World's TALLEST Treestand!? We Measured

Headed back home to Booger Bottom for a day with Paw Paw Waddell. We're measuring our old treestands, built back in the late 1970's & early 1980's & celebrating a buck Paw Paw recently got with his bow. These stands were built much higher than what we know is necessary nowadays and well before we got smart realized the importance of treestand safety.
8:00 - 11:20 - Paw Paw's 2021 hunt
*ALWAYS WEAR A SAFTEY HARNESS AND USE LIFE LINES! We take Treestand safety very seriously.
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[@mountainviewfarms5264]

Disclaimer: trees grow from the top, so the stand did not “grow” in height over the years. Look at an old rusty fence in a fence row tree. It is still the same height after 50 plus years.

[@BoneCollectorTube]

Thank you!

[@tylerbouck3555]

The do grow out though. As anyone who has left ratchet straps on to long!

[@chadwatts226]

That was not a hater comment that I posted about the tree growing bigger, more of an inside joke. I've been watching Michael Waddell and his family for many years and enjoy his content and knowledge of the outdoors.

[@lakestatebullies7391]

I was gonna say the same thing

[@wolfspiritoutdoors1484]

The entire tree grows the bottom just tends to grow outward instead of upward. Technically trees grow from the ground up obviously. That's like saying corn grows from the sky down 🤣 a little tip from your friendly neighborhood tree worker

[@patrickjoy9551]

You spend as much time with your dad as you can. I'd give almost anything to be able to spend another day with mine.

[@donaldschmitt4677]

Me too...

[@pinduckyfarms4748]

Same

[@Dolehargaves]

👍 me to buddy. Me to.

[@jamesfranks545]

Absolutely this!

[@dmre0]

i try my best to do the same with my father

[@jonjulian4460]

Nice to see commonality among us southern boys. Those of you who are being negative, all I got to say is , I’m very sorry about your miserable life. Hope is out there for you just stop judging everyone you meet. God bless you all.

[@louisbrownell7379]

That’s not easy to do but I understand you about that, by the Grace of God we will all learn if you have God in your life. May you all have a happy thanksgiving and a very merry CHRISTMAS may God Bless your family and everyone down south lol

[@mississippioutdoors]

Amen!

[@southron1861]

Amen brother! Ain't nothing in the world like being a good ol boy from the South! God bless you and yours 👍🏻

[@kyhunter577]

Waddell I’ve been watching you boys ever since I was a youngster, I’m 40 years old now. I always thought you fellas was my kind of people. when I seen you pull in your daddy‘s driveway and I seen that banner on the front porch… I knew you boys was my kind of people.🇺🇸hell yeah!

[@downhomeoutdoors]

I know exactly how y’all feel about seeing them cut the timber on that lease. I’m in a family hunting club over here in west Alabama that’s been around for over 50 years. And was my great grandfathers farm before then. As long as we’ve had our family land, we’ve had a 500 acre lease that borders it that a man has let us hunt for free as long as we kept the beaver dams tore out for him. It was almost 400 acres of beautiful swamp bottomland that my grandfather, father, and myself grew up hunting. The loggers just finished up cutting the timber on it. Some the biggest white oaks you’ve ever seen, gone. That swamp, along with my grandfather’s teachings, is what lit the fire in me for hunting and being in the woods. Sorry for the long post, but I know exactly how y’all feel. It sucks.

[@gordonashley6082]

The exact same thing happened to me and my family!!!!

[@nemideergoon1844]

I did some work in Tallapoosa, coming from Michigan, Georgia is the only state that seems to still have that southern hospitality. Very nice state, lovely people. Great state.

[@gibsonlife573]

So good to see you and your dad and your family together I would treasure every moment

[@vtcrafter6626]

Makes me think of some of the old stands my great uncle, who’s no longer with us, use to build and he’d say go down that ol fence line and get up in that pine tree and sit til dark. Never once did I think twice about it being 14-15 yrs old and wanting to be out there doing what all my uncles were doing. This brings back a lot of great memories of my uncles who are no longer with us. Been watching micheal since he was a young guy him self. I too am a bone collector who loves bow hunting. Great video

[@juanjoseamador7614]

This is a great stand, period! It's lightweight, climbs easy kzbin.infoUgkxlQ7TDIrnnSXXbRgFFaxqwullRJJIuYAs and feels solid while in the tree. The seat is easy to fold up for climbing and sits comfortably for long days in the woods. The only downside I have is that it might be too comfortable, but I like napping in the tree anyway. This is the second Summit Viper I have owned. The old one is steel making it heavier, but this aluminum version is about 9-10 lbs lighter. I recommend buying a better fall harness as the one included is clunky and not super comfortable. I think it will work fine if you NEED to use it, but there are lots of other more comfortable options out there.

