arrow passed clear through to the ground and the first cut expandable produced an amazing entry and exit with a 60m blood trail that was very very obvious and he was down.

He is a nice even 27.5 inch head in prime condition and I was really pleased with the way it all worked out , That tree is in a prime spot and I am sure it wont be the last time I spend an afternoon up there with the birds.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a320/Steeley/IMG_0633.jpg

ricochet

21-09-06, 03:30 PM

Top effort Steely, :) very nice deer, great photo also :D

Rick

woodstoka

21-09-06, 03:30 PM

hey mate nother top stag good stuff :D :D

21-09-06, 03:49 PM

Guys if you are thinking of the tree stand option i would recommend a set of these every time , They are great light weight they come in 5 x 4 foot sections that gets you up plenty high enough for your average set up and they are very easy to set up and carry to site , it takes quite a lot longer to srew in steps to get you to the same hight and in our gums they are tuff to get in.

Once locked off to the tree these are as steady as a rock and very safe each section is pinned to the next and held to the tree with a ratchet strap.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a320/Steeley/IMG_0689.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a320/Steeley/IMG_0688.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a320/Steeley/IMG_0691.jpg

Good cover around your stand is a good idea to where it can be had , this spot gives me a combination of cover and gaps to shoot through also a little shade which is never a bad thing.

jindydiver

21-09-06, 03:57 PM

Who makes them, and where do you get them?

Great deer :D

LongReach

21-09-06, 03:59 PM

Steely: What a beauty! Real nice skin/horns.

Top job mate.

Macka: I love those bunny photos.

21-09-06, 04:07 PM

Jindy API Outdoors make this one www.apioutdoors.com and I got mine over through Bass Pro , cost me about 120.00 Ausy to my door in seven days , you would strugle to make a strong light weight set like this for that price if you factored in your time.

You can buy extra sections if you want to keep going up , but I dont like being up to high so this is just fine for me.

Simon

jpbon

21-09-06, 04:09 PM

Excellent work Steely!

jindydiver

21-09-06, 04:19 PM

Thanks Steely :)

PeterM

21-09-06, 04:30 PM

Well done mate! :D

ads

21-09-06, 11:23 PM

Hi Guys, whats an average time spent in a tree waiting for deer? Do you see deer every time, or is it a case of persistence?
Ads

30-09-06, 10:30 PM

Ads

Sorry for the slow reply and I am no expert on the matter by a long shot but how long you sit will be a reflection of how much time you put into site selection for your stand , since starting this thread I have moved the stand twice on the one property to cater for the wind that just never blew the right way at the hour of day I wanted to be there. and then to another property for a short 2 day hunt where it all came together.

The sign was good and deer used that first location often but the wind stopped it from being a good huntable site.

I blew the stag I shot and several of his mates out of the area they were bedded in the day before and when I took a closer look I could see trails streaming in to it through the spear grass on the other side as they came in from feeding it was a perfect stand location to take advantage of the habit.

I put the stand up that evening and was in it just as it was breaking day.

If you have it in you to sit for long periods of time in good country (where the temptation is always to look over that next ridge) and you dont mind doing some scouting for well used game trails or natural funnels, stands are a good trick to have in your bag.

Now I have the portable ladder system I will take mine on more trips , I know how many of you would have looked up at a tree and then down at a fence jump or line of rubbed trees and thought thats the spot to be , if you have one and have it with you it can make all the difference.

If you get a chance give one a try.

Simon.