tree stand or ground blind?

[DesertBull]

which do you prefer?

 

I have both and use both, but I prefer the tree stand. Looking out of that 12x12 hole in the blind, all day long at the same little area, is bullcrap.

[Guest 300ultramag.]

lone wolf climber all the way..... when the sun gets in ur face u just climb higher for shade or rotate on the tree!

 

i cant stay awake in a blind its too laxed. I like the angles a tree provides.

 

Sometimes I like to hang on a smaller tree and have it sway when the wind blows it feels eerie.

 

i hate the harness though...

 

[GodIsGood]

I have learned to love tree stand hunting from Bowsniper Mark!

 

The ability to see soooooo much further and have additional reaction time because you're higher, plus your scent is less of a factor. Plus it's so amazing to watch non-target critters going about the their bidness beneath you - undetected for hours on-end sometimes - nature ROCKS!

 

BUT, for cold or crummy weather, nothing beats a quality, well-placed ground blind! Or ifin you have a younglin or spouse with you - gotta go GB

 

I have an elk tag and gonna set up a TS and GB, so I can escape to the GB when it's too cold to tolerate.

[Huntn coues]

Make it a 12x16 hole and you will be just fine.

[SEhunter]

I try to stay away from ground blinds during warm weather because every time I go to get in there is either rats, snakes, or even worse, tarantulas. So it's always a tree stand for me during early hunts. During cold weather it depends on where I am hunting. If I can hang a stand I do and if not it's a blind.

 

To your point the limited field of view in blinds drives me nuts. I like to see what's coming at least a few yards before I shoot. I have been surprised a few times with deer just popping up in the window and then gone out of the window.

 

However, with all the new camo/3D patterns I am coming to the conclusion a blind is not necessary. If have you play the wind right they will never know your there.

[tjhunt2]

I have learned to love tree stand hunting from Bowsniper Mark!

 

The ability to see soooooo much further and have additional reaction time because you're higher, plus your scent is less of a factor. Plus it's so amazing to watch non-target critters going about the their bidness beneath you - undetected for hours on-end sometimes - nature ROCKS!

 

BUT, for cold or crummy weather, nothing beats a quality, well-placed ground blind! Or ifin you have a younglin or spouse with you - gotta go GB

 

I have an elk tag and gonna set up a TS and GB, so I can escape to the GB when it's too cold to tolerate.

 

I have to agree with ya on this one. I have already got my ground blind and tree stand in place for my upcoming elk hunt. I prefer the tree stand untill I get tired or cold and then climb down to the ground blind for a nap. I know it's early to be putting them in place but only a few of my old huntin partners know where they are located. Each one has their own advantages and disadvantages.

 

TJ

 

[NativeRat]

Yesterday, I drew on a nice three-point and a two point, and each time, I had to let them go because they saw me move. (That was the end of my fall archery hunt). I really wished I had humped in a blind or tree stand. What I have found is that full camo works great and makes you nearly invisible even without a blind ... until you move! Sure, you can start to draw, but then the head comes up and the buck will be waiting for any little sound or movement to jump. If you release, you might hit a moving target in the gut. This seems to be even more true with flighty Coues and older bucks then with Mulies and does, and I seem to get away with more early in the morning and at dusk when the shadows help my camo work. So, if I am going to sit a hole instead of spot and stalk, I prefer a tree stand first, a brushed-in natural blind second, and a synthetic ground blind last. The problem is, where I hunt, there are only a few places with good trees to hang a stand. So you end up on the ground. I have had coues deer freak out over synthetic ground blinds -- they don't like the way they shine or smell or something. I was in a blind one time watching a doe walk by a few feet away, right when the sun came over the hill -- it lit up the blind and she freaked out and jumped sideways away from me and ran up the hill snorting all the way. And I have had bucks come in out of the trees, spot the blind, and turn right around. (Again, the older bucks more than the spikes). What I like is a bit of brush, dead branches, or high weeds -- tumbleweeds and pig weed are great -- and use that to make a little brush blind and hide in there in Mossy Oak Brush or something like that with a shooting window to the water. You can see enough through the weeds, and move all around. But by far the best is to be above it all in the trees, watching them come, pause, look around, counting the points through your field glass, watching them come in closer, closer...

[GodIsGood]

And I have had bucks come in out of the trees, spot the blind, and turn right around. (Again, the older bucks more than the spikes). What I like is a bit of brush, dead branches, or high weeds -- tumbleweeds and pig weed are great -- and use that to make a little brush blind and hide in there in Mossy Oak Brush or something like that with a shooting window to the water. You can see enough through the weeds, and move all around. But by far the best is to be above it all in the trees, watching them come, pause, look around, counting the points through your field glass, watching them come in closer, closer...

 

Ifin' you're gonna make a blind out of natural material - best to give the critters plenty of time to get used to it. I have seen coues that consistently visit a tree stand of mine get very uncomfortable or avoid the spot completely because I made the mistake of disturbing, trimming or removing a major branch or fallen tree in a spot they frequent.

 

somehow they just know the terrain has been disturbed and that spells DANGER to them.

 

my .02