Learning how to use a climbing tree stand could gain you a large advantage and improve your hunting results.

Tree stands allow you the opportunity to rise above the forest floor, which gives you a much better field of view.

The portability of a climbing tree stand also provides this exceptional opportunity without the limitations of a stationary stand.

You can follow your prey to an ideal location and then set up your stand rather than having to wait in one place in hopes that the animal will come to you.

There are some challenges associated with this versatile solution and it is a good idea to become acquainted with these before deciding if this is the method you want to try.

It is important to note that hunting in grassland or desert areas will render a tree stand useless because the stand requires a strong, sturdy tree to climb above your hunting area.

Although there is a growing variety of tree stands available today, each of them has three essential components: the foot platform, sitting stand, and safety harness.

How To Use A Climbing Tree Stand – Parts of a Tree Stand

When you examine a climbing stand long enough it will become evident that these are tools that require careful attention when in use.

The Tree

The stand itself uses the physics of leverage in order to work properly. As such, you want to choose a tree that will match the needs of your stand. A short, skinny tree with smooth bark is unlikely to provide adequate support for your needs. What you will look for instead is a living, thick trunked tree that has rough bark. It is also a good idea to choose a tree that has few to no lower limbs that need to be removed as you climb.

Finding just the right tree can often present a sizeable challenge, but for your own safety, it is good to let patience be your guide. It does you no good to grow impatient and make a poor choice for your stand. A potential timesaving step is to scout out an area ahead of time if you know that you will be hunting in that area. Identify several suitable trees and mark them with some sort of removable identification so that you can unmark them after your hunt is complete.

Sitting Platform

This is the upper part of the stand upon which you will sit once you have reached the height suitable to view your hunting ground. Place this upper part around the tree above the foot platform.

Foot Platform

Placethe platform in such a way that it leans against the tree at a downward angle towards the tree. This is because as you go higher in the tree it will get narrower and the foot platform will begin to even out.

Safety Harness

Via: Amazon.com

Make sure you have the safety harness before you begin climbing. Too many people skip the safety harness because they claim it gets in the way or slows them down. This is a very hazardous decision to make and is a highly discouraged practice. Consider the result if you are not secured to the tree by the harness and the platform fails – or you fall asleep – high up in the tree. You have no choice but to fall to the ground if disaster strikes.

Raising the Platform

To raise the platform to the desired height:

• Put your feet in the straps located on the foot stand and get a good grip on the upper part.
• With your arms, lift the upper platform a few feet and provide some downward pressure to make sure it engages the tree.
• Once you are sure that the upper part is secure, lift the lower part with your legs and engage that part against the tree.
• Repeat the process until you reach the desired tree height.This height should be high enough to provide unrestricted view of your hunting area and is at the proper angle for properly targeting your game. For most situations, it is not necessary to go more than ten to twenty feet, but higher elevations may be necessary. Use your best judgment and let experience be your guide.
• Secure the safety harness to yourself and to the tree.

With the stand now secure in the tree, the easy part is done. Waiting for the game to appear and in just the right spot for a clean kill is probably the hardest for many hunters. For this reason, many manufacturers of climbing tree stands offer comfortable seat options. It would be wise to consider this as an essential accessory for your stand as personal comfort will allow you to stay aloft far longer.

When you are ready to come back down to earth, hopefully after a successful kill, reverse the process you performed in getting the stand up into the tree.To return to the ground, simply reverse the process.

For a better look at how to use a treestand, check out this video:

Safety First

An important safety item to consider is not carrying a loaded weapon while setting up,or taking down, the tree stand. This may seem obvious to you, but it is not hard to forget some of the simple things in the heat of the moment. The jarring motion involved in setting up a stand can make a loaded weapon dangerous, and should it fall to the ground, you have no control where the weapon is pointed.

The tree stand safety harness explained:

Additional Advantages

Hunting is not the only activity that can benefit from using a climbing tree stand. Bird watchers can experience a completely new level of excitement by getting up to the level where birds live and play. Because they are portable, they can also be very useful while scouting out a new hunting area. Looking at a map or signs on the ground are valuable skills to know, but there is nothing like seeing an area from above ground to determine if a certain spot is truly worth your time and effort.

