Prince Edward Island Hunter Safety Course

Advantages and Disadvantages for Using a Treestand

Advantages

• Gives a hunter a longer range of visibility, which allows more time to prepare for a safe shot.
• A hunter's scent remains in the canopy of the trees, instead of on the ground where it can give away a position to nearby animals.
• Game animals can detect even slight movements. In a treestand, the hunter can move without being easily detected.
• Blaze orange can be seen at greater distances in a treestand than on the ground, where the hunter's color(s) might be blocked by brush and debris.
• Shots taken by a hunter from a treestand are at a downward angle, so the bullet or arrow will go into the ground. This is especially important when hunting near homes and farms buildings.

Disadvantages

• A hunter has no protection from the wind unless the treestand has a skirt around its platform.
• Some treestands are quite heavy to carry into or out of the woods.
• In rainy or snowy weather, a hunter might lose his or her footing when climbing up to or getting out of the treestand.
• It is difficult to change positions or move around in some treestands
• Setting up and taking down a treestand can be very noisy
• A hunter might fall asleep in the treestand, and this could result in an incident.
• Many hunting incidents occur when a hunter is getting into or out of a treestand.