Thread: Show us your deer stand

Don't have a picture, but I built one from 1in. SQ tubing (1/8 wall). 12 foot ladder with 3ftX3ft platform. Platform from some plywood just sitting up there. Been up in since 2007. Works great.

we use a hole the deer dug for us years ago. The previous owner always put a salt lick there and when we stopped putting them out (illegal to hunt with one, or after ones been out for a month) but the deer kept digging so we have a hole about 6' in diameter and about 4' deep perfect hide with a little camo netting to break up the silhouette.

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

I see them and know they are called deer stands, but I still don't know what they are - am I the only one?

edit: ohh, this is the deer equivalent of a duck blind. carry on!

Your edit is right. Here are a couple of pictures in its natural setting. I was hoping to get a better picture of my new bow and mount that I tried. You can see the blue fletching. I was told that it would work good because there isn't much blue in nature and especially in the fall. It is suprising how it sticks out. Then somewhere I heard that deer can see blue. Maybe thats why I didn't see any tonight.

Overall at this point I would give it a B or a 8 out of 10. It pulls rather than pushes through the brush and tall grass. I need to get some better paint to cover the wheels and their outline. It goes over rough ground pretty well. If I get a deer and it works for a cart I will upgrade it to an A.

Tim

This of course is not a picture of my stand but one from it. Didn't see a deer today but thought this looked cool.

Regardless of the stand, you just cant beat a cold crisp fall morning...

32t - as a suggestion, I would figure out an easy way to remove the wheels rather than try to hide them with paint. The silhouette of those wheels will catch the attention of any deer but one that happens to be blind. It would also keep them from interfering with your bow.

Maybe a cotter pin on the ends of the axle so you can easily remove the wheels and stash them under some brush or leaves nearby?

Not my stand, but a picture of an interesting one taken by a friend.

The ladder was made from an old metal swingset frame. The platform was made from plywood and metal and the seat was a plastic patio chair. Nothing like back woods engineering.

yea i dont have any pics but my one is a metal one that is just a seat and has a bar around it with a ladder, my other is a wooden hut complet with a roof and if the wind blows the entire thing shifts.

Originally Posted by fyrfyter43

32t - as a suggestion, I would figure out an easy way to remove the wheels rather than try to hide them with paint. The silhouette of those wheels will catch the attention of any deer but one that happens to be blind. It would also keep them from interfering with your bow.

Maybe a cotter pin on the ends of the axle so you can easily remove the wheels and stash them under some brush or leaves nearby?

fyrfyter43, Thanks you for your suggestions.

To begin with the wheels are low enough that there is no issue with interfering with my bow. Thats easy.

A 9/16" wrench would remove the wheels with not much trouble as long as I didn't loose the nuts or bushings. A little more bother and since I have to remove the stand everytime a little more.

The silhoutte/camo idea is the one that I have thought a lot about. I certainly am not an expert and don't claim to be. In the last week I have hunted near a marsh, against a basswood tree with no leaves, aspen trees, and pine trees. I can't afford 5 different styles of camo and probabley stick out like a sore thumb myself. What pattern looks good at 10 yds will blend into a solid pattern at 25. Not to mention tonight I went out after work and all day I had to use hand sanitizer before and after each room I entered etc. I changed cloths alongside my truck into ones washed with scent free soap etc. but I didn't shower. But that is another conversation in itself.

So now back to the deer. I don't feel that animals are smart. They react to a percieved danger in a self preservation mode. May it be run,freeze, etc. Along that line what do they percieve as dangerous? Here is an example of what I am thinking about. This spring I hunted turkeys. I put my ground blind up in the middle of a field road in the middle of an open field. Turkeys reactions are to movement. They can't remember if something was there 10 minutes ago. I got my turkey early Easter morning. My boy hunted the next weekend and I thought that would be a good spot for him. I put the decoys inside the blind and left. About an hour later I was sitting on the porch about 1/4 mile away and could see 3 deer out in the field. 2 were more cautious than the other but they all approached within 30 yds and one much closer. If they would have seen movement they would have run quickly away. Smell wasn't involved because turkeys don't react to smell and I am sure the blind smelled like gas or whatever else is in my garage. So turkey hunting I didn't worry about that. They were checking it out but although cautious they were not "afraid". My point is that it was an oddball thing in the middle of their territory that wasn't there 3 hours ago they did not flee but I actually think that it drew them closer.
Along with the noise and action shortly before.

I will stop my mini ramble for now. Feel free to tell me my ideas are full of s**t and my ideas are bogus. You won't offend me! LOL

Tim

Once the deer get used to seeing it they wont care. Especially does, bucks are far more suspicious, their eyes are designed to react to movement.