Let’s See Your Lightweight (Mobile) Public Land Setups! (Stands/sticks & climbers)

[Kirby86]

Hey folks! I’ve had a few people ask me how exactly I haul my stand in and out of the woods since I hang and hunt. I started out with a climber in 2011, but a couple years ago I switched to an XOP Vanish Xt (pretty much a lone wolf clone, same original designer for LW).

Anyhow, I’ve looked at Gameplan Gear’s TTS (they’re now out of business), the Sitka Tool Bucket, and other frame pack options. But so far nothing has beat my Molle II straps attached to the bottom of this stand.

So how do I carry and attach it? Well, these aren’t the best pics but here’s a step by step I took the other day. Here’s what it looks like before carting it around. backpack and sticks attached.


Website photo

stand with Molle II shoulders straps and kidney belt attached

As for the sticks, I’ve gone with some X-stand mantis sticks, but I’m debating replacing them with Hawk Helium, XOP or Lone Wolf sticks with the versa button mod. Regardless of what I go with, and this is likely the most important part of this post, I’ll be replacing the buckles with 8mm static line. This stuff has saved a LOT of weight but a lot more time and is a heck of a lot more quiet! Plus the rope distributes the weight more evenly, so when you swing it around the tree in the dark it’s way easier to catch than playing sling-buckle. The other nice thing is that you can make the rope as long as you like! I have mine set at 8 foot, loop included. This rope can be purchased at any store that sells climbing spec rope. I bought mine from REI.

Stick attached to tree. Around the button the ropes kind of have this Chinese finger trap type motion that tightens and pops into place. Simply hitch it off and the weight won’t allow it to move.

So, how do I get in the tree?

Well from ground level I attach the first stick about shoulder height. On my first stick I have attached a 3 foot loop of mil spec tubing to put my foot in. This gives me a bit more height.

After attaching that stick, I put my lineman’s belt on the tree. THIS IS ESSENTIAL. I can’t stress this enough as I would fall off the tree leaning back if I tried this without one.

Once the first step is on the tree, the treestand goes on my back with a pull up line attached to my bag, and a pull up line from my bag to my bow. It can be hard setting em out to make sure they aren’t tangled, but I want to be in the tree IN ONE TRIP.

On my harness I have a paracord loop on each side. One stick goes in the loop on either side, like so.

I then put stick #2 (after attaching lineman’s belt and stick #1 with the tube loop) on top of stick one and climb up. Then I attach it. Then on to the next step til I get to the top. I get there I take the stand off my back, attach my tree strap (which my harness will connect to) then attach the stand to the tree. I couldn’t get pics of this, but if you google “cam locking a tree stand” you can get it done with a single strap. You do this by attaching the strap to the tree, lifting the platform, then dropping your knee onto the seat with the platform slightly elevated. Then lower the stand platform and it will wedge the stand into the tree, providing for a VERY solid platform. If you’re not comfortable with a single strap, XOP has a button for the second strap but I don’t find this necessary.

ALWAYS WEAR YOUR SAFETY HARNESS!!!

This whole setup weighs about 20-25lbs. This jumps to around 30-35 with my backpack, which I attach to the stand with bungee straps and my lineman harness which doubles as a tie down strap.

With all of this, I can usually be up a tree and hunting in 10-15 minutes from the time I get there to when I’m ready. I’m sure I could pare it down some with practice but I’m never in that much of a hurry since I’m usually up hiking early.

If you have a similar setup or any tips or critiques, I’d love to see them! Share what you got! Maybe you have something better that I haven’t thought of! view from the tree [emoji3]

[GD47]

18ft legs and a lock.on

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[BW96]

Awesome. I've always used a climber on public. It's an Xstand Xcape. I think its 13lbs, extremely light and folds flats. And inexpensive compared to most. Thanks for the detailed explanation, some spots I could really benefit from a lock on.

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[BuckSmasher]

That seems like a lot of work compared to a climber.

What was your thought process behind the switch to hang ons?

I know some areas where the tree's are better suited to hang ons but the setup seems like a pita.

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[stickbowcoop]

I used to use both a Lone Wolf Assault hang-on with 4 Lone Wolf sticks and a Lone Wolf handclimber on public back in PA and OH. They are both sold now because after 3 back surgeries and 2 bicep surgeries I am probably done climbing trees. But once you develop a system, the LW hang-on is pretty fast and easy to set up. It only took a couple minutes more and you could pick any spot that had good sign and not have to pick a spot based off of having a climbable tree for a climber.

