Remember way back when treestands were home built from old scraps of wood and nails?
Let’s take a trip down memory lane and honor those wooden deathtraps of the past.
In late summer back in the 1980’s the neighborhood woods were alive with activity. Deer hunters with piles of scrap wood and nails wandered into the wilds to look for a good spot to build their deer stands. Hammers could be heard from a great distance away, and as a teenage pellet gun carrying aspiring hunter, I always had to check out their work. Some were very crude that would be hard imagined to survive any gust of wind. Other more elaborate stands lasted for many years into the future. Some builders even added “camo” with handy cans of spray paint.
Those old school treestands killed and maimed many hunters from falls. When nails let loose, boards rotted and split, or climbing steps (or later screw in steps) were icy and wet, falls were inevitable. When climbing treestands and metal ladder stands came to the market, the age of DIY stands was over.
Walking through the wilds the remnants still remind us of hunts past. Time marches on and to prove that look up into the trees and see how even the sport of hunting has changed with all of the new gear and equipment that is now available. Here is a series of pictures of the hunting past rotting away and becoming long gone memories.
This wooden treestand platform was about to fully let loose when the picture was taken. Looking at the small tree it was supported on by one side this deer stand must have been a dangerous one from day one.
The scrap lumber special way up there! No need to even trim the boards right?
Thinner boards secured with spike nails were a dangerous combination. I have found many such contraptions in the tree canopies over the years.
Here is a close up of a steel fabricated homemade stand that is quite high up in a tree. There was an original stand at one point built out of wood at the same spot. A builder who must have been quite handy with metal work built the platform as witnessed in the below image right above the old wooden one that was in bad shape. He left that old one as “camouflage” I believe to hide it from other hunters or vandals. His new stand was hid high up in the tree above that old wooden one. The new stand was actually bolted to the tree itself so pretty much theft proof. The steps leading up were hidden on the back side of the tree. They were made out of angle steel cut into the shape of steps. Massive screw holes were added and the steps were screwed onto the tree itself.
The workmanship is incredible and I have wandered the woods past this stand for nearly 3 decades and it is still there, minus the long ago rotted away wooden platform. While the hunting days of that spot are long over and urban sprawl is within yards of it now, the trees and the stand might be saved by conservation efforts of what’s left of the wild area there (fingers crossed!).
Here is an old stand that was built in a hickory tree grove. Wonder what that hunter saw in that little honey hole spot?
While deer hunting an old friend’s property I came across his wooden stand buried under the snow built around 3 decades ago. I had to honor the past and take a picture of that stand with my Henry .45/70 deer rifle.
How many sunrises were watched from this homemade stand back in the day? We will never know.
This “semi-portable” wooden ladder stand could be strapped to a tree in any location. It could be easily removed and placed elsewhere if needed. They were used previously to the proliferation of affordable priced steel ladder stands. This one is at rest while becoming recycled into the wilds itself.
Old school treestands sometimes didn’t even need trees! Take this cabin on stilts. While it appears to be a kid’s fort on posts it was indeed a hunting stand complete with a baited area way back in the day. While this stand has been hauled off, the incredible area it was located in is now park land with vast acres all can enjoy. Yes, it indeed is a very favorite spot of the author for hiking to say the least!
Next time you are out in the wilds, look up and see if you can spot hunting stands of the past. If you are in an area where hunting is allowed, take note as the hunter of long ago might have picked a great spot.