At first the smaller platform of my assault was a little, shall we call it, uncomfortable. It definitely keeps you on your toes. But after a couple hunts I got used to it and appreciate the weight reduction and less bulk more. I tend to hike in pretty far slogging through some pretty nasty swamps too so every pound counts.
Boxer is right about one thing too. Nothing beats just walking up to a tree with a pre-hung stand. I have a number of millennium stands for just that purpose. Sadly the land I hunt doesn't lend itself so much to that type of hunting because of the limitations that come in exchange for that convenience. I need to be more mobile as to allow me to adjust to changing conditions. The swamp I hunt is pretty heavily pressured, deer are well educated, and the conditions change form year to year (drought vs wet, mast vs no mast, etc) and all of that means the deer generally aren't in the same places. A mobile setup better allows me to adapt to those changing conditions. For example last year I was in a area I've had some success from. It was a pretty good spot. Then another slob comes marching through making a bunch of noise, dragging a sock he soaked with deer urine out of a bottle. He sets up 50 yards from my stand (WTF?) after he spent 30 minutes cutting limbs (more noise) to make a quick makeshift blind. Okay so that area is now pretty much blown. If that were a permanent stand then I just lost that area. But with a mobile setup you can adapt and relocate 300 yards down a transition line in the land to catch the deer he likely pushed. I also don't like leaving human sign. It lets others know where I hunt or how I access.Hell they may even hunt out of your stand on you. One year a few folks must have seen me dragging a deer out of the wood line to my truck. The next weekend there were 4 trucks in the parking lot of that small - and until that point previously overlooked - piece of woods. Post season scouting I found 6 newly installed ladder stands that weren't there before I dragged out that deer... Again the need arose to adapt. I saw the trucks, I moved on. I scouted in January to assess the damage and confirmed my thoughts at the time that the woods were blown. But - no one set up close to where I had shot that deer. Because they didn't know. They didn't know because I didn't leave a stand, mark a trail with glow tacks, cut shooting "lanes" that are as wide as an airport runway, etc... Yotes took care of the gut pile for me. That after I dragged the deer a couple hundred yards from my stand before gutting it anyway.
But it all depends and really it's an individual choice. In a couple spots I have that are a couple miles back in the swamps that you have to get through knee high water to access - yea I may leave a hang on out there. Just for ease of use. If I want to relocate 50 to 100 yards or whatever based on my observations I bring the mobile setup next time out.
But my hunting style is probably a little different then a lot of folks. I almost never end up in the same tree. So leaving hang ons out in the woods doesn't make the most sense for me. But I haven't been doing this as long as some others either. So I need to work harder at getting close to deer whereas maybe others already have that part figured out. IDK... I only do what I have personally observed works for me. I see more deer when mobile and hunting different spots. I also like to hunt that way as it allows me to break up the woods into sections. I then ID the best spots within a section based on maps, and hunt it. Then move on deeper into the woods one section at a time. One thing I found is that I don't like to go to the deepest spots right away as you blow up the entire woods on your way in/out. I start shallow and progressive follow sign into deeper and deeper woods as the season progresses and the deer pick up on pressure. Obviously based on wind, thermals, etc... So I do a lot of blind hunting too. That's another benefit to a hang on mobile setup. You have no idea what you'll have for a tree when you get to where you want to be. You don't want the limitations of your stand (requiring a straight limbless tree) to take you out of the game/distance after you just hiked a mile in hip boots.
The lone wolf setup is very quiet as well. I've setup within 75 yards of bedding and had deer not know I was there. Shot a decent buck this last year that way in the closing days of archery. He got up ( I saw him get up) when there was about 20 minutes of light left, meandered my way munching on maple leaves as he slowly walked and when he got to me - that was that. Only regret about that day was the shot placement - liver. I recovered him the next AM though at first light.