[@iBleedStarsAndBars]

My favorite "celebrity " hunter. Just a good ole boy like the rest of us

[@brandondrane9710]

I say a man to that 👍👍

[@high-techredneck5941]

I get in a 17 foot tree stand and that’s all I want! Crazy how different things are nowadays compared to the old days! Although I was born in the 80s the 90s and early 2000s were completely different! Miss those days!

[@tomstonehard1947]

I really enjoyed that video! I’m 60 and have made plenty of tree stands in the top of Pine trees in Myakka City Florida. They were over looking a field of palmetto’s that backed up to a swamp that was full of oaks. Great memories so thanks for that video! God Bless

[@nitro1275]

It sad but it seems like it doesn't matter where you live the cutting down of trees and clearing forests happens more and more and not enough is done to preserve. Micheal thank you for sharing so much content with all of us. It's a blessing to have people all around loving the same things and sharing content and teaching to share the same experiences. I heard it from many people in my life but really only recently staring focusing on it and that is the experiences and who those experience are shared with. Family is beautiful and being outdoors with them is even better.

[@nickb1515]

Love how you guys are down to earth good people, and are proud of your roots. 👍 keep on rolling

[@kygunner7579]

I enjoyed watching this video. My Dad built stands similar to this back in the 80's-90's. I sorely miss those days. Took some nice bucks hunting in them. Very fortunate we never got hurt from those stands. Fond memories. This day in time I will gladly use my grandslam climber and safety harness connected from ground up. Much safer.

[@mglangley56]

That’s what you call being in the nosebleed section! 🤣 (That was a joke for those who don’t have a sense of humor… 😂)

[@Cmtb125]

We used to have a stand on our property that my grandad built , probably in about 1950-1960. I remember using it several times as a young teenager to hunt out of. It was actually a shooting house / stand type of deal. Almost like a treehouse. Haha. It was really old, and really cool.

[@rodneyhanbaum697]

Watching this and recallin some great memories. Man ya'all, sure did enjoy this! True genuine good times and great memories! Have a Blessed Thanksgiving!

[@southron1861]

Video really brought back memories of growing up hunting in southeastern Virginia and eastern North Carolina. The one farm where we mainly hunted was surrounded by marshlands and some of them built from scratch stands we'd hunt out of were a good 30 ft in the air, not to mention the 15-20 ft drop in some places where the embankment dropped down to the marsh. Used to climb them trees like nobody's business on nothing more than some 12" galvanized spike nails 😄 I wouldn't trade it for nothing in the world! Thanks for sharing 👍🏻

[@seanbarrett657]

Just tagged out in michigan out of a 40' treestand in the swamp. 110yrd shot with a 450bm. Thats my favorite stand when the snow flies.

[@ADVENTURESOFBZ]

Ridin around with your daddy and your uncle thru the woods just bullspittin around. This is the good stuff man!! GOD IS GOOD 🙏🙏♥️♥️

[@BoneCollectorTube]

You got that right!

[@coyotewacker]

Really Nice To See You Having Fun With Your Pa Mike , I Know just how much fun your having Because I had The same Awesome Pa My Self .. Congrats

[@bits9760]

I had a stand in a huge Hemlock that I used 40' of climbing sticks together that was a honest 34' n that was scary getting in n out n I'm not afraid of heights, but I used to smoke n NEVER EVER did I get winded in that stand..so I believe once ur over 30' u don't need anything for wind protection!! But good luck ur butts gonna pucker

[@scotthunt3183]

Great memories for me watching this video: as a young kid back in the early to mid 80s I was sent to hunt stands just like that! I remember one stand at the club that they used to call “sky 1”. I went on to use the original loc-ons here in NC and would often hang the real high like that to rifle hunt cutovers.

[@craigbrewer433]

When I set my climber up for the first hunt of the season after coming back from Iraq, I had chose a tree on a hill overlooking a flat spot with a creek running nearest me. I got in the stand at probably 430. Come daylight, I looked down and had to be a good 30 feet above the flat spot.

[@gadawgs8911]

Awesome video. I like to see these type videos of just good ol family fun typical days.

[@shaunblevins3303]

I’m a Tree guy with 20yrs experience. I would use my climbing saddle for hunting at times 60ft up. One benefit of a saddle is 360 degrees view and unrestricted movement another is being able to stand up in a crotch and or walk out on a limb and take the perfect shot all without the worry of falling.

