One thing about stands though, is I think WAY too much premium is put on getting high....I know guys who go up 20 to 30 feet, and preach height to get the scents above the treetops...
But MOST of my stand hunting has been no more than 10-12 feet up in a ladder stand now, and I have a LOT of success...Yeah I get "busted" when the wind is wrong, and by moving at the wrong time, but then again my FALL if and when it happens may not kill me....
Heck in my younger days I used a climbing stand, and once had trouble getting back up the tree after coming down, and gave up only 6 feet off the ground, and decided to rest and take a drink,....and not 5 minutes later shot my VERY first buck at about 20 feet!
My wife bought me a nice 15 foot ladder stand a couple of years ago, and I spent a season all the way up, but it is a LOT harder and more dangerous to set it up alone, and THEN even though the tree is pretty stable, up that high it is WAY more supple and sways more in ANY breeze....
Plus now you have to aim so much LOWER....
SO two years ago I only used two of the three ladder sections, so am only maybe 11 feet up...it's easier to put up, it's much more stable, easier and safer climbing up and down, I won't fall as far
, and I've killed three deer in two years from it....
It's LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION.....NOT your altitude......
