This was my first season hunting with a recurve and all my hunting was done from lok on stands.
They seem to work best for me, however I am interested in finding out the pros on cons of hunting from other types of stands: ladder stands and climbing stands in particular.
Thanks!
The side rails on the couple of ladder stands I own can get in the way of my recurve's lower limb. I rarely use them for this reason.
Lock-ons are what I use. I have a climbing summit that hasn't been in the woods for at least 10 years.
I have always hunted out of lock on myself ,but now as I get older I feel much more secure hunting out of climber sit and climb and ladder stands. The only downside that I see with sit and climb is practicing placing limb over climber rail. I use summit vipers sd and switched to a hazmore net seat tied tight witch allows bar to be set low enough to get lower bow limb over, but the safety it affords is very comforting , using safety harness of course. Ladders are very convenient once they are put up, a two man job ! Hope this helps
__---------Black Wolf 68"57#@28
Tall Tines 60"52#@28
I hunt a lot from a climbing stand but it's a Loggy Bayou and has no rails to get in the way.
You need to learn to shoot the bow canted out of stands with rails. Then the rail will not interfere with the limb.
I hunt from a Summit Viper SD have no trouble shooting from this stand. I wear harness system it is safe allows you to lean out. The bar does not get in the way. If you set it to high it could. You have to find your comfort zone with it.
It is safe because your harnessed in going up and coming down. No problems
I have the SUmmit Viper climber..without rails. Works great for bowhunting with longbow or recurve...though I rarely use it and prefer nice ladder types, lockons or just hunting from ground blinds.
I use ladder stands almost exclusively. If they come with the shooting rail I do not install it, its for gun hunters, not archers.
Practice out of them however to learn what technique works best for your style of shooting.
Out of ladder I just tie the gun rail up out of the way. My climber (Viper) I have the seat all the way up on the frame and keep the 2 halves close together so when i stand up the frame is out of the way.
If you get a ladder stand, get one with NO siderails. The siderails are a PITA that will cost you a shot if you hunt out of them enough!
I used to be a diehard treestand hunter. I had to start hunting out of ground blinds several years back because the place I was hunting had very few trees you could put a stand in (S. Tx brush). After several years of hunting in ground blinds, I now prefer them over anything else.
Bisch
I hunt almost always from lock on stands. They're wide open so no issues. The only climber I have, and seldom use is a Summit Open-shot (Bushmaster). That's wide open as well. Because I prefer 60-64" bows, I would not use stands with rails.
Thanks guys! Thats what I wanted to know!!
Same topic, different question...
What..How...Where ...
do you put your bow, to let your hands warm up, relax your arms...
The Lone Wolf stands have the "pocket" for a wheelie, but ...ideas ??
I know that some ideas work for longbows, while others work for recurves...
Some are good for quiver on..and some for quiver off.
There is not a right or wrong, just how 'you' do it...
No side rails, as stated above, are best. I don't know how some people shot trad bows from stands with rails all over the place.
QuoteOriginally posted by Paul Cousineau:
No side rails, as stated above, are best. I don't know how some people shot trad bows from stands with rails all over the place.
I deal with that by only using double ladder stands - then there is enough space the side rails are not an issue.
I will be using a hand climber and my M150 this year. I hate having any restrictions. When I get ready to shoot the last thing I want to worry about is bumping my limbs. I want to be able to shoot all around the tree so if I'm hunting on my land it will always be lockons or a hand climber. I wouldn't bother looking into other types of stands except for ground blinds.
Back to your question about pros and cons...
A hand climber has no rails so you have maximum mobility. It's a little more work getting up a tree, but take your time and you won't break a sweat. Also, you gotta have a fairly straight tree and preferably not too many limbs to have to cut...if any. The pros greatly outweigh the cons for me though.
Lock-on's work better and give more clearance, but all four of my trad kills have been from my summit climber. I've also done better with deer at least 10 yards out, any closer and the rail gets in the way.
This past season, I moved my seat up and even with the rail, then set the top of stand lower on the tree. So when I stand, I'm well over the top of rail. And it's just as comfortable.
I hunt out of ladder stands a lot . I actually stand on the SEAT platform to get me out of the way of the rails, and to keep my profile tight against the tree. Also gives me more height in the tree.
I will admit that the older I get, the harder it is to stand for 3 hours or so at a crack. But is has proven very effective.
