Yea Im fortunate to have good friends who own a-lot of good hunting land. This just is'nt your ordinary sneek and peek still hunt rain it's a all out Downpour! I just checked the weather and were suppos-to get rain untill Saturday with some Snow on the hill. One of my buddies owns a piece of land up in hill country about 15 minutes away so mabey when the rain changes to snow there it'll be a good place to go. I refuse to Bow Hunt in the pouring rain, even with a good shot the blood trail can be washed away in minutes. But I agree once the rain stops every deer will be out and with the Rut just starting it should be good. I also was on the phone with a few of my hunting buddies and they have'nt seen any deer movement, the wind and rain is really keeping them bedded.
What season starts for you on Saturday?
(BP)

M/L starts here on Sat. I'm excited to get out, I've done ZERO bowhunting this year so far - which is a first for me in 30yrs. Just had too much going on, and the time has slipped away. Will be out Sat morning for sure, also Mon & Tues mornings also. Hopefully it will be good timing, this area usually heats up first two weeks of Nov. I'm hoping the deer will be moving well on the backside of this storm.

We made out pretty good in the storm, I was worried we might get hammered with all that snow - but we were just east enough that all we got was alot of rain and wind. The snow we did get was mixed with rain and didn't stick. No major damages thankfully. I can't imagine what the folks up north are going through. Haven't been out to check my stands, hopefully they made it through also.

Next time at Wal Mart, I am going to have to look into that stand. Or I can order it on line and have it delivered to the store for free. Be sure and let me know how well it sits and whether it is a wobble walker. I was in one ladder stand that scared the devil out of me when it walked about seven inches. I climbed out of that and buried the legs about eight inches in the ground, and took my drag rope and tied the ladder part to the tree. Then it was much better. Be sure and do that if the stand does not supply that feature. Tie that ladder to the tree too.

Good idea about scratching your name on the stand. I have an engraving pencil and do that to most everything I leave out. And I put it in two, sometimes three places. So that was smart thinking on your part.

Be sure and let me know how rock steady that stand it. I might have to get me one of them.

Well BP - when you do get out - I wish you luck the way you want it. (I say that because if you're like me you think about hunting all year long and then - boom- first hour out you fill your tag. you're happy until you realize that you're done! I'd rather go out and be able to enjoy nature for a few days watching the deer and other animals move about before I fill my tag.)

Dave the first thing I did when I put the stand up was to see how sturdy it was, it is. What I liked most about it is the ladder rails are solid and narrower than most wich makes them firmer and makes the climbing a-lot more steady. If you look at the pics I put on in the second pic is where you can see the ladder steps.
Yes you can order from wal-mart and have it shipped free (site to store) to your wal-mart. The only thing I did is the seat cushion is a tad noisy, the material makes a little nosie if you slide your butt on it so I took an old sweatshirt and put the seat cushion inside it, problem solved. The shooting rail cushion is made of the same material so I also wrapped a old towel around it to have a softer noise free rest. Just be sure to remove them if there's rain in the forecast, the seat and rail material will weather fine.
Also I try and engrave my name in everything that's made of metal or steel that's out of my sight, just to be sure. And I always do some of my own re-inforceing on any stand I put up, it seems you can always make them more sturdy with a extra piece of rope and a extra buckle strap. Im sure you'll enjoy this stand and the price cant be beat.
Wal-Mart also had a 2 Man Ladder Stand just like this one and only $10 more, but the darn sucker weighs like 70lbs, it looks well built but is too darn heavy for 1 person to put up themselves. If you have help and want a bigger ladder stand look at this one also.
(BP)

I have several 15' two man ladder stands, got most of them from Sportsmans guide for less than $100 shipped. Agree, you need two people to set them up. If you have a location that you can leave them, they are great. And all the ones I've had are solid as a rock (I believe its all in how you set them up). FWIW, they aren't really two man stands - unless its an adult and young/smaller kid. I personally prefer the two man over one man, even though we rarely use them with two folks. Just gives some extra room.

Agreed bronco.
Im lucky to have 2 buck and 3 doe tags. One buck and one doe tag is for MLer Season or Bow Season. Many years I pass on nice bucks during bow season just to save my tag for MLer season. If I dont get a shot at a decent Mler buck I'll take a smaller one and wont regret taking one of the bigger ones I saw during archery season. Then I also have my buck tag for rifle season, if it goes unfilled with a nice buck I can also use it for late Mler season. So I have many options to find the right buck I want or even take a smaller one and hold out the rest of the season for a Big One.
I also have had opening days of bow season and rifle season where I saw a good buck but passed because in no way was I going to shoot a nice buck when I have all season ahead of me and you never know what you'll see. I'd rather pass on a good buck on opening day and hunt all season and not get one then to shoot one opening day and not be able to search out that Great Buck for the rest of the season.
Now all this changes if on opening day I see a 150-170 class buck
I have more fun Hunting than Harvesting.
(BP)