This was my Assault, it was the 11lb model not the older 8.5lb one. I liked strapping the sticks on this way compared to how LW recommends because it kept the weight closer to my back and more compact.

[Kirby86]

That seems like a lot of work compared to a climber.

What was your thought process behind the switch to hang ons?

I know some areas where the tree's are better suited to hang ons but the setup seems like a pita.

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Being limited to straight unbranched trees will put the kibosh on several spots I hunt.

With my setup I can be up and hunting in a little more time than a climber and I can pretty much hunt any tree that I can fit the sticks around. Both bucks I killed last year wouldn’t have been possible without this stand setup.

Not many folks hunt this way. It’s more work, yes. But I can bounce around and hit a different spot everyday.

A few years back I used to put out a few ladder stands and utilize the climber. Problem is, you hammer a spot 2 days in a row for several weeks and you’re going to make deer smarten up to your presence.

With this setup I can be as mobile as I want to and not worry about burning out any of my hunting spots before I’m ready. It’s really not anymore work than a climber. I still have my lone wolf sit and climb and the weight differences aren’t much. I could make it a heck of a lot lighter if I stopped carrying so much crap in my backpack!

[seminole1990]

I own a couple of LW Alpha stands, a Muddy, and then a Field and Stream.
Most comfortable: Muddy
Easiest to use: Lone Wolf
I have put together similar set ups to the one you have but I really didn't have to walk that far with it. When I hunted Hagerman a couple years ago I made a bunch of noise reducing modifications. The set up on the bike is awesome but requires a some detail with regard to weight distribution and tying it down firmly. Worked awesome.
The last picture which looks like nothing but trees is the angle from where I thought the deer would approach, and from their viewpoint. Can't see the stand. These things are awesome. I enjoyed your write up and got some ideas from your methodology. Thanks!

[seminole1990]

Forgot one last photo of my sticks. I used a combo of cheap electrical tape, and some camo tape I bought on sale at Academy (that stuff can get expensive!) I wrapped the buckles and carabiners with bike tire tubing. The difference in noise is astounding, however, it does add on weight. In any event it was and continues to be a fun project.

[Jeremy7306]

In for later


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[TexasArchery_27]

2020 Setup

Last year was my first year hunting from an elevated position. I started out with an XOP vanish, HSS harness, and XOP sticks. With bow, pack, sticks, stand, harness, ropes, and boots my total load out was 42 pounds. That was quite a bit, and made going in deep on public land a pain in the arse. I ended up just hunting from the ground late in the season due to the burden.

During the off-season I decided to overhaul my gear and approach to elevated hunting. I did quite a bit of research and found a system that would work best for me that would accomplish a few goals. 1.) Reduce load out weight. 2.) Increase comfort at hunting height. 3.) Make overall system extremely packable and easy to load/unload.

This year I’m running with the following:

Harness: Tethrd Mantis XL.

Tree Tether: Samson Predator spliced eye with Ice tail 28” eye to eye prusik.

Lineman’s belt: Samson Predator with Ropeman 1 & Tethrd Caribiner

Climbing Sticks: Custom 24” Lone Wolf cut-downs with Eastern Woods Outdoors Double steps. Tethrd VersaLinks instead of cam buckles.

Platform: Trophyline Mission Platform with Lone Wolf backpack straps.

Accessories: Custom 6mm rope gear hanger with HeroClip, Vortex Diamondback Binos & Glasspak harness.

My entire system: bow, saddle, sticks, ropes, boots, binos, and platform now come out to 26.2 pounds. 20 pounds would be ideal, but I feel as though I’d be sacrificing comfort, accessories, or safety in doing so. This system isn’t this most efficient, cost effective, or creative. It does however work and I hope maybe it gives others a few ideas to improve their systems as well. If anyone has specific questions about the gear, or would like to know where to find them please feel free to reach out. I’d be glad to help.

Good luck this season!!

[Cberry]

Hawk hang and hunt combo.

[Phorizt]

Don't have pics right now but this is my new setup:

XOP Vanish Evolution Treestand

Hawke Helium 3 step sticks. I have 4 of them but don't see any way I'll be hauling 4 of them around with me. I might try to go with only 2 with an aider on each. Also, I removed the buckles on the straps which probably saved 8 ounces for each stick. I may remove one step in the middle of each stick too for a little more weight reduction. I like having 2 steps on the top and bottom but can get by with 1 in the middle. not a huge weight reduction but it helps a little.

