I assume you can't use the climber in the pines because the pines have too many limbs to climb straight up. Yes.. you can just use the bottom as a platform & use a ladder, steps or the tree limbs to get up to it. Not a bad idea...
The crew I hunt with (motley they may be) all use something different……223, 6mm Rem, 30-30, 35 Rem. 7mm-08, 30-06, 7.7Jap, and 7mm Mag. No two guys shoot the same cal. They all work.
I have a Mossberg 500 that my dad (who didn't hunt) bought for me when I was about 14 or 15. About 35 years ago. I took a ton of game with it. The last time I took it out was around 8 years ago. I shot two pheasants with it, over my old dog Rudy. It was one of the last times I hunted with him, before we had to put him down. I still have the gun and Rudy's collar.
climber is the most versatile stand. If you decide to sit on the ground you can connect the climber seat to a tree and construct a quick grunt blind using branches and dead limbs.
If the kids favorite sport is goose hunting, let him go for it. I know there are now goose hunting teams but its just a little kid. Just another lib teacher projecting his/her own personal/political/anti gun views onto students. Sounds like the principal was pretty much ok with it….
I knew a guy who called in shot to work. The police went screaming out to his house, in the sticks, to find him sitting in a lawn chair out front, and his wife screaming and throwing all his stuff out onto the front lawn. He had a bullet hole through his shoulder. He said his .38 Derringer fell out of his shoulder holster and went off, when he bent over to pick up some wood……..Everyone believed him..LOL!!
I say use whats best for your hunting situation. There are plenty of people who buy magnum rifles just to say that they hunt with a "MAGNUM". But mag calibers do have their place in some deer hunting areas where very long shots are more common. I hunt with a 7mm-08 because I think its perfect for my area. Some guys use mags for the same reason.
Invest in a trailer and bring it back and forth every trip. By the time you pay for locks, chains cameras, insurance and the cost to repair attempted theft damage, you could have bought a nice new trailer. Around me they go for around six to seven hundred bucks.