Thanks for the replies. I've gotten to the point of using my climber almost too much. I also use Cranford screw in steps, but think the climbing sticks or rails would be faster. Got some lock on stands too I use some, but thought with the Lone Wolf strap-on I wouldn't need to worry so much about straight trees.

Nice pic G2 Shooter! Now thats what I am talkin about.

Cougar--your reasoning for it is sound too. Especially at this time of year - with no leaves on the trees - you stick out like a hawk perched on a tomato plant when going up the "telephone pole" type trees that climbers require. I'm always in multi-limbed trees with as much cover as I can get.

An additional bonus is the silence factor. When you leave a stand overnight and return to it in the morning, it's much quicker and quieter to simply climb the steps and strap in. The climber takes longer and makes more noise.

i've always used a climber or a ladder stand for the small amount of tree stand hunting i've done and the idea of using a hang on with climbing sticks is a really good idea especially with unusual trees. i may have to try that in ky. we don't have very many trees that are straight enough for my climber.

I've always used screw ins until midway through this season, when I bought some sticks. I really like the sticks, if it's a location I plan on leaving the stand for a longer duration. I prefer to be mobile, and in that case I like the screws better, just because they can be completely silent and are much more mobile in the woods. The sticks aren't TOO bad, as I use the straps that hold them to the tree to hold them all together nice and tight to stop rattling. I worry about getting ripped off much more with sticks as well. When using screws, I use the kind that have the removable step (they're really old, can't remember the name) for the first 4 steps or so...so someone on foot couldn't get to my stand witha lot of help or screws/spurs of their own. I think it's like everything else here, you gotta find out what YOU feel comfortable with for how and where YOU hunt.