Hung the first deer stand of year

[Ranger J]

I retired at the end of last year and we purchased a home in the country on ten acres of wooded land.  I know that doesn't sound like much for deer hunting but neighbor has given me permission to hunt his over five hundred adjacent acres.  Anyway the preseason is officially open as I hung the first stand at the back of my ten acres.  There seems to be quite a lot of deer sign and it is in easy walking distance of the  house.  Now I will start spending time in it to see  where I should put the next stand..  Also plan to thin the tree rats as they are now in season.  Nothing like squirrel in gravy.

 PS:  Boy am I getting old and weak!  I went out to hang a second deer stand a few hundred yards over a hill from the first one.  It was a two man Wal Mart job with three four foot sections of ladder.  I stuck the three ladder sections together and carried them down to the tree I had picked yesterday.  Today I had planned on starting to move the heavy seat section to the tree in a series of short carries taking several days if necessary.  Then I got the bright idea of strapping this section on a rubber wheeled dolly I had.  I was really proud of my self as this allowed me to move the seat in one painless trip.  I put the seat section on the ladder sections and then the trouble began.  There was no way I could walk or tip the stand into the correct position against the tree.  The last time I used this stand it seems that I had no trouble at all doing this.  Does anyone have any suggestions as to how an old coot might manage something like this.  If my daughter was not away at school I would have no problem doing this at all. No, my daughter is not an Amazon but pretty enough to attract a collection of young strapping boys.   If no one comes up with any good ideas I guess I will remove one section of the ladder and hope I can handle it at that height.



RJ

[jenkst]

ranger; I know what you mean about that age stuff. My ladder stand weighs about seventyfive pounds with three sections of ladder and its a bear to raise upright against a tree even dangerous when by myself. I learned a trick last year that helped a lot. When you lay your completeley assembled stand laying flat on the ground and the bottom section of ladder up near the tree then take two pieces of pipe each about eighteen inches long and drive each piece into the ground so that the step is resting up aginst the pipes. And spread apart as as far as between the uprights as possible. This helps to stablize the stand as you raise it because they are top heavy. This year I think I might go to Wal-Mart and buy a cheap come-a-long to raise it. It can turn bad if it gets out of control and comes back down on you. Do it safe and have a good hunt.      jenks

[Graybeard]

It's been a lot of years since the last time I faced that problem and likely never will again as I no longer climb up ladders or trees.

I solved it by taking a climbing stand and going up the tree in it and then winching the stand to me from there. I wasn't using a store bought ladder stand back then but a home made rig with 4x4s or 2x6s for the ladder and the steps were made from 5/4"x6" decking boards. It was HEAVY all of those stands I made back then were. I used only PT wood and while I've not looked at them in several years I'm sure the stands I built back in the late 80s and early 90s are still safe unless the trees have grown too large and broken the supports around them. I know the last time I was out there that was happening to at least three of my stands but the boards were all as sound as ever and the tree had not yet at that time broken the boards connecting it to the tree.

I do recall the last time I put up my store bought ladder stand it was some kinda difficult task for me. More than once in those long ago days it fell on me as I was trying to get up to attach the seat and I rode it to the ground. I'd sure never try such an operation these days.

[Ranger J]

I think I took the smart way and put it up with only 2 sections of ladder.  With a camo cover this should be good enough for me to put some meat in the freezer.  The thought did come to me to take a regular ladder out to the tree and get a large eyebolt and screw it into the tree high enough that I would be able to attach a deer hoist pulley contraption I have and use this to pull the stand up with three sections on it.  Then I considered all the things that could go wrong and how bad I could I could get hurt and then said nah forget it!  Do you notice how many ground blinds there are in the catalogs these days?

RJ

[Spirithawk]

There is no safe way for just one person to do it. It can get hairy even with two people. Better safe than sorry.