Climbers or Hang on?


bloodtrails

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i have 2 lock ons and one climber, i let the location dictate which one to use, i use the climber when there plenty of cover around me, than i only have to cut the limbs to get up the tree, i use the lock ons when i dont have much cover around and when using the climbing sticks i dont have to do any cutting of limbs except a few that might get in the way of the sticks and what few might get in the way of the lock on.

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I have about a doz lock ons and ladders and 1 climber. I have all my stands set up b/c it would be impossible to get in queit everytime with a climber thick as can be and a long walk. I use my climber on scouting trips or when I see deer in using a new trail so I make a move with the climber.

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I have 14 hang on stands (several types), 4 climbers and 6 ladder stands. I prefer hang on stands for bow hunting. My favorite hang on stand is the New Millennium. To each his own with their personal preference though. Lone Wolf makes a good hang on stand too. I personally don't care for Summit's hang on stands but they make great climbers.

The pros with hang on stands is they allow you to position your stand in a tree with limbs providing more cover. You can cut limbs and hang them in the tree around your stand to provide more cover too. That's almost impossible to do with a climber. You don't need to have a straight tree for a hang on stand so your options for choice of trees is better than with a climber. You can hang them in larger trees that a climber won't fit. It's easier to get in a hang on stand quietly to hunt provided it's hung in advance. There's not much chance at all that it will slip or shift while you're in it. The cons with hang on stands are they are not as quiet to carry in with you and hang them to hunt when not hung in advance. They are also bulky to carry in with whatever means you use to get in and out of your hang on stand too. That is if you use some sort of stick ladder to get in it. If hung in advance and left to hunt over and over again they can be stolen.

The biggest pro with a climber is mobility. You can carry it in to hunt and relocate quickly if you're a little out of position. The cons are you will make some noise climbing a tree. You also need a relatively straight tree with no limbs to climb or the limbs have to be small enough to cut off while you're climbing with a hand saw. They are much more apt to shift or slip on a tree, especially slick bark trees. They won't fit on big trees. If you need cover you must have other trees near the tree you choose to climb to provide the cover.

Edited by Rhino
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I have three lock on's and three climbers. I prefer lock on's for bowhunting and climbers for gun hunting. I can sit in my Gorilla or Summit climber for most of the day, but my lock on's are not as comfortable and I can only handle about 4 or 5 hours at a time in them. I like the mobility of the climbers, but it can be a pain lugging them around and getting them set up. It's nice to have lock on's set up, so you can just walk to the tree ,climb up the ladder, and your done.

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I have 14 hang on stands (several types), 4 climbers and 6 ladder stands.

Al, if you ever get rid of your stuff in a garage sale, let me know so I can dump my gander mt stock. I think you got more trail cams than wally-world too. :p

Climbers have their place, but I rarely use them anymore, unless I'm invited to somewhere new to hunt. The older I get the less fond of them I become. Funny, cuz when I was young, I almost exclusively hunted with them, and for years I didn't even have a hand climber attachment, just hugged the tree b/c I thought the extra contraption made too much noise. Nowadays my fat butt couldn't do that unless there was someone on the ground with a gun after me.

Edited by redkneck
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Al, if you ever get rid of your stuff in a garage sale, let me know so I can dump my gander mt stock. I think you got more trail cams than wally-world too. :p

Will do John. I only have 5 trail cams that I own. I'm in the woods so much though that I inherited the chore of running 2 to 4 more trail cams around for a couple of friends of mine.

BTW...I trashed three 15 year old hang on stands this summer. They weren't very comfortable and I had concerns about their reliability. I gave a Summit away that I didn't like several years ago. All I have left now is several different types of Ol Man (Tara, Tara II, Tara Air Elite), a Hunters View, a Summit, and some New Millennium hang ons. That left me with just those 14 hang on stands to hunt with...excluding my climbers & ladders. :rolleyes::p:D

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I like the hang on stands; I get them setup and clear lanes well ahead of season. Then all I have to do is climb up the steps and I ready to hunt. I would think that the climbers would be a chore lugging them around in the woods everytime you go out. I like to slip into my stand being as quiet as possible. It would be too noisy putting up a climber in the morning.

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