Man I busted my butt hanging a stand Saturday!! I used 2 things to make it easier. I bought 16' of climbing sticks and I used the linemans harness with a strap around the tree. Getting the sticks up was so much easier than the screw in steps. But after that ther wasn't nothing easy!! I tried pulling the stand up by a rope, nope that didn't work! So I then did the only thing I could think of, I carried the stand up with my right hand while I held on to the tree with my left. Once I got up there I jammed the stand up against a small limb and caught my breath. After I caught my breath I pulled the stand to where I wanted it hung, pulled the strap around the tree, clipped it in, and went down to catch my breath. GOOD GRIEF THIS IS HARD WORK!!

I went back up to reinspect my work and make final adjustments. I noticed 2 problems: the strap had gotten one twist in it on the back side of the tree and the clip was on backwards [:@] , I also noticed that when my cousin put the stand together he apparently forgot (no wrenches?) to tighen the bolts on the bottom platform where the cables go in [:@] [:@] [:@] !! After seeing this I had to get off that tree!! I headed back to the house to drink some water and cool down. Man it was humid. I figured I would fix the stand on the next trip down to the farm.

After drinking some water I decided I had better head back to fix the stand. Somebody else may want to hunt the stand, I don't want them to fall out!! So I took my ratcheting strap and a few wrenches with me. I first pulled the stand all the way against the tree with my strap then undid the stand strap to turn it around. I then tightened the bolt on my side of the stand. I thought, and thought, and thought but I couldn't think of a way to tighten the other bolt without getting on the stand? So I made sure my lineman's harness was tight, gently and carefully climbed onto the stand. Why is it shaking? Oh, that must be my knees . I leaned over the stand and tightened the bolt. OK!! I stood up and sat into my newly mounted stand.

Man that was stinking tough!! Are there any eaiser ways? I guess if the stand was ready before I hung it would be tip #1. The climbing stick sure made life easier. I figure when I use my screw in steps I will use a tool belt to hold my steps.

How do you guys hang your stands??

Steve