re: Enclosed blind or box stand versus open tree stand or ladder stand...

At my AR club we get 3 claimed stands with a little territory around them. Mine are 2 box stands and an open tripod. I can shoot enough deer out of those but get bored sometimes because to me just sitting and waiting in the same spots every year doesn't seem like actually hunting.

My favorite hunt last year was one where I had looked at GoogleEarth history in late 2014, found a crease in the woods from a timber cut 20 years ago, scouted it at the end of the 2014 season, found rubs, scrapes and trails, dragged a ladder through woods in the offseason and set in the right spot. I picked the right day to hunt it in 2015 and nailed a decent 10 pt (weird 4x6).

That patch of woods got clearcut over the summer, but luckily I had scouted another area late last season, found another good spot and will sneak in there with a climber at some point.