Bowhunting Central and South Texas is a different world than most might be used to. With mesquite trees, lots of cedar and heavy brush ruling the landscape, hanging a climbing or ladder stand here is going to be next to impossible. Pop-up tents, ground blinds and elevated box blinds are some of the most popular options for whitetail hunters, however few are designed with the needs of a bowhunter in mind. If you're hunting a property that normally has rifle hunters on it, then there's a good chance that the existing blinds have tight windows and low ceilings-- making shots with a bow all that more challenging and slightly impossible.
For several seasons now I've looked for a stand that had a simplistic design, which would ultimately allow for a full range of movement when drawing a bow and shooting from different positions. It wasn't until last week that I finally found what I was looking for. The craziest part about the whole thing is that the company is 30 minutes from my house, I know, I know. Texas Droptine Outdoors is a locally based Austin, TX company that designs and builds all of their product on site. Whether you're looking for a hog trap, bow blind or a tripod for your feeder, they have it all and weld everything right at their store. Literally a one stop shop.
It didn't take more than a minute of talking to Danny(who is one of the owners) to figure out that he's all about making gear that works for you and your specific application. Considering all of the other places that you can buy a stand, few of them actually ask you about where you're hunting, if you shoot from a sitting position vs. stand and what height is the vegetation around your stand. After chatting with him for a bit, we figured that a 6 foot bow blind with a swivel seat and ladder was probably just about perfect for my spot due to the height of the cedars and brush that's there.
When I tell you that these guys know how to build and weld an outstanding stand, I mean it. All of the cuts and welds are extremely clean and the stand itself is really solid when you're up in it. No screws and bolts mean that this gear won't get wobbly or breakdown and how can you argue with that?
If you're looking for a company that builds quality products(with great prices I might add!) definitely check out their site or give them a call. No doubt in my mind that this stand will last for a ton of seasons to come and with a little bit of luck will allow me to take some great deer from it.
