I've got a little pack-n-stack ladder stand that suites my purposes well aside from the fact that it isn't very tall and it squeaks quite loud sometimes when you shift your weight.

We hunt a lot of public land during bow season so it's great to have something I can throw on my back and set up the morning of the hunt before sunup.

I'm sure a lot of you are thinking "well get a cliimber."  My dad's got a climber and it works great when you find the right tree.  The problem is by us those are few and far between.  Everything has shit growing on it from head level up and finding a tree thick enough to climb is a hell of a challenge.

I've looked into hangers but those seem like a lot of work to put together the morning of, in the dark, quietly.  Anything out there I should look at or is the pack-n-stack my best option at this point in time?

Give THIS a look.

I hunt public land exclusively and need to go way back in there usually.

I'm going to sell a couple stands and go this route.

Interesting.

The only problem I see is being limited on what trees you can climb when you run into low limbs.  At least you don't have to worry about finding something perfectly straight.

edit:  Nevermind everything I just said, I see if you get the linemans belt you can safely jump limbs.

Actually thanks a ton for the reply.  This might be exactly what I'm looking for.  The only real question is how will I feel shooting a bow out of the thing.  Only one way to find that out...

Edit:  I really don't like the idea of carrying a bunch of climbing sticks into the woods though.  I would probably use a rope system that I could slide up the tree with me to push off with my legs.  Once I'm up the tree, what's a good platform system I can use to strap to the tree to use as a solid foot hold?  Screwing anything into a tree on public land is a no go in WI so I'm limited to straps.

I saw on youtube where some guy put four steps on one strap and cinched it down tight so he could 'walk' all the way around the tree and take a shot from any direction.

I'm about ready to place my order...

I'm on the fence between this and the Lone Wolf Alpha 2...

I have two older Lone Wolf Alpha Assault that weighs 8.5lbs. and two sets of LW sticks.

I'm going to keep them for now, but will either sell one of them and the Summit 180 climber if I like the Web.

I Use a Summit goliath, and it can climb a huge size range of tree, more so than any other I've seen. I've shot deer out of 9" toothpics I've climbed up, all the way to huge 20" trees. Once you get good at it, you can climb up some pretty crooked trees as well. It's also all day comfortable.

If you hunt the same plot of public land, just trim your trees well before season starts and mark them so you can find them in the dark. I have no problems cutting a ton of branches for the right tree.

I've never felt safe using climbing stocks and a lock on, I try to avoid that situation at all costs. I only have one big pine that I use that for, and I really don't like hunting out of it much.

OP - Don't let Ridley unnecessarily scare you about lock on stands with sticks.  They are quite safe when installed properly with quality straps or chains.  A Climbing rope with a Prusik knot is an easy way to stay attached while climbing up and down.


ANY tree stand can fail.  Lock on, climber, ladder, etc...

Make sure they are in good working order, don't half-ass fix them when maintenance is required, and always wear a body harness.

Sticks and a lock on are fine, but they aren't something you want to move around much. I see no reason to use one when you can use a climber that is safer and much more comfortable, as well as much quieter and easy to pack in.

If you are going to take the time to go in and set up a lock on, why not take the time to go in and cut branches so you can use a better stand? Doesn't make much sense to me.

Now, if all you have is dense pine and you'd have to cut half the tree down to get a climber up it, then in that case it's a viable solution. Even in that case though, I still prefer a good ladder stand.

Yeah, for a permanent stand I'd rather have a ladder and if I'm going to move it much I'd rather use my climber.



 

Yep...

Dense pine or shit hardwood that has branches running down to head level.  This wasn't always the case until we lost damn near every Oak in the area to disease.

You can set a hang on up in under 10 minutes with minimal noise with a good plan and a little practice.  I know a lot of guys that hump a hang on in early in the morning and use it that morning to hunt.

Find me a ladder stand that is high quality, sits higher than 13' off the ground, is light, and can hiked in and set up the morning of your hunt.  The closest I have found is what I have now(Pack-n-Stack).  It's heavy, it's loud, it creaks, and it's low.  It's cheap and it gets the job done, sure, but it aint great.

Climbers are out.  My dad has a climber and after seeing how much it limits him in our neck of the woods I wouldn't even consider it.

Our land is only 40 acres and during bow I prefer to hunt the public land behind us.  Our land is also a 2.5hr drive away so its hard to get up there for an extended period of time or find the time to get up in the off season to set stuff up ahead of time(not that that is even an option on public land).

This means I need something that I can set up and hunt the same morning.  Obvious answer is a climber until you factor in the limited number of climbable trees by us.

Ladders are are semi/mostly permanent option, none of use were suggesting that as a portable option; as for height, mine is 17.5'. Open front climbers really help with bowhunting especially. When gun hunting the bar in front doesn't bother me. Lock on is the ultimate in clearance but like the other poster said they aren't nearly as comfortable to me as a climber. Admittedly the one draw back is you do have to have climbable trees.



 

To clarify, I mentioned the ladders because that is what I am currently using for my portable stand.

That's a lot of work!



 

I agree with the bolded, but I can't seem to get a lock on and sticks set and ready to hunt in less than 15-20 min.  The good news is that time frame is plenty good enough for me.

Considering the Guido's Web, knowing how fast and easy it is to strap the sticks to the tree, I imagine I'll be able to strap a set of foot pegs and the tether strap in about a minute.

If your hunting public land than a climber is the way to go.  Like a summit or lone wolf.  But i prefer sticks and a millennium treestamd to anything else.  Now if its a real crooked tree then I use a lone wolf alpha especially for a quick setup.

I would normally agree but there are a lot of great areas by us that have no climbable trees.  You can hunt with a climber by us but you're going to be severely limiting your options.  Straight trees with no limbs below 12-15' by us are the exception to the rule.  Most of the trees by us start to branch out at under 10'.  It's all scrub hardwood and jack pine.

We do have some sand dunes though...in the middle of WI, imagine that.



At 33lbs it's not bad but it only sits 13' up and it's just heavy enough to be annoying.  It doesn't sit on your back very well.  It's all hallow so any bumping around and you're making a ton of noise.  It creaks quite a bit depending on the weather and how well you set it up.  It goes together fairly easily though.

I'm in the same boat as you.   I picked up a climber and it sucked for my area.  I'd find a nice spot to hunt and by the time I found a tree that worked for the stand I was 100 yards away.   I picked one of these up and am very happy with it.  Only weights 10 lbs and comes with backpack straps.  You can get them on sale for around $70 and they also combo them with 3 rapid rails for about $120ish.  Very easy to pack and set up a 10 lb stand.

http://mobile.walmart.com/ip/Bone-Collector-Aluminum-Hang-On-Treestand/36545656

Backcountryjournal.com has some deluxe tripods.