Tree hunting stand

[SteveP]

What do you think of the idea of using a tree stand for hunting deer (or other game)

This video covers several tips including foliage, clear lanes of shot, and the effective target to hit on the animal (double lung ideal)

 

[SteveP]

More tips about aiming

 

And more aiming tips to compensate for the angle of the shot to achieve the double lung penetration

 

[SteveP]

Other Considerations

Materials: obviously we are going to need a ladder of some kind in order to scale the tree. In order to construct the stand platform, we'll also need sticks or planks as well as cordage (rope). Simple ladders for climbing a tree could be made just by hammering long nails through some short boards (2x4 2'). I would favor an actual ladder that can be carried since it can then be relocated to any desired location to put your stand.

Clothing and warmth: sitting in a tree stand is possibly going to take some time. If one has the full complement of leather/fur clothing, this is less of a problem however one could simply have a large fur to wrap in for warmth.

Being in a tree stand already raises you above the normal vision of the deer. You might also want some camouflage to help break up your outline. Large dark blotches alternating with light green and browns are good. Deer are often warned off by your human scent. Being up in a tree helps to mask your scent but you might also want to create some type of a scent mask such as by boiling droppings (scat), dirt, pine needles, leaves and bark to create a liquid to douse on yourself to mask your scent.

Summary:

1. Cordage
2. Crafting option for tree stand
3. Crafting option for ladder
4. Fur cloak or blanket to keep warm
5. Camouflage
6. Scent mask

[SteveP]

A hunting blind is another type of still hunting technique. These are constructed at ground level but include gaps for watching or firing from. Obviously a blind is not going to offer much protection from a bear whereas a tree stand can offer some degree of protection. Obvious considerations are going to be wind direction and your scent. Since you are at ground level, your human scent is also at ground level so you have to take precautions to ensure the game does not smell you.

Here is a video on constructing a blind using branches and cordage: (fast forward the slow parts)

 

[Gaboris]

I like the idea of using things that make you hard to detect and maybe combine those with lures and obstacles to guide prey somewhere, but the tree stand would just break the game. I doubt that the animal AI is set up so it can handle "out of reach" situations. Sure you can soot a bear from a cliff and it either runs away or runs around the cliff to get to you, but no idea what it would end up doing if you were on a tree all the time. Maybe it would run away and in a minute come back again as if nothing had happened and this is an easy and WAY TOO SAFE way to kill a bear. It would just break the balance.

 

But I really like the camo and guiding stuff.

[terryt3535]

It would be very easy to throw a mountaineering rope over a low branch and just get yourself high enough so you can't be mauled. To balance the game, it would increase wind chill and run down exhaustion meter half the speed of climbing down a rope.

In Quonset hut (Forge?) with all the file cabinets and shelves, I wish I could make a foothold trap for the wolves with several days of crafting. It would take time to place where you are vulnerable to mauling.

[SteveP]

Yes, I tend to agree that the whole process of hunting still leaves a lot to be desired. Is there any way we can get more strategy into this? Long range scouting? Binoculars for example? Watching wolves to determine if there are deer (caribou) around? Watching for birds to indicate a fresh wolf kill that one could scavenge?

What is happening with deer despawning? That is, you chase a deer and loose sight of it and then it despawns? Is that still a thing?