[@chs9627]

60 ft up? The shot angle alone would be extremely unethical.

[@PowderBlueThunder]

60 cmon bro 😂

[@timbow50]

Lol, thirty plus years ago I built many 25-30+ feet high sets in Arkansas. I was a rifle meat hunter, horns didn’t mean much unless it was a true monster buck. Dangerous as hell for sure. I had an old linesman belt and could work comfortably building those death traps. Tied myself in with a piece of rope and would take a nap- some of the best naps ever! Then later built my own inchworm climber stands. Made a bunch of them and just leave them hanging on those tall pines in the good locations. I’m betting there’s a few still there after all these years.

[@osceolaassassin3188]

Now there are some high stands over there on The Rock and the Callaway's property. I sat the Nelson stand quite a bit twenty plus years ago when the Croy brothers leased it. Now that joker was way up there about thirty - thirty two feet. There was another hang on stand in that lease that was up there. It overlooked trees and the dirt road down into the food plot. You sit that stand and the stewardess on the space shuttle asks you what you want to drink? Y'all only about twenty five miles up the road from Pine Mount. Them high stand hanging genes run deep in them parts. That sure was a pretty hometown bow buck Mr. Waddell shot. I miss seeing those Georgia bucks like that hanging over in Foxworthy's cooler at Rocky Branch. Was out there the day Skyscraper was bow killed. Seen some real masher bucks down in them creek bottoms. Good luck with rest of Y'alls season. GOD Bless.

[@jayonez137]

Love Papa’s house. Let’s go Brandon

[@charlesmiller1742]

Wow that's up there guys. I'm glad y'all don't go that high anymore. Always good times watching your shows

[@n9outdoors727]

Nice to see you left this clip in 5:41... God bless, glad to see he was protecting you guys climbing WAY up there

[@engineco622]

We grew up hunting similar stands in the river bottoms of central Maryland. Only difference is we used railroad spikes for steps. My granddad had one that was 42ft up in the Y of a poplar tree. We also had a few where we just wedged and nailed pallets in between the limbs of some creek maples. They were only between 12 to 16 ft high.

[@66chvle]

ive seen these around baltimore county

[@stevenwalker9013]

I’ll tell you this, i hunted a couple stands way up like those and never had to worry about getting winded. Seems the wind Carries the scent over them

[@michaeldavis4338]

Most of our lock-ons were around 25-28 and we used big nails to climb with. I just can’t believe that pine ain’t dead! We killed a bunch of them

[@tylerm4709]

He said it best, “I’ve done some crazy things to kill a deer”. These guys are awesome

[@Dolehargaves]

Paw paw it NEVER gets old!

[@deanwells8322]

Great show guys. Hope y’all had a great season.

[@Day12My]

I freaking love MWaddell (No homo). He is one of the most genuine down to earth guys in the industry

[@grdelawter4266]

Yes, I also put up 2 stands that were about 40 foot 40 years ago that were home made

[@scottobryant7789]

Exactly how I grew up hunting. Miss those days!

[@tiredVeteran1984]

My pahpah and I build one that was 30, we drilled through and put a pulley, then used the tractor to pull up a Lay-z boy recliner that was turd brown. Hunted out of it for 20 years. Over winter turnip field. You could see a half a mile great times. I enjoy watching you n pa reminiscing

[@MrBearclaw78]

Bugger Bottom! With Edwin and Michael Waddell reminds me of the old days at Trinity Baptist Church.

[@marionbaker615]

When I was in my mid 20s we built one on a clear cut in greene county Ga in the top of a tall water oak that was 53 ft from the ground to the platform . 4x4 with safety rails around it . There's no telling how many we killed out of it . But we're lucky to still be alive , some of the things we hunted out of . Now in my 70s I hunt out of 12 ft ladder stands , shooting boxes or my favorite on a rainy day like today , my 24ft cattle trailer with a metal top and front as a wind breaker in my pasture . Lol

[@phillipking6153]

When I was a kid I used to get as high as possible too. Glad I realized in my old age they are just as dead hunting from the ground with the right wind. Killed more off the ground than most people do in a lifetime.

[@HELLBILLYx88]

Grew up hunting out of the same kind of stuff it is crazy looking back at it now

[@kevindonahue7355]

That makes me so happy that is so cool reminds me the time me and my dad went hunting

[@ralphclay171]

Good food, good family love that Smitty's love y'all man ole pike county boy

[@barristerblazer6071]

Hunted in South Georgia all my life. My Dad built many permanent stands out of wood with cotton spindle steps. Killed lots of deer. I once hunted a friend’s stand at the top of a tall pine on a windy day and thought the top was going to break out I was was so high!