Once you practice with a climbing tree stand and are comfortable using it, employing it on your next hunt will likely be a rewarding experience. If you have never hunted with this kind of stand, you may wonder how you ever did without it.

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A multitude of challenges occur when you lure out deers especially during daytime. Like any other animal, deers have developed a behavior as a way of self-preservation.

It takes a lot of patience and utmost attention to learning these behaviors to be able to know how to get deers to come out during the day. Having a complete understanding of these things will greatly help you in achieving your goal.

Observing the way they behave within their environment requires a lot of work and can be quite a difficult task. However, to make the process even more effective for you, we’ll show you some tips on how to attract deers to come out during the day.

Equipping yourself with the best options and the appropriate steps in luring in deers will give you an edge on baiting wild hogs quickly and effectively.

Things You’ll Need

As there can be numerous ways and strategies to lure deers, few have come up with strategies that are both simple and sophisticated. Below are the only things you need.

• Generic Oats – usually available for hunters and costs around $25 per 50-pound bag
• Rake – for soil maintenance
• Fertilizer – for spur of plant growth
• Scent wicks – these are often saturated with deer urine
• Salt blocks – available in feed stores and hunting goods stores

Deers And Their Behavior In A Nutshell

Deers come from the Cervidae family and are considered to have superior senses. They have the ability to detect the slightest possible sign of danger. Having a long nose entails that they have sixty times as many sense of smell compared to that of a human. They also are gifted with large cupped ears that have the ability to turn in any direction, allowing them to detect the faintest sound.

Deers usually doze off during day time and wake up and move out from the grove an hour before sunset to look for food. An hour before sunrise, they return to the grove. They usually go for easily digestible shoots, young leaves, fresh grasses, fruits, fungi, and soft twigs as their food source. With these formidable abilities plus the specific behaviors that they have developed to protect themselves makes it a difficult to lure them out.

How To Get Deers To Come Out During The Day?

Understanding and learning important details about deers can give you the opportunity to come up with an effective plan to lure them out during the day. Here are some of the ways that you can use to attract deers.

Know About The Deer Movement

The first and most important thing you need to do is to familiarize yourself with how deers behave within their environment. That includes their sleeping pattern, the food they eat, and where they usually bed. Knowing these things can be a big help for you to strategize in luring them out during the day. Deers are known to have very little movement during the daytime.

Deers usually move out from their bedding half an hour or an hour before the sun sets. And they usually return just before the sun rises. You also need to take into consideration that deers are highly sensitive animals. They possess impressive abilities to detect signs of danger around them easily.

You can watch this extensive video that shows the nature of deers.

Planting Food Plots

Another tip you can use to lure out deers during the daytime is to set up food plots. Deers usually search for food after daytime and setting up a food source nearby will force them to move out of from their grove.

A food plot is basically an area to plant food for deers. Having a food source easily accessible for them to go to will condition them to come out during the day.

Consider an area with good soil and is also near a water source. Make sure to clear the area from any existing vegetation such as bushes and weeds. Deers are usually drawn to food that is rich in protein.

You can purchase oats that can be found in feed stores or hunting goods stores. You can also opt to plant kale, turnips, soybeans, peas, and wheat. Another option could be nuts such as chestnuts and acorns.

Related: Do You Know When To Plant Food Plot For Deer?

Using Deer Lures

As for using deer lures, there are several options you can choose from. Using deer urine is one of the most effective scents to lure deer. Choose a location where you can put deer urine. You can apply it on grass or trees to attract and lure out deers.

You can also use scent wicks. These are commercially available and are saturated with deer urine. You can hang scent wicks on trees. Remember to hang them about four to five feet above the ground in that way the wind will easily disperse the scent. Make sure to also be careful in handling scent wicks to minimize having human scent on it. This will make it less effective for the deers.

Sweet apples are also an effective lure for deers. They just can’t resist the scent of sweet apples. You can use a tub or a bucket to put the sweet apples in together with grains or deer feed. You can also put sweet apples in barrels with corn to attract deers.

