If you ask ten deer hunters “what deer stand is the best?” you’ll likely get eleven different answers! Deer stand styles, safety, and technology has come a long way since I started hunting, but remains fairly unchanged at its core. They all have their place for specific situations, hunting strategies and preferences.
Before we begin, the National Deer Association and I recommend that you follow all installation and safety instructions and always wear your safety harness when using any type of stand. Now, let’s take a look at some of the most common types of deer stands.
Ladder Stands
Growing up, I hunted almost exclusively out of ladder stands while learning the ropes and reaping the benefits of early youth season. They are comfortable, easy to get in and out of, offer plenty of room, and typically have railings that double as a shooting rest. A great situation for a young hunter.
They are very sturdy, providing you follow all installation instructions and make sure the straps are secure and in good condition. Ladder stands are fantastic for rifle hunting over fields and food plots, but I’ve also experienced success when they were strategically placed in the woods between bedding and food. My first ever rifle and archery harvest took place from a ladder stand, so they are certainly practical for both methods.
Overall, ladder stands offer a steady shooting surface for rifle hunting, a solid platform to stand on when drawing a bow, and double ladder — or “buddy stands” — allowed for me and my dad to sit side by side and create cherished, lifelong memories. The majority of deer that ended up on my dinner plate over the years were harvested from ladder stands.
Lock-on Stands
When I dove deep into bowhunting in early high school, I started utilizing lock-on or hang-on stands. These stands are relatively portable and great for hard-to-reach honey holes and isolated travel corridors.
With a good set of climbing sticks, you can mount a lock-on high up and conceal yourself very well. In my experience, lock-on stands are tremendous for bowhunting due to their ability to be placed ahead of time in hard-to-reach places, or even by having multiple lock-ons in a given area to hunt different wind directions.
Being they are small and lightweight, it doesn’t take much to blend in with your surroundings, enter and exit quietly, and remain undetected.
I personally find lock-ons to be a little harder to rifle hunt out of due to the lack of a shooting rail, and I know I’m not the only one who gets a little shaky on occasion while looking through a scope.
Also, some hunters may feel less safe in a lock-on as compared to a ladder stand because the lack of rails and stability, so it’s always important to consider your own comfort level when choosing your stand.
Climbing Stands
While there is certainly a learning curve when it comes to climbing stands, they can be incredibly beneficial with a little bit of practice and when implemented in the right situation.
Climbers are great for hunting public land or land you aren’t familiar with because you can bring them in with you, set it up, hunt, and then pack it with you on the way out. It doesn’t get much more portable than that.
They are great when making your final hunting location decision on the fly, allowing you to accommodate for any shifts in the wind or any signs of deer you may discover on the way. Climbers provide tremendous flexibility in determining where you hunt and mitigate any concern of potential theft or misuse.
There are a few drawbacks with climbers, in that you really need to keep your eyes peeled for a specific tree if you are not preparing one ahead of time. For example, climbers require a tree that does not have a lot of protruding limbs that may cause obstacles while climbing.
You may also want to consider any drastic changes in diameter of a tree from the base to the top which may impede your ability to reach your desired height without tremendous effort. They can make a lot of noise, make you sweat, and potentially wear you out before the hunt.
A little homework and preparation is all a climber takes to go from an unnerving task to an unforgettable harvest.
Tower Stands
Tower stands come in all shapes and sizes, from homemade wooden boxes on stilts to high quality fiberglass palaces like a Banks Blind. Tower blinds make for a very relaxed and unique hunting experience that’s perfect for introducing a youth or new adult hunter in a safe and comfortable environment.
Obviously, tower blinds are one of the least mobile options available, so where you put it is likely where you will stay for quite some time. Because of this, towers are typically placed on the edge of a field or food plot that allows for seamless and undetected access to and from the blind.
For the most part, towers are usually situated for a mid to long-range rifle shot, but many of them can be bowhunted from, and they offer great opportunities to harvest mature bucks in certain situations. They are spacious, comfortable, and protect you from the elements, which allows you to hunt in a variety of conditions. That can extend the number of hours per sit, increasing your odds of filling a tag.
If you’re looking for a more permanent option on your property, tower blinds are the way to go.
Ground Blinds
Ground blinds are often synonymous with turkey hunting, but lots of hunters have experienced great success utilizing them in deer hunting situations as well.
Ground blinds can be created using existing materials found in nature, or you can simply place a manufactured one wherever you need it.
They can be a great tool in capitalizing on recent habitat work, where you know you have likely influenced deer movement or expect them to use a new area as a result. In some cases, they offer similar luxuries to a tower blind, such as shelter and ease of access, but with the added bonus of easy set-up and mobility.
With a little bit of prep work, such as clearing out leaves and vegetation, blending the blind into it’s natural surroundings, and allowing some time for the deer to “get used to” the new structure, you can capitalize in areas where you may not currently have a stand or there aren’t any trees at all!
Ground blinds are another great option for those of us who are not a fan of heights, hunters with disabilities, or if you don’t feel safe climbing up a ladder. If you’re looking to spice up your deer hunting and keep things fresh, give a ground blind a try.
Hunting Saddles
Perhaps one of the most innovative hunting devices to burst onto the scene in recent years is the hunting saddle. Believe it or not, hunting saddles have been around for longer than you think, but just recently gained traction among public land hunters and others looking to pack light and be as mobile as possible.
I have little experience with saddle hunting, but our Director of Communications, Brian Grossman, describes them as a cross between a rock-climbing harness and a hammock and believes they are excellent for accessing hard-to-reach places and traversing deep into public lands to avoid the crowds.
Although lightweight, fairly comfortable, and very safe compared to many other setups, saddles come with their own limitations as well. Not only is there a learning curve, but deer often don’t follow the script when you’re lining up for a shot, and spinning around the tree with a gun or bow to accommodate the change in movement could cost you. And like I mentioned above, a free hand shot can be extremely difficult when the adrenaline is pumping, and your window of opportunity is small.
To get started, check out this step-by-step guide and be sure to head over to our friends at Tethrd to build your saddle kit today!
Conclusion
When choosing your stands, it all boils down to personal preference, comfort level, and where you are hunting.
If your property is primarily open, then towers, ground blinds or ladder stands are good options. If you hunt in dense forested areas or hard to reach places, then it may be good to consider lock-ons, climbers, or even giving saddle hunting a try.
Do what’s best for you and what makes you feel safe and comfortable, because at the end of the day, hunting should be fun. And remember, always wear your safety harness!