$124.99 each (stand and climbing stick) | Rhino Treestands | 888-507-2021; rhinotreestands.com

Bowhunter-friendly features at an affordable price.

These days, it seems “mobile bowhunting” is all the rage. You know what I’m talking about; it generally involves using a tree saddle or ultralight hang-on stand to hike deep into public land and ambush a reclusive buck in virgin territory.

All that is well and good, and I must admit I own a couple saddles and lightweight, packable hang-ons myself. That said, I still spend the vast majority of my time chasing whitetails on private property where I and a select handful of others have permission to bowhunt. In areas like that — where hunting pressure is fairly controlled and hikes from the truck are measured in yards rather than miles — weight and mobility can take a backseat to convenience and comfort when it comes to treestand selection. After all, most of my stands on these properties are what I call “set it and forget it,” meaning that once I’ve determined an ideal ambush location, I erect a stand and leave it there all season, or occasionally even multiple seasons.

For me, the preferred setup in such a scenario is a comfortable hang-on such as the Rhino Treestands' RTH-100 and a ladder-style climbing aid such as the Rhino 24-Foot Double Step Climbing Stick. I recently had the opportunity to set this combo up in a classic, hourglass-shaped funnel of timber between two ag fields, and I can’t wait to see what kind of action the location yields this fall!

Weighing 23.5 pounds and featuring a generous, 24-inch wide by 32.5-inch deep foot platform with flip-up footrest, the RTH-100 certainly wouldn’t be your first choice for a mobile hang-and-hunt setup. However, it is perfect for more permanent placement, and its 20-inch wide by 14-inch deep, flip-up Comfort Mesh seat provides excellent support for your backside during those all-day rut sits. I consider the RTH-100 very bowhunter friendly, as it doesn’t have a shooting rest or rail to get in the way of your bow as you pivot into shooting position. Other features serious archers will appreciate include: orange plastic washers and spacers that keep the stand silent by eliminating metal-on-metal contact; top and bottom tree straps that hold it securely in place and prevent shifting; a leveling knob on the seat; and a three-position cable adjustment that allows you to level the foot platform after the stand is attached to the tree. The RTH-100 has a weight capacity of 300 pounds and comes with a full-body fall arrest system.

Like the stand, Rhino’s Double Step Climbing Stick weighs 24.5 pounds and isn’t something you’re going to carry miles into the backcountry. However, once assembled and connected to a tree using the six included straps, the stick stands a lofty 24 feet tall and features rows of double steps that are rated for 300 pounds, angled slightly upward to avoid accidental slips and make ascending and descending as easy as climbing a ladder.

Compared to the lightweight, packable climbing sticks I use when saddle hunting, the Double Step Climbing Stick is like a luxury upgrade, and having the stand and sticks set before the season means I can show up just minutes before legal shooting light and be settled in with plenty of time to spare. It’s also a very easy climbing stick/stand combo to navigate in the dark, and since I always set my stand platform below the top rung of my climbing sticks, stepping off the stick and onto the platform (or vice versa) is easy, safe and secure. Speaking of security, I also always add a safety rope with sliding prussic knot to all my hang-on sets, allowing me to clip in with my safety harness before leaving the ground and remain tethered until I’m back on the ground. — Editor Christian Berg

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Petersen's Bowhunting Editor Christian Berg provides an overview of the Phase 4, Mathews' flagship hunting bow for 2023. Featuring new Phase Resistance Dampening technology incorporated into the bow limbs, Mathews touts the Phase 4 as the quietest, most vibration-free hunting bow in company history.

Saddle hunting continues to trend upward in a big, big way, and that held true once again if you looked around the floor at the 2023 ATA Trade Show in Indianapolis. Christian Berg caught up with Tethrd's Greg Godfrey about the company's latest offering — the LockDown Saddle that focuses solely on hunter comfort.

Redline Bowhunting is one company that has come an awful long way in a short period of time. In fact, the company even took home some hardware at the 2023 Archery Trade Show for their hard work. Here, Redline's Wess Brown visits with Editor Christian Berg to discuss some new sight technology for the new year — and we're convinced that you're going to like what you see!

What good is an expensive new bow without great arrows to go with it? New to the Carbon Express lineup for 2023 is the Maxima Photon SD, the latest and greatest micro-diameter model from the popular arrow makers. FeraDyne's Chris James shows Editor Christian Berg the lightest hunting arrow Carbon Express has ever produced during the 2023 ATA Show in Indianapolis.

James Mogle from Trophy Ridge and OSG's Lynn Burkhead run through the features of the Digital React One Pin bowsight. The sight, according to the company, has the ability to get your bow completely sighted in after just one shot. How? Check out the video straight from the show floor of the Indiana Convention Center to find out! You'll certainly be glad you did.

Following the great success of the Edge last year, Moultrie took it a step further for 2023 with the Edge Pro cellular trail camera. Mark Olis explains the top feature of the Edge Pro — False Trigger Elimination. In other words, you now have the ability to stop the camera from showing you photos that were triggered by wind, small-game animals or anything else that produces unwanted images which does nothing but drain your batteries. With built-in artificial intelligence, you can tell the camera exactly what you want to see via the Moultrie Mobile app. Truly innovative!

For 2023, two very familiar names — Schrade and Rage — have teamed up to create a series of replaceable-blade knives. With the look of a replaceable-blade broadhead comes the Isolate Enrage 7 & 8, designed to be a knife that travels in your hunting pack. Join Editor Christian Berg and FeraDyne's Chris James on the floor of the 2023 Archery Trade Show to see this new model, as well as some other models in the new lineup.

If your hunting location has a need for an elevated blind, Rhino Treestands has something new just for you. The 10-Foot Quad Pod Tower featurers a shooting rail right at the 10-foot mark, a pair of swivel seats, and four different mounting locations so you can set up your particular hunting situation as you see fit. Let FeraDyne's Kimber O'Dell and Editor Christian Berg give you a closer look.

Editor Christian Berg and FeraDyne's Kimber O'Dell show you all the features of the new Rhino 100 See Through Ground Blind at the 2023 Archery Trade Show in Indianapolis, Indiana. With 180 degrees of see-through mesh technology as well as a silent entry system (no zippers, no Velcro, etc.), it's very apparent that the needs of bowhunters were at the center of the thought process.

Known for their quality innovation at an affordable price, Wicked Ridge Crossbows is set for a big 2023. New to the lineup is the Raider 400 De-cock — which follows up a successful campaign with the Raider 400 a year ago — the Blackhawk XP, and the Rampage XS. Join Editor Christian Berg as he breaks down all three with TenPoint's Brian Flaherty on the floor of the 2023 ATA Show. For more info: wickedridgecrossbows.com

Turkey season is quickly approaching and the folks at Primos are at it again. Here, Lynn Burkhead talks with Garrett Grey as he introduces the newest member of the Rare Breed series of calls — an aluminum version for louder calling situations — to go along with the popular slate and glass models. Pair it with the new Gobstopper Strutter Decoy and you just might be in business.

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