I always use a rest...That's why I don't own a Summit climber...don't like their rest...I have 2 APIs...both have the padded shooting rail and I have added a PCV shooting stick on the left side of the stand that is for deer that are far to the left...I grew up squirrel hunting...head shots only...you learn to only shoot a rifle with a rest...Hunting the bean fields in eastern NC you could easily have a 300 yard shot...None of us are good enough to pull that off without a rest...

A few weeks back I was in Dicks Sporting Goods in Greensboro..another guy was looking at the ladder stands that were on sale...they were cheap...and didn't have a shooting rail...We got to talking and I mentioned that the stands had no shooting rail....He said that he never used a rest...always shot offhand....I asked if he ever hunted down east over beans...he said all the time...I asked how far he shot...he said "up to 300 yards"...I then asked how many deer had he killed over 100 yards...he said none...I didn't want to ask how many he had shot at...I had heard enough...