Dunhams Treestands (2025)

FAQs

How high should you sit in a tree stand? ›

Given the desire to be high enough to stay out of sight and blow scent over nearby deer, but not so high as to negatively affect shots, I generally aim to set my stands between 17 and 22 feet. But this is not hard rule—I'll always adjust based off the best available cover in the tree.

Good Trees to Focus On

Specific species that often — but not always — make good treestand locations include maple, oak, poplar, and others. Get your deer hunting gear at the Realtree store.

To attempt a solid treestand exit strategy that consistenly involves a high % of sit opportunities over food sources, creates a recipe for consistenly spooked deer.

Prey animals like whitetails. They always seem to notice 200-pound lumps hanging off trees that weren't there the day before. The simplest way to set up better, aside from blending your onX work with boots-on-the-ground scouting, is to hang your stand facing away from the most likely place a deer will approach.

When the conditions are perfect, sitting in an all day treestand can be anything but, a waste of time. However, if you are sitting in the wrong tree at the wrong time, you will be missing great opportunities somewhere else.

Deer Have a Wide Field of View

Deer are less adept at picking up movement above the horizon, so you can supposedly get away with more movement in a tree stand than on the ground.

Avoid using permanent stands made of boards nailed or screwed onto trees. Permanent tree stands are eyesores that upset people who enjoy the woods but don't hunt. They also cause significant damage to trees and become unsafe after a short period of time because of weathering, rotting, and tree growth.

Apple, oak and chestnut trees are favorite food producers for wildlife. Most hunters think acorns are the favorite nut for deer and turkeys. Some studies, though, show deer prefer chestnuts. Chestnuts contain 40% carbohydrates, 10% protein and don't have the bitter tannins of many acorns.

Connected climbing sticks are the most affordable and easiest to set up. They also make very little noise and do not damage trees. You strap the first one to the tree, then connect the remaining sticks together and strap them to a tree until you have reached your desired hunting height.

But in recent years there's a ton of evidence that human urine doesn't bother deer a bit.

Can deer smell you in a tree stand? ›

*While the scent control basics will significantly reduce the risk of leaving any scent left behind while you enter or exit your treestands, it is the location of your treestand that insures that a wise old mature whitetail will rarely if every, smell you.

The deer in the area may be smelling you long before you can see them. It is incredibly important that you pay attention to the wind and stay downwind of deer. If you plan to hunt feeding grounds, make sure the wind isn't blowing toward approaching deer. As the wind changes directions, you need to move too!

Trees and plants that produce a berry, fruit, nut or seed can be whitetail magnets. Hard mast trees such as beech, chestnuts, hickory, honey locusts and oaks, provide great food for deer. Soft mast trees such as apples, crabapples, pear, persimmon and plums also provide great nutrition.

During all times but the rut, I like to plan for a solid, 3 hour sit. Because of blocked and hidden access there are certain stand or blind locations that I can easily slip into an hour to two hours before dark, even with deer in front of the stand location.

If you are confident in making the quartering-toward-you shot, aim just to the back side of the elbow of the front leg. If you can, wait for the deer to step forward with that leg; that step will give you a better chance of hitting the lung and liver. Try your best to take this shot at deer less than 15 yards away.

First, the question of whether to aim higher or lower on steep uphill and downhill shots is a classic. Many people think the answer must be different, but in fact what you want to do is aim LOWER for BOTH.

So maybe you want to hang a stand at 12 or 15 feet. That's okay, so long as you have cover. Put your stand in the middle of some branches to break your silhouette. One of my favorite tricks is to find several trees growing close together and hang my stand in the middle of them to help with concealment.

Always wear a safety harness, also known as a fall arrest system, when you are in a treestand, as well as when climbing into or out of a treestand. A safety strap should be attached to the tree to prevent you from falling more than 12 inches.

Hunters should ALWAYS use a haul line to pull their gear and unloaded firearm or bow into their tree stand. Never climb with anything in your hands or on your back. Prior to descending, lower equipment to the ground on the opposite side of the tree.