You can try wearing less clothes while hiking. this will help you not get so hot and sweat during the hike. I always carry a bottle of scent eliminator and spray myself before I walk in and spray myself once in my stand. I've had 3 treestands in the last five years, and the first 2 were very loud cable climbers. I had to stick a pin in the hole in the stand , then through the hole in the cable, and through the second hole in the stand. This design is very clumsy and causes a lot of noise. Howver, I shot 4 deer in one year with this stand. I even shot a 96" 8pt setting up within 100 yards of a his bedding (my biggest buck and bowkill). Give yourself plenty of time to get to your stand, this will allow for the noise, and allow the woods to "settle down" after your in stand. I don't think it caused me to lose that many deer, but who knows. It still bothered me, with the noise that I made. I finally broke the bank and bought a lone wolf sit/climber. It is so quiet compared to my others. IF your that worried buy a new climber that is quieter, and also look into scent suprressors/eliminating clothing. I believe in the carbon stuff, just too expensive for me. I do what I can. I use scent eliminator clothes wash, scent eliminator soap, and scent eliminator deodorant, and scent eliminator spray. You can also try climbing higher to get your scent above the deer. I'm afraid of heights, so this isn't an option for me I never go above 17' and usually hunt 12-15'. I shot my 8pt 12 off the ground at 10 yards, he never saw me. I've also gun shot 2 deer 8' off the ground. The closer to the ground the better hunter you need to be though. Hope this helps.