I have been thinking about putting up a few ladder stands on my property to take the place of my climbing stand that bit the dirt last year. Any suggestions from folks who have been using them and bought them in the past would be appreciated.

No suggestion re brand or design, but if you leave them out year round, be certain to test the integrity of the straps each season and in fact I would recommend replacing straps each year for safety. The material is degraded by sun and rain and my wife codes many falls at a level 1 trauma center where the patient fell no more than 8 feet and has no feelings from the nipples down.

X2 with cobra on straps. I set up stands in September and tear them down when I can get to them: January to March.

I bought 2 ladder stands and were not impressed. Believe me they have a purpose in thick areas where trees aren't tall. But I hunt a large stand of timber on my farm where its all trees, where one could go 30' if they wanted.

I prefer portables: I can get 16' to 18' high which is the height I like and am able to go unnoticed by deer. The ladders are 13'. I measure how high the platform is.

Portables are easy enough to setup for a young guy like me. Ladders are too heavy to really deal with. You also need larger trees for the ladders I have. I've had a supprize recliner from the top portion of the ladder stand sliding down a tree a couple of inches. The ladders are also finicky on how far the ladder should be from the tree. I rather use the wobbly wooden ladder stands that I used in my teenage years: and I claimed them to be deathtraps.

For me the bad heavily outweighs the good. One of the largest con is that I barely saw deer two seasons ago when I used the short ladder stands. Last season I was back to portables and had deer walking under my feet, not even exaggerating there.

I buy the cheap 15 footers from Sportsman's Guide and usually leave the bottom section at the house. I buy one or two every summer. I hunt on family property and leave them out year round. X 2 what cobra said about the straps. Add new straps every year. They are pretty fierce on your butt and will leave an expanded metal tattoo pattern on you without a pad. They are rugged and stable. Have had no issues with them at all and find them to do well for our kind of hunting. There are some real caddilacs out there if you want to spend the money. There are definitely stands that are more comfortable and probably better suited for an all day sit, but we buy these in numbers to cover more spots and they do fine for up to four hour hunts. Longer than that and you start wishing for a more comfortable chair.

I will add that the ones with the seat that flip up against the tree to allow you to rest against the tree while standing or shooting have worked good for me. Dicks usually has them fairly reasonable

Double stands are great but takes a lot more to hide them to break outlines up. Lots of room to move around on them. Dicks has some good prices. Try to not set up alone the extra help is appreciated . The straps they give you are best being replaced with other ratchet straps that you can cinch up better. Brush in or utilize cover squirts helps with movement better.

I try to avoid ladder stands that have bars on either side of the knees when sitting. They substantially restrict your ability to quietly turn in the stand.

I like to set mine with cover from East or West or both so I'm in the shade. Seems to help. Good luck.

I buy new one every year and put it in new spot on the property Goto sporting goods store right after hunting season there usally half off I check my strapes and change the burlap blinds every year

Wish I had a piece of property to hunt and could leave stands on! I'm jealous of you guys who have that. I have to try to be happy with a couple million acres of public land. :-)

That said, I swore off tree stands a long time ago but would probably go for a ladder stand if I was in your situation. I'd probably try my hand at building one. Saw a nice home built ladder stand a couple years ago on public land. Seemed to be left there for the season.

Ladders can be great, put them in a cluster of trees or a multi- trunked tree. I disagree about needing a big tree. small diameter tree is fine as long as you have cover. I use a few and like them but I usually have help setting them as they can be a pain to stand up. I myself prefer a set of sticks and hang on stands. Sportsmans Guide sells some sticks for under 30 bucks for a set of three and they work very well. At home I maintain around 60 stands but when I hunt the mid-west and such it is sets of sticks and portable hang ons! Shawn

Get the 2 man stands so you will have plenty room

A lot of stores don't have them in stock nor listed on their websites right now. Give it a couple months and check out the Field and Stream DELUXE ladder stand from Dick's Sporting Goods chain. They are excellent for the price. Seat flips up; platform extends all the way back to the tree; rubber/nylon washers at joints. $80. and free S&H most of the time. I have almost fifty of them. bw

