Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Tree stands.

Any favorites? Safest, most comfortable? Looking to buy, need some direction.

Screaming Eagle hang on stands

Made in the USA

Love API with Summit as a 2nd choice, not super close tho.

I'm a big fan of the Lone Wolf hangons. Light, exceptionally quiet and the easiest hanging stand that I know of.

Using this also. Not light, but works well when you get there ...

Properly spaced, upper and lower, and with a good wedging in there, I'll sleep in an API.

Summit Viper for me, but climbers only work with specific tree types unless you're cutting a lot of branches.

They're not for everyone, and seem to be love/hate kinda things, so try before you drop $300+ on a climber.

If you own the land, ladders make a lot of sense, especially the two-man models, which can be very comfortable and let you put your rifle or bow down while you glass or pee. I like the Rivers Edge ones, and also their hang-ons.

Get a good vest-type safety harness. The ones that come with the stands are safe, but not as convenient to put on.

Pappy's suggestion on ladders is good, and I also have a Summit climber which is reliable, quiet and as safe as these devices can be.

I've never been convinced that mature deer aren't "on" to ladder stands

I shot my first archery deer from a 10 foot ladder
stand I'd put up right at daylight.
Wherever you hunt from you need to be still and
quiet and forgo the aftershave. Pretend the deer
can spit deadly poison at you if they notice you first.
Leave the gameboy and cellphone at camp or
better yet at home
stealth stealth stealth

When I used stands it was ladder stands with rail or the tree lounge climber

I liked the chain on stands Remington sold
from another company who I can't recall the
name of at this time.
That and a good stick ladder.
All steel and heavy yes, but solid and quiet
during use

The Doc's Recliner for a climber.
Heavy yes, but a solid stand that has
all day comfort.
I previously had one of the tree lounges, but it
shifted too much for my taste, and was bouncy
at times.

Any elevated stand I use has to be steady
and solid enough to be like it was carved out
of rock.
If it shifts around on you, it's useless to me

I am convinced ladder stands set up in the farmlands I hunt don't bother mature deer.

Do you see a lot of deer after peeing off your tree stand?

I've never had deer spook at human urine. Literally walked thru it 10 minutes after it hit the ground.

I prefer a climbing tree stand because I like being more than 14/16 feet off the ground.

Killed the only one I got last year after zipping
up and turning around to pick up my rifle.
Decent buck. Watched me the whole time
I guess. I'd already given up for the AM and
was fixing to head back and eat and poop and
get ready to go back out

Was that in a low or high fence situation?

How often are you around mature deer? 🙃


Erickg- climber, hang-on/steps or ladder?

are you going to put the tree inside a house or outside.. inside you are limited by your ceiling... but are easier to decorate.

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

I've got several 2 man ladder stands in permanent locations and the are easy/comfortable, but I much prefer a lock on stand to not have to be as picky on the tree....or more picky to choose exactly the tree, location, and height I want.

at age 70 i prefer ladder stands or nice box stands. living on a farm i see whitetails almost every day. i have a 4x6 box stand elevated 12 feet up, which i can see from my back patio. i've seen a truckload of deer eating corn and soybeans practically under that stand. like anything else in the woods, deer become accustomed to tree stands. as for climbers or lock-ons, I've used them years ago. screaming eagle are as solid as you can get, but i don't know if they are still being made.

I prefer climbers and use the summit bullet. the ability to choose a tree due to the wind direction is important on the days when I sit from daylight to dark.

I have used ladders, lock ons, and climbers, and nailed steps on trees and stood on a board nailed in the tree. If you are going to hunt one spot. Put up a ladder and leave it out. Change or add ratchet straps every year.deer will ignore it once it has been there a while. I tie burlap around the rail every season a couple months before season and it helps hide you. Climbers slip and fall sometimes. Or build or buy a box stand put a comfortable chair in it and be out of the weather. Derr ignore them after they have been there a while.

For 30+ years all I've used for hang on stands is Screaming Eagle stands. My climber is a Treewalker and I've killed deer from a couple homemade ladder stands.

Made in USA is my main decision making criteria these days. Not sitting in a chink stand. Family Traditions or Lone Wolf stands or I'll be sitting in a brush blind this coming fall. I'll take a look at those Screaming Eagle stands as well.

Most comfortable stands I’ve ever used

https://millenniumstands.com/



I think they’re made in MS but I might be mistaken

Called them up. They were very nice and said they hated to send production overseas but they had to. Looking at Family Tradition stands as they seem to be US made still. Bummer on the Millenium as more options would have been nice.