WARedBear

WantBuck
I will try to discribe a wooden ladder that I built 10 years ago and it is still going strong. My partner and I built them for our bear stand. I went up to the stand this past Friday and climbed the 24' to the stand with no problems.

I started by cutting 2x4's into 12" pieces. You should be able to get scrap 2x4's from a scrap pile at a building site (ask first). Create the ladder by laying two 12' 2x4's on edge and screwed the 1' pieces about every 18". Of course you can adjust your ladder height by using 8', 10' or 12' pieces. We were going 20 feet up so I used two 12'ers. Take three or four 1' pieces and screw flat across the back. Put one at the top, one at the bottom, and one or two (depending on your length) spaced evenly in the middle. You will secure the ladder to the tree with these. They also space the ladder steps away from the tree so you have room for your boots to grab the steps. To secure the ladder even more to the tree I took 2x4's and nailed them from the side of the ladder to the sides of the tree. Make the ladder 3-4 feet taller than your stand. This way you can climb above the stand and step down onto it. It is also safer to climb down if you have the ladder taller so you can grab onto it and step onto the ladder. I can take pictures of the stand and the ladder if you want to show you exactly what I am talking about. Let me know and I will take them this weekend.