Reply To: Treestands

[Stephen Graf]

#9272

As Matt said, everyone likes something different. In that regard, I just haven’ been able to make friends with climbing stands.

For me, rails or other things sticking out get in the way of shooting. I shoot an ASL so that may be part of it.

I like to put my stands in a clump of vegetation in a gnarly tree. Can’t do that with a climber. A climber needs a straight clean tree. To make them effective you have to go higher or else the deer make you out. This is particularly true on a steep slope, like you mentioned. I never go up more than 12 to 14 feet. I get nosebleeds up there 😳

I like to put my stand up before hand. That way, when it comes time to hunt I just slip quietly up the tree with no fuss. Climbers make noise and take time to get you where you are going – which reminds me of a story….

When I was young, I like the Lock-On Wind Walker hang on stand. Five pounds and super sturdy. Best stand I ever had, but it had a small platform and a not so comfy seat. Didn’t bother my resilient young flesh. When I passed into my fourth decade, not so much.

One thing for sure though, no matter what type you choose to use you will have more luck with the more cautious deer like white tail and coues deer