Climbing sticks and lock on for me.
But learn from my mistakes!!! I had the privalidge of missing a nice buck by about six feet at a distance of fifteen yards this year.
Normally I shoot with a pretty good cant, but as I brought the bow up to shooting position the lower limb was hitting the stand tree. No biggie, just adjust the cant slightly, draw, and shoot. Right??? Wrong!!!
As I drew back, I was actually holding above the buck. I brought the bow down and turned the arrow loose. I felt a tug on my pants and watched the arrow flopping thru the air and land six feet in front of the buck. Completely baffled I replayed the shot. When I drew and let down slowly the lower limb slipped perfectly into my front pants pocket!
Lesson learned....draw right on or low and bring bow up to target. This eliminated a lot of lower limb interference problems for me when shooting down at steep angles.
Practice different cants and distances from the stand!!!
just get a screw in bow hanger and put it in tree so you can reach up and get your bow easily or put a bow holder on your stand within reach..
QuoteOriginally posted by Billy:
Same topic, different question...
What..How...Where ...
do you put your bow, to let your hands warm up, relax your arms...
The Lone Wolf stands have the "pocket" for a wheelie, but ...ideas ??
I know that some ideas work for longbows, while others work for recurves...
Some are good for quiver on..and some for quiver off.
There is not a right or wrong, just how 'you' do it...
Hunted out of a stand for the first time in 20 years down at Wild Things in January. It was a ladder stand with side rails. It wasn't a problem to shoot with them...they are not what caused me to miss..lol
I'm now using more ladder stands than hang-ons or climbers. My beef with most ladder stands is the rails that constrict your movement from a sitting position, i.e., the rails that are on either side of your knee when sitting. I shoot from a sitting position. I see no need to stand up, which creates more movement and increases the shot angle. I don't have any trouble with limb clearance in those stands, but they do prevent me from pivoting in the stand, particularly to the right to get a shot.
The ladder stands I use now (Leverage) are actually hang-on stands with a ladder attached to the front of them. Just like hunting out of a hang-on. Nothing to restrict your movement or obstruct the limbs.
Billy: Regarding the pocket in the Lone Wolf platforms that doesn't work very well for stick bows. I just use tape to make my own pocket from one of the openings at the front edge of the stand.
I have a ladderstand but its very restrictive for me.
Id rather use a hang on or hunt from the ground.
Ive been ground hunting 99% of the time for the last 10 years.
I get just as many shots and its more exciting
eye to eye.
I started with a ole man multi-vision it was 26lbs and paradise I could sit for 11-12 hrs easy in that stand. it has side walls & a front bar but I just wrapped everything with armor flex and then went over the armor flex with camo hockey tape. I would lay my bow across the front bar it was always right there and ready!
I wore that stand out!! and had to move on to the LW Hand climber,,, much harder to climb and has the open front but because the seat doesn't fold up it does have nearly as much platform room as most other climbers, I use the platform bow holder for my bows or just slide the lower limb down inside your boot.
I never had a problem with the bar on the ole man but I did have to be conscious it was there and lean away with the bow so I wouldn't hit it,,, it worked out because it forced me to bend at the waist.
the LW pocket for the wheel will hold traditional bows just fine,, just line the hole with hockey tape ((hockey tape works in the cold) and slide a strung bow down inside and lean the bow to the side or just use your boot
(http://i.imgur.com/fXAx8d3.jpg)
or LW bow holder (pic is before I lined the bow holder with tape,, the compound holder in pic is doing nothing for the longbow except covering metal, It holds my recurves the same way)
(http://i.imgur.com/H3tOK2i.jpg)
T17. I have a LW climber and the seat folds up. Just need to bungee it to the tree when you set it up. That's why you get two bungee cords with the stand. One for the platform and one for the seat.
Orion,, I have to try that! I have learned a couple things form you in the past with the lW stand,,,, I forgot to mention in my post above that I really like the LW stand and doubt I'd ever go back the ole man. the LW is just more quiet to set up and climb with, it packs in tight to my back, not as comfortable but I'm not 20yrs old anymore either.
Billy I bring a cheap ratchet strap I cut down myself with some hardware store hooks on it. Strap it to the tree when j am set up and I can hang my bow there along with binoculars.
Lone Wolf climber; never had a problem with hunting with recurve or longbow.