Another thing that can attract deers are salt blocks. These are also available in feed stores and hunting goods stores. Deers are also attracted to mineral blocks and blocks made of cider and apple salt. If in case you already have a food plot, you can also put the salt or mineral block there. Another trick it to bury if on the ground and sprinkle salt above it. However, in using this method, it could take several weeks for the deer to locate the salt block.

Lastly, you can use commercially available deer scent packs which can be found in sporting or hunting goods stores. Several creative scents have been available to enhance the chances to luring deers. Some of the scents include orange-flavored corn and apple scented ones.

Final Thoughts

Luring out deers requires more than just a preparation. A great strategy, a tremendous amount of patience and a keen attention to details also play a crucial part. Mastering the skills and the know-hows when it comes to it will require a lot of experience. Every hunting trip you will go to will also give you different scenarios that you can learn from.With those skills and the core knowledge about how to attract deers during the day, you are now on your way to becoming better. Combined with basic knowledge of their behavior in the wild will make it easier for you to achieve your goal. Once you have applied all of these, you are well on your way to a great and productive experience.Did you find this article helpful? Were you able to learn new tips and tricks to effectively lure out deers? Are you looking forward to using what you have learned on your next hunting trip? Do you have other ideas and suggestion regarding this topic? If you have inquiries, questions or feedbacks, you can let us know about them by leaving a comment below. Until then, we hope that you enjoy your expedition and happy hunting!

Many an amateur hunter has made the mistake of just assuming all you need to do is load your gear and set out on a hunting trip in order to fill your buck tags. There’s a lot of planning that goes into hunting, and one of the key factors you’ll need to figure out is what the best deer hunting times are.

This can mean both the date and time of day. Read on, and never come home empty handed again.

1.) Regulation Dates

The first thing you’ll need to figure out is when you’re allowed to hunt during the season. This varies widely from area to area, but if you look here you’ll be able to easily find the information you need.

You’ll note that seasons vary depending on what kind of weapon you’re using on the hunt. Bows, muzzleloaders, and rifles will generally have different times in the season when you’re allowed to use them.

In addition, you’ll see that different times are allowed for public and private lands in most states. The legal dates should always be your foremost consideration when you’re going out to hunt.

Game Wardens aren’t inclined to be forgiving just because you didn’t know the season, and the penalties for an out-of-the-season hunt can be quite stiff, sometimes ranging into five figures for a single kill as well as time in jail depending on the state in question.

Related: How to Cape a Deer – How To Cape A Deer For Mounting

2.)Time of Day

As long as you’re legal, it’s time to decide on when you want to go out. There’s a reason that the stereotype of hunters leaving while it’s still dark out exists: deer are crepuscular. This means that they’re at peak activity levels during dawn and dusk. Try to arrive before dawn, you’ll be able to set up and have a much better chance of making a harvest that way.

Dusk is also a great time, but it’s best to maximize your chances by arriving in the early morning and then staying all day.

It’s absolutely vital to observe these times, you might spot a deer during the middle of the day but this isn’t the time they’re most active. An active deer is a busy one, and it’s less likely to notice small mistakes you might make while you’re stalking or sitting in your stand.

There is one exception to this recommended time, and that’s in the middle of the rut when your quarry will be extra active.

We recommend you aim for getting to your area an hour or so before sunrise, which will leave you ample time to get set-up and check your equipment for the coming hunt. We don’t just mean to start the hunt either, you should be in your stand or near your designated grounds by this time.

3.) Day of the Week

This might be less of a consideration if you’re hunting on a friend’s property, but for a lot of us the only places we can access without paying exorbitant fees is on public land. If you’re hunting on public land, try calling in sick in the middle of the week and getting out there 

A lot of hunters are weekend warriors, and public land will have huge amounts of hunting pressure placed on them since everyone with a rifle or bow and a tag will be out there.If you can manage to get the time, there should be much less traffic in the middle of the week.

