Climbing Tree Stands

J

JMac

New member
I'm looking to purchase a climbing tree stand for deer hunting (ARCHERY). Anyone have recommendations for or against a particular stand. (looking primarily in cabela's or Bass Pro). Thanks fellas. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
I really like the Summits. I plan on getting the Summit Cobra as soon as I come up with the cash. The Summit Bushmaster is the same stand without the fancy seat. The cable system that goes around the tree is extremely easy and quite to use.
 
Check out www.lonewolfstands.com- I purchased the alpha sit&climb last year and it's great. Climbing is effortless, it's very quiet and rock solid when in place. Absolutely no popping, squeaking or creaking sounds. The only drawback for me is that the seat gets in the way of drawing my longbow in some positions. If you shoot a compound you'll probably be fine. I just ordered the hand climber seat to use during bow season. It's alot smaller and will allow me to shoot behind me without getting in the way. I also
bought their hang on stand on recommendation of one of my hunting partners and should have that in a day or so. I've used Loggy Bayou's and Summit climbers recently, and this stand has them beat IMHO.
 
I wondered what I should get for bow and gun hunting in a climbing treestand for a while. I finally decided on a Summit Viper XLS. The thing is real easy to set up and climb. It also comes with a nice full body harness which I suggest you get for any treestand. It is also very comfortable!! I'm really thrilled with it. I took my first deer with the XLS last friday with my bow while I was 30' up in a smooth bark hickory. It has backpack straps (which most have I think) and is light(17 or 19lbs), easy to pack in and out of the woods, and quiet to put up as the cables are coated. Summit also has a new stand called the bullet I believe that folds flat! I would imagine that would be even easier to pack out. Anyways, I'm really happy with it and suggest you give it a look see before deciding on something else. Regards,

Matt
 
The above info is good to hear, I had narrowed it down to both Summit and Lone Wolf.

Wishbone, what is the climbing strap that goes around the tree made of? I can't tell from the picture. Thanks.
 
If you like Summits, be sure to look at the 2 new models.

The single biggest complaint I have on the Viper is that it doesn't fold flat. Uses more space to store it, is bulkier carrying.

Well, they now have 2 models that do fold flat. They are identical to the Viper XLS except they fold flat. One has the additional change of having an open front on the seat climber, some bow hunters may prefer that. I like having the bar wrap around and think I could shoot from it with my bow OK, but I'll have to borrow my friends some day & try it.
 
JMac-the belt is made of heavy duty polyurethane with internal steel cables. The teeth on it grip the tree very well. They are great stands! The bar shown on the sit& climb folds down under the seat for bowhunting, but still interferes with the longbow when shooting past 180 degrees or so. But the bow is 66" long, so it's probably fine with a compound. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
OK WishBone, a long bow and a climbing tree stand...I since a little contradiction here! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif Thats cool though! I have enough trouble with my compound bow up 20' in the air. Long bows look cool, but I'll leave that to the professionals. Compounds were made to give us weekend warriors a chance!

Passed a 15 yard 10-point last night, so I'm pretty fired up right now. Fun outing. Thanks for the input on stands (and everyone else too!).
 
Am I the only one having problems with Wishbones link? I had to delete the dash and backslash to get it to go to the site.

Personally, I still like the Summit. Wing Supply recently had the Bushmaster on sale for $165.00

Well, looks like they don't have it for that anymore. They do have the Viper on sale though.

http://www.wingsupply.com
 
Summit Viper seems top of the heap, but doesn't fold flat. It is now available in two "fold-flat" models, the Bullet Backpacker for gunners, and the Broadhead Backpacker for bow-types. Difference is mainly whether you have a bar across the front.

I just bought a Bullet Backpacker, but haven't used it yet.
 
Well, I ordered the Summit Broadhead (since everyone stressed the fold flat feature). I should have it by the 14th. Cabelas was $10 less than BPS.

I really struggled between the Lone wolf (I couldn't get the link to work either, but got there) and Summit. Summit looked more comfy, really liked the design of the Lone Wolf though (cool bow holder feature). It worked in Summit's favor that I couldn't find my harness, and their stands come with one. With the Lone Wolf, I'd have paid more and still had to purchase a harness. When I get the stand in, I'll post a report (hopefully with a picture of the one that didn't get away!).

Thanks for all the input!
 
Critr- I would really like to know what you think of the backpacker once you have used it. If I got one it would be the broadhead since I bowhunt. I have been looking at the Corbra or Bushmaster which is the same stand with a different seat. The broadhead is the same as these with the folding feature if I'm not mistaken. I would really like to know if the folding version is quiet and sturdy. It should definately pack better. But, it the hinges make it noisy, it won't be worth it.
 
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif I took it on a weekend hunt, but didn't have a good opportunity to try it. I'll try to let you know when I know more about it.
 
Just want to add my two cents worth incase anyone else might be reading this looking for a climbing tree stand. I got a new Lone Wolf climber this year. I looked long and hard at the Summit Stands, but in the end I felt that the Lone Wolf would be easier to pack in and out and would hold up better over the years with it's solid cast aluminum platform and seat. It folds to about three inches and weighs only 15.5 lbs.

You do have to provide your own harness and I would recommend getting some after marked pack straps with some cushion. The straps that come with it are just very "plain Jane" nylon straps with no cushion.

For the type of hunting I do, I love it! I don't like to leave a tree stand out in the woods for fear of thieves. I also like to hunt different stands/locations quite a bit. So I'm packing my stand in and out every time I go. My Lone Wolf is perfect for this. I also feel very safe and confident in this stand as it is sturdy and quiet.
 
Last year I purchased the Hawk climbing treestand at Wal*Mart. it cost me $100.00, and I haven't fallen out of the tree, yet. My only complaint is the platform bent slightly under my weight (223#). If you're less than 200#, the Hawk should be great. I still use mine. I just reinforced the platform--probably would have been fine without reinforcement because it wasn't bent too bad.

I use my fixed stand (the Bobcat, 40.00 at Wal*Mart) more because it is easier to pack in and out of deer and predator hunting sites.
 
Well, I broke down and bought the Summit Corbra XLS from Cabela's. I decided against the folding model after hearing some mixed reviews and concern about the moving parts being noisy. Anyway, I used it Monday and packed back into a Forest Service WMA. It only weighs about 17 pounds and packs without any trouble. Where I was hunting is about 3/4 of a mile from the truck. It is very simple and easy to use and quite. The seat is very comfortable and you can sit all day. I managed to fill my anterless permit using it, and should have gotten this stand earlier.
 


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