I have a muddy vantage it comes with a bracket that can be left in the tree and if you find cheap ladders or screw steps you can just carry the stand in lock it into the bracket and go. That what I do.
I have 6 stands I put up around August that stay out until January. I still want a few more. Mornings are so much easier when slipping into a preset stand. My Lone Wolf goes in and out when I use it, and has been put up in over a dozen different spots so far.
My main hunting ground is 140 acres. I've got 4 stands that are permanent hang-ons and stick ladders. I keep one portable lock-on and sticks (Hawk Helium hang-on and 4 Helium sticks) and my climber for when I need to make a move on a buck.
I have 4 climbers, 8 ladders,12 hang on's . But I like hunting the ladders the most for saftey sake but the deer pick them off pretty easy on my high pressured ground here at the house so sometime I just move in with my climber 50-75 yards away for surprise attack.
If you don't have a lot of money I would try to get 2 ladder stands and a climber off of craigslist. Put the ladder stands up in different spots and leave them all the time. Then when you want to move you have the climber. That's the system I use for my 40 acres. I don't like the hang on stands they take too much time and hassle to put up with the linemans belt and the climbing sticks. Also a person I know used to leave his hang on's out all the time and had either rot or a squirrel chew the tiedown and when he step on to the stand it fell. With a ladder stand even if something chews thru the tiedown it will still stand leaning against the tree like a ladder. You can get good used stands on craigslist for $50 - $100. So you can get the 3 stands for the same price you'd pay for 1 new one. Example one of my ladder stands 15ft high I paid $40 for on craigslist and I leave it in the woods all yr long and never move it. If for some reason it was to get stolen it wouldn't matter.. it was only $40
Normally find a good spot like a trail and put up a ladder stand and leave it. Occasionally we will move it if the stand does not produce or deer movement changes but that is fairly rare. I have climbers also that we use when we want to be mobile.
During archery season I use my LW climber and as the deer move I move!! Once gun season comes around I hunt out of a ladder stand because I don't have enough time to get in and set up with my climber because of the time change.
Agreed, I rarely move mine. I hang em and leave em up, then hunt the spots according to what the weather and trail cam activity dictates. In my best spots I hang muddys, in my other ancillary locations I try to pick up whatever is decent and on sale. To the OP, you don't have to drop $1000 to boost your stand inventory in the woods. Just be selective when and what you buy. I've gotten some big game boss XL's on clearance for $50 and some 20 ft grizzly ladder sticks for $30 when I wait for sales. That's $80 per set and they are very adequate IMO. Over the course of a few years it doesn't take much to get 10-12 stands and stick sets in the woods.
I mainly use a climber which means I can move around freely...however two bucks this year have been from a clamp o. That I've moved three times since october
