I first empty my gun. Then I tie a rope right behind the trigger guard. Then I put a reverse loop right behind the front sight and pull the gun up after I am in my stand. I always raise it and lower it with the barrel pointing up but it is never loaded. I also put a ballon over the end of the barrel to keep out debris. My hunting partner has a soft case that he puts his gun in, ties a roop around it with loops and pulls it up in the case.

I use a rope to pull my gun up. If you are worried about getting dirt in the barrel, put a piece of elecrical tape over it. I do that to keep snow out of it.

I think a few people do not 1) realize you are using a climber, or 2) have not used a climber, because you cannot sling your gun over your shoulder and use a climber, especially one with a bar (like a Summit Viper). Even hand climbers require too much movement to sling your gun and climb either safely or efficiently.

I simply attach a haul line to the upper half of my climber. I then run the other end of the line through the trigger guard (the gun's empty---it cannot fire). This ensures that the gun comes up/goes down butt up/barrel down. I have a rubber cover (picked up at the hardward store in the loose bolt section) that I slip over the barrel.

I keep the haul line attached to the top half of the climber, so I don't forget to have a line with me.

And I'll second the concern of slinging a gun while climbing, although I myself will sling my gun when using a ladder stand.

I do have a Summit Viper X4 tree climber. If I was using a ladder stand I would not think twice about just slinging over my shoulder.

I also went and purchased a Allen soft gun case this weekend. It has nylon handles that are sewn to the case sides. I pulled with a lot of pressure just to make sure they would not rip. This case also has a camo print so I'll most likely just lower it to the ground after removing the rifle like before.

You guys are all wrong. The best way to get a gun into your treestand is as follows: load weapon and put one in the chamber. Click saftey off and stand it against tree. Climb into stand then ask mother-in-law to hand it up stock towards you, make sure she has finger on trigger.

Good idea Muley. Except my mother-in-law is too good a cook. I don't understand the problem here. I use camo nylon rope you can get for about $2.00. Nothing in the chamber and I tie mine to the sling at the rear so the butt of the gun comes up first. If you are in a swamp I'd look at the floating case as an option. Last Sunday I took a youngster out who has a Summit Climber, not sure of the model but it looked like a Bow stand since there wasn't a bar across the front. I asked him where his rope was and he pointed to the nylon strap that came with the stand, about 4' long. Cursing myself for being 1 mile from the truck I pulled my own $2.00 rope out and gave it to him. I went about 15 yards away and climbed up in my Viper with my gun unloaded and slung over my shoulder. I should mention I hunt with a Bull Barrell Rem 260, not very light. Anyway it wasn't comfortable but it is possible. I like the ballon idea. I'll probably steal one from my 3 yr old when he's not looking. Be SAFE up there and I hope you get what you're after.

I too lower and raise mine unloaded with a rope. One word of advice stemming from an incident that happened to me this year. I had checked all around for deer, then lowered it to the ground and climbed down. I started to gather my things when a large doe ran past me not more than 10 feet away. I watched her go and then looked at my unloaded . Always reload when you hit the ground! : )