Good deal, KY. You sound very reasonable. If he said you can climb the trees, then you may be able to find a good pine tree somewhere. Not too comfy...but great cover!

If you stay on good terms with him this year, I wouldn't hesitate to ask him before next season!

Good luck!

Sounds like you have your bases covered Kybuck and ur going about it the right way.

After a couple of run ins with deer on the ground you might not want to climb any more trees anyhow lol.

Have you considered a tripod stand? Get you 15' off the ground without touching a tree and they're under $300 in Cabelas.

or you can build your own stand out of pvc, right?

haha, I wasn't going to mention that - its a bit expensive and all your friends will give you grief about it lol

believe me I remembered that post about pvc and had considered it

Once you get into the tree how do you plan on avoiding the above?

exactly, Got a great place to hunt but I have to hunt it completely different than what I'm used to. This place has not been hunted in over 30 years except by people sneaking in on him. I would think that would be on a hit and miss basis since someone is on the property pretty regular. I'm looking at it this way:hunting deer on their terms should be very exciting,and hopefully I will learn a lot and be a much better hunter when this season ends. If I take a deer from the ground with a bow I will consider this a successful season.