Height vs cover

[Brokearcher]

Just curious as to what you guys think. I found a great stand site with a great tree about 12 yards off. My only issue was the cover behind the tree sits fairly low, I generally like to be at least 15’ off the ground but here the cover behind stops a little after 12’. It’s really thick cover and directly behind the tree so I know it will hide my outline well. I opted to place it at around 12’ but I’m curious to see if you guys would put more emphasis on height over background.

[rastaman]

I love finding a tree I can be up with cover at 10-12ft.  The angle on your shot isn’t as steep and you have a better chance of getting a double lung pass thru with a good blood trail. Higher up you have a steeper angle. You can get a pass through but you will typically have one whole dropping blood to the ground instead of two. My old eyes prefer two holes leaving blood. Just my opinion but that’s what I prefer when I can.  I love a good thick cedar tree for that reason.

[Tradcat]

I actually look for setups like that. Just my preference

[tzolk]

In my experience, background is far more important. I’ve been busted in a tree with no background a few times  and shot 3 bucks when I was sitting on the ground and had an excellent backdrop - 9 yards, 15 yards, and 12 feet. That and the higher you get, the smaller the kill zone gets.

[JonCagle]

Cover will trump height every time. Plus the angle is less steep when shooting from a lower position so it’s a bigger target

[GCook]

The only advantage I see to height over cover is scent.  Other than that a max of 15 feet with cover

[supernaut]

I would also prefer better background cover over height.

Best of luck to you!

[Cory Mattson]

I agree with the consensus here.
Good cover
Not so high - 12 to 15 feet platform height
Something I added 15 or 20 years ago is I always set up with a tree directly in front of me. Sounds a little off but trust me this is deadly and very helpful getting you to full draw and release undetected.
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[toddster]

Height doesnt matter, me and others kill plenty on ground, hunt it.

[Bisch]

I like 12’ better than 15’ anyway, so that would be perfect for me.

And I would choose the cover in that situation, even if I normally liked to be higher.

Bisch

[awbowman]

I like cover under 15’.  Better angle for vitals

[dnovo]

I usually prefer my stands to be about 14-16'. I don't measure, that's just where they end up.  That being said, I prefer cover over anything.  That's why I don't like climbing stands. I hate being on a straight open tree with no cover.  I have a ladder stand out now tucked in a cedar that's only about 9' but it works perfect.

[woodchucker]

COVER!! Anything higher than a bar stool, I get a nose bleed...

[Tim Reese]

Like others I’ll take cover over height any day. Specially since I’m a wuss about heights!!! Lol

[GCook]

Tim I've worked on water towers, roof tops, even stood on a crane ball to get to the top of a tower once.  Standing on precipices on mountain hikes and being pushed out of planes.  I'm definitely not afraid of heights.
But even I'm at that point in life where falling doesn't scare me near as much as that sudden stop at the bottom. 
I was up eighteen feet the other day on a small platform with no safety harness and the one thing I will tell y'all is I'm investing in a good safety harness. 
58yo may not be old but I'm not as agile, balanced and strong as I use to be and be it 12 or 20 feet gonnna wear a harness.

[Terry Green]

Cover over height.