Ladder stands represent the ease of deer hunting. As many of us are on busy schedules with hunts squeezed in, we often opt for a ladderstand that is already in place. A quick hike from the truck to the stand, and up we go into position to wait for a deer to punch our tag on. Sometimes bigger is better and luxury can be too, particularly if you are going to sit more than a few hours. Enter the Hawk Denali 2 Man Ladderstand. This brute of a stand is so comfortable you really need to be sure you are strapped in with the safety strap, as a nap may be tempting!
The stand is big and it is heavy, but the seats are comfortable at 24” wide and 23” high, made similar to lounge patio furniture. The seats are also very quiet and two people easily fit. The center arm rest is padded too. It does weigh over 100 lbs., so you will need help lugging it to the field or woods.
The stand is 18' tall to get hunters out of the line of sight of deer and very well made. The ladder sections bolt together to eliminate play and therefore noise when climbing it. There is a padded armrest and a footrest that flips out for use for extended stays. The platform is 51" by 17". It comes with two straps to cross tension the upper part of the stand going down behind the tree to the lower ladder, two ratchet straps, a stabilizer bar for the ladder, and a tensioning strap for that as well. There are supports from the various parts of the stand to further strengthen it too.
Out of the box I observed the following:
The stand is very well made in terms of good steel, thick metal, and great materials. This does make the weight really challenging unless you have three or more people to help erect it in a tree. It took my wife and I over 2 hours to assemble the stand. Some of the holes are normal holes for the bolts to go through, and a few were cut out in the shape of the hex head of a bolt, but there was no mention of this in the directions. I wish there had been. Other than that, the directions are decent.
The bolts are all in one big bag and not at all separated. So, get a tapeline and take 20 minutes to lay them all out in different spots so you can go faster in the assembly and not make a mistake. Some bolts are literally ¼ inch different in length. We were missing a few metal washers and had a few plastic washers extra. That seems to happen often with these things, but we were able to get the stand put together.
The assembly involving the seat and bars is tight. Have patience; we used a mallet to tap things into place. DO follow the special instructions about rotating the bars 90 degrees to put the first bolt in and then putting them in the correct position to get the other bolts in.
This stand is not one that leaves you concerned about safety. It is solid if you strap it to the tree correctly and tightly. The straps that came with the stand looked adequate. The ratchet part was a bit less than I would desire, but definitely worked. I just am very cautious and I put a second crank strap on our stand to be sure the wind would not pop the ratchets or straps. The minor cost of an extra strap is worth the peace of mind on any stand!
Although the stand is heavy and tough to erect, once together and put on a tree, it is well worth it in my opinion. Just be sure you know where you want it. I decided ours will be semi-permanent, as I hope to not move it around much. If you need a comfortable stand and have a fairly easy place to access to put it up, this is going to be a good stand that will serve you well. MSRP $489.99; ShopHawkHunting.com.
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