Related:Where To Shoot A Deer – Top 5 Best Places To Shoot A Deer

Hand-in-hand with this is the fact that you shouldn’t be afraid to get too far from the car. The farther out you are, the better your chances of finding somewhere without another hunter around. Remember that deer instinctively avoid hunters, and the more of you there are the more amateurs will be making loud mistakes and announcing your presence

As stated above, it’s not vital if you’re hunting on a friend’s property but if you’re forced to use public land this one little trick is mighty helpful. Not only will it increase your chances of finding deer, you’ll also be left to enjoy your hunting with a lot more peace.

4.)The Moon’s Phase

While the lunar cycle isn’t something you want to rely on by itself, you can use it as part of your overall timing strategy. Every little bit helps, and you should definitely account for all variables while you’re setting up a hunting time.

The old theory was that the full moon allowed the deer to see better and thus they’d be out to feed later at night than normal.

This has been found to be quite untrue, while the bucks and does can see better so can the animals that prey on them. Whitetail deer are very wary creatures, and they know they can be more easily seen in the light of a full moon and become more cautious during these times.

However, the full moon is usually followed by an increase in feeding activity the next day. This means that your morning hunts have a slightly better chance when the night after a full moon.

The new moon has the opposite effect. The deer eat more boldly during the night, and they’re less likely to be active during the next day.

You’ll find that this isn’t a make-or-break type of deal for your hunting if the only time you can get out is after a new moon then get out there. If you have the time to make sure that you’re only hunting when you want, however, make sure that you take Luna’s light into account.

5.)The Weather

The weather is going to have a huge impact on the movement of deer, for obvious reasons. In fact, the weather is the second most important factor to take into account in most hunting situations.

Related: When Do Deer Move The Most – How To Know The Movement Pattern Of Whitetail Deer

This isn’t quite as simple as it sounds, though. There’re a few key factors you’ll have to take into account.

The key factor here is actually barometric pressure, whitetails are able to readily sense dropping pressure and will increase their feeding rate during this time.

If you weren’t already aware, dropping pressure usually means bad weather is on the way.

The air temperature is another key factor at play. This will obviously depend on the area you’re hunting in, but deer move more when the temperatures are lower.

The thick coats and lack of ventilation make it easy for them to overheat once temperatures rise above average for the season, so they tend to stay put when the thermometer rises.

Atmospheric conditions are also important. Deer seem to like fog and mist, as well as overcast skies and will be more active during these times.

They’ll also be quite active during a light rain, but their activity levels drop off sharply during heavy precipitation.

We know it’s quite a bit of information, but if you keep all of this in mind when you’re picking a day to hunt and your chances will go through the roof.

6.) The Rut

The rut is probably the most important factor of finding whitetails, and it’s surrounded with a myth and mystique by nearly every deer hunter. Tactics will change throughout the rut season, and each hunter has their own superstitions and barely-scientific ideas about when it’s occurring.

The reason the breeding season is so valuable to us hunters, apart from the antlers of course, is simple.

Even the oldest, largest, most careful bucks can make some mistakes during this time of year while filled with hormones and trying to breed that will let you take the shot.

Related:When Do Deer Shed Their Antlers? Want to Know When to Hunt For Antlers

There are plenty of different signs that the rut is beginning , but you should be aware that there’s three “phases” to the rut.

In the pre-rut you’ll be able to find younger bucks quite easily, the doe aren’t in estrus yet and the youngsters are overeager to breed and will be found frequently bothering the females who aren’t ready yet. During this period, the more mature bucks will still be cautious.

During the rut itself, caution is thrown to the wind. The forest is alive with the clatters of antlers and even the smartest, most cautious buck is prone to making errors which can expose them to predators, both animal and human.

This is the ideal time for trophy hunters, as the elusive males will be present and less cautious than normal.

In the post-rut, the deer will still be breeding, but the excitement has worn off and they’ll be back to being elusive and cautious once more.

Conclusion

We hope we’ve helped you to figure out the best deer hunting times. It’s a lot of information to keep track of, but it’s the surest route to success in getting the buck of your dreams.

Once you have the timing down, though, the chances of finding your quarry go up exponentially. If you’ve been having trouble finding whitetails, study this guide carefully.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this article. If you want to show your appreciation or have any tips of your own, leave us a comment!