Campo

Generally, when I am hunting out of a treestand, I try to be as high as possible without comprimising on safety.

hardcorehunter

20-25 ft up.

jrjr23

Go as high as you can, as long as you are comfortable shooting from that height. I usually hunt at 12-15 ft as I cannot shoot comfortably from heights higher than that. What good would it do you to be 20-25ft. high and not be able to shoot with confidence?

childers

i like to get to the point where i dont even know what im doing but you have to smoke a lot.lol jp. um 15 -20 feet is fine whatever you feel is good for you. and the higher you get the smaller the target is dontforget

GRIZZLYMAN

I generally bow hunt between 15-20ft up. I don't like the angle, any further up. If I am gun hunting, I can go up to 30 ft. It all depends on the terrain, and the tree canopy of the area I'm trying to hunt.

Rob/PA Bowyer

There is a lot of good ON TOPIC advise here. 15' is plenty, I tend to hung higher depending on terrain etc and as you develope as a treestand hunter, you may be inclined to climb higher as well, not necessary of course but it can make a difference at times.

Germ

I like 20-25, I have sat lower becasue of terrain

Bulzeye

15 feet will do it, and you should definitely only go as high as you are comfortable. You will probably get more used to it as you spend more time up there. I did.

When I started about 7 years ago, I was very nervous at 15 feet and felt I needed to stay touching the tree for balance the whole day. Now it's no biggie, and I've gotten several deer from 15 feet. To keep things to your advantage, always play the wind, stay out of the sun,and try to keep a balance between cover and shooting lanes. You will be busted more often when sitting lower, but you'll get deer too.

If you do decide to go higher in the future, keep in mind that the shooting angles get steeper as you go up (causing you to have to compensate by shooting low), and there will be alarger area directly under your stand that is 'no shoot' because of a lack of proper angle to hit the vitals.

dukemichaels

The higher up you can safely get up into a tree the better. But by all means don't ever risk your life. You can still take deer successfully at heights of 10' if you find good trees with cover, play the wind, and really limit your movement. If all else fail.. hunt from the ground.

GMMAT

jfergus....

You didn't state your age.....but you stated you were just starting, really, with stand hunting.

I have a 14 yr old son that hears people talk about going 25 feet.....30 ft.......etc... and it scares the crap outta me. I stay tethered.....and those heights don't bother me (though I can never remember being 30'...nor needing to be in MY area). Just understand that you can be 10' and be in great cover....BUT....there'll be times in your FUTURE and when you're ready.....when the absence of cover will necessitate you going higher. if you don't NEED to, though.....by all means don't take the "higher you go - the more macho you are" outlook. It's not the case. You go as high as you feel comfortable.....and find some cover.

I rememebr it wasn't long ago AT ALL I was asking the same question you are. I'd have gone 25' if that's what people told me to do. that might not have neccessarily been the best FOR ME at TAHT TIME. You know you.

Jeff