I use a ladder stand just fine with a 64" recurve. I took the gun rest off of all of them, you just want a naked seat up there on top of the ladder. There are several cushions or seats available to help with comfort and I spend much of the time standing up, safely secured with a lightweight, comfortable safety harness.

 

ladder stand, the cheap ones with no arms or rails, they fit into most any tree(great for pine/cedar)...

 

I use one similar to this.

 

I have an old Lone Wolf climber(before they used the belts) that I really like; lightweight, quiet and stable; don't think I could shoot with a rail, and don't want to. Always wear my safety harness.

 

I have a Lone Wolf hand-climber, works great. Throw a bungie on the seat and it folds up flat against the tree so when you stand you can use the whole platform. Folds up and down quietly too. The waffle platform is a lot easier on the feet than any platform with rails or wire mesh. Packs flat, put a molle harness on it and it's easy to strap your regular back pack to it and make one single unit.

For ladders, every one I've had has been basically junk except the one made by Leverage. It's very similar to the LW hand-climber, same attributes in a telescoping ladder stand.

Neither of these stands interfere with my 64" recurve at all.

 

I've used a few different climbers, with bows up to 70". Practice from the stand. Rails can limit you some, but you can work around them.

 

Lone Wolf & Tree Saddle

Also take gun rail off your existing stand

 

Thanks for the tips. All of the info is helpful. Happy hunting.

 

Lock ons work best.

 

Millennium is my recommendation.