Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Tree stands.

It's a factor...

Yup

I’m unfamiliar with all of the variables here, zero experience with tree stands, I honestly have no idea what I need/want.

erickg,

Are you hunting public ground or private?
Do you have one or two favored ambush spots or do you want to be mobile and jump around a bunch?
Are you nimble enough to scale trees / hang stands or would you prefer something a bit more rock-solid for ease of use?

All things to consider.

Private property with one ambush zone in mind, won’t be moving things around, rock solid sounds like what I want.

If they can smell my pee, they can smell my breath or whatever else I’m emitting. I hunt “clean” of perfumed soaps and such, but if they’re downwind, you’re busted, which is the way it oughta be in my book. Camo, modern weapons, blinds, etc etc; gotta leave them something.

Never seen any evidence that deer can identify human urine as human. Seen a fair number of YouTubers pee right in scrapes. WTF really knows? I am willing to believe they can become educated about it. Have seen video of deer turning back after encountering ground scent, and have also seen deer smell mine and keep right on going; one even proceeded to work a scrape a few yards away. Once I shot a buck who was traveling with a spike. The spike ran off a bit, then came back and sniffed my pack lying right beside his dead and gutted pal. Didn’t bother him at all.

One thing is certain (to me), if the smell of human urine was really all that distressing to deer, buy the second or third day of rifle season, deer on public land would be running around in a constant state of panic.

I have two ladders and two hang-ons from these guys, plus two sets of their climbing ladder sections. Am completely satisfied.

https://www.huntriversedge.com/two-man-ladder-stands

You definitely want at least two guys for setting these up.

One spot, private land that you will leave there? Simple: Ladder stand, preferably 2 person for comfort, you can "branch" it in with artificial Christmas tree branches. Just loosen the strap every year when done so the tree can grow without issue to the stand.

Anyone tried these?

http://familytraditiontreestands.com/Brochures.html

OK, we're honing in a bit.

Will the ladder become a semi-permanent fixture or will you be removing after each season?
We do a bit of both in my neck of the woods but anything with mesh or cordura seating is not a year-round proposition (rodents & weather wreak havoc on them).

I have not tried them but they look like a sturdy product.

I hunt on the ground, too old to be climbing trees.

I have no intention of moving things around, I want to get it set up this spring, let the deer get used to it being there and then hopefully never touch it again, gonna be a bit of a chore getting it into the woods, when it goes up its not coming down for any reason.

I'd look for a 2 man ladder stand. Right after seasons close and Xmas is over is a great time to find one at a good price. I much prefer one where the platform goes all the way to the tree, not all do this. Mesh seats, IME, are way more comfortable. Squirrels chewed the pads up, but even without it's comfortable enough for an all day sit. Just be sure to mind and check your straps every year. A shot of krylon paint on any areas that start rusting yearly isn't a bad idea either.

Not around here, our mature deer are stupid. All of these were taken from ladder stands in the past 12 months.

For a climber, I'd go with this. I've got 2 of them.

https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/api-outdoors-alumni-tech-magnum-climbing-treestand

For a ladder stand, I have 2 of these.

https://shop.biggametreestands.com/hunter-hd-1-5/

If you have an academy sports near you, these are my new favorite stands. Not too expensive and very comfortable. I can sit in it for hours without having to stand up to get the blood flowing. It has a good sized platform also.

https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/game-winner-deluxe-ladder-stand#repChildCatid=4753512

LMAO

Spells ladder stand to me. Deer won't care. Climbers are great, but trees are limiting and there's the noise every time.

How about climbing in instead of up?😀

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1007665144