My husband is gonna go deer hunting this year because i won that bow for him and he wants to use it. So we put up his deer stand this evening. We put it where we saw two does the other night today there were three.

This stand has a rail that makes you feel secure, but do those rails get in the way of your bow? Would like to take a few shots from it, but i hate to go back up there and scare the deer again. The seat is about the same height of the rail, so it may not get in the way. But a lot of the deer stands are just platforms and seats and no rail, so i'm worried this stand we bought might be a rifle stand instead of a bow stand.

Plinker

since it has the rail I also suspect that it's a rifle hunter's tree stand. see if the rail will fold up against the tree behind you. If not, see if you can un-bolt it and save it for a time the stand might be used by a gun hunter.

I wear a safety harness attached to the tree so I can't fall to the ground. (I don't wear it when I practice because I get up&down from the stand as I practice but I do wear it when I'm hunting).

It's important to practice shooting from an elevated stand before you actually shoot from it. You need to know the limits of the angles you can shoot from the stand.

Here's a picture of one of my treestands. It's the one I leave up all year for a practice stand. In the 3 other pictures it shows where I move the target to change the distance and the angle from the stand and what it looks like to the target from sitting in the stand.



here's the link to my practice range

http://www.accuratereloading.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=675213&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=21&fpart=1

Thanks, Nebraska. I need to do something similar, was thinking maybe use some spray paint the same color as the sight pins.

CaptJack, that's a nice practice area you have there. The elevated stand picture says 7' but it looks even higher than that. You could do most of your angle practice there and just a few shots at your real stand to get a feel for the distances.

Thanks,

Plinker

Early in the season, I frequently take a shot to check one/more sight(s) as soon as I get up to my spot. I get there early enough were I'm not too concerned about alerting any deer and it really helps me stay keep dialed in to my yardage. Now come rut-time, I like to stay still and quiet as much as possible since there's so much more activity.



I range a leaf or something similar and shoot. Plus, when a deer comes along and is standing right next to my 20 or 30 yard arrow, there's not a whole lot of guess work involved in range estimation either!!

Plinker,

You might want to use flagging tape (The kind Surveyors use) instead of paint because paint leaves a smell for a while even when dry.

As to the rail, it's not a problem if you stand to shoot but, if you shoot while sitting, you have to lean away from the rail and that can cause you to miss (Poor form).

Good Luck!

Reloader

Thanks, Reloader. I do have red surveyers tape. Will have to get some yellow and green.

Plinker