RE: ladder and permanent stands
Hey NYBowhunter
Here is how I see it. By the way, I own ladder stands, climbers, lock on's and most recently a Tree Saddle. When I walk through the woods, if a stand(any stand) captures my attention easily, it is a bad set-up. I have seen a lot of ladder stands setup with the ladder right in the middle of a good trail making it "seen" very easily. When I use a ladder stand, I try to to use a tree with a lot of underbrush and "junk" around it so it doesn't "stand out". This makes the ladderstand a great tool to get set up quickly and quietly. To me, being honest, they tend to stand out if not properly hidden. Now the same goes for a climber or strap-on stand also. Try to get up by the branches, in the middle of the "junk" to break up your outline. If you see your stand from a long ways off, it's not hidden well enough, and your chances of success on a mature whitetail just went down. I'm not saying it will not happen, but it goes down.
Does this make sense?
Dandbuck