I've been putting my sticks and stand combo through the paces here in the last few days, and I'm getting fairly good with them. More comfortable, anyway. I can be in the tree, completely setup in 13ish minutes. I'm sold on the versatility of the setup. The only thing that is keeping me from being sold, completely is scent. In my climber, I do not touch the tree, at all ascending, or descending. With the sticks and stand, I have to. Touching the sticks, etc on the way up, gives me the idea that my scent is much more dispersed, than in my climber. where I just have sent at top of the tree (where I'm at). Do you stick/stand combo folks worry about this? Or even follow my post? lol Any tips, advice would be appreciated.
If the deer are downwind of you they are going to smell you whether you touch the tree or not. Use the wind to your advantage and you will be fine. Good luck.
I guess my point is that use the equipment that you are most comfortable with and puts you in the best spot (versatility). I would not worry about having to touch the tree more because IMO if you are upwind of the deer they are going to smell you either way. So might as well use the best equipment. Bottom line is don’t worry about it and use the hang on and sticks.
Honestly, I've never worried about it. I usually spray my hands down with Scent Shield before I head into the field and wear gloves as much as possible.
My climber along with my sticks and hang on are stored outside during the season. I think this helps with the odor from the stand. I also spray down and wear clean de-scented gloves when I'm in the woods hunting. Other than this process I don't worry about it much further either.
I've had deer walk directly to the base of my tree & get the same reactions whether I am using a climber or sticks & hang ons. Sometimes they spook, sometimes they sniff around like they are curious.
Wear gloves, focus more on trying not to break a sweat than speed and as Brad said know your wind and base your setup on that. Last year I went in at 2:00 in the afternoon, picked a tree and put up sticks and a stand. I did a minimal amount of trimming and was sitting fairly comfortably by 2:30. I had 2 small bucks come by at around 2:50, 6-8 more deer after that and then took a nice buck around 5:00. It can absolutely be done, just be smart about how you approach it.
