Big Game Ladder Stands and Tree Stands

What Big Game makes for deer hunters

On this site, Big Game covers four kinds of stand and one accessory:

• Ladder stands: one-person and two-person, with shooting rails
• Tripod stands: freestanding, with seats that swivel all the way round
• Hang-on stands: the light Captain stands that strap to a tree
• Climbing sticks: the Quick-Stick, for getting up to a hang-on
• A blind kit: the Cover-All, which wraps a stand in fabric

The maker's site also lists ground blinds (the Quantum and the Charger). None of those is in the grid right now. Ground blinds from other brands are on the ground blind page.

The grid above filters by type and changes as listings come and go. So I'll write about the lines and what separates them, not about how many of each are listed this week. Most specs in the grid come from Amazon listings, and the grid marks those values. Where the maker's own site gives a number, I've used the maker's number here, because Amazon rounds some heights differently. (A shop teacher notices when 18 feet 6 inches turns into 18.5 on one page and 18 on another. It's the same stand. The tape measure doesn't change its mind.)

Lineup notes: the Big Game ladder stand

One-person ladders: Warrior Pro and Hunter HD 1.5

These are the two one-person ladders the maker describes in detail. Per its ladderstand page:

• Warrior Pro: 16 feet, a removable one-piece seat with armrests, a 300-pound weight rating, three ladder sections, 40 pounds
• Hunter HD 1.5: 18 feet 6 inches to the rail, a Flex-Tek seat that flips up, a 23.5 by 29-inch foot platform, a 350-pound weight rating, four ladder sections in oval tubing, 61 pounds

The difference is plain and simple: the Hunter HD 1.5 is taller, wider and heavier. Its foot platform is several times the size of the Warrior Pro's, and it comes with two ratchet straps instead of one. The trade is 21 more pounds to carry in. The grid also has a one-person 18.5-foot ladder whose listing gives the same platform size and rating as the HD 1.5; read that listing's model name before you assume anything.

Flex-Tek is the maker's seat name. The pages I read don't describe how it's built, so I won't guess.

Two-person ladders: Big Buddy and Guardian DXT

The two-person ladders give you a bench seat and two harnesses. The maker lists the Big Buddy at 16 feet, with a 38-inch-wide Flex-Tek seat, padded armrests, a 500-pound weight rating, two four-point full-body harnesses and a stand weight of 64 pounds.

The Guardian DXT in the grid is listed on Amazon at 18 feet, two people, steel, with a flip-back rail. The maker's page shows a Guardian XLT instead, so the DXT's details come from its listing. If you're comparing the two, compare listing to listing.

Rule of thumb: a two-person stand is for a mentor and a new hunter, or two people who like each other a lot. Thirty-eight inches of bench is wide for one person and close for two. Measure your own shoulders before you decide which it is.

What every ladder in the line shares

Across the ladders on the maker's page, a few things repeat. Steel construction. An adjustable support bar between the ladder and the tree. A 1-inch ratchet strap plus two 1-inch stabilizer straps (two ratchet straps on the HD 1.5). A 9-inch minimum tree diameter. And a harness or fall arrest system in the box.

That support bar is the part people skip. It braces the ladder partway up, so the stand isn't just leaning on a strap at the top. Install it. More on ladder stands across brands is on the ladder stand page.

Big Game tripod stands: Pursuit and Apex

A tripod stand stands on its own three legs, so it doesn't need a tree at all. Jess's take: "A tripod is a ladder stand that brought its own tree." She's right, and the tree is heavy.

Per the maker's tripod page:

• Pursuit: 12 feet, a 22-inch seat that swivels 360 degrees with the shooting rail, a 20-inch round footrest, a 300-pound rating, 66 pounds, and legs that fold together for transport
• Apex: 13 feet, a 19-inch Flex-Tek swivel seat with a tall backrest, a 36-inch round foot platform, a padded rail that flips back, a 300-pound rating, 115 pounds

The Apex is the bigger platform and the heavier carry by a lot. The Pursuit folds for moving. Neither tripod listing on the maker's page mentions a harness, so bring your own. Tripods across brands are on the tripod deer stand page.

