Saddle/tree stand question...

[Kyhilltrapper]

How much of a advantage does a saddle/tree stand have over ground hunting? I have never owned a tree stand or saddle, I have always hunted on the ground. I kill a deer almost every year but I am wanting to focus on mature deer form now on. I go back and forth on whether to get one. I hunt in hill terrain in East Ky if that helps any.

Thanks

[mauser06]

Are you archery hunting? I ask because the biggest advantage to being in the tree is you can be "out of the deers world" and have a bit of an advantage SOMETIMES. Examples..you can often see better from a stand which gives you more time to get ready. You are also out of their vision but not really...if you're careful, you can probably get away with a little more movement in a tree...drawing a bow.

Can also help with scent in certain cases.

On the other hand, you have gear to buy...which can get expensive...plus you're carrying that stuff around...limiting mobility to a certain extent.

From the ground, you can move on the go.

After you get in and setup a tree to hunt from, you're likely going to stay put. I've moved a few times...when I knew I had to. But typically once I pack in and hang my setup, I'm there till I'm leaving.

There's a time and place for various tactics.


If you've been successful for years killing deer from the ground, I don't know if I would change. Maybe incorporate an elevated mobile system to your bag of tricks and use it when it gives you the advantage.


I hunt some areas with pines and hemlocks intermixed. You can actually see better from the ground in those areas. You can see under the trees...where as from a stand, the trees block your view. I really have to be on my game and paying attention when I hunt those areas.


Use the tactics that work for you. Sounds like you're already a successful deer hunter. The biggest change to killing bigger bucks is to find them and hunt them. You aren't likely to kill a 160 if a 160 isn't using that piece of land. Also, for 1 buck states, if you tag a 90" 2.5yo early in the season, you aren't killing a 160" buck that year in that state.



Good luck!

[Kyhilltrapper]

Thanks for the well thought out post Mauser. I can see advantages/disadvantages with both of them as you mentioned. While I kill one just about ever year most of them have been immature deer. At the time I had a hard time staying warm, which made me impatient. I also sat directly on the ground which made me impatient as well?

I bought a chair, boot blanket and got a hand muff for Christmas which helped me immensely last season. I actually had patience enough to set still, before I would leave to early. I ended up shooting a small 8 with my 308. It was cruising by, I tried to stop it but it kept going. I made the quick decision to shoot and was let down in a way when I got to it.

Over the years, I would shoot the first buck I saw even if it was the first or second day. I am no longer satisfied with that. I bought Dan’s hill country dvd and the blood brothers dvd in hopes of learning more about killing mature deer. I am long winded sometimes, lol.

Thanks again for your response.

[brancher147]

Ground or elevated both have advantages and disadvantages and there is a time for each based on terrain, cover, wind, thermals, and what is available. I kill a lot of deer from the ground and killed my first from a tree in a few years this past year in a saddle. I prefer and am more comfortable on the ground but I do see the saddle getting me setup in places I couldn’t hunt before. Either way you have to be comfortable enough to be still and sit long enough for the deer you want-that is the main thing.

[Kyhilltrapper]

Thanks for your input branches. I think I am going to get me a lighter chair than what I got and hunt from ground this year. My papa is a straight up killer when it comes to hunting, he has killed decent bucks 4 out of the last 5 years. He don't even hunt that much, I have never seen anyone like him. He don't use a chair, no scent control, Impatient, he wears two hearing aids, he can't hear worth a lick lol...but he gets it done. He has probably killed them while smoking a cigarette. 2 of the last 5 deer they walked the same trail he walked to get to his spot. Almost always the first deer he see's is a buck...Lol