[@jonathanmyrick2876]

This makes me feel old, I remember when u couldn't grow a whisker hunting a fence line in Texas

[@shitsngiggles8371]

So it was maybe 30 feet back when it was built 40 years ago. I've sat 12 yards according to my range finder on a few occasions in pine trees down here in Florida in my ole api climber.

[@JustJoshinSC]

I hunt in SC coastal scrub. Pines and swamp fingers. The brush is 5’ tall. You have to get way up there to see anything. I use climbing stand and safety vest for sure. 40’ 50’ pretty regular. You get used to it!

[@brianeisenga882]

We had a big Beach tree in a ravine. When you climbed into it, you could see over the top where it leveled out into hard woods. The tree got struck by lightning. The top was gone. 32 feet to the seat. We had a platform about three feet square to stand or sit on. That was in the late 80's.

[@jason6325]

The waddel family is the back bone of this country.

[@KyleC0430]

I used to hunt in Monroe county and when I was a kid hunted with my grand dad buddy and most all of his stands were all over 27 ft with spikes and one I know he made at 40-42 he says it keeps others from hunting while he’s at work and he was right no one ever touched his stands , Gene Jenkins was his name

[@sav300]

Mike I can take you to a spot a few miles from where you got your Oregon bull this year and show you some really tall stands!! He has a couple upwards of 60-80’. He used to be a tree topper. Very successful archery hunter!

[@rackem6991]

Our club is logging also. Re seeding with pines. Guess deer will have to start eating pine combs. Hate it, but I don’t own it. All for all mighty dollar.

[@jnblawnandlandscapellc]

My main stand this year was 38 feet to the seat. It gives a great view.

[@MrBearclaw78]

Ole Ronnie Bulloch…..he mounted my first buck! I love this!!!

[@jamesknight1214]

Would love to meet yall and maybe come out for a good bow hunt

[@kentomb2176]

I hunted out of a tree lounge tree stand ,I have a 40 ft rope on it to haul up my gun and pack. It takes me less than 10 min to attach it to a tree and get up 40 ft.

[@rickgoodman1900]

Congratulations paw paw

[@christrusty6070]

Can you do more recipes vids I've got kids and recently used your cubed steak roll up recipe in our airfryer and man I tell you soo good and a fast meal to satisfy my kids after school now going to need more tags cause they love those thanks for recipe buddy keepem coming

[@hobertgordon7465]

Maybe it’s a southern thing but we built ours the same way, but we used cotton picker spindles for steps, easy to come by in cotton country.

[@grantgoff10sc8]

That is outstanding!!!

[@RickyCarter-ro8fr]

Good for you guys. I still plan 35 to 40 feet with a climber. Deer can't see or smell me, don't know where I am at if they hear me, so cool!!!!!!

[@jimbelt9219]

Good days I can remember doing that back in the day lol we was nuts 😂😂

[@jimbelt9219]

@typhairdarmiento there is no number??

[@christopherch7307]

👍❤️👍 Time with dad.

[@richardbates6965]

I built one of the highest stands in this part of the country . My friend and I measured it and it was 69 ft. That was back in the day when height didn't bother me, but those days are far in the past . That stand was in the backside of Heard County . Those were the days !!

[@coreygray949]

That’s a real stand there my first stand had a 50ft close line cord fora gun rope and it hung 3ft off the ground I was 13

[@chadwatts226]

That pine has grown higher over the last fourty years.

[@lishmansky2672]

You could've measured how tall it was with a range finder right quick.

[@ammoiscurrency5706]

Far less fun

[@derekbond9284]

Man I love that place. The breakfast is on point 👌

[@oakridgeboy2023]

What does on point mean? Gay

[@thestonesaver6345]

Back in the 90’s my dad’s buddy had some property in Ritchie Co Wv we would bow hunt. He had permanent stands all over his land. He was a firm believer that higher was better. His stands had names like nosebleed, skyscraper, cross eyed, wind tower... every stand had a height pun name, and every stand was 30ft plus. I carried a 30’ pull up rope in my gear and it was barely long enough for lots of the stands. I was told that nosebleed was almost 40ft. I never measured it nor ever hunted out of nosebleed. Lol

[@jonathanmartin7003]

I remember when I was probably 7 years old going hunting with my grandpa. He used to put me in a stand about 10 yards from him so he could see me. He was a vietnam vet and had his old marine BDU pants on and a red flannel jacket. Then he would throw his old .308 over his back and climb something just like this. Used to call it the nose bleed stand. That land is long gone but to this day I wouldn’t climb it.

