Core

Good advice. You could also record the phone call with a smartphone or something. Totally legal in New York (one party consent state) and you don't need to tell the other party it's being recorded. You can do the same thing next time you get called in for a nasty meeting with your boss, too!

True. Sometimes I Just don't think things through.

I use the Vectronix Vector 23. I figure why settle on a cheap range finder

The 2015 hunting trapping guide and the DEC website do list numbers for the rangers in each county. In mine it lists three. I know one of them has since printing left, so he's not there. But of the other two they are state issued cell phone numbers, and the first time I called the guy was quite personable and answered my questions. It doesn't sound like you tried this particular approach because in the guide, which is also downloadable at NY Dec, there isn't a single county that has only one officer. I don't think they mind you calling--that's why they publish the numbers, and another DEC officer gave us all the idea to do it in our hunter course.

I understand they do make small tweaks over time. I've had it out of the box and trying to figure out how to carry it. It's super important to me to have hands free as much as possible as an option. I've discovered that I can put it on my back with my pack at the bottom of it (my bow attached to the day pack). This allows hands free for any precarious hills. However, I then tried putting my day pack on (has a nice waist strap), then just throwing this thing over top as if the day pack isn't there and to my surprise it is damned comfortable. Weight is nicely distributed and this stand just sticks super far out of the back. This would require me to carry my bow, but I tend to anyway unless going through some really nasty stuff, and in any case the bow has a marvelous tendency to snag on freaking everything it can find in any case, yanking arrows out and whatever else. Still want to check out some of the smaller climbers, but even the open shot is no thinner than the summit; it is merely 4" shorter and lacks a back-rest, plus it is 6 lbs lighter.

Regarding GPS http://www.iotatracker.com/is a new product shipping this December. Small, battery lasts for a long time. It has a decent independent range but it shines using a crowd-based network, so once you hit a critical mass of users you potentially end up with "infinite" range to it, to find out exactly where it is. This assumes it works as promised. But, let's say your GPS tracks to someone's house. If you don't know them is that enough for police to visit them? Probably. Is it enough for a search warrant over a tree stand? I doubt it. Would sure be an interesting visit from the cops though.

I've spooked many deer this year and the only one that was a buck was next to swamp. Got within 50 yards and he barreled out of there off to the side of me. I had no idea he was there until his exit. Hellacious stuff to walk through, though. Can go from merely damp to boots sucked off in no time. Walking through them is terrible, and also very loud. The one benefit of some of the swamp area I've been at is visibility was quite good; certain areas had only fairly large trees decently spread apart. Would have been great with a rifle.

This is fair. Most of us could lose five lbs anyway, though five lbs evenly distributed as fat is easier to haul than something on the back. But I am really thinking the back rest on the summit will be king. So many people online love them. More I think about it the more I am planning on taking down the stand I left on Monday, putting it back in the box with the receipt and packing up the sticks and craigslisting them.

You and I are on the same page. This is my first year, though. I went on my first hunt on Oct 3. I've been out 10 (!) times since. I've been throwing time, and increasingly money at it and feeling slightly stupider as time goes on. Had my best luck the first day walking, though who knows how many deer are pressured away by now. Course some stuff I really did "need". Beyond the pack, clothes, bow, etc. I think the range finder is a reasonable essential, but that was a hundred. A stand of some sort is highly preferred among bow hunters, so you're out another $100-400 depending on the approach you need. I literally only have one more thing I "need" (I hope) and that is a pair of binoculars. I also tried a stand for the first time a few days ago, but I hated it--was a hang on with sticks. I've since bought a climber, but not tried it yet. IMO if you want to sell yours do it in the next few weeks. At first I carried a stool. Setup time was approximately 20 seconds and it was safe. However, setting up a stool next to a tree is tricky to be effectively covered. So a few times ago I put the stool next to a tree, cleared all the leaves from the ground, and leaned some branches up--enough to obscure me significantly but still give a view of things. I frankly don't know why I didn't try it again, and it can be supplemented with some cheap camo fabric. I can pretty much say I refuse to carry a hangon with sticks in and out now, as I reasonably should given it is public land. All those bits of pieces hanging around, the harness attachment getting in the way as I wrap endless straps around the tree, even the stand I have has no back rest so is quite uncomfortable. It just removed all the fun I could possibly have otherwise had. I'm hoping that I can get the climber from ground to totally ready in about five minutes with some practice. I'm very good at figuring out processes and repeating them efficiently, so if it can be reasonably done in that time, I will be able to do it.

