Tree Stand Decision For 2016

[Basstar]

Well, my compound is now gone and I intend to be hunting with a longbow next year. I may make a few “fun” hunts, small game and stump shooting this season but truthfully am not at the skill level where I would feel ethical taking a shot at a deer.

Now I have a decision ahead of me for next year.

I currently own a Summit Viper Elite SD climber style tree stand which has the sit and climb bar. I am concerned about the bar being in the way to hunt with a longbow and would like some opinions form you folks who have already walked this trail.

My three primary thoughts at this time are to 1) keep this stand and learn to shoot around the bar, 2) sell this stand and purchase another Summit climber with the hand climber top and no bar, and 3) sell this stand and purchase the Lone Wolf Hand Climber model.

A fixed hang on stand and steps are not a choice at this stage of my life “AND” much of my hunting is still hunting or hunting from makeshift ground blinds. The tree stand will be used probably 20% of the time or less.

Thoughts and opinions?

Thanks

[Graps]

Me personally , there are to many negitives to hunting in a tree stand .
Take away the danger factor and you still have many problems .
Bad angles for kill zone , limb tips hitting obstacles , dropping things , and they are not comfortable .
But that's just my opinion .

[Basstar]

Me personally , there are to many negitives to hunting in a tree stand .
Take away the danger factor and you still have many problems .
Bad angles for kill zone , limb tips hitting obstacles , dropping things , and they are not comfortable .
But that's just my opinion .

Boy how I hate reality Graps but I'm not so sure that I'm not coming in line with this thinking as much as I do not want to admit it.

I know being elevated is an advantage to seeing deer, having them hang around, waiting for the right buck and right shot etc.

My transition has gone from simply climbing trees and standing or sitting on limbs, to notching a board to wedge in the crotch of trees or limbs to a Baker tree stand, then to hang on stands with screw in steps to the Summit, but as I mentioned in my remarks I find myself climbing less and less.

I am fighting the urge to go to the ground 100% and think I should keep one climbing stand but the ground surely could become my home within a few seasons. To be honest I really enjoy ground hunting even though I do not get to watch the deer for nearly as long or see nearly as many unscathed by me presence.

[Carpdaddy]

Hang on to your climber, I can't be the only nut left in the tree around here. I hunt with a climber and have the side and front rails with my longbows without an issue. So does my hunting buddy Mark. I made a longer bow this year and wonder if it will become an issue or not but haven't tried yet. With my top climber sitting close to the bottom when I stand the bottom limb is well above the side or front rails. You got some good climbers there, you wouldn't have to climb very far to try shooting your bow out of it to see for yourself.

[Graps]

I've hunted both ways for years . I am convinced that I see more deer from the ground and I am much more comfortable and can sit longer .
I like to travel light , and I will sometimes switch to still hunting . It's hard to come down from a tree without a lot of movement and or noise .
If a person wants to sit in a tree , go for it . As for me , it's a handicap .

[swampkooter]

hunted from climbers for years.....four years ago had a nasty fall coming coming down...broke back and collar bone..[no shooting for 18 months] that sucked...since then went to ground blinds.takes a little more prep time [ for me ] but I see and harvest just as many deer as before.if I really had to go back up a tree I would give ladder stands serious consideration.not as mobile but very stable for a longbow...but please remember to wear that safety harness....

[Carpdaddy]

Sorry to hear about your accident, it happens too much. Yes to safety harness, that I do!

[Big Dude]

I would keep the stand and if you try and can't shoot your longbow from it I would get a shorter bow for stand hunting and use the longer one on the ground

[Captainkirk]

I'm another that not only made the switch to trad gear for hunting this year, but also to a ground blind.
I saw more deer than I ever saw from a tree stand in any previous year and had three shot opportunities. (don't ask) I also was less than 15 yards from a deer in which we had an eyeball-to-eyeball standoff for over three minutes. He knew something was up but he wasn't sure what. Like graps said, the discomfort level of being in a tree has eclipsed the benefits for me after a nasty fall where, thank God, I broke nothing but was on crutches for weeks with tendon damage.
My point? It CAN be done from the ground despite what the tree huggers say. I will likely hunt from a stand again someday, but I'm not in a hurry.

[hornfrog]

But you'll ride a motorcycle.