My wife wasn' t going to bowhunt this year and now she' s decided too. She' s been practicing. My problem is she doesn' t like climbing stands and we' re going to need some portablility. She wants to try the a strap on stand. Can someone suggest a good safe solid strap on and a method to get to it, like the climbing sticks. We' re going to be hunting some public lands and we can' t use screw in steps. Are the climbing sticks hard to hook to the tree, I mean obviously the lower part of the stick is easy to strap but what about the one at the top.
I' ve never used strap ons or hunted with anyone that does, I could sure use some help quick. I plan to get something this week.

have a look at the Gorilla Silverback Lite for a stand and the Gorilla climbing sticks they are both easy to attach to the tree the sticks only have 1 strap to hold them on.
They are both light weight my set up weighs a total of 18lb for both stand and sticks.

Don' t let her forget the climbing/safety belt harness .

I use the Hunters View climbing stick, its 16 feet tall and steel and the cheapest Ive found at less than 40 bucks. They are 4 sections each 4 feet long that slide together and each peice has a strap at the top of each section that wraps around the tree and hooks to the other side of the stick and ratchets tight. You can buckle the first two from the ground, then climb up a couple steps and buckle the third while your stand on the second and so on, just use a climbing belt so you can have your hand free to fasten it on the tree. As for the stand there are so many you just have to look at a few and see what fits her needs, Hunters View makes a couple of good ones for the money and so does Gorilla.

As far as tree stand - The Gorrilla hang ons are fantastic - QUIET, easy to hang and very stable. I personally use a 3 piece ladder system that ties on - i made them with #3 rebar and they are EASY to tie on, secure and safe.... DONT use strap on steps - They are to unstable, and very unsafe in my opinion.....

The strap on ladders / climbing sticks wether one piece or multi piece units are the way to go.......

I would recommed the Summit Headhunter Lite. I bought one of these recently and can' t say enough how impressed I am with it. It is by far the lightest, easiest to hang and most stable lock on I have ever used; and I have used a LOT of different ones in years past. This will be the only lock on stand I buy for a while.

As for climbing sticks, I use the ones built by Strongbuilt. Here are a couple of links for you to check them out.


http://www.summitstands.com/productD...aspx?id=329223

http://www.basspro-shops.com/servlet...rTarget=browse

http://www.basspro-shops.com/servlet...rTarget=browse

the gorillias are fantastic! very nice stands. Lightweight climing stick is the way to go too

Thanks for all the info. Like I said, I' m a total idiot when it comes to strap ons. I watched a guy in a strap on one time when a deer walked under him. Every time he tried to draw his bow, the strap on would wobble and he would freeze. He never did get a shot and I' m in my stand just dying laughing. For one thing, he was hunting right on my property line and that made me ill. I was about 100 yards away watching him with binoculars. Thanks again.

I have 3 gorilla stands, all straps, and I love them. Very easy to hang. I use the hunters view climbing stick. Not the lightest climbing stick in the world, but works great.

If you don' t mind paying a bit more check out the Lone Wolf hang on($160) and climbing stick(Gorillia is a ripoff of the Lone Wolf sticks). The stand is the quietest on the market. It also has a built in bow holder, utility hooks and brush pockets. The stand and ladder lock together for backpacking and only weigh 17.5 pounds total.