Ladder Stand Setups for Successful Bowhunting

Affiliate Disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. We earn from qualifying purchases.

When it comes to pure effectiveness, I’ll choose a lock-on or climbing stand every time. But I’m rarely hanging deer stands that are just for me. Most of my setups are hunted by family, friends and paying clients at some point in the fall, too—and probably a third of those folks just aren’t comfortable with being 25 feet off the ground in a lock-on.

Virtually everyone likes a ladder stand, inherent disadvantages aside. Few of them are more than 20 feet tall, and all of them are heavy, difficult to move, and only adaptable for certain trees. Quickly adjusting a setup to get 20 yards closer to the action isn’t an option most of the time when you’re hunting from a ladder stand.

Still, plenty of big bucks are arrowed from ladders, including a few I’ve taken myself. Here’s how I set my ladder stands with archery hunting in mind.

1. Set Them Early

Even the stealthiest approach leaves you with a giant ladder strapped to a tree that’s obvious to every deer that walks by. Whitetails get used to ladder stands, same as they do ground blinds, but it can take some time. Hang them early.

2. Back Off The Field Edges

Whitetail hunters love to watch fields, and a good many ladder stands are set in places to do just that. That’s fine for rifle hunting, but a good way to spook deer while bowhunting. Back your ladder 5 to 10 yards into the treeline, where you can still see the field and maybe shoot the edge, but where you’re really expecting the shot on a trail leading to it.

3. Set Them On Hillsides

Don’t spoil what little height advantage a ladder stand provides by setting it in a ravine, where uphill deer will be eye-level with you. You’re as well-off hunting from the ground. Put ladder stands high on hills, above active trails, whenever possible.

4. Look For The Hidden Tree

The big white oak and towering hickory both jump out as obvious spots to hang your ladder stand—maybe because they’re obvious trees. Instead of those, hang your stand in the tree that’s offset and in the shadows, perhaps obscured by the canopy of a leafy maple or cedar, and 23 yards from the trail, rather than 18.

5. Use That Trunk

Don’t sit facing deer trails. Instead, angle your stand parallel to the best trails and shooting lanes, so that deer approach from behind you and you can use your tree’s trunk as cover as they get within bow range. Because I’m right-handed, I sit with my left shoulder facing the trail. When a deer is coming, I like to stand, turn to face the trail, lean my left shoulder against the tree and get my feet into shooting position. I draw as the deer passes, and ideally take a quartering-away shot.

6. Be Still

Bowhunters bust almost as many whitetails by moving as by hunting bad winds, especially from 16-foot ladder stands. You must plan every motion well in advance. Hunt with your bow in hand, rather than on a hanger, range trails ahead of time and be deliberate when you get an opportunity to draw.

---