How do you use the ladders for hunting that I see pictures of.

I like to stand on the ladder and rest my gun on the stop of the ladder. Sitting on top of the ladder is to me rather un steady.
 
We started hunting with ladders several years ago, and here is what we have learned:

Go with a wood ladder, they make less noise and sound more natural if you should bump into something. Aluminum is light, but clanks.

We camo paint ours. Find something to sit next to if you can, but honestly we have had foxes, bobcats amd even coyotes just walk up to them. We have even hunted in the middle of a knee to waist high planted field, and sat right in the middle of it, and it works.

The key is to just not look like what you are. When I watch my partner sometimes I loose sight of him, and when I spot him, he really looks like a short tree.

It is a great way to hunt, and you can see so much more.
 
Here are some pics on how I have tried it. This is an 8 foot ladder.

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Just when I thought I already thought I had wayyyyy to much equipment to carry! Great pics and great information. Guess I'm gonna have to try it. I may have to borrow my neighbors donkey to get all my crap to the set!
 
Originally Posted By: WhitebeardJust when I thought I already thought I had wayyyyy to much equipment to carry! Great pics and great information. Guess I'm gonna have to try it. I may have to borrow my neighbors donkey to get all my crap to the set!

It really is an amazing experience. I was introduced to it by Scott Francom of the Arizona Predator Callers. He did a presentation at the monthly club meeting, had a lot of pics, and even brought a ladder that many of us tried. Then he took me out and we hunted with them, and it really is something to behold. I was most amazed by the animals reaction, or lack of reaction to a man on a ladder. We have had them come right up to the ladder, and even hide underneath it. It is also great to be able to see for several hundreds of yards, and be able to watch the animals come all the way in. There just isnt anything like it.
 
We deployed the ladders for the first time last Wednesday.

As you can see, the addition of the ladder makes for quite a bit of stuff to carry.

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Here's a pic of mjlynnjr all set up.

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Although we didn't shoot anything, it was fun trying them out. Being atop the ladder certainly improves the view. We'll keep trying. I'm determined to shoot something from them.
 
Here in New England we started bowhunting for deer with treestands when I was a teenager. Back then deer did not look up. Many times we've seen deer walk underneath us when we were but eight to ten feet up a tree.

Now they have learned to look up. I wonder if the same will happen where you are hunting? Right now it appears that the predators do not look up. I know here in New England that predators will look up. I have had a couple coyotes look up at me in a treestand and leave very quickly. But here in the East many hunters hunt not just deer but predators out of a tree. Also many coyotes in my home state of Massachusetts are shot during the shotgun deer season as targets of opportunity and many hunters are in a treestand.
 
an aluminum ladder would be noisy if you hit it accidently. I use a 5' wooden ladder and I drill a hole part way into a step to hold the shooting stick from moving. I was on mine tonight for almost an hour. I take a foam seat and sit on that as the top of the ladder isn't very big.
 
an aluminum ladder would be noisy if you hit it accidently. I use a 5' wooden ladder and I drill a hole part way into a step to hold the shooting stick from moving. I was on mine tonight for almost an hour. I take a foam seat and sit on that as the top of the ladder isn't very big.
 
I cut up a old sweatshirt, wrapped around the legs with duct tape so that the legs of the metal ladder wont make noise. Also, I wrapped material around the hinges to lesson the noise.
 
Originally Posted By: lyotehunterhow good is your Kuiu gear H82miss

That's not me in the KUIU gear, it's mjlynnjr. He loves it! He was a Sitka Gear guy but now he has converted to all KUIU. He says it's comfortable, light, durable, and breathes well, and he like it better than Sitka Gear. He is very into the high performance gear. Mjlynnjr is way more high performance than me
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I wear Predator camo because I like the pattern. The KUIU stuff really disappears in the sagebrush.
 
I've got an old wooden step ladder. I'm going to camo it with Krylon paint and try it out after deer season is over. I have a field of hard hack over knee high with field roads going through it that I wanted to hunt. Maybe that's the way to do it.
 

I have not shot my 12 ga from atop the ladder, but I would not hesitate to do so if the opportunity presented itself. After sitting on the ladder for a few minutes and figuring out how to balance I don't think shooting the shotgun will be problematic. I think I would try to get balanced, lean into the gun, and anticipate the recoil. Of course, this is all theoretical at this point as I haven't actually done it. It's quite possible that I will totally forget that I'm shooting the shotgun, pull the trigger before I'm ready, and go a$$ over tea kettle off the ladder, falling 5'+ to the earth below, causing grievous injury to my decrepit, arthritic body, and requiring Life Flight to medevac me to the nearest trauma center.... Hopefully that won't happen, but it is possible.

My best advice would be to try it with a buddy, in a controlled environment, in an area with a rapid response 911 system, and good cell phone coverage. Definitely not a
"Hold my beer and watch this!" kind of thing.

Let us know, and post pics!
 
I think Il try this! But I was also thinking about using a ! man Ladder stand and only using the seat and the first section to get you only 6'-8' off the ground in a wooded fence row. Has anyone done this??? I dont think you would need the strut to the tree,just lean it up and ratchet strap seat to tree. Just a thought! Thanks! Jeff
 
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