Bowhunting Equipment

Grounds Blinds, Tree Stands, and Ladder Stands 

Ground Blinds, Tree Stands, or Ladder Stands can be some of the most consistent and productive ways to bowhunt. Discover tips on which stand type is best for where you hunt, and the best products for your success.

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If you grew up hunting whitetails in the woods of the mid-west you have probably used tree stands from the beginning, but if you grew up west of the Mississippi River, you may have never had a chance to use a blind or tree stand.

It may sound strange in the land of spot and stalk, but the use of tree stands and ground blinds has an ever growing group of supporters that have been successfully using techniques that we learned while hunting whitetails in our youth on elk and mule deer in the west. If you haven’t tried it, hunting from a stand or a blind can be highly effective on both elk and mule deer in the western United States. I came to the conclusion shortly after I tried spot and stalk (and many time since then) I’m not good at it. I move too fast, I get cross winded, you name it I do it wrong, and although I have gotten very close on numerous occasions I have never closed the deal. Because of that I started hunting from a tree stand or ground blind placed in a strategic location, and have harvested 7 elk with a bow in the past 9 years.

We have three rules when placing stands or blinds:

1. If you see elk or deer once there it’s a place to watch.

2. If you see elk or deer there twice it’s a place to investigate for a stand.

3. If you see elk or deer there multiple times - Where’s the tree.

This Elk was taken out of a treestand overlooking a water hole.

Hang on stands can be very effective when you have large stands of old growth timber with multiple limbs coming out of the tree from different directions. This would typically be a Ponderosa Pine woods so common to much of the eastern half of the Rocky Mountains. A stand that I use and think is great and would recomend buying is the Lone Wolf Alpha Pro Series. This package comes complete with stand and strap on ladder, and offers a large platform to stand on as well as a comfortable seat.

Climbing Stands work well when you have trees that are rather bare of branches fro 20' - 30' up the tree. This would typically be representative of a lodge pole pine forest. Ladder stands offer a hunter the opportunity to move stand locations without much difficulty or time. I like and would recomend purchasing the Summit Viper SS Climbing Stand. I feel very comfortable when climbing in this stand, and it offers the comfort necessary to spend a long time in a tree.

Ladder Stands offer the hunter the option of putting up a stand in those areas that have trees but are not large enough to hang a tree stand. I use my Ladder Stand in Aspen groves that show a lot of game sign. The Ladder Stand that I use is the Ameristep Skyscraper Ladder Stand. It has great comfort and safety, and I have not had a problem spending a lot of time in it.

One tip I would offer with all stands, but especially Ladder Stands is to bring along some zip ties and tie some branches to the ladder and stand. This seems to help break up the very ridged outline of the ladder, and I have had elk walk with in a couple of yard of the ladder and not even pay attention to it.

Remember when ever you use a stand always wear a safety belt or vest system. The one that I would suggest buying is the Hunter Safety System Pro Series Vest/Harness. This system offers great safety and comfort.

Ground Blinds can be used when there is no opportunity to put up a ladder stand or for other safety reasons. There are many blinds on the market today that have been specifically designed for the archer. The Primos Double Bull Dark Horse Blind will offer the hunter a great hide as well as all most unlimited viewing and shooting options.

When setting up a ground blind always try and put some of the local vegetation in and around your blind to help hide an unfamiliar outline.

I hope that these tips and products offer you the hunter an additional tool or tools to put into your bow hunting tool box.