The Best Ladder Stands For Hunting

OUTDOORS

   06.25.21

The Best Ladder Stands For Hunting

There are several ways to effectively hunt deer, and the use of treestands is  one of the most popular. One of the three types of treestands available (which includes hang-on and climbers), ladder stands area perfectly-contained hunting system that is arguably more stable than the others. How do you find the best ladder stands for hunting deer? You need to set some parameters for what you want and need from your ladder stand, and that will make your decision much easier.

The idea of ladder stand is not new. Hunters have been doing it for decades. However, those earlier hunters were most often making their own ladder stand and setting it up in the woods, usually in a permanent location. It’s not uncommon to walk through some decent hunting land and spot a weathered, handmade ladder leading up to a homemade platform. If you don’t know who built it, just imagine the deer taken from it over the course the decades.

As treestand technology evolved and the sport grew, commercially designed and manufactured ladder stands for hunting deer became increasingly more popular, and more advanced. Today’s ladder stands for hunting deer are stronger, and more comfortable than anything we’ve seen so far.

Image: Shutterstock/REDAV

1. OL’MAN Treestands Assassin – Editor’s Pick

I tend to prefer two-man ladder stands for hunting for a couple of reasons. One, if I’m hunting alone, it gives me more space to move around without making as much noise. Two, it lets me bring someone along, like one of my kids, or my wife. Couples who go hunting together…

The Assassin stand from OL’MAN is pretty sweet. It is an 18-foot, two man stand that does something I find appealing – it is very sturdy. I have a stand I’ve been using for years that came in two pieces. The rest of the stand is welded together and it is rock solid. The OL’MAN is sturdy as my welded one and can be shipped – I had to go get the welded one. It has an anti-flex bridge support that keeps everything feeling solid. I like that.

This stand also uses the seat design from Millennium, which makes the most comfortable seats I’ve found. They have all the support you’d need for an all-day hunt, and are crazy quiet. How much do I like Millennium seats? I use them in my boat, too.

Pros/Solid and super comfortable

Cons/Putting it together takes time and patience

Bottom Line/One of the best bolt-together, two-man ladder stands for hunting that I’ve found

2. Millennium L110 21-ft. Single Ladder Stand – Tallest Stand

You won’t find any flaws in this ladder stand design. It features a double-railing ladder which makes getting in and out of the stand a breeze. It’s one of the taller stands available on the market, but ladder sections can be subtracted to give hunters a height range of 8′ to 21′. Again, you’ll find the Millennium seat system, so you know its super comfortable.

The Millennium L110 weighs 92 lbs and can hold a max weight of 300 lbs.

Pros/Tall and comfortable

Cons/Setting it up in the field can be tricky

Bottom Line/A great stand if you’re looking for height

3. Bolderton Outlander 360 – Cool Design

Okay, this design  is pretty intriguing to me. The seat swivels to let you hunt from any angle. The camo panels are also interesting, and go along with my love of concealment. I have been looking into swivel seats for a while, as sometimes the deer do exactly what you don’t expect them to do.

Indications are that the ladder sections are solid and have good grip. My only concerns are that the way the stand rests against the tree, it may not feel as secure as I tend to like. If you buy one, let me know how you think about it. Height to Armrest: 19′; Platform Dimensions: 42″w. x 42″d.; Seat Dimensions: 17.5″w. x 13″d.; Weight Capacity: 300 lbs.; Weight: 110 lbs.

Pros/Swivel seat and camo panels

Cons/Not sure how steady it will be

Bottom Line/A cool idea I would like to try out.

4. Hawk Big Denali 2.0-Man Ladder Stand

Taking a buddy hunting with you? This ladder stand is what you need. The Big Denali features a unique design, proving just how far treestands have come over the years. It’s obviously made for two people, which is great if you like a little company, or if you’re bringing a youngster along for their first hunt. The MeshComfort seats are what really make this treestand stick out from the rest. They’re nicely padded, and about the same size as a lawn chair.

The platform is a tad on the small side measuring 51.25″ x 16.75″, but hunters are still fully capable of taking standing shots from this stand. The Hawk Big Denalli measures 18′ from the ground when fully assembled, and weighs in at 105 lbs.

Pros/Comfortable seating

Cons/small platform

Bottom Line/Another solid option for a ladder stand

5. Rivers Edge Retreat

My wife bought me one of these stands as a gift. I think it was her way of giving me a place to get away from the kids once in a while. I’m not saying I go sit in it during the summer, but – I go sit in it during the summer. This is a comfortable ladder stand for hunting with a nice footrest and a removable shooting rail for gun use. I often use the rails when I bowhunt too. I’ll drape some camo netting over them and use it as a way to conceal me.

This stand is just over 14 feet from the ground to the platform. It has a 300lb. capacity.

Pros/Comfortable and quiet

Cons/I’ll admit, these are a bear to put together

Bottom Line/A sweet single-person ladder stand.

