Sorry WNY, but I have to tell folks, as I already have about screw-in steps. Your idea may be the cheap way of making steps to your stand, but this is even more dangerous than screw-in steps. If any of you reading this thread have not seen what can happen when someone falls using screw-in steps, google it. You can find a ton of stories, and I have seen the results of a bad fall first hand. It is not a pretty sight. Even the most sure footed person can at some time fall. Even if you are using a climbing stick. The ground impact from a 20 foot fall will hurt you. But if you have something like nails or fishhooks sticking out of the tree to snag you on your way down, it can be devastating. Crippling you for life, if you are one of the lucky ones. Not trying to scare any of you, as I have used them in the past. But it didn't take me long to change my system, once I learned
how dangerous they can be.