I hunt a lot on State land in the catskills of New York and to get away from the out of shape guys who go in late and come out early and who can realy foul up your day i try to put my stands at least a half mile off of the road preety much stright up the side of teh mountain. To tell you the truth i cannot understand how ome of you guys can carry stands that weigh in the 20 lb + range. I use the loggy bayou climber without the climbing aid and it comes in at about 11 lbs what a savior that is on your back at the end of the day...gotta go in early climb high and stay allllllll day.