Tell me how you "hang and hunt"

[Scott S]

I hate the buzzword industry term BS, but I'm very interested in the principle.

I Haven't hunted public land since I was a child, but as I've been learning more I've come to the realization that I was/am over hunting the piss out of my property.

This has lead me to looking at public land around me. I've found some very interesting swamps with essentially no sign of human use during bow season. I'm not even remotely interested in leaving a stand in place, but I really prefer being in a tree. This has me interested in the "hang and hunt concept".

Anybody have tips on which stands and sticks you like? Tips on how the hell you hang a treestand in the dark quietly and safely?

Do real people do this or is it just the new buzzword to sucker people into buying new treestands?

Any thoughts or experiences positive or negative are welcome.

I trust you guys way more than the commercials and YouTube videos.

Thank you as always

 

[mikmaze]

climber stand, buy a light weight one and practice with it before doing it in the dark, Aluminum is your friend. Look at maps, study em, study wind maps, pic 3 public land spots to hunt depending on wind direction. Look at the maps and rember slob hunters are lazy people, they stick close to roads, trails lots, so plan on going in deep, away from roadss, lots and trails. get in early, let the late move deer towards you. get a good deer sled for packing out when you do score. post season scout, see where the deer ended up, and figure they will be on their way next year to that spot............. if you see other peoples gear, go somewhere else.

 

[sandbur]

Look at access via waterways.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Turkish]

I watch all the YouTube vids. Down here, folks use climbing stands for that purpose. I suppose up north big straight trees may be harder to find, so mobile use of lock-ons may be a better idea.

While I love deer hunting my land, my proudest moment as a hunter was killing a big gobbler in heavily hunter national forest land.

 

[Bill]

I guess it could be done. I just couldn’t do it personally. I can sweat in a snow storm. By the time I used a climber or hang a stand it takes a month for my scent to go away :)

 

[SD51555]

Climber.

Start developing once a year spots where you know you've got a tree ready trimmed, shootable lanes in place, and a clean enough path you can get in quietly and without rubbing your scent on every branch and blade or grass along the way. Once you've got a handful of them in place, you can have a place for every wind.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

I hunt public land, but I hunt areas that very few people would want to hunt or even walk to. I would have to get up at 2 AM to get to my spots, carrying a stand and sticks, in order to have enough time to then hang that stand quietly in the dark. It would take ALL of the fun out of hunting and I'd be a sweating mess and I'd spook every deer off the mountain or out of the swamp in the process.

I have all of my trees prepped and shooting lanes cut by mid summer. When I want to give my land a break I'll go in on a rainy afternoon and hang the stand. I'll hunt it for 2 or 3 days over the course of a week...then I get out and take the stand and sticks with me. So, I never have the stand in place for more than 7 days or so. I take my chances. If one of my public land spots is hot and I want to leave the stand in place for more than a week I will at the very least take the stand down....I use Millenium 150's...but leave the receiver in place. I'll also take the last set of sticks with me. The next time I want to hunt I'll return around noon for an afternoon hunt with the stand and sticks and take my time setting up.

 

[Tree Spud]

Check out Blood Brothers videos. These guys hunt a lot of public land and are pretty down to earth. I found them to have good info without all the BS.

Hunting Marsh Bucks

 

[H20fwler]

I pretty much just hunt our properties with the rare occasion during gun hunting public or another property. Then I just tuck a dove stool up against a tree overlooking trail intersections or open crossing areas.
My youngest son stays pretty mobile and hunts public a lot hitting areas he has shed hunted in spring. He uses looking for sheds as a scouting tool making mental notes of likely spots to set up and trees that will work for his Summit climber.

 

[bzb_1]

I hate the buzzword industry term BS, but I'm very interested in the principle.

I Haven't hunted public land since I was a child, but as I've been learning more I've come to the realization that I was/am over hunting the piss out of my property.

This has lead me to looking at public land around me. I've found some very interesting swamps with essentially no sign of human use during bow season. I'm not even remotely interested in leaving a stand in place, but I really prefer being in a tree. This has me interested in the "hang and hunt concept".

