Personally, being thatmy dad and Ifarm the land we hunt and we know the owners extremely well, we leave our ladder stand out all year long. Last year we forgot to take it down, we were surprised to see it hadn't begin to rust or anything.

Unfortunately, some people have reported on the forums about getting their stands stolen. That is the risk you run leaving your stand out all year long. Even with a lock, tree stand theft can happen.

So, you have a decision. Do you risk leaving your stand up for long periods of time, knowing your stand may be stolen? Or do you take it down at the end of the year and just put it up a few days before season opens.

With ladder stands it is a pain taking them up and down. That is the only downfall, but I personally have had success leaving the stands up all year long.

The deer didn't even bother looking up into the stand. I was able to down my first buck this year (with shotgun) using a ladder stand. It is true, they really do get accustom to the stand and probably never bothered to look up at me.