When I first started deer hunting everyone I knew used a fixed position stand. Climbers hadn’t really caught on yet and only a few die hard deer hunters who recognized their value used them. It was a family tradition for us to visit the deer woods a month before the season and set up our stands to return to them on opening day and hunt whitetails.

The stands were not quite so easy to set up and took a bit of time to get just right. When I began hunting the suburbs, I went in and scouted the place, then hung a stand a week before the opener, only to have it gone by opening day. Someone climbed up, cut the lock with bolt cutters and took it all. I came to the conclusion that the only way I would now be able to hunt was either from the ground or with a climbing tree stand.

I was a little concerned about using a climbing stand at first but quickly became comfortable with it. I liked the mobility the climber offered me and the increased success I had hunting by using a climber. I’ve actually hunted deer in the morning, climbed down and moved 50 yards only to take a deer in that same spot in the mid-afternoon!

I started off using a Summit Treestand and thought it was the greatest stand in the world. It was fairly light to carry in and very comfortable. It was, however, a bit noisy and bulky. After hearing all the “hype” about Lone Wolf stands, I decided to cough up the cash and try out the Lone Wolf Alpha Hand Climber. Yes, they are expensive, and yes everyone complains of the price, but think about it, for about $350 you’re investing in the last tree stand you will ever need – period.

“This is the only climber I will ever need. Next season I’m buying the only other tree stand I will ever need – a Lone Wolf Alpha Hang On Stand with a set of four Climbing Sticks.”

This stand packs flat, is extremely light, super easy to carry through the woods, and the quietest stand I’ve ever used. The Summit stand has hollow tubes and steel cables that “clank” together and make noise as you climb. The Lone Wolf uses solid cast aluminum construction to eliminate hollow tubes and urethane climbing belts that make no noise when climbing the tree. You can literally drag the stand up against the tree and only hear the scraping of the bark – try this in a Summit and you’ll also get the “clank clank clank” of the steel cable banging against the hollow tubes.

The bow grommet on the Lone Wolf, isn’t my favorite for my Mathews Drenalin, and I prefer to take a hook with me that screws into the tree to hang my bow, but I have the grommet there incase I ever forget or drop my hook out of the tree. It’s a good “back up” plan. The grommet would probably work well on other bows where the “Wolf Jaws” could grab both sides of the limb versus the one side of my limb on my Drenalin (because of the string suppressor, both sides of the limb can not be captured by the Wolf Jaws).

The platform on the Lone Wolf and my Summit are basically the same size +/- 1 inch. The difference is in the construction and the Lone Wolf is definitely quieter. I think it also has to do with the design. The Summit has bars that run horizontal across the platform and if you turn sideways in your platform your boot can slip off the side of the horizontal bar and make a noise. This problem is eliminated with the Lone Wolf because of its cast aluminium design.

The trade off between the Lone Wolf and the Summit comes with the seat. The Summit seat is hands down more comfortable. You have arm rests and a big comfy seat with a backrest. The Lone Wolf seat is literally a piece of aluminum with a 1″ thick foam pad on it. I prefer the Lone Wolf seat for several reasons. First, the arm rests of the Summit get in the way, the Lone Wolf seat gives you 360 degree shooting movement without any chance of the seat getting in the way – this is especially important to longbow and recurve shooters. Additionally, the seat is held in place by two stabilizer straps which prevent it from falling off the tree unlike the Summit which, if bumped into while standing up in some instances can fall off. The Summit seat uses three straps underneath the foam pad to support the shooter, this is comfortable, but in my opinion it provides too much play for the seat and makes it harder to stand up when a deer steps into view. With the Lone Wolf, there is a hard seat under you that you can easily push off of to stand up with a minimal amount of movement.

The Lone Wolf Alpha Hand Climber also packs much better than the Summit. Not only does it pack flat, but it takes half the time to pack and there is no noise involved, unlike the Summit which requires one piece to be placed inside another and then noisy straps to be tightened once the stand is together. With the Lone Wolf stand you simply place the seat on top of the platform and bungee it together – that’s it! Then you wrap the stabilizer straps around the stand and buckle them so they’re out of the way and you’re ready to head to your next stand location.

If you’re in the market for a new tree stand I highly suggest purchasing a Lone Wolf stand. If you think they’re expensive I’d recommend saving up for one and putting off the purchase for another few months or until next season, it really is a piece of equipment that will benefit you in the deer woods and you won’t want to be without one.

This is the only climber I will ever need. Next season I’m buying the only other tree stand I will ever need – a Lone Wolf Alpha Hang On Stand with a set of four Climbing Sticks.

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