In the 1-minute YouTube video below, well-known tournament archer and bowhunter Levi Morgan discusses a mistake many whitetail hunters make when choosing treestand trees. Of course, most hunters place treestands during summer in preparation for the upcoming deer season, but they forget (or ignore) the fact that the woods will change dramatically from August to October.
The biggest change is falling leaves. Trees that provided decent leaf cover in August to hide a treestand hunter at 12 to 20 feet will be naked by Halloween. Not good!
For a bowhunter to remain hidden in a tree, he or she must consider their backdrop. As Morgan explains, pay attention to what is behind you, not only the treestand tree itself (trunk and thick branches), but also nearby tree trunks and branches. If you don’t have significant backcover, then whitetails will silhouette you against the sky, easily spotting you, especially when you attempt to draw your bow.
Personally, I like to choose a cluster of three trees whenever possible for this same reason. By placing a stand in the middle of three nearby trees, you can avoid being seen by whitetails, even after all the leaves have hit the forest floor.