Anybody have tips on which stands and sticks you like? Tips on how the hell you hang a treestand in the dark quietly and safely?

Do real people do this or is it just the new buzzword to sucker people into buying new treestands?

Any thoughts or experiences positive or negative are welcome.

I trust you guys way more than the commercials and YouTube videos.

Thank you as always

I recommend a lone wolf climber. It is by far the most steady and quietest climber I have owned.

 

[yoderjac]

I'm getting too old to feel comfortably using hang-on stands. When I was younger and used them a lot, I found it made no sense for me to "hang and hunt" them. First, on public land, your first objective is to get to places other hunters don't. That can be a long walk. You are carrying a lot of stuff. Then you've got to climb and hang a stand. I can't do that without a lot of physical effort. Thus, a lot of sweat. So, once I get a stand hung, I've really stunk up the woods. To my way of thinking, for bowhunting, scent control is more important than the specific stand location. In the end, I simply could not make it work. I used hang-on stands successfully for years and loved them for bowhunting, but I'd put them up before the season on private land were I could let them hang.

For the public land I hunted, I found climbers were the best solution. With no climbing sticks, they are light enough to walk with. If I go slow, both walking and climbing, I can do it without working up a sweat. The down side is you are limited in tree selection. The tree must be in the right diameter range and have no limbs that prevent safe climbing. This means that sometime, I can't get the specific spot I'd like. The technique that worked for me was to select specific trees during pre-season scouting and mark them so I can find them in the dark. I would also do any trimming I thought necessary during the pre-season. I had much less luck, walking into a new area carrying a climber and simply picking a tree and hunting it. The other issue with climbers is often the lack of cover. By picking the largest diameter tree that fits your stand, you at least get the back cover of the trunk. With a hang-on, I can climb past some lower branches and get some good front cover. I feel more concealed in one of these setups. My climber technique was to identify approaching deer at a distance and stand as soon as I have an opportunity. I think when standing next to the trunk in a stand, I stick out less. My best camouflage for this was the old simply tree-bark coverall. Of course, standing also offers the most flexibility in shooting angle when using a compound. I only shot sitting if I was surprised by a deer and it was too close to stand.

As far as climbers go, I have not used a lot of brands. Mine were Summit. I liked them and had no compelling reason to change brands. They were light enough for me, easy for me to climb with, and sturdy in the tree.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[SwampCat]

I hunt public a lot. I use a Summit Climber. It backpacks and not to bad. I dont know what public you plan on hunting - but hunting a cut shooting lane will get you a ticket - even if you werent the one who cut it. Another thing to consider is using a ground blind. You have to be a lot more particular about location - but can be a bonus in inclement weather or if hunting the same spot for several days.

 

[yoderjac]

I hunt public a lot. I use a Summit Climber. It backpacks and not to bad. I dont know what public you plan on hunting - but hunting a cut shooting lane will get you a ticket - even if you werent the one who cut it. Another thing to consider is using a ground blind. You have to be a lot more particular about location - but can be a bonus in inclement weather or if hunting the same spot for several days.

I've stopped archery hunting deer from ground blinds. The issue I have is the lack of a low exit wound and very tough blood trails. Without a low exit wound, blood tends to pool in the chest cavity. I know a lot of guys are successful from ground blinds, but my personal tolerance for unrecovered deer is pretty low.

I use ground blinds for turkey hunting a lot. I love them for that. There are advantages and disadvantages to run and gun style turkey hunting. I feel much less connected aurally in a ground blind with my surroundings. Sound is dampened and direction is deceiving. On the other hand, with run and gun style turkey hunting, I don't get to watch as much close up behavior. Typically as soon as there is a good shot in range, there is a boom. In a ground blind, I've watched turkeys for hours and even gotten to observe breeding. Birds will approach within feet of a ground blind. This happens on rare occasions when I run and gun. I'm in no real hurry to shoot a gobbler from a blind. I can watch him display and enjoy before the shot.

