Inspect your tree stands!

[SOMDSHOOT]

you are smart but far from the norm. I have no problem getting in one if what you do was done - swap for better hardware and strap maintenance. it's all in what one is comfortable with. now there are a couple types of tree that cause me concern with a climber.

LOL it's not the species of Tree that concerns me. It's the "product failures" that make the news.

 

[SOMDSHOOT]

I don't use treestands.
Bad back. Bad knees. Wife says, "Bad attitude."

I've got a nice, comfortable ground blind, that I use.
Just remember..... gray-haired ole fat boys (me!) and trees, don't mix.

LMAO I'll bet you hear you me talk more about my " trusty old black milk crate" than any of the stands of ground blinds I own. I think I own those stands and ground blinds just to go through the motions of being a Deer hunter. Rarely do I ever kill a Deer from a stand. It's always on that black milk crate parked at the base of a tree in some who-knows-where-this-time location. I just go in the direction I saw Deer the night before and sit.

 

[shrpshtrjoe]

I use mostly ladder stands but if a climber is needed I have a nice older API Bow hunter climber set up and ready to go With bow holder and a quiver mount.

 

[SOMDSHOOT]

you are smart but far from the norm. I have no problem getting in one if what you do was done - swap for better hardware and strap maintenance. it's all in what one is comfortable with. now there are a couple types of tree that cause me concern with a climber.

I'll also let you know one other modification I make to my stands. This includes a drill and 6 stainless steel bolts. You know on most ladder stands where they slip-fit the sections together. Some use use spring pins to hold the sections together now. The older models only slipped together. Well when you have unlevel ground or the wind has been blowing and the ladder tends to separate at that slip together sections, I always drill a hole at each section and bolt those ladder sections together so that the ladder becomes one solid structure. Like I said the ladder stands stay at the farm attached to the tree year around. If I decide to relocate a stand I simply unlatch it from the tree, roll it over to the ground and drag the entire stand like a sled where I want it. Instead of 3-4 sections it is now a one piece unit. I also don't buy ladder stands that use cables for support. I don't trust anything that uses lead stops on a wire cable. Just like a climber that uses a motorcycle chain for a strap. There's literally hundreds of failures waiting to happen there just as a slip in catch on most of them newer climbers. The concept of a climber is great as long as it doesn't break you up first.

 

[SOMDSHOOT]

I use mostly ladder stands but if a climber is needed I have a nice older API Bow hunter climber set up and ready to go With bow holder and a quiver mount.

I guess my biggest problem with those climbers, outside of being potential death traps is, I can not imagine clunking through the woods with that crap in tow. I go in the woods with my vest and a weapon and my right hand and back is usually free of anything else. That's sort of why I do not allow 4 wheelers on the farm. You want to hunt... you will walk. You shoot a Der back in the woods... you will drag.

 

[cww]

I'll also let you know one other modification I make to my stands. This includes a drill and 6 stainless steel bolts. You know on most ladder stands where they slip-fit the sections together. Some use use spring pins to hold the sections together now. The older models only slipped together. Well when you have unlevel ground or the wind has been blowing and the ladder tends to separate at that slip together sections, I always drill a hole at each section and bolt those ladder sections together so that the ladder becomes one solid structure. .... Just like a climber that uses a motorcycle chain for a strap. There's literally hundreds of failures waiting to happen there just as a slip in catch on most of them newer climbers. The concept of a climber is great as long as it doesn't break you up first.

I equiped the one ladder I have with stainless locks. One prop I hunt has a ladder that someone just unbolted the lowest section and took it so the owner couldn't!

my climber has the chain. I inspect it also and put new shrink wrap on it every couple years. not worried at all since there is always the safety harness and the likelyhood of both sections failing at the same time is low.

it doesn't clank around if you take the time to strap it correctly but the older I get the more I like the idea of not having 20 pounds on my back!

 

[SRD]

I equiped the one ladder I have with stainless locks. One prop I hunt has a ladder that someone just unbolted the lowest section and took it so the owner couldn't!

my climber has the chain. I inspect it also and put new shrink wrap on it every couple years. not worried at all since there is always the safety harness and the likelyhood of both sections failing at the same time is low.

it doesn't clank around if you take the time to strap it correctly but the older I get the more I like the idea of not having 20 pounds on my back!

I hear ya.I remember when Loggy Bayou came out and everyone raved about them,so I borrowed one to try out.F-that heavy,too many extra accessory having money-pit stand.

 

[wilcam47]

I guess my biggest problem with those climbers, outside of being potential death traps is, I can not imagine clunking through the woods with that crap in tow. I go in the woods with my vest and a weapon and my right hand and back is usually free of anything else. That's sort of why I do not allow 4 wheelers on the farm. You want to hunt... you will walk. You shoot a Der back in the woods... you will drag.

they aren't too noisy. Most are cargo strapped together for carrying so they don't rattle..but any sticks that hit the metal is usually louder than I would like.

 

[SOMDSHOOT]

they aren't too noisy. Most are cargo strapped together for carrying so they don't rattle..but any sticks that hit the metal is usually louder than I would like.

Yeah it's so much the clanking of the stand itself, but, the noise of clunking it through the woods hitting branches and limbs. When I go in the woods I have pair of anvil pruners in my hand to cut stuff out of the way. Getting things hung up on tree branches does nothing but alert ever animal in the woods.

 

[willtill]

One thing that I like above hunting from a climber or a ladder stand; is that you can see farther; and a lot more; than if you were just sitting in a blind or up against a tree.

 

[SOMDSHOOT]

One thing that I like above hunting from a climber or a ladder stand; is that you can see farther; and a lot more; than if you were just sitting in a blind or up against a tree.

I will agree with that 110% However, when know where the Deer are traveling, then a ground blind or a tree base is all you need. I'll also explain that if you are hunting a thicker patch of woods then it is to the advantage to be on the ground to see much further under the skirts of the trees you are hunting. I'm willing to bet I can see a lot further away being on the ground than you can sitting up in the foliage of the trees. I hunt my stands also, but, I also do that when the Deer tend to spend more time making the trek to the open fields where I know they will be traveling.