Best treestand rest?

Guys I'm wondering what those of you who hunt from a treestand and use as a rest do for longer shots? I've brought my bog pod and used it as a bipod and a monopod but that really only works for shots out in front. Where I hunt it pays to get high over the dense brush and be mobile at times so a climber works great but it's a bad shooting platform for me. Im wondering if there is any inguenity out there as to make it a better shot platform for shots beyond where I am comfortable shooting off hand. Your help is always appreciated.

I can find ways to use the bog pod in my climber and just about every other stand

I use a Horton knee pod (supposed to be for crossbows) from a stand they work great.

I use my leg; always have it with me.

I'm kinda like Kral in a climber. Leather glove on stand rail and leg for support. In a box stand, I use my Stoney point on my elbow with legs forward against the front walls and gun on leather glove in window. Otherwise, I'm finding a way to use that bogpod

i didnt know deer climbed trees. what ya doing up there?

If it's got a rail, you're in tall cotton.

I've dragged shooting sticks around in the field many times, but I prefer the challenge of not have stick. But that's just me.

DJTJR,

One option I always carry in my pack is a screw-in tree step and a bow hanger. Those items used in conjunction or separately can make for a steady shot when facing the tree.

I've also pulled my pack into my lap before for better arm rest for the longer shots.

In a stand with a tall rail, I rested my wrists on the rail and set up my bog pod to support the gun. I kept the legs collapsed, lengthened one of them and tied a string around the base of the head that I held onto with my support hand. Pulling or releasing the string raised and lowered the end of the gun. On a stand with a lower rail I put my leg up on/over the rail and laid the gun on my knee, toe, ankle depending on the shot direction.

Ditto

Thanks guys

My Summit climbing tree stand has a rail around it. If I adjust the seat correctly the rail works great to prop my elbows on while shooting which makes a rock steady rest.

my 16' Gunner Ladder Stand is not bad, used it a couple of times already. No picture, but it's this: http://www.carid.com/ameristep/16-gunner-ladder-stand-mpn-9602a.html

I feel the pain likewise. I would like to make a suggestion to start banging some the treestand manufactors doors to make a small modification that would accommodate pistol hunters.

When I"m hunting in a ladder stand with a rail, I clamp a piece of plywood to the top of the rail, 1x12 pine would work also, it"s enough to place my pack on to shoot off the pack.

Noble thought, but I am afraid that would fall on deaf ears as we are such a minority in the hunting world. They concentrate their efforts on bowhunters for the most part it seems.

And, welcome to HH ;-)

We are in the minority. But we as a whole are an innovative bunch and don't think like most do . So get innovative ,ladder stand with a rail, a piece of wood on the rail. I carry an adjustable staff with a v top made from an old tripod leg. Works as a walking stick and gun rest.Tree stand I have used the pull up rope looped around the forend or barrel then lean on the tree.Box stands have sandbags on window sill but still use staff under elbow. You just have to use your head.

Yep. Where there's a will, there's a way.

We are handgun hunters...... we get it done!!!!

YUP!

"Necessity is the Mother of Invention."

At the moment I have 4 of the Walmart 17 foot Double Wide ladder stands. I cut out plywood to form a shelf on 3 sides of the stand. I overhang the rail about 6 inches on the inside on the sides, and probably 4 Inches on the front. The shelf is approximately 16 inches wide on all sides. I stiffen it up with a board under the front cross ways. The plywood is held in place with 2 SS U Bolts on each side. I have found that 3/4" plywood works better than thinner material.
I drill holes around the outside perimeter on approximately 2 inch centers. I use these holes for Zip Ties to hold burlap cammo netting around the outside of the plywood. I spray paint the plywood with Krylon Camo paint.
For a rest I have cut up 5 inch sections of 4" X 4" CCA lumber. I cammo spray paint it, and install an Eye Bolt with at least a 1/2" hole in one end. The Eye Bolt is used to thread a piece of 550 cord through to hang the blocks when not in use. I normally like to have 3 blocks per stand.
On top of the blocks I use a small sand bad filled with Air Soft pellets for a rest. The bags are made of OD canvas in the shape of a mini brick. 2" Thick X 3" wide X 4" Long.
I place a dark colored towel on the plywood top to cut down on any noise from moving the blocks around.