Deer visual acuity

Let’s start out by discussing the turdy point buck in the room – deer visual acuity. I’ll start right off by saying that everything we know about whitetail deer vision is best guess. It’d be cool if we could get Dr. Doolittle give a buck an eye exam and tell the world what the results are, but since that can’t happen, we have to settle for the best guess of science. From examining the eyes of deer, scientists believe deer have 20/100 vision, meaning what the buck sees at 20 feet is a clear as what we see at 100.So that helps some, but…

A deer’s pupil is far bigger than ours, and the internal structure of the eye is arranged horizontally. This means that what a deer sees peripherally is far sharper than what we see peripherally. Think that deer can’t see you just because it’s not looking straight at you? Guess again. And this structure makes a deer’s eye more attuned to movement. That’s a big factor in selecting ladder stand height.

You’ve probably heard about how deer see different colors, with most of the greens and browns being shades of gray, reds and orange as shades of yellow and blue being a big no-no as far as hunting clothing goes. I know, right now there are guys scoffing at me saying they hunt deer in blue jeans. The fact of the matter is, blues show up bright and clear, so yes, you could still be successful in jeans, but you’re either going to have to be very still, as they’ll zero in on that color, or you’ll need to be luckier than most deer hunters.

I was going over how deer see colors and my wife chimed in about camo patterns. Camo does have a place in that the different shades may not look the same to deer, but they still blend into the surroundings and the various shades and patterns break up your silhouette.

It’s far more important to worry about UV reflection than anything else, however, as studies have shown that deer can see that spectrum, or at least science believes it and it seems to hold true. A simple test for UV reflection is to use your trail camera with a IR flash. Walk past at night with your camo hunting clothes on. If you look like a giant glowing blob in your picture, use some UV-killing soap.

Deer eyes
Deer don’t see like we do.                     Photo:Shutterstock/Cumming

Determining correct ladder stand height

You’ll find ladder stands for hunting that range in heights from 10 feet up to 22 feet. WHat is the ideal height? There are several factors that come into play. On average, most hunters like taller stands, in the 15-20 foot range. Does that mean that if you choose a 10 foot stand, you’re not going to get on the deer? Absolutely not.

It used to be that deer never really looked up into the trees much. They had no reason to as the predators they were designed to avoid were always ground-based. Some researchers are now hinting that deer have started to grow accustomed to hunters being in trees, so they are extra cautious and tend to look up more. I’m not sure how much I’d buy into that, but I can say for certain that you need to be aware of your movement and don’t give the deer a reason to look up.

This brings us to a major factor in determining ladder stand height – location. Hunters who are in tall, old-growth hardwoods tend to like taller stands because there isn’t much cover 10 feet off the ground. Whereas in a stand of pines, there is often quite a bit of cover, so much so that a taller stand may actually hurt your chances.

It’s not just tree type either. You need to pay attention to the contours of the land. If you’re hunting on a slope, like a hill or ridge, You’d better have a solid idea which direction the deer will be moving from. I had a buddy that set a 17-foot ladder stand on the side of a ridge. He was so excited because with the contour of the land in front of his stand, he was actually 35 feet over the deer run he was hunting. A nice buck was on that path and he was at full draw when he heard the doe blow behind him. When he turned around, he was eye level with a doe that was walking over the ridge on the other run he hadn’t paid attention to.

Photo: Shutterstock/Winterman

Brushing in

I’ll admit, I’m a die-hard waterfowler. This makes me automatically want to brush in my blind, and the same can be said for my treestands. Some camo fabric and natural vegetation help break things up. For me, it’s important to have it so I can turn my head with a reduced risk of the movement being visible. 

I really like to hunt  a line between a stand of mature red pines and a thick hardwoods forest. There’s some nice open pockets on this line and I have ladder stands set up in different sports so I can play the wind. I re-brush in all the stands every season with both natural and artificial materials. I feel this is very important, especially with a ladder stand, as there is more stand there for the deer to see. It helps that I hunt private land, but the same would apply to public land, too.

Do ladder stands spook deer?

The short answer is – maybe. It’s more in the open than other treestands, but if you use it right you’re fine. I suggest setting it up as soon as you can so the deer get completely used to it.

How do I hide a ladder stand for hunting?

In general, you’re not going to be able to hide a ladder stand from game. However, you can get it set up so they get used to it being there. Be sure to clean all your scent off, too.

Do I still need a safety harness with a ladder stand?

Yes – 100% yes! Never, ever go up any treestand without a safety harness firmly attached. Safety ropes also help keep you controlled should you fall.

About the Author

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Derrek Sigler has been a professional outdoor writer for more than two decades since earning his Master’s Degree in creative writing with a thesis about fishing humor. But if you ask anyone that knows him, he’s been telling fishin’ stories since he was old enough to hold a pole. He has written for Cabela’s and served as editorial director for Gun Digest books. Over the years, he has also written for Petersen’s Hunting, North American Whitetail Magazine, Wildfowl, Grand View Media, and has worked with Bass Pro Shops, Hard Core Brands and Bone Collector. Successful Farming had him write for their magazine and he has appeared on their TV show to discuss hunting and ATVs on multiple occasions. He writes about the things he loves – hunting, fishing, camping, trucks, ATVs, boating, snowmobiles and the outdoor lifestyle he enjoys with his family in their home state of Michigan and more as they adventure around North America.

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