The Cover-All blind kit

The maker lists the Cover-All Blind Kit as an accessory for the Apex. The grid lists it as a blind cover. It turns an open tripod seat into a small blind in the air. Check that the kit's listing names your stand before you order one, since a cover cut for one platform won't fit another.

Hang-on stands and Quick-Stick climbing sticks

Captain hang-ons

The Captain is the light end of the line. The grid has Captain XC hang-ons, listed as steel with a Flex-Tek seat and a 300-pound rating, in a few sizes named in their titles. The maker's own page shows a Captain XL at 17 pounds, with a 24 by 30-inch platform, a flip-back sling seat and a nylon strap with a slide buckle. The XL and the XC are different names, so read the listing of the exact one.

A hang-on straps to the tree at hunting height, and you climb to it on sticks or steps. Hang-ons are the stands you move during the season, which is why they weigh a fraction of a ladder. The hang-on tree stand page covers them across brands.

Quick-Stick climbing sticks

The Quick-Stick is the maker's climbing system. Its page lists five pieces reaching 20 feet, 20 pounds total, steel, a 300-pound rating, alternating steps 10.5 inches wide, one 1-inch cam-buckle strap per section, and a 9-inch minimum tree diameter.

Alternating steps means one step on the left, the next on the right, so your feet take turns. That's how a stick stays narrow and still gives you a place for each boot. Sticks from other makers are on the climbing sticks page.

How to choose within the Big Game lineup

Decide ladder, tripod or hang-on by the tree

No good tree on the field edge? That's a tripod. A good straight tree you'll hunt all season? That's a ladder. A different tree every few weeks? That's a hang-on and sticks. Pick the stand type for the spot, then the model. The tree stand page covers all three side by side.

Then height

The maker's ladders run from 16 feet to 18 feet 6 inches, and its tripods from 12 to 13. Higher means a longer climb, a heavier stand and a longer way down. Height is a choice, not a contest.

Then one seat or two

Two-person ladders weigh more, and the maker lists two harnesses with them. If the second seat is for a youngster, the second harness is the part that matters most.

Then the carry

Here's the plain number: 40 pounds for the Warrior Pro, 61 for the Hunter HD 1.5, 64 for the Big Buddy, 115 for the Apex, per the maker. Add the walk from the truck. My knee has an opinion about every one of those numbers. Buy the stand you'll actually carry to the right tree, not the one that stays by the gate because it was too heavy to haul.

Setup and safety for Big Game stands

This part is serious, so it's plain.

My one opinion on this page: wear a full-body harness every time your boots leave the ground. No exceptions, no "just a minute." The Treestand Manufacturers Association's guidelines say the same thing: wear a full-body fall arrest harness every time you leave the ground, including while you climb up and down, and keep the tether snug enough that there's no slack when you sit.

The rest of the TMA guidelines, in short:

• Read the manual each season, and keep it for anyone who borrows the stand
• Use every safety device that came with the stand, and never exceed the weight limit
• Haul your gear up on a line once you're in the stand; never climb with anything in your hands or on your back
• Pick a live, straight tree within the maker's size limits, never a leaning one
• Three points of contact on every step: two hands and a foot, or a hand and two feet
• Don't leave a stand up more than two weeks, since weather can damage it in ways you can't see
• Have a rescue plan and a phone or signal device you can reach while hanging in the harness

Big Game's own minimum tree diameter is 9 inches on its ladders and sticks. Put the ladder up with help, install the support bar and every strap, and practice the harness at ground level first.

Before each season, look over every strap, cable and weld before you trust the stand with your weight, the way the TMA guidelines ask, and keep the maker's instructions with it. Harnesses and lifelines from a safety brand are on the Hunter Safety System page.

Who's behind Big Game

Big Game Treestands' about page lists GSM Outdoors at an address in Irving, Texas. Bowhunting.com reported in January 2019 that GSM Outdoors had acquired Big Game, Muddy and Hawk, and described Big Game's lineup as hang-on stands, ladder stands, ground blinds and tripods that rotate 360 degrees. Neither source gives a founding year or says where the stands are made, so those stay off this page.

Write the model number, the height and the date you put it up in the logbook. In two weeks, the logbook will remind you it's time to take it down.