Unread postby austin1990 » Wed May 31, 2023 2:51 am
I've been mobile hunting for about 15 years now, started with climbers, then I used a lock on and sticks for one season and started saddle hunting 5 years ago. Reason I'd went the saddle route was for packability and weight savings, and I've enjoyed it a lot. Only downside was all day or even half day sits werent very comfortable but I made due. I'd been interested in a lightweight hang on stand the last few years, but I couldn't justify the expense when I already had plenty of saddle gear that worked. Last year in December I found a heck of a deal on a gen 1 beast stand and 4 sticks that you could tell hadn't been hunted with 2 or 3 sits max, and the guy was only 30 minutes from me. So I went and checked it out, and was immediately blown away by the weight and the machine work. I'm a welder and machinist, so I see my share of good and bad and I was impressed with the stand Dan and Mario had produced. I ended up hunting out of it 4-5 times before season ended and each time was better than the previous, and it's all I plan to use this fall. Although early season when it's still real hot I may just stick with the saddle to keep my sweat down.
There was a bit of trial and error to it for me at first, and it may have mostly been me since I'd not hunted with a hang on in so long. It's very easy and lightweight to hang, what I would do is get it hung, then take and fold the platform up and tighten the strap and push down on the seat with an elbow and then cam the platform over. The bottom would wiggle some, but it was otherwise rock solid and not going anywhere. Any time I tried to toe hook it like I seen several people mention, i would get some creaking/popping noise from the antler bracket whenever i would shift my weight on the platform. I've been thinking of chamfering the antler bracket i have, or buying the new updated one and seeing if it fixes that issue.
That's really the only problem I've experienced, and it may also be due to the hardbarked trees I tend to hunt, which we mostly have in the river bottoms here. I'm smaller than you, shoe and weight wise so I'm not much help there, but I don't think you'll regret a beast stand. If you did, they are easy to resell, I've had several offers for mine, but it ain't going anywhere.
Oh, and Mario is pretty topnotch too.
