Setting up a lockon treestand, climbing sticks and trimming shooting lanes.

LAST UPDATED: May 8th, 2015

Every now and then you come across a spot that just tells you to put a lock on up rather than pack in your stand for the hunt.  This spot only tells me that once every 3 years though because of the crop rotation on the fields.  It is a long walk from my parking area and right outside of a bedding area that is located 100 yards East of a corn field (I do not have access to the property with the corn field).

I always take in extra screw in steps when setting a lock on and climbing sticks.. You never know when you may have to go a couple extra feet to clear some branches.

Because of these circumstances of the close proximity of a bedding area and the very long walk I decided to put a lock on up for the season rather than pack in a stand when I hunt it.  It is a spot that I will hunt a few times throughout the year as it ties into each stage of the season from early season staging, to prerut seeking, to the ruts chasing and again to late season staging.  I can get into it with our SW winds without any problems of spooked deer as well. 

Here my buddy Frank is attaching the climbing sticks.  He was a huge help, as it's a tough job by yourself to set it all up and cut the lanes.  We often tag team stand setups on his lands and mine. 

Now the lock on is being attached to the red oak that just seemed to be in a great spot.

With Frank in the stand here I am with a 14' pole saw knocking out some shooting lanes. 

Here you can see how valuable of a tool these are as you can really reach out and trim some branches that would otherwise be out of reach.  To follow is me wrestling with a larger branch… It was kicking my butt, but I ultimately won the battle!