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bigbore442001

50 Cal.
Joined
Nov 25, 2004
Messages
1,167
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Location
New England
treestands for their deer hunting with muzzleloaders?

In the past, it seemed to be rather rare for a hunter to use a treestand with a firearm of any kind. Now it seems to be more the norm, at least here in southern New England.

Between Dad and I, we set up about ten treestands over a number of properties to hunt.
 
This infection seems to have begun in Texas, where stand hunting over bait is the norm. Tree stands or free-standing tower stands are the norm down here in Texas and now adjoining states--and spreading rapidly everywhere. I don't like them and don't use them personally, but am looked on by locals as a sort of lunatic throw-back, anyhow, using a flintlock...back when I lived in Pa very few tree stands were in use...people 'still hunted', which despite the name meant stalking through the woods...
 
I set up about 4-6 ground blinds between our two properties. We have one elevated stand built in the fashion of a gaurd tower. We call it the hacienda.For the most part I do my hunting at ground level.Gravity is not my friend and no place on earth is colder or more uncomfortable than a tree stand.You can see why squirrels are so furry.I also find that big round bales set in threes with a triangular space left in between them work really well.
 
They're pretty useless for blacktails and mule deer out west. Great for whitetails (other than Cous) wherever you find them.

If you ever plan to come out west to hunt deer other than whitetail, better climb down from that tree stand and work on your stalking. There's lots that you will only learn by doing it, and a western hunt is going to be pretty frustrating if you aren't as good or better at stalking than anyone else in the woods.
 
I agree.

I've had better results getting close to Black tail by coming in low under the radar.
They are very slippery and seem to have more of a 3 dimensional sense of whats going on around them than White tail.
Besides, to me stalking is way more fun than sitting in a tree.
 
I was a big fan of tree stands for many years, but with advancing years, my tree climbing is a thing of the past. I enjoy still hunting during our Pa. flintlock season after Christmas. I'm certainly not always successful, but sneaking slowly into the breeze and stopping for a while when a nice vantage point appears makes my hunts special.

I did find a platform of stones wedged in the crotch of a red oak a few years ago, that gets me about five feet off the ground. This opens up a few aisles through the laurel and rhododendron. It has been there for many years since the oak has grown around the stones. If my still hunting gets me near this "tree stand" at the end of the day, I'll spend the last hour or so enjoying sunset on the Blue Mt. in northern Berks Co. :thumbsup:
 
I like them. I normally set them up near a natural food source, not bait. You're able to see more from the higher vantage point, and it seems to help with scent control. If I'm hunting on private land I prefer the "lock on" type. I set these up based on previous hunting success. Climbers are good on public lands where you need to take them in and out each time you hunt. When I hunt the mountains near where I live I'll sit on the ground on the side of a ridge.
Brian
 
Mike Roberts said:
...people 'still hunted', which despite the name meant stalking through the woods...

I was told years ago that it was called "still hunting" because, when all the guys who sat in a treestand or ground blind were tagged out and gone home, the guys who tried to sneak around in the woods were... still hunting! :rotf:

I used to hunt pretty much exclusively from trees but gradually converted to a ground hunter. I carry a small folding stool or butt pad and sneak from place to place, sitting for a while at each spot that strikes my fancy. I have several brush blinds set up where I hunt. Still have one treestand up. You never know, I might decide to sit in it once or twice...
 
I used Loc-Ons when I bow hunted as I needed to get so close to a deer trail...but when I switched to sidelocks, I started hunting on the ground again like I had years earlier...30-40 yards back off a trail or creek crossing...plus being on the ground is much warmer, much safer, much more comfortable, coffee thermos beside me, and if I doze off there's no place to fall.

Have since sold all 6 Loc-Ons and a climber...bought one magnum ladder stand for a place where the terrain makes the wind shift around constantly and I've been busted in there half the time I hunt it in spite of how the wind starts out...so that gets me up off the ground and it's far more comfortable than a Loc-On and completely safe with siderails, etc.

But my first choice now is to mind the wind and plop down on a cushion against a big tree...and the irony is that I've killed more and bigger racked bucks in the past few years this way from the ground than ever before so something is working...
 