[@johndenver5029]

If we only had our Bushnell bone collector range finder

[@walkerdogman85]

I really enjoyed this video!

[@jeffcoe819]

That stands up there but I’ve seen some tree house stand on a piece of land in Nottoway Va that must be 70 or 80ft up look like you could see half the county from it

[@merlinnorris817]

Did that kind of crazy stuff when I was a kid we had a couple of we called the nose Bleed stands over so high have no idea but they were high Down our Harris County lease over flat shoals creek one of them was

[@alabamarifleman6375]

I've hunted off a old fire tower lol went up first flight of stairs about 20 ft

[@m00seknucklejohnson45]

You mean to tell me your in my backyard? I’ll be dipped! Subbed!

[@jimmyshockley2128]

Me and my 2 son's Jeff and Dylan always put our stands at 20 foot

[@cjr4497]

I get well over 30' in my climber all the time. My feet are 25' usually with climbing sticks. I have my pull up rope marked every 3' and it is 40' long. I always check my height. My OCD won't allow me not too. Most people have no clue how high they climb. Anyway you don't have to be very high to die from falling. We have had 2 die this year from falling out of stands in Louisiana. Wear your harnesses people and have a way to relieve suspension trauma should you fall and not be able to get back in the stand.

[@philipentwistle]

1992 I was 17 years old in Georgia and put my climber on a very tall pine tree. I went up almost 50 feet and didn't have my lower section roped to the seat. That joker dropped down about 10 ft and I knew I was in trouble. I shot my rifle 3 times to let my buddy know I needed help. About 1 hour later he showed up, seen my predicament, went back to his truck to get a rope and ball. After 10 attempts to get it up to me and failing, he said you need to bear hug down to the foot platform and work your way back up to your seat. The next 20 minutes were the scariest of my life. The grip I had on that pine left cuts up and dowm my chest and belly. I got my feet in the lower section and worked back to the top. Never been so happy in my life, but I was slap wore out 50 ft up a Georgia pine. I had to rest 30 min before I could muster the strength back down that tree. Never climbed a tree above 16 ft after that and never used a climber unless both were tied together with a rope. I was lucky that day. 😅

[@mikewassa4747]

I would call that stand the sky scraper!!

[@FinkeFishing]

There was an old treestand on the side of a ridge at our place that had to be a good hundred feet off the ground

[@frankp9794]

We have a similar stand we call Cloud 9!

[@edinmata5611]

You 2 look like brothers saludos amigos

[@bowhunter4893]

I built a stand that was around 42-45 ft in a big pine when I was young and dumb. 😅

[@huntingandfishingwithlogan2367]

Got to think a tree grows up so it probably wasn’t as high in the 70’s than now but still high!!!!

[@kellyk3889]

Trees actually don't grow like that. Most people think that they do, but they add new growth to the top.

[@j.t.sparky]

I’d be honored to come try n climb that tree man I love it

[@perrymccartney9634]

I'm a logger myself. Cutter operator. Seen a lot of old homemade stands in trees . Mostly wooden stands . Love to watch the bone collector boys

[@cincinnatigrinder4951]

Yeah you're another one of those guys that comes in and destroys people's properties regardless of what they have written up in the contract....

[@perrymccartney9634]

@@cincinnatigrinder4951 tree huger I assume. Actually we make I better

[@Jrh-rp7np]

@@cincinnatigrinder4951 take a look around your house your living in… and imagine the trees that had to be cut down to get all that lumber…

[@chadlassiter6380]

Good times

[@chris001979]

we had tree stands called box stands growing that were easily 40ft or more

[@stevie9361]

I would always fall asleep as a child in the cold air then panic wake up thinking im falling. My dad had 30 to 40 feet stands too in louisiana

[@nathanielsimons6895]

My dad must have built that lol. My uncle always told him that he went up so high the ground was out of rifle range lol.

[@oakridgeboy2023]

Wish I could of set in that when it was new

[@WarbirdCalls]

Watching these videos is better than the new hunting shows. Bet y'all somebody else agrees.

[@rmm2424]

I used to have a 30' bow rope on my climber and would climb till the bow started to hang. It is what I set my old pendulum site at

[@jameshartley935]

waddy can you recommend a bow for us folk getting older having issues with drawing the bow? thanks, James