Tag Archives: Treestand Concealment

Prevent Nakedness: Pick The Perfect Tree

A bowhunter should never feel ‘naked as a jaybird’ when sitting in his or her treestand. Now that post-season has arrived, it’s time to prevent nakedness by picking the perfect tree.
 
During the late summer and early fall, foliage can seem to offer substantial and lasting cover. While the leaves are green and the canopy is thick, it’s easy to think your stand is located in an ideal tree.
 
It’s easy to forget what your treestand will look like from the ground once the leaves fall off. And if your tree doesn’t provide some form of cover, you’re likely to stick out like a sore thumb, which can result in those wary whitetail rubbernecking your setup.
 
[post_thumbnail size=”post-hero”]
 
While there are several ways to prevent being silhouetted or sky-lined, the most important is to pick the right tree. Now that trees are bare and hunting season is over, it’s the ideal time to see what trees offer the best cover when hunting later in the season.
 

Take Some Pictures

Especially for those bowhunters who hunt field edges, post season is an excellent time to pick what tree will offer the best cover. And there’s no better way to put this puzzle together than by taking a few pictures.
 
By simply kneeling in the food plot or food source, in order to keep the camera angle low, point the camera in the direction you are considering placing your stand.
 
By analyzing the photos, you’ll immediately see what trees offer the most cover. By showing the darkest and densest places within the timber, the photos will help identify the most ideal places to hang a stand.
 
You’ll be surprised how a few photos will highlight both the sparse and dense areas within a group of trees. This simple process will give you an idea of what deer see when approaching your setup.
 
Photos can also be used to pick the perfect tree if hunting deeper in the timber. After you’ve located the general location for your setup, walk down the main game trail that heads past the prospective tree. Stop periodically to take a few pictures of the sky-line. Keep the camera low, angle it upward and make sure you capture a variety of trees throughout the process.
 
As crazy as it sounds, these photos will present a detailed blueprint of the best place to hang your stand.
 
picking the perfect bowhunting tree
 

Look For Limbs

My personal preference is to find two trees with just enough space in between them to hang a stand. (Especially, if either of the two trees has large branches below the 20-foot mark.) These additional branches will break up my silhouette, and offer additional cover during early fall. Given I have a 20-30 yard shot to a main travel route, these two-tree setups are ideal.
 
If a two-tree setup isn’t possible, a single tree with large limbs stretching out under my stand will also be a preferred choice. The large limbs underneath the setup will break up my silhouette and allow plenty of cover.
 
When analyzing photos as mentioned in the first tip, look closely to see how large overhanging limbs break up the vertical pattern of the hardwoods. Hanging a treestand behind or above these vertical/horizontal intersections will offer a 3D affect, which helps break up the hunter’s silhouette.
 
picking the perfect tree for a treestand
 

Tree Before Travel

If you can’t find the perfect tree within reasonable shooting distance of a travel route or game trail, don’t panic. Post season is unique in that it provides several months for deer to get accustomed to change.
 
If you locate the ideal tree and can change the deer’s travel route, than focus on the tree first. Deer are constantly making slight changes to their travel routes, due to fallen trees or natural debris. Deer will also take the path of least resistance even if it’s man made.
 
Making a ‘new’ game trail by manipulating brush, limbs and/or logs is a great way to get deer to travel closer to your setup while being able to stay concealed in the ‘perfect’ tree.
 
While every area does not offer an absolute perfect tree, spending a little time strategizing how to best avoid being sky-lined will pay big dividends next season.
 

Treestand Concealment

Simple Treestand Concealment

Even when hunting 20-foot off the ground, proper treestand concealment can increase your adds of success. Although a bowhunter may be located well out of a whitetail’s line of sight, these intuitive creatures have a knack for picking out unnatural silhouettes and dark objects in a tree.
 
[post_thumbnail size=”post-hero”]

 

Treestand concealment can increase deer encounters

 

If you’ve bowhunted from a treestand for any amount of time, you’ve probably had a buck or doe come within the vicinity of your setup and stop, look up and leave you wondering how in the world they pinpointed you. Maybe that particular deer didn’t put it into high gear and run into the next county, but it did have an encounter with something unusual and received an immediate education that something wasn’t right. These unfortunate confrontations can cause deer to take a detour the next time they cruise through your area leaving you without a shot opportunity.

 

Over the years we have learned the importance of treestand concealment and have attempted to locate trees that provide some form of cover to help conceal our location and break up our silhouette. While it’s not always easy to find that perfect tree, taking the time to choose a tree that offers some cover yields positive results.

 

This year we are employing a tactic for treestand concealment that we believe will allow the deer in the area to grow accustomed to seeing a dark blob in the tree, therefore, giving us more shot opportunities.
 

Eyehooks and zip ties

 

Our treestand concealment strategy began by visiting our local hardware store and purchasing some 4-inch eye screws. Next, we bought a bundle of heavy-duty zip ties. After we hung our climbing sticks we screwed the eye screw into the tree directly underneath where our treestand will be placed.

 

Once the eyehook is installed, we made a brush bundle to hang from the eyehook. In our particular hunting area we have an abundance of cedar trees and the low hanging cedar boughs work perfect for creating a suitable bundle of brush.
 
Simple Treestand Concealment
 
After zip tying the bundle of brush together, we then hoist the bundle into the tree and fasten it to the eyebolt with another zip tie. If you hunt an areas that does not allow screwing anything into a tree, the same thing can be accomplished by using a ratchet strap to hold the bundle of brush.

 

As season progresses and the trees lose more of their leaves, we will be adding more brush to these bundles. Slowing adding to the bundle also keeps a portion of the bundle extremely dark in color.

 

When bowhunting in an area where there are other treestand hunters, deer can become educated very quickly. Taking the time to add a little treestand concealment can make your setup different than the guy across the fence. If you have any treestand concealment tips we would enjoy hearing from you.

 

For another great resource on Treestand Concealment, check out Wired to Hunt’s article on Using Zip Ties To Trick Monster Bucks.
 
By Randy Hynes