I like to prepare ground blinds at chokepoints or natural crossings. I usually pile up brush or deadfall and water oak always provides some nice leafy cammo. I hunt the same ground year in and out so our ground blinds can get pretty fortlike.If you know your territory you also know where to go for a given weather condition. I know what you mean about switching wind Roundball, I have one grassy knoll with a great view of two game trails. You are as likely to get busted there as to kill one.The wind just seems to like to play tricks there.
 
Boots on the ground for me too. If I'm not walking, I'll use natural blinds and deadfalls. I also have made what I call "birds nests " on the ground using dead wood and hemlock branches to conceal me (scent wise too).
 
I've taken piles of deer, both from the ground & from tree stands. All of my best bucks were taken from the ground. Still hunting seems to be my most productive method. It really takes a lot of patience though. You can, all too easily, want to move too fast thru the woods, but if you learn to slow down & look more than you move, you can take some really nice trophys.
 
In germany most hunters spent their time sitting in small closets with windows just "big" enough to run a barrel out. You can´t load a longrifle in these toiletts!
because you see or hear nothing it´s so boring, i almost sleep just after entering. I like stalking with a foldingchair on my back and when i find a good place isit down for a while.
 
At this point so far this season, I am really wishing I had one. I am hunting on a 156 acre piece of land, and none of the brush lost any of its leaves yet, so the normal places I hunted (areas where the deer would travel to go out to the field) are surrounded by 7ft tall brush with a few areas where I could actually see 50 or 60 yards. Normally I can get a 150 yard shot easy (during rifle season) in just about any direction. Now I am sitting there not seeing a thing. I walk about 100ft and im kicking up deer. It's getting discuraging :cursing: LOL Also a big part of the problem is lack of hunters in the area.. So far in the last 4 days I seen one other person. It helps where there is other people hunting, they usually get bored are start walking before I do, this usually sends something my way.
 
If you are kicking up deer, you are moving too fast. Move slower. Move only when the branches and leaves move in the wind, and only as fast and as far as they move. Stop all movement when the wind stops. Do more waiting and looking than moving. Always keep the wind in your face. Move from one large tree to the next large tree. You will usually find a game trail or run from one tree to another, and using it will reduce the amount of noise your shoes make as you walk slowly. Use a fox walk. Bend your knees, and then put a foot forward, put it down on the outside edge. roll the foot over so it is flat on the ground, stopping to move it if you feel twigs, branches, or anything brittle that will snap and make a lot of noise. when your front foot is flat, then put it down onto the leaves and forest debris. The bottom of your shoe or foot will muffle the sounds made by leaves and small debris being crushed under your step. Now shift your weight from the back foot to the front, slowly, glance down to find a clear place to put your back foot forward, and slowly move that back foot forward to that spot. Lower that foot on its outside edge, and then roll it over so that the foot is poised flat to the ground. Only then can you transfer your weight to that foot after slowly pressing down to establish a foot hold under your shoe. Repeat the process. Every time you move a foot, stop and listen for alarm calls from birds, squirrels, and other animals. Even a distant bark of a dog can send out an alarm to deer and get them up out of their beds to sneak off to some hideout. So listen, then listen harder. Wait for the wind before you move any part of your body again.

This is how to still hunt deer or any other game. Its good practice to use these techniques to stalk rabbits, squirrels, and other small game and varmints. By the time Deer season is in full swing, you will be well practiced and will be amazed at how much more you see than you used to see before you adopted the fox walk, and slowed way down when you move.
 
Ive done about 90 percent of my archery huntimg from trees but almost none with a firearm of any kind, and never with a muzzleloader. I usually set up a natural ground blind. I stayed in the trees with my bow because of the movement involved in drawing a bow. Its too easy to spook the deer with this movement. There is just not that much movement involved in the firing of any type of firearm as compared to a bow. There are some definite advantages I believe in a treestand. BUt I enjoy the ground more. Its much more comfortable. Its warmer. Its much easier to just get up and move if you want to . . I kill deer every year from the ground but not as many bucks as I do with the bow from tree stands. But I think thats more of a product of the season than the hunting method. Our bow season is really in the peak of the rut. Even though i still like bow hunting its getting to be more like work. With setting up and hanging stands.
Im like Roundball with my thermos of coffee, I like to be propped up against a tree relaxing. Not swaying and shivering in a tree.(some of you know how cold western NY is) And isnt enjoying yourself and relaxing the point?
 

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