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Late tree stand removal

Well here in Pa I usually remove my tree stands right after our Pa late season, which is about the 3 week of January.. But with all the snow I have not been able to get to 7 of them. I hate the Idea of them being up and weathering this long. I try to put them up by the first week of September, so now they have been out 6 months.. 6 stands are loc to tree with climbing sticks on trees with life-lines. One a summit that I use on an area that is open and has lots of big trees. That stand is under the snow right now, not sure if that's helping or hurting. I all my years I've never left stands out this long. Wondering how this is going to weather on the straps, cables and life lines? I've seen some weathered life-lines and the rope gets hard and slick. Looks like I'm not going to get to them till early April.

I know some folks leave them out for years, I just can't do that. Also anyone know where you can get seats for the old fold up API stands? Ed

Ed, Dad and I left out tubular climbing sticks one winter and they filled with water, froze, split and cracked around the welds. Even though being hollow. I have neighbors that leave the whole shebang out for years and still use them. I'm not going in them!

Warm weather coming to east. Hopefully you can get out in next week or so. Stands should be fine. Just check real well on straps and cables. But I'd bet you'll be fine.

I never take down my stands unless the location goes cold. I inspect and replace ratchet straps every year when necessary and any foam seat pads get pulled off and stored in a bin. I can’t imagine hanging 20 stands each year on my private ground.

I'm with Hawkeye on this one. I take my stands down every December. Living in frigid MN, it's a chore to take the stands down when it's cold, but my peace of mind is so much higher knowing the stands, sticks and steps were only out 4-5 months each year. I'm less worried about straps and cables, which I can readily inspect for wear. I'm more concerned with what I cannot see (fissures in steel/aluminum, damaged welds, rusting inside steel tubing, etc.). I hear too many horror stories of treestand falls, many due to equipment failures. I want to lessen my chances of becoming a statistic. I'll labor in December to safely store my stands during the off-season. When I can no longer pull down stands every year, I'll switch to ground blinds and ghillie suits. One guy's opinion.

I leave mine up however I had a heavy chain on that was in a hemlock tree for ten years. After a logging job I was going to move it this past spring and it has grown in the tree. I cut the chain and the straps and it won't budge.

I’m with Pat on this. Mine stay out all year and I check straps in late July/august. It’s my routine that works for me.

i take down my stands end of december but leave up the stiks. UV is too hard on the straps and seats. i throw em back up in september after i perform any maintenance on them.

X2 what Pat said been doing it for many moons good luck Lewis

All 4 - 6 of mine come down every year. Most by the end of November. I'll leave 1 or 2 up through our Dec. late season, then those come down by early Jan. Most of them are back up by mid Aug.

One thing I forgot about is the water that gets in the tubes of the stands and the steps of the climbing ladder. (in my first post I said sticks,, should of said ladders) With all the snow this year I'm sure water got in and with some very cold nights I bet I got some damage. DAM!! All my stands that have factory straps to hold them in place I put a ratchet around stand and the tree, because some of the stands are 30+years old and one on the bottom to stabilize them.. Ed

Only one I take down is my millennium hang on. All ladder stands stay out all year long.

Old School... that's exactly what we do. 90% of our stands are ladder stands, so we do what others have said and check/replace any worn straps. My millennium comes out along with my lightweight/packable sticks towards the end of the season. The only hang-ons we have are double ratchet strapped and get checked yearly too.

I have left mine in for years. I replace the straps and seats as needed. One time I was going to a stand with a thunderstorm coming but I decided to not go. I went early the next morning and noticed the tree was split all the way down. Lightning had hit the tree but the stand was still good. When I think of the times I have spent in stands during storms it made me think. I have had great luck when a storm ends just before dark the deer come out like crazy. No more. I also have a double ladder stand on a huge oak tree in my woods. I don't need to replace the straps any more since it has grown into the tree. The stand is solid as a rock.

I have reservations about the things you cant see, like how the cables are doing. I'm leaning towards replacing them with chains. I take mine down every year.

2 years ago in southwest Pa. A hunter had left his tree stand hanging all year. The first morning of archery season, the hunter climbs tree to hunt, the straps broke and hunter fell to his death. Just an FYI!!

All my stands have a climbing rope. I inspect every stand each year before I climb into it, but if a cable or strap still broke I would be protected by the rope. Really dumb to not have one at every hang on stand. They’re not expensive.

I got 10 lifelines at walmart last week. A friend called me and said they have them for 7.95. I told him to buy what ever he's not, he got 5, I got 10. They had 15.

I’m amazed at the number oh bow hunters who still don’t use safety device. They are that cheap. Incidentally, the fall described above happened less than 3 miles from my home. No lifeline and no harness. Unfortunate and sad at the same time, because it never should have happened.

I leave up 7 ladder stands, all have life lines.

I put up 9 more hang-ons before season, and install lifelines.

Change ratchets out every year on the ladders, and straps on my sticks every couple years.

I used to pull them every year but not anymore. Most of mine are the old Gorilla stands which have cables holding up the platform. Few years back I took the stands down and added chains beside the existing cables, as insurance in case a cable ever fails. I also changed out any other hardware that looked suspect. I rehung them and that's were they'll stay, unless the spot goes cold. I loosen up the chain around the tree by a few links at the end of the season, so they won't grow into the tree. Just snug them up before the next season and i"m good to go.

At one point I and my brother maintained 102 stands on the properties we hunted. Some stands did not get hunted for 4 or 5 years in a row. We checked every stand every year and repleaced ratchet straps and cables as needed. I still maintain around 50 and again leave them out forever. I just pulled a stand that had been in the same hemlock since 1992, It had not grown in the tree as I replaced the straps every couple years and loosened the straps a tad every season to allow for tree growth. I have stands in trees that have been there 35 years on some properties I lost permission on but know the stands are still in place. I say as long as you check all your stands every year and use a life line on all of them than it is fine to leave them oot. Shawn

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