Black Diamond Alpine BOD rock climbing harness. Much more compact and lightweight than the other full body tree stand harness that came with my stand.


Now for a pack a currently have a Cabelas frame pack that I bought last year but it doesn't really work that great for what I want to use it for. I've decided to get the new Mystery Ranch Pop Up pack for hauling everything around I just can't decide b/w the 28 and the 38 size. I'm leaning towards 38 just for the added flexibility of having a bigger pack even though I may not need it all of the time. The weight isn't much different bw the 2 sizes.

I've also built a couple of custom ground blinds that I will use depending on the situation. They're pretty simple, just a 5 x 10' piece of camo net and 4 pieces of 4.5' x 5/16" black fiberglass rods. The rods are cut in half so the pieces are about 2.25' long each and I had to make some aluminum connectors on my lathe to be able to connect the two rod halves together. The rods are flexible so they are easier to hammer into the ground when they are cut down into shorter lengths like this and easier to transport although if you just leave them at 5' and strap them together they make a good walking stick. The rods have adjustable wire hangers on them so I can adjust the hanging height of the netting. I used this ground blind setup last year at Teniente and it worked great.

[TexasArchery_27]

Don't have pics right now but this is my new setup:

XOP Vanish Evolution Treestand

Hawke Helium 3 step sticks. I have 4 of them but don't see any way I'll be hauling 4 of them around with me. I might try to go with only 2 with an aider on each. Also, I removed the buckles on the straps which probably saved 8 ounces for each stick. I may remove one step in the middle of each stick too for a little more weight reduction. I like having 2 steps on the top and bottom but can get by with 1 in the middle. not a huge weight reduction but it helps a little.

Black Diamond Alpine BOD rock climbing harness. Much more compact and lightweight than the other full body tree stand harness that came with my stand.


Now for a pack a currently have a Cabelas frame pack that I bought last year but it doesn't really work that great for what I want to use it for. I've decided to get the new Mystery Ranch Pop Up pack for hauling everything around I just can't decide b/w the 28 and the 38 size. I'm leaning towards 38 just for the added flexibility of having a bigger pack even though I may not need it all of the time. The weight isn't much different bw the 2 sizes.

I've also built a couple of custom ground blinds that I will use depending on the situation. They're pretty simple, just a 5 x 10' piece of camo net and 4 pieces of 4.5' x 5/16" black fiberglass rods. The rods are cut in half so the pieces are about 2.25' long each and I had to make some aluminum connectors on my lathe to be able to connect the two rod halves together. The rods are flexible so they are easier to hammer into the ground when they are cut down into shorter lengths like this and easier to transport although if you just leave them at 5' and strap them together they make a good walking stick. The rods have adjustable wire hangers on them so I can adjust the hanging height of the netting. I used this ground blind setup last year at Teniente and it worked great.

I like the portable ground blind idea. Do you have to bring a chair to shoot over it, or are you kinda sitting into your knees, and popping up for a shot?

[Phorizt]

I use a chair. Last year I used one of the fold up stools from Academy with the back but it was relatively heavy and cumbersome to pack. I recently bought this chair on Amazon and I really like it:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08BW36SGW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I got this version bc it is super lightweight, compact and swivels. The swivel is perfectly quiet and comfortable enough to sit in for long periods. I've shot my bow out of it practicing and don't have any issue shooting from it. You can get similar chair for much cheaper if you don't want the swivel. The metal comes as a brushed finish but I bought a can of black Plasticoat and sprayed all of the metal parts with it so that it wouldn't be shiny and it also made it quieter.

[firemedic731]

Second for the Tethrd Mantis tree saddle, i wear that in and I carry 60' of predator rope in for DRT. I scout post season and pre set some paracord loops. I walk in, find my loop, string my climbing rope up and over the branch and back down, unhook it from the paracord loop then tie into my bridge with a Blakes hitch. I tie my backpack onto the end of my climbing rope and have a pull up string for my bow. I use a nite eyez gear tie and clip my platform on my saddle. I get to height, place my predator platform, girth hitch my tether, put out my HYS strap, pull up my climbing rope and place my backpack on the HYS strap, put the excess rope into my backpack so the tail isnt hanging down.