RE: Home made stands
 

To attach my wood ladder stands I use 8" lags and 6"ardox, I agree I feel more satisfied when I take a deer out of one of my home made stands. Its a chore to put them all out but worth it in the end. None of my hunting companions have stands and they all use mine........ I tell them its at thier own risk(they are all bigger than me) If you are going to build your own----overbuild for safety. I'm 170lbs soaking wet and my broth-in-law is 280lbs on a good day, I build them for him so they are most definately safe for me.
I don't like to use any plywood it turns to ice after it snows.I use pt fence boards (1x6 or smaller) sitting on top of either 2x6 or 2x8's the ladder is 2x4's. Very few nails,I used screws for almost everything. Thesestandsare like rocks.... heavy and solid. I don't like heights but feel pretty safe at 16' in one of these. I've got one that I leave on a friends farm (permanent placement) and will take a pic next time I'm out, need to check it anyways maybe a little scouting/maintenance trip is in order.

RE: Home made stands
 

I hunt a property that has a few permanent stands, but I RARELY use them. Others do, but not me. I may be making this up, but I think the deer notice a change when someone is in it. Maybe not, but that's my theory. I just think the deer become conditioned to avoid permanent stands.

For the time and money it takes to build a good stand......why not buy a comfortable climber, say a Summit or such, and be more versatile, stealthy and not educate the deer.

RE: Home made stands
 

right on, i have noticed plenty of deer skirting stands like that...in fact a tactic i have used with some success is hang a stand 50-100 yrds downwind, conditions permiting, of a permanent stand (with stand owners permision to avoid hard feelings)...i think it is mostly just how you use the stand though, spook some deer from a stand and they watch it.

RE: Home made stands
 

You know mobo, we could build permanent platforms and put our Double bulls on them. or we could just

RE: Home made stands
 

Probably the safest I've ever felt in an elevated stand was while hunting from a buddy of mine's home made ladder stand , it was built by an uncle and solid as a rock . The roof could have been a little higher off the floor , but it had a great view and was fairly cozy on windy days .

Just the same though , I ordered this today:
15' ladder stand




These will be ordered for it shortly:
Leg levelers

I'd like to get at least two more to set up on my home property , and at $140combined anddelivered to my door I can see hitting a little overtime to make it happen . My grandkids are itching to hunt and their Daddy would never trust home made anything . It would also give me the advantage of safety with semi-portability for "away games" .

RE: Home made stands
 

Kev, I now have 3 ladder stands and they sure are nice and safe and comfortable. They are also the quietest way to go IMO. They are also not limited to a certain tree diameter. I attach mine to huge trees that are bigger around than me and this camos you well.

RE: Home made stands
 

hardcore.......I get the pickup cab!!!!! I called it first!!! I get it!!

RE: Home made stands
 

I have a friend that make's his own stands, he make'sthem out 3/4 inch plywood and light conduit ( I hope that's spelled right ) anyway he has his own plan.
When he get's one done he will test out in his back yard to make sure it's safe and strudy to support himself.
Then he will take out & put it up.

RE: Home made stands
 

Have to agree with what most have said on just buying one. If you want to build the homemade stand right, you're going to spend just as much as you will on a nice store bought one. But if you feel a special satisfaction in making your own, I guess I can see why you'd want to. The biggest advantage to me in making your own would be customizing the shooting platform. I like to have a lot of space to stand on to feel comfortable when shooting from a treestand. I actually contemplated building my own ladderstand out of 4x4 post supports, 2x6 platform framing, and heavy duty hardware but a friend suggested looking at the loggy bayou bowhunter ladder stand. It has a larger platform, or at least one large enough for me to be comfortable while shooting standing. Its not much more than $100 if you can find it on sale.

RE: Home made stands
 

I make all of my own stands, whether its enclosed 4x8s, ladder stands, tripod stands, hang on stands, etc. I don't use the same plans more than once. I open up the Cabelas archery catalog, pick out a stand that I like and then I make it giving it my own personal touch. My stands get hung by chains, and never get taken down.