I Got one Id give you if you were close IMO they are great for guns or compounds. But your movement is limited with a longbow or recurve and you have to watch the bottom limb. Lots of guys use em wo incident. but I have difficulty with mine

I would rather get cheap hang ons and use a ladder stick

Or hunt from the ground

Over the years I find that deer look up a lot (like they know treestands are used lol)

I've only been in two but they were terrible for my bow. They did not have a flip up seat so standing was very restricted. They had rails so shooting was restricted. Made for kids with rifles

We have a company called Menards around here. At the end of December they sell out their stock. I've bought a lot of simple stands (and that's what you want) for 48 bucks. One year they had them for 36 I bought 6.

River Edge is the brand name as I recall.

Bowmania

And, beware of the stands advertised at "buddy" or 2-person stands. Trust me...I took my youngest daughter with me once, she was 13 at the time, to my "2-person" ladder stand. She is small, about 5'4" and 100# soaking wet. I'm not a big guy either at 5'9" and 190. We were tighter than sardines in a can in that stand.

And I suggest putting a ladder stand in a cluster of trees. May not be the same everywhere, but around here with these deer, a ladder stand sticking out like a sore thumb...the deer look at the ladder and you can watch their eyes and head follow the ladder straight up to the platform and stand there gazing up at the platform. If the ladder is mingled among other tree trunks it don't stick out so bad. And even then, I use limbs off an old fake Christmas tree and zip tie them to the ladder uprights to blend it in some.

I have sen the stands Barry speaks of go on sale for buy one get one. Usually around March when all the fishing and turkey stuff comes out. I own 4 of them. They are a great stand for the money. Shawn

60 stands. Wow! Thought I had a lot.

I had one at the most!

At 80 bucks for a quality stand, My do it yourself idea doesn't hold up very well. :-)

As usual Barry brings solid advise. I bought two of those from Dicks and used them last season. I was impressed, especially for the price. One has to wonder how they can make money on them.

If I hunted private land I would use ladderstands.

I used the ladder stand from Sportsman guide also used there tr tree sticks.There cheap but work for me.

Im nervous of heights but i have successfully killed deer( and missed many more!) while being less than 15 feet off of the ground. Having a thick heavy backdrop and being down wind is the key.

Family Traditions Single Man is the perfect ladder for trad bowhunting at least for me

I have 12 stands on 160 acres of ground to help play the wind as much as possible. Various models, 12 to 18 foot tall. Some came with rails, that did not get installed. Some have flip seats and some don't.

Thanks for all of your responses. Lot of good feedback here that will help me pick the right stand. Thank you all. Ken

NIson is right on with the flip up seat !!! Also zip-tie some limbs, branches etc to the sides of the ladder to break up the outline...Also, IMHO and my experience...The higher the better !!!! Finally ALWAYS and I do mean ALWAYS wear a safety harness and be extra careful stepping off and on the stand part at the top of the ladder !!!!!!!!!!! Be safe !!!

Barry, 50? Holy Moly! Large construction companies allowed by the gov't to do work to the $33 million mark, don't have 50 ladders. lol Anyway, ladders remind me of work and at 63 I doubt Comp dudes are gonna buy why they should cover my 'play time' fall. Not that I wouldn't at least try. lol

I buy the Sportsman Guide stands for $45 and then hang a portable treestand off the side of them. In short, I just use the ladder as steps to get to the hang on stand. Its a safe climb and I have a good obstruction free shooting platform when I'm in the tree.

I've killed a ton of deer this way.

family traditions x 2

A tip: Put a piece of treated 2X4 or 2X6 under the last rug on the ground between the ladder sides. This will eliminate the pre-dawn, bowel churning, "ladder slip" that can occur when you are halfway up and your weight pushes the ladder sides into the ground, thereby separating the upper ladder section from the lower. This is especially true for stands that are left out all year or for any extended period of time and the ground shifts due to freeze/thaw, or wet/dry.

How do I know this? Let's just say it was a good thing I had a change of clothes in the truck and it wasn't that far away!!

Lol..

Thanks for the tip Woods Walker. That just might have saved someone from getting hurt.

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