Behind me I have a wooden cross made up. It is approximately 5 feet wide. I strap it to the tree with the cross piece over my head setting down. I zip tie burlap camo to this cross to break up my silhouette, and to cover me from the back.

This set up works very well for handgun hunting.

Bob R

Bob, would you happen to have any pictures of that setup? It sounds pretty awesome, and I hunt quite a bit from ladder stands.

I would love to see photos also.

I think I understand what you wrote, but would love to see some pics as well.

Sounds like an awesome double ladder setup. I would also like to see a pic.

Add one more that wants to see some pictures of your setup. I also like hunting from a double ladder stand.

The weather is supposed to break here today (Monday), I will try and get some pictures. We have been having monsoon season the last few days here in South Central Missouri. Not sure how much rain we have had total since Friday evening, but over 10 Inches is a safe bet.
I went by the Sportsman's Club Sunday after Church, and the water was flowing pretty good, but it was not out of the stream bed. I thought we had lucked out on flood damage. It just kept on raining all afternoon and night. We may have flood damage now. I plan to run by and have a look this morning.
I may be busy for another day or so repairing flood damage to the drive.

Bob R

Same here, Bob. It's been raining so much here in northwest Tennessee that even if I wanted to hunt these past five or six days, I couldn't make it across the creek bottoms.

I made it by the Ladder Stand North of the House this evening.
The Plywood is 3/4" thick on this stand. I cut the plywood for the stand rest 4' X 5'. The interior cut out is 35 Inches wide X 33" deep. This gave me 15 Inches of shelf to the front, and a 13" shelf on each side. I screwed a 35" X 6" piece of plywood under the front edge for reinforcement. I screwed a 2" X 1.5" CCA board on each side about 4" inside from the edge.


This is the back view of the stand showing the Cross with Burlap Cammo to keep me from being skylighted. The Vertical is a 24" 1" X 6" CCA Board, the Horizontal Cross is a 4' X 2" CCA Board. The burlap is zip tied to it. The rain and wind this last few days ripped the burlap.


This view is looking up from the ground showing the shelf, and burlap cammo.


This picture of the Right Corner of the stand shows a 4" X 4" X 5" CCA Block with a 2" X 3" X 4" Brick Sand Bag filled with AirSoft Pellets. The block is setting on a pad to dampen any noise. The round cut out in the corner gives a place for a Monopod to lean of a long gun. You can see one of the SS U Bolts in the picture. Two are used to attach the plywood to the stand frame on each side. You can see the burlap camo attached to the edge of the plywood. It is zip tied through 1/4" holes drilled at approximately 2" on centers.


This picture shows the Left Corner of the stand. This side has a taller Brick Sand Bag. You can see the NorthWest end of my valley in this picture. The longest shot this direction in the valley is approximately 70 yards.


A picture of my Valley over the Right corner of the stand. Note the water running everywhere. The furthest shot is approximately 110 yards. This if facing NorthEast.


This is my G1 Super 14 Contender chambered in 35 Bullberry. The optical sight is a 30mm MatchDot using the 2 MOA Dot Size. The 35 Bullberry uses a 375 Winchester case Blown Out and Necked to 35 caliber. The load is 38.5 grains of H322 under a Hornady 180 grain SSP bullet. C&H makes the die set for the 35 Bullberry.
For all practical purposes this is a 35 Remington Rimmed. It will max out a little faster than a 35 Remington.

This ladder stand faces North on a point overlooking the valley floor. In front of the stand on the North side of the valley is a ridge, so I have a solid hillside in front of me. I have a point coming down into the valley on both the East and West sides of my stand. This stand has multiple trails coming from all directions meeting in the valley floor.
I have a mineral lick in a section of hollow log on the East Point with a White Salt Block.

