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How long does it take you to set up your stand?

9K views 68 replies 44 participants last post by  Double Lung 20 
#1 ·
I hear people say all the time how lighting fast they can set up their tree stands. I must be slow????

Climber:

After I reach my selected tree I check the wind then open my backpack pull out my safety vest and put it on, switch my cell phone from my belt to my vest pocket, take out my safety belt and put it around my waist for easy access, carefully put my stand around the tree and fit it to the proper size, put out my scent canisters, attach my pull rope to my bow, attach climbing rope and slowly climb my tree careful not to make a sound and to listen as I go up the tree. After I reach my apex, I attach my safety belt to the tree and my vest, put up my accessory holder, hang my binoculars, range finder and calls, pull up my bow, place it in my bow holder and put on my release. All this takes me a good 15 minutes.

Lock-on:

I plan 45 minutes. I use the rope steps which take a little time.

Ladder stand:

Even though the instructions calls for three guys to put it up I often put it up and take it down my myself Again I plan 45 minutes.

How long for you?
 
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#3 ·
Don't you use a strap to secure the hand climber to the tree? If not, please do.

Takes me 10 to 15 as well when I take my time in a hunting situation. I don't check the wind at the tree. That's done before I walk into the woods. My hang on I can put up just as fast. Three rapid rails and a real quick lightweight stand.
 
#5 ·
I have 6 stand locations. 4 in Washington, 1 in Allegheny, and 1 in Beaver County. Takes me 2 days to set them. Lock ons with climbing sticks. I put them in Mid August, takes about 2 days.
 
#6 ·
I am terrible with putting up hang on stands. I would give myself at least 45 minutes to an hour not including trimming lanes and so forth.

As far as my climber goes, once I am at my selected tree, probably 5 to 10 minutes. I usually have an idea about which tree I am going to be using. If I have already used that tree then it is much quicker. But I would guess it only takes me a minute or two to get 15 to 20 feet off of the ground, and just a few more minutes to have my harness attached and my bow up.
 
#9 ·
yellodog said:
i feel better now. i keep reading about guys who carry in their hang ons and stick ladders, and are up & ready to hunt in 5 minutes. i takes me a half hour or more, less if i have a helper.

climber, 15 minutes after i get to the tree i am ready to shoot.
Haha I can do it in 5 but definitely would do more harm than good to my hunt most of the time.
 
#10 ·
climber takes me about 5-7 minutes to be ready to shoot. i strap a small bag with all my calls, wind checker, etc. to my rail, and i climb with my bow on my back in a bowsling. my release is on my wrist before i leave my house, as in everything else i need to wear. the bag stays strapped to the stand even when walking in. it's a pretty fast system.
 
#11 ·
i could never hang a lock on and hunt from it the same day. after all the metal clanging/banging and cussing it would be worthless. the best thing i've ever done for hanging a lockon was buy some millenium stands. strap the receiver bracket to the tree and drop the stand into it. cut my time and headaches down considerably, but not anywhere to the point of wanting to be portable with it.
 
#13 ·
It takes me about three to four minutes to take my lone wold off my back and be 20 feet up in a tree.It usually takes me about 10 minutes to set up a hang on with lone wolf sticks if everything goes right.Last year I bought a Guidos web and used it as a climber,hang-on and even learned a way to climb any tree using just one lone wolf stick.There's a learning curve involved but once I fully get it all figured out,I doubt I'll ever use another stand.You become a friggin predator with this set up.It's light weight,comfortable,easy to use once figure it out and you can hunt any tree and set up so you're practically invisible.
 
#14 ·
Putting lock ons up prior to season takes me and hour or more per. I take my time, and with more people in the fam these days, i make sure i'm secured at all times. Once they are in they are in. Can be up the tree and sitting pretty in 5 minutes during the season.

My climber is older, and even using a tree i've climbed before, it still takes at least 15 minutes from the time i hit the bottom of the tree till sitting pretty. I could probably knock off 5 minutes or more if i bought a newer climber with the straps or cables.
 
#15 ·
I use double ladder stands and blinds since I have my kids hunting with me now. I would guess that it takes me about a 1/2 hour on average to put it up, trim lanes, etc. It all depends on the setup though as some require more work. Most of them go back in the same spots, so those usually take less work. Sometimes it can take a while to get the stand positioned exactly how I want it. Those double ladderstands are a bear to manhandle around.
 
#18 ·
where i hunt (private land) we have the privelege of letting our stands up year round, of course sometimes we opt to use a climber in a different area, and i would estimate about 8 minutes to get unloaded, (off my back) and in the tree, bow in hand. wind is checked before i even load the climber on my back, i dont bother putting out scent either.
 
#19 ·
Don't forget to check/replace those stand fasteners, cables etc. to be sure they are safe when they are left out all year. Mine only stays out a few weeks prior to archery season and is removed at the end of the archery season or when I get my buck which ever comes first however, my stands almost always need some TLC each year.
 
#21 ·
I can set-up my 15' ladder stand in about 20 minutes by myself.

I'm up a tree and ready to go in my climber in about 12 minutes.

My Loc-On and 4 Muddy Climbing Sticks usually take me about 30-40 minutes because I set up in trees located very close to bedding areas...some movements have to be excruciatingly slow while setting up close and you have to be aware of every sound you make! At times, I only get 8-10 feet off the ground, sometimes 15' or higher, depending on the cover in the bedding area.
 
#24 ·
I hunt either out of a 2 man stand or my climber. My climber is a no brainer but it takes me about 25 min from the time I get to the tree to the time I am sitting ready to go. Everything from placing scent, safety, and gear organization I take my time doing so. Rush and you have problems. Spilling scent, falling, and dropping gear are all things that have happened to me because I tried to hurry things through.
My 2 man stands is a work in progress from July to Sept. After my summer scouting comes to a close I already have an idea of general location of where I want to hunt. So everytime I go in to check cameras or works on plots I bring one piece of the stand. Ladder section this week, top seat the next and so on. I never kill my self one day to get everything in and done. If I had to do it all once it would take me forever.
 
#25 ·
about 15 minutes with my climber,i hunt gamelands only so the climber is the only way posssible,i tried to use climbing sticks but its in possible,one person cannot carry 4 or 5 sections of climbing stick,a treestand,bow,backpack for acc. and food water,and of course a safty harness.take several trips and things dissapear berfore you return with the rest of your gear.
 
#26 ·
i primarily use a climber and i would say 12-15 minutes till im set. I take my time so i dont sweat or do something dumb while climbing, especially when its dark out and you go a lot off of the feel of the tree. when i first started archery hunting when i was 15 i would carry my lock on and 20 foot climbing sticks in and out with every trip, 2x a day when i could hunt morning and evening. at my best i could do within 15 minutes. but boy did i make a lot of noise back then. never rush when setting up your stand. that only increases your chance for a mistake. i would rather spook the buck of a life time then fall out of my stand.
 
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