I was reminded last week as we made last minute preparations for the rifle deer season just how popular hunting from treestands has become. My wife and I helped my son erect a new two-man metal treestand in a good-sized tree overlooking a well-traveled ravine. We used a four-wheeler and hoisted the heavy stand up the side of the tree as we attached ladder sections as it went up. Metal braces were added, and straps were tightened making for a very solid and secure stand almost 20 feet up the tree. Now, like a lot of other hunters, we will see how much our efforts paid off as we progress through the next weeks of rifle and muzzleloader hunting seasons.

I’m not aware of any surveys or studies that have been done regarding how many deer are actually taken with the use of treestands, but it’s very obvious that more hunters now hunt from some kind of treestand now than ever before and you can bet success rates are high. There are some good reasons why treestands are so popular with one of the most obvious being the greatly increased visibility; the more territory you can keep a watch over the greater your chances of getting a shot. Archery hunters using recurve or compound bows are still greatly limited in range even from a stand, but rifle and muzzleloader hunters benefit a lot from the additional visibility.

Another good reason to consider hunting from a treestand is it allows for a bit more freedom of movement without spooking your quarry. Of course, treestands vary considerably in their makeup and enclosed stands allow for a generous amount of movement while open stands like the one my son just put up are more limited. That being said, however, if the stand is high enough and offers some concealment some careful movement is possible.

The movement factor in the previous paragraph adds weight to another important point about the benefits of hunting from a treestand especially if it’s an enclosed stand. Many of today’s “treestands” are built to stand on their own-no tree needed and those enclosed stands offer comfortable seating, windows that open and close and you can even install a portable heater. That kind of comfort can go a long way in bitter cold temperatures if you are out from daylight to dark.

Another big plus to using some kind of treestand is the human scent factor; anything we can do to limit our scent, or at least control it somewhat, probably adds to our chances of a successful hunt. At least being up higher may help in controlling how much and where our scent is going.

Of course, not every hunter has the benefit of using a treestand especially if you hunt public property or on someone else’s property. Not having the use of some kind of treestand during the archery season can be a limiting factor but that’s not necessarily the case in the gun seasons. Sure, treestands offer a lot of benefits but a good many deer were taken over the years by simply finding a good spot to stand or a good log to sit on while you watched. My wife and I sometimes hunt on a friend’s property and we have had several successful outings by simply setting up in or around a tree that has fallen; the branches provide reasonably comfortable seating, and the branches provide stable rests for our rifles when taking aim. Simply adding some branches here and there provides more stable gun rests. Check the wind direction when you set up and try to set up where your scent won’t mess up your hunt.