Bob R

Bob, that is a NICE setup! Thank you for taking the time to get the pictures. I will definitely have to pirate your ideas there. Looks like a good spot as well.

This is a great setup! You put a lot of thought and work into it. I hope it has paid off for you this season. Thanks for the photos and explanation of your setup.

VERY CLEVER BOB!

Nice perch! I got tree stand envy. I am going to have to try something similar.

I would do a couple things differently if I were to do it over.
First you are going to use a full sheet of plywood. No way to get two from a sheet. With this in mind I would make the width 5'-6". This would add another 3 inches to each side.
I would stay with the 35" wide X 33" deep cutout.
Going from 13 inches to 16 inches on the sides will make a huge difference setting up for a shot.
If you are starting with a stand that is down, I would add a pair of metal braces to each side to support the side plywood better. Also the folding front section could stand to be welded solid. I would probably add a couple forward braces under the front plywood also.
The U bolts I am using are 3" wide and flat, not U shaped. They have been very secure.
The front corners of the plywood are rounded. I used a #10 can to mark the radius. Hitting the edges with a router is not a bad plan either for smooth edges.
I really like the Burlap Camo, however it only lasts 2 years when left out in the weather year round. If you could find the burlap fabric on a roll at a fabric shop it would be cheaper I am sure.
Another modification I have thought about is adding a heavy rope around the bottom of the camo fabric. Just wrap the burlap around the rope, and zip tie in place. This would help keep the fabric from blowing around as much.
The first 3 we built were from 1/2" plywood. The last one we used 3/4" plywood. If done again all 4 would be made from 3/4" plywood, it is much stiffer.
My wife made the sand bags from surplus OD Green shelter half's. I have found that air-soft pellets work very well for the fill, and is much lighter weight than sand.
Spray paint is Krylon camo.

Bob R

Thanks for sharing the pictures. I may have to try something like that next year.

I face the tree in my climber. I place two screw in tree steps at different angles on both sides of the tree. I can reliably have a good rest at 60degrees from the tree to the sides. I put heat shrink on them to keep the noise down. I will sometimes even take a small sandbag and put it on the tree step I plan to use if I have time.

I use the rail on my Summit for shots behind me. It has worked for me many times. I do use contenders so I don't have too worry about cylinder blast from the side of the tree, but that can be avoided too if position the rests right.

I built a variation of Bob R's design. I made shorter sides so I can get two from each sheet (I'm cheap) but this does reduce the side utility so I recommend Bob R's intent. Alabama has 3 weeks left so I intend to get one stand in place before so it can air out and be used. I used 4 rounded U-bolts so have the flats and nuts on the top but doubt they'll bother the support pad. I noticed the edge detail, I need to add that so things don't roll off. Typically set ladder stand with slight angle back so maybe not an issue. Still gonna tote the trigger stick with me but this support is a much improved idea as I have gravitated to handgun mostly. Was using encore 7mm-08 with 14inch (Shot one very nice 8 point a few years ago)but always wanted a 30-30 so had MGM make a 10inch 30-30 for encore frame. Love it and had good service from MGM regardless of the bad internet ratings I read. Thanks again Bob R for the idea.

Ammo tested and two platforms ala Bob R's design installed this weekend so getting excited. Should have plenty of time to get the paint smell to go away. After installing and evaluating, my only concern would be really close shot in the front. I believe I would have to stand up to get the angle. I may make the platform less deep in the future, maybe just enough for the bag as process improvement for my application.

I either use my bog pod or primos trigger stick that has be modified with a butt stock rest.

This thread is a treasure trove of ideas already worked out! I truly appreciate the info. I'm already mulling over things to add to my current situation and looking forward to this fall. Sincerely, MK

after installing a couple I may also try the simple board approach - cut couple 45 degree ends and use cut pieces for sides. A lot simpler to install with maybe conduit clamps and short screws.

I would love to see a photo of that setup. That sounds like it would be very stable.