The way I fugure it is the sticks are 20" apiece, so if I space them 20" apart and the bottom one 20" inches from the ground I can only go up to 13 feet. The set comes with 4 and extras are 20 or 30 bucks apiece. Ive never used a hang-on but I usually go about 20 feet. Why are these sticks so short? So you buy more? or is 13 feet all you need with a hang-on?
You will have to buy extra steps to get to realistic hunting heights. I use 4 lone wolf sticks and I am typically sub 20ft
I plan to use both the LW sticks and carry 2 of the Muddy sticks. One will go at the top so I have steps on both sides of the stick to stand on while hanging and the other for a place on the tree where a LW stick might not fit right..
They were designed to be shorter to help eliminate problems with the bottom of the stick "kicking out" on crooked trees. Anyone who has used the LW sticks for any length of time is probably familiar with this scenario as it does happen from time to time. Given your scenario of putting the first stick 20" off the ground and spacing them 20" apart, with the stand height 20" above the last stick you can get to 15 feet. One additional stick and you should be able to get to roughly 18 feet. Most people I know "think" they're hunting a lot higher than they are, as 15-18 feet is usually plenty good enough in most scenarios. If you really need to get a lot higher and don't want to purchase a bunch of additional sections you'll have to stick with the LW sticks or screw-in steps.
Ok, for what it's worth, I've used LW sticks for around 10 years now, have a garage full of them. I designed the Muddy stick and currently have one of the only (4) packs in-existence. I've taken them out and screwed around with them plenty, and here is my opinion on heigth achieveable. Based on a 20" gap in-between it would be like climbing a ladder into your stand. When using the Muddy's and LW's, I always put a pretty decent gap between. With the LW's, I would always use 4 sticks. I am planning on using 4 Muddy sticks all the time. The big difference between the Muddy's and LW's is that you not only have two steps at each segment to use for your feet, but also for your hands. You can grab both sides of the stick when climbing between sticks. This allows you to get a far greater amount of leverage when pulling yourself up between sticks. Twice the pulling power. If you are in decent shape, 4 Muddy sticks will get you to 20 feet. I'm not a big fan of being over 20 feet up in a tree. If anything, I prefer to be 16-18 feet off the ground and rely on the effectiveness of my camo to do the rest. I got sick of shooting deer at sharp angles. I prefer being as close to eye level with them as possible, gives you the biggest target to aim at and allows for the most ethical shot angles. Many people go higher to try to avoid scent detection. In my experience, they nail you regardless of height mostly because of the scent you leave on the sticks going up the tree. This is just something that is unavoidable because of the oils our hands emit and constant scent you everywhere in the woods and on trees when you are getting into position. If you follow the instructions and TMA requirements, you would have to hunt from the ground because they weren't written or created for the real world. Of-course, I can't instruct anyone how do do anything. So you "must" follow the instructions!
Justin, Arent you supposed to have the last stick at or above the stand. I read somwhere that you should always step DOWN onto the stand not pull yourself up to it. Thats why I didnt add the 20" above the last step. WKPTodd, I see what your saying about being able to pull up on the step above you and be able to put more distance between each step. I also see your point about the scent control and being noticed. I see that 20" steps should be more than enough and I have a few screw in steps laying around that will alow to put the first stick alot higher. I think you just made my mind up to get the muddy sticks. Thanks.