Thanks,

jack

 

[Someday isle]

Until a few years ago almost all I hunted was public land. I have a summit viper climber that’s not too bad. You get pretty good at climbing and getting in a tree quickly. You have to allow plenty of time so you can move slowly or else you can sound like a hardware store getting in and out of your spot. I still have it but have yet to use it on my own land. I’ve thought about it more than once but the ease with which I can slip into a ladder stand just has me spoiled. I joke about having “graduated” to a ladder stand four years ago. I’ve got an 82 year old friend who still uses a climber sometimes - but he’s freak of nature.

Having your trees prepped and shooting lanes done in advance is definitely good advice. It’s a different kind of hunting for sure. When hunting a friends place several years ago I just left my stand around the base of the tree so it was already there and attached in the morning. That sure made things simple in the dark. It worked great but Id be afraid to do that on public land.

 

[Scott S]

Thank you all for giving me your insight. I very much appreciate your time

 

[Catscratch]

I used to use a ladder stand for this. They really aren't hard to carry on your shoulders if you aren't in thick cover. My trees do not lend well to climbers anyway. Now I hunt from the ground mostly. It's nice to be able to move in a heartbeat due to wind conditions or real time deer patterns. I don't use a blind, just take advantage of available cover. This simplifies the hunt and is much more fun than carrying crap around all the time.

 

[roymunson]

Climbers here in NE Ohio. But we can usually get into the area we need to be and find a tree that will suffice. It gets entertaining if you do it in the dark of the morning.

 

[SwampCat]

I've stopped archery hunting deer from ground blinds. The issue I have is the lack of a low exit wound and very tough blood trails. Without a low exit wound, blood tends to pool in the chest cavity. I know a lot of guys are successful from ground blinds, but my personal tolerance for unrecovered deer is pretty low.

I use ground blinds for turkey hunting a lot. I love them for that. There are advantages and disadvantages to run and gun style turkey hunting. I feel much less connected aurally in a ground blind with my surroundings. Sound is dampened and direction is deceiving. On the other hand, with run and gun style turkey hunting, I don't get to watch as much close up behavior. Typically as soon as there is a good shot in range, there is a boom. In a ground blind, I've watched turkeys for hours and even gotten to observe breeding. Birds will approach within feet of a ground blind. This happens on rare occasions when I run and gun. I'm in no real hurry to shoot a gobbler from a blind. I can watch him display and enjoy before the shot.

Thanks,

jack

We have arrow killed about a dozen deer out of ground blinds in the past three or four years and not lost one. We have had a few less than stellar blood trails - but we have had those from up in a tree also. Most of these kills are 8 and 9 year old grand daughters shooting deer with a crossbow - and they don't seem to suffer from the flat angle of the arrow placement.

 

[Barndog56]

I've got a 'portable' ladder stand I use, but it's just 12 feet to the seat and weighs 33 pounds. When hunting public I usually put it up Sunday night and leave it til Friday morning. I don't generally see other hunters in my area until the 2 weeks starting with Halloween. I won't be leaving it overnight during this time.

I've harvested 2 does so far this season on public. Time to start hunting for bucks now.

 

[yoderjac]

We have arrow killed about a dozen deer out of ground blinds in the past three or four years and not lost one. We have had a few less than stellar blood trails - but we have had those from up in a tree also. Most of these kills are 8 and 9 year old grand daughters shooting deer with a crossbow - and they don't seem to suffer from the flat angle of the arrow placement.

Yes, I think it just leaves less room for error. If the shot is low enough on the chest, you can still get good blood, but it doesn't take much of a string jump to make the shot high. You may also be a better blood trailer than I am. I've eventually found most deer I've shot from a ground blind, but trailing them is generally much tougher for me. If you have access to a leashed dog or something for trailing, I'd see no issue.

From a treestand, I always bowhunted pretty high up, 20 ft + depending on the stand. You are right, that on occasion, the topography will leave a high exit wound but that is the exception not the rule. And of course a bad hit from any location can be a bad problem. Since I typically limited my shots to 20-25 yards from a treestand with a compound, exit wound were typically low in the chest with a highway of blood.

Thanks,

Jack