Can hunting from a tree stand help you be successful? — Don Schmidt

You can certainly kill a turkey while sitting in a tree stand, but being elevated provides no advantage. Thanks to their evolution-honed survival instincts and 270- to 310-degree field of vision  turkeys easily pick out danger from above. In fact, noted turkey biologist Lovett E. Williams Jr. says that if you move your hand over a day-old poult so that a shadow passes on the bird, it will instinctively duck and cower from the perceived threat. Turkeys are very attuned to the threat of avian predation.

Ask any whitetail bow-hunter how much success they’ve had drawing on fall turkeys. They’ll tell you the birds easily pick them out most times.

So can you use a tree stand and be successful? Sure. Does it offer you any advantage? Nope.