Finally. This is why I won't buy these. It's absolutely true that a dog is not a deer, but since nobody can actually prove these things do a darn thing for deer, a dog is better than nothing, and they don't seem to do a thing for dogs. Buying them absent data just because they "might" help is simply falling for the marketing. Similar to if I market a whistle that I promise if blown before hunting will increase your odds. I am pretty sure that if you go for a run and you stink and spray yourself down you're not going to do anything but stink exactly how you did before. If somebody can work up a nasty sweat on old clothes and use this stuff to trick their wife, then I'll buy a bottle.

Damn, 11 lbs? Very nice. Not as comfortable as the summit but no excuses on portability with 11 lbs total. I imagine somebody will eventually bring the weight of a climber under 10 lbs by using carbon fiber, though maybe it isn't appropriate.Will give the Hang on another shot but i think only if I can practically move it each time because of the public land. If not I will use the summit I bought. If it turns out to be too bulky I could always sell it next fall and pick up an ultra light climber. I think its back rest will be nice though; back was killing me on the stand on Monday after just a couple of hours. Probably need to stand more.

I assume you have semi-private land. I think if you own the land the ideal is either a ladder stand or a climber with screw-ins, because those things are super cheap and super light, and just leave them up by the stand (I know they can occasionally pop out of a tree, but that's what the harness is for). I found something even lighter than any hang-on at 6 lbs: http://www.aerohunter.us/Not interested in going that route but I guess it has some benefits.

Neat link. During bow training the DEC officer cited an example of when a land owner called him over trespassing and he told the person he couldn't press charges because the land hadn't been posted.

Agree. See no purpose to warming up or stretching if then sitting on a stand. If archery is like other physical activities, pre-stretching is not strongly correlated with reduced injury rates. I've worked out for a couple of decades and the only time I had any real shoulder pain was doing some work on my house. I don't even remember what caused it, but one day I realized I couldn't raise my arm to the side without pain. After a couple of months the pain wasn't subsiding at all. I went to PT and inside of two weeks I could start to very slightly feel it getting better. Two weeks after that it was clear: the PT was helping. I kept at it and pain went away. First time I've ever had PT truly work on something really well. All PT involved was a lot of shoulder work from various angles. It really was that simple. This is also why I only shoot just over 50 lbs. I'm sure I could handle a 70 lb bow but I don't want to. Musculoskeletal pain is no joke and I couldn't care less about losing a little energy in my arrow if it helps keep things in check. I also never work through pain anymore on any activity I do. I have long term issues from running due to not listening to my body properly and i will never repeat this mistake again. So for example if I engage in a new activity and I'm feeling some joint pain somewhere I cut it right back until that pain goes away before resuming, so that my body can adjust sufficiently. I'm still surprised how slowly tendon pain can resolve, even from minor tweaks.

Sounds fun! If nothing else this may take some pressure off the public land I am at!

