I know everyone's situation is different Bruce but I know for myself the after work hunts where you are getting in late to your stand it's a big plus to have something you can get up fast.
X2 90% of my hunts are after work, I might be climbing up an hour and half before dark. Getting in and up in a hurry just decreases my chances of getting busted. That's why I rarely hunt out of a climber during the week and hunt preset hangers so that I can just sneak in and get up. If I was hunting a climber, one that lets me get up in 5 minutes vs 10 just saved me 5 or 10 % of my hunt.
I don't try to get set up in 2 minutes or less it just happens, thats how simple and easy the stand is to use. After getting up at 3:30 in the morning and walking 1 1/2 miles through the hills and hollows, I'm ready to get set up and hunt....last thing I want to do is to jack around with my stand for 15-20 minutes. As far as hang-on and sticks vs climber.....I'll take the climber any day. It limits me to certain trees which adds alot more fun to my hunt...I have to put alot more thought into where I can and cant set up....It makes the hunt much more technical. The climber has made me become a better hunter.
The longer It takes to put a stand up the noisier your probably going to be. That's huge with me. Everyone has their ways. Some stands work better for them then others when putting stands up. I tried the LW hang ons, wasn't Impressed. That doesn't mean these are bad stands though. I am one of those guys who makes my own stands, their hang ons. Yes their heavier but I can put my stands up much quicker and quieter then I can a LW. Reason being me and the LW's didn't get along, I'm used to my hang ons that I've been putting up since I was 12 years old (I'm 36 now). Use what best works for YOU. That's what I do.
Depends.... Everything being equal I don't really see any more or less deer in those quick night hunts than a longer hunt. Most activilty I see around here is in the last 30 min.. I've never been able to get into spots that I see muchmid day movement unless I'm hunting the rut.
I hunt deep in nc public land. I primarily use a climber but prefer hang-ons because I can select branchy trees to hunt from. I like this type of tree for two reasons: I like to be "nestled" in between branches for security and concealment, and because branchy trees are found at edges where they don't have to compete hard for sunlight which happens to be where more vegetation and deer are. If you find yourself hunting edges my advice is to get a lightweight hangon and sticks or steps. Does anyone here use Hawks setup?
I haven't used Hawk but looked at them since im' in the market for a new hang on as well. Hawk looked good but too heavy for what you get. Been looking for like 3 monthes. I've pretty much narrowed it down to either a lone wolf or a XOP. I have a summit viper which is very comfortable to hunt out of but im limited a lot of the time on the types of trees I can get in. I do find that where I hunt if I'm in a good group of trees with a hang on I very rarely get busted and I see more deer versus sitting in a lone tree with a climber. I also like the ez hang hook idea as well. I'm a small guy so it will be nice to be able to leave the stand on my back when on my 4th stick and just hang the ez hang hook. Then attach the tree. My old stand I would be fighting to hold myself to the tree and swing the strap around while holding on etc.
You can't go wrong with LW but Hawk probably has one of the lightest hang ons. I'm going to pick he helium soon and give it a go. I have a LW alpha but that's good to be a stand I setup and leave. I hunt a ton of public land so I need the least amount of weight to run and gun. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I will be hunting public some this year. To save weight and time, I am putting up 3 cheap ($30 menards special) hang ons. I'm not leaving sticks on the tree. I will carry my nice muddy sticks in with me to each stand. less weight to carry than taking a stand each time, and it's hard to steal a stand 20' up with no sticks on the tree.
That was my exact plan too. There is one place that I can do that on so I'm going to take advantage and scout out a few different spots. Need to get out there now though. Been slacking lately. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
My error, I was thinking Millenium for some reason. The Hawk do look appealing especially the Helium with that comfy seat. I use lone wolf sticks so I'm wondering how I would carry the hawk stand and LW sticks? Part of the reason why I was thinking of getting a lone wolf as I could use the stick quiver.
get chased by a big old bear , wont need anything . lol.. other than that my summit climber or stick ladder with a lock on
Spin in steps and find a tree with a nice natural seat limb hanging out, leave all the other crap at home.
Ladder stand in my experience has been the easiest to get in and out of but for concealment from people and animal id say tree pegs are your best bet
