A couple of boards fixed between a fork in a tree with some big spike nails in the tree works just fine. Alot of us have become spoiled with fancy deerstands and various do-dads that supposedly make hunting better. While I'm not saying I don't have a few of these store bought stands, I think some of us old timers need to teach some of the younger one the basics of hunting and not stress on what kind of equipment you use. I have shot quite a few deer by just sitting on a stump near what looked like a deer trail. No camo, no fancy deer blind, no fancy scents or sprays to cover my scent. Patience and stealth is what works for me. I look for where I think the deer might be, go there and be still and quiet. Sooner or later a deer will come by and if you shoot stright you can bag 'em. They will never know you didn't have a fancy stand to hunt out of and will be just as dead as if you did!

I pesonally love API, and Summit climber's, I live in them during fall and early winter.

I perfer a fixed stand with ladder steps to the stand. They are a little harder to attach to the tree but once you have it attched they are solid. We have 4 of these and the best one I found so far is a Gorilla,not sure of the model, it has arm rests and foot rest. I bought it at Walmart for $90 not including the ladder steps. We also have three ladder stands. They are easy to get in and out of but they don't have the height. We did buy the new Realtree Skyscraper ladder stand that's 22' to the seat but won't put it up until this summer. That should take care of the height problem. The draw back to the fixed and ladder stands it usually takes 2 people to move them. Once we have them up they stay there until the season is over. I do have a climber but only use it on rare ocassions.

Gorilla makes good stands, but API and Summit are def. the best.