I think so as well. If one word would describe my first experience with the stand confident would certainly not be it. I think more practice is important. I consider myself spry but I just found the entire process super fiddly and awkward the first time out. That said, tonight I basically stole a Summit Viper SD from Gander mountain for $215 out the door after taxes (until tomorrow $50 off on this stand, and through today $50 off any order over $250). That's 20 lbs total weight, and many people say they find it so comfortable they could fall asleep in them. Online, some people swear by the lone wolf hang ons and sticks, which will run about 24 lbs and $350 or so, but are not limited to certain trees as a climber is. But, they also won't be as comfortable. I doubt I take this thing out of the box until I try the other setup again on Saturday. If my stand is already stolen (I doubt it will be), the decision will be a particularly easy one

You're right about weight. If I'm not mistaken lone wolf hang on for 11 lbs or so plus 4 sticks at 2.5 lbs/piece means 21 lbs minimum for a hang on setup. I'm seriously thinking about pulling the trigger on the Summit Viper SD climbing stand. Right now at gander mountain there is a $50 e-certificate plus through today only $50 off online orders on their site at $250+. This puts me at $281 out the door incl. tax but with a $50 GC I'm right at $230 for a 20 lb climber. I get the impression that spending $120 more on that than the $99 32 pounder is probably worth it. The alternative is to leave my hang on in various spots on state land. It's only $40, but it will never be mobile at the combined weight of 26 lbs and more than that just super awkward to move around.

That is just crazy expensive, but yeah the lone wolf super light climber looks really, really nice. Also, all the fiddling around with cables and nonsense seems to take place on the ground, not 15' up a tree leaning back standing on a small step. I will give my hanging + sticks another go since I do own them, but am looking at climbers. I think maybe the 32 lb ones are just too heavy to take seriously.

Why is that entire area off limits to deer hunting, BTW? Seems the entire state legalizes it except for that area and then around NYC.

I did, it's my avatar

The first time trying this was at my site, so it was slower than it should be. Some guy on youtube can go from ground to sitting in his hang-on stand in five minutes, but I wonder what the average is? 10? It took me probably 25 minutes, though I could do it faster even now on the second time.

I would do it but don't know where to start and it is too far from my house to spend time scouting, so would have to scout on the fly. Is it generally packed with deer? I spoke to a guy who goes there and he does have good luck.

A lot of people insist that Deer have seemingly magical memory, though, and can pick anything out of the environment that wasn't there before

Having diminishing luck on my still hunting approach, I've now dropped a couple of trail cams and plan on killing from above like a ninja. I would love a nice, light climber but cannot spend so much more money. So instead I spent $40 on a comfort zone, plus another $50 on three climbing sticks. I took this out for the first time yesterday and it was nothing short of a huge PITA. This is probably in part due to my free climbing harness which was quite an epic bother to use (but I did--and will--continue to use it). The stand is 15 lbs, the sticks are 12. But I also have a backpack with a bow attached to it. The weight carrying this stuff in was only moderately annoying, though having no hands free sucked. But, dang, just putting in the sticks then the stand and all that--and having to leave the stand there (not taking that down at the end of the day) all conspired to just really be annoying. I wish I had just brought my 4 lb stool and sat off the trail. So now I'm thinking of getting the $100 dicks climbing stand (sell the other stuff). That bad boy is 32 lbs, but I figure I can strap it to my back and my backpack to that so at least I have hands free. Plus, it can't get stolen. I know it only works on smooth trees. Is setting up a climbing stand faster and easier than a stick + hang on? I have to assume it's far less of a bother, and despite its weight is far more portable as well. With the climber I hang it at ground level with two straps total, then I strap myself in, and get to work with my backpack on. If I move my hang on stand I have three buckles total for the sticks, a couple for the stand, plus actually hanging it absolutely requires that I lean back against my safety harness, which I got used to quickly but still rather don't like the notion of it. Then I've got the sticks and/or stand over my back as I'm putting them in, it seems like such a bother.

lol This thread is hilarious. These gun hunters sound like animals. I've been on public land so far for bow 9-10 times and have run into another hunter once. I see 1-2 cars parked in my vicinity at a time, though as yet none have been parked where I was (meaning no hunters actually crossing paths). The more I read about gun season the more I picture scores of people running around with orange vests shooting at anything that moves.