What type of stand do you use?

[Podad]

I am asking about styles not name brands.
When I was younger my preference was a portable climbing stand. I always carried it in and out with me every time. But as I aged and slowed I used the climber less and less. I now hunt almost exclusively from ladder and box type stands.
I even have a light weight ladder that I take to WMA hunts.

In my case it is my age and some health issues that made me change.

What do you use and why ?

 

[Hoosier hawkeye]

I still find myself using my climber most often. I am always wanting to tweak my location and have found my climber to be the easiest. On those occasions that I feel like I have dialed in on my spot I put up a hang on and use that. I do like ladder/box type stands but don't have many of them.
It does get harder and harder to lug that climber around though.

 

[wbpdeer]

Once I was a climber guy but each decade of hunting a person adjusts their approach.

Right now I am about 1/2 ladder stands and half hang on stands with a climbing stick. I have been lucky to never had an accident but good equipment helps avoid that as well as we using safety minded approaches. My son and I are good at hanging stands - over 26 years hunting together as father and son hard to guess how many stand sites we made.

Ladder stands are a safety issue for me at 63 and grandson at 14. My 2 cents ...

 

[Chainsaw]

Age has changed my preference. Currently we use a combination of tower stands (Redneck) and ladder stands (mostly Big Game and Muddy). Still though most of my deer are shot from sitting directly on the ground on good wind days. On bad wind days it's the tower stands for me. And I think that adding more tower stands is in the near future.

 

[tcook8296]

I use mostly hang ons. I do use climbers when I have to make a quick adjustment on a location . Now that I have 2 of my own farms, I am leaning towards ladder stands. I like having them preset and I like to be able to get in a tree as quiet as possible as my properties are not that big and any noise can effect my hunt

 

[Crooked Crow]

Hang-ons are... my preference, but with age I've had to make some modifications. Screw-in tree steps have been replaced with climbing sticks and 20' is my maximum height. I find myself experimenting more and more with ground blinds as well.

 

[W33kender]

I prefer slip hunting from the ground, but i love the versatility of a climber.

 

[JohnL48]

I use mostly hang on with climbing sticks. I use my climber to but not as much, its starting to get heavy. I also have ladder stands set up around my plots.

 

[HB_Hunter]

I hunt out of a TreeSaddle most of the time. I prefer it because it is comfortable and I can straighten my legs without much movement.

When I'm not in it, I'm in ladder stands and ground blinds.

 

[erodrig4]

I prefer a ground blind. If I HAVE to use a stand I prefer a ladder stand if possible. If I cant use that then I'll use my climber. I'm just not comfortable sitting in a hang on stand. I have no idea why. When I was younger I had no problem with them.

 

[Elkaddict]

Redneck, ground blinds and ladder stands in that order. "Time and chance happeneth" to all men....

 

[boot]

Ladder stands and standing box blinds, and occasionally if there is an opportunity Il throw up a pop-up ground blind

 

[W33kender]

I prefer a ground blind. If I HAVE to use a stand I prefer a ladder stand if possible. If I cant use that then I'll use my climber. I'm just not comfortable sitting in a hang on stand. I have no idea why. When I was younger I had no problem with them.

I think that is pretty normal for many of us as we age. It takes me half an hour up a tree to relax and get used to my open faced climber despite having my harness on. Also, you couldnt pay me to ride a roller coaster, etc, anymore.

 

[Turkey Creek]

Combination of ladder stands and hang ons with mini ladders for access. Climbers rarely work where I hunt as we dont have many trees that they are well suited for. I have never liked screw in steps, seemed like an accident waiting to happen for me.

 

[PecanArcher]

I do most of my hunting alone. Which means I'm hanging stands by myself. I've pretty much switched solely to using small, low profile ladders. Ol' Man is my favorite right now. Gone are my days of messing with hang-ons. My oldest kiddo is 3, so I'm going to start on some home-made box blinds so he can come with me soon .

 

[j-bird]

I use several types - and that is because I think they all have advantages and disadvantages.

Ladder stands. I like ladder stands for gun hunter to use a shooting rail and to take the kids. I feel far more comfortable with my kids using a true ladder. They require a straight tree and the bigger 2 man versions can make mobility an issue as they can be difficult to put up by yourself. Single person ladder stands I like for bow or gun as long as I have a removable shooting rail.

Hang on/fixed stands are great for bow hunting in tree that isn't quite straight. The climb can be more "adventurous" depending on the climbing method. They also tend to not be suited for hunting with kids or a buddy without hanging a separate stand for them. They also tend to lack a shooting rail.

Climbing stands maximize your mobility.....however you still need a pretty straight tree and they can be noisy, heavy and can be difficult to get to the same position in the morning darkness. You tend need to prep the tree in advance for shooting lanes or take what you can get. I think they tend to be pretty comfortable once you get it all adjusted. Can't have a tree with low limbs.....I like limbs on a tree to help hide a hunter.

 

[Stickbow Felty]

I use tripod stands and a high chair stand I made from blueprints I purchased from Semisane who is a member of this forum.

 

[OkieKubota]

I am lucky enough to have secure enough hunting areas to be able to use ladder stands that are all in place now. MANY years before we owned our 80 I got on a deer lease of around 1500 acres with 16 hunters (1998) and I only used cheap hangon stands for several years because every year it seemed like we had several different folks when some would drop out and new ones come on. Also the first few years we ran a lot of locals out because the property which is part of a total of 15,000 acres was a recent purchase of several smaller properties put together and folks who had always hunted there didn't take well to the change. By about 2005 or so we finally got that addressed by continuous patrolling and taking down stands whenever we found them and running folks off and even having the landowner prosecute. We had a few stands stolen those first few years...

We have now got to the point when someone leaves and is not returning the remainder of the group absorb the cost so we are now 10 hunters on the entire place and we are all long time members with our own areas we like to hunt so now most all of us use ladder stands. I have been putting a couple a year up since about 2005 up until about 2014 and have roughly 24 ladders and 3 hangons in place.... I don't have to pressure my area at all as I may not be there for months and then just show up and climb into a stand and hunt. This usually works out well...

On our 80 I put up some stands the first fall with apprehension but now I realize the place is fairly secure with 24-7 camera monitoring and we live there now as well. I have some hangons and some ladders with my best 2 producers being a ladder stand in a white oak flat and a hang on in a travel corridor. I have about 8 stands on the property.

 

[Ky Bob]

I use hang-on stands with strap on Sportsman's Guide climbing sticks. I use to use screw-in steps but have had three to break on me over the years. I just don't trust them anymore.

 

[mthornton99]

I use several types - and that is because I think they all have advantages and disadvantages.

Ladder stands. I like ladder stands for gun hunter to use a shooting rail and to take the kids. I feel far more comfortable with my kids using a true ladder. They require a straight tree and the bigger 2 man versions can make mobility an issue as they can be difficult to put up by yourself. Single person ladder stands I like for bow or gun as long as I have a removable shooting rail.

Hang on/fixed stands are great for bow hunting in tree that isn't quite straight. The climb can be more "adventurous" depending on the climbing method. They also tend to not be suited for hunting with kids or a buddy without hanging a separate stand for them. They also tend to lack a shooting rail.

Climbing stands maximize your mobility.....however you still need a pretty straight tree and they can be noisy, heavy and can be difficult to get to the same position in the morning darkness. You tend need to prep the tree in advance for shooting lanes or take what you can get. I think they tend to be pretty comfortable once you get it all adjusted. Can't have a tree with low limbs.....I like limbs on a tree to help hide a hunter.

Pretty much sums up my preferences.

I have had good "karma" with my climber though. Seems to attract deer.