Trick Out Your Treestand
Sit pretty all fall with these eight easy upgrades.
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With $125 worth of easy add-ons and D.I.Y. tweaks, you can turn a favorite ladder stand, like my Millennium L220 ($400; millenniumstands.com), into a silent Barcalounger in the sky—comfortable enough to sit in all day and quiet enough to get the drop on the cagiest bucks. Whether you’re enduring a rainstorm or a freeze, these improvements will help keep you in the hunt for as long as it takes.
1. Even the best stand can use extra padding. Add a stadium seat, such as the Browning Tracker XT ($45; midwayusa.com), to cushion your butt and back through the long season ahead.
2. A steady drizzle often puts deer on the move. Attach a collapsible tree umbrella, like the Allen Instant Tree Roof ($20; amazon.com), to stay dry when the weather turns wet.
3. Zip-tie a strip of rubber Multi-Mat ($5.79 per foot; tractorsupply.com) along the platform to keep it silent and prevent bare metal from sucking warmth out of your boots.
4. Mount a bow holder, like the Third Hand Bow Rest ($12; eders.com), so when a deer appears, you can grab your bow with minimal movement.
5. Add grip tape ($7; amazon.com) to the ladder rungs and the footrest for better traction and to prevent the squeak of boot soles on metal.
6. Silence moving parts like lock pins and loose hinges with cloth hockey tape ($6; amazon.com).
7. Tie on a heavy-duty, permanent pull-up rope, like the Big Game Magna Lift ($20; cabelas.com), for hassle-free, quiet ascents.
8. Attach a cupholder ($2; ebay.com) to the shooting rail for your go-to beverage. That is Gatorade, right?
