I've got somewhat of a different attitude towards all of this. It comes from doing it for over 25 years. As late as 10 years ago, I could have written volumes on all the considerations about approaching the stand, and what scents to use on your drag and all that. I was really into it, and I thoroughly believed that deer had an uncanny sense of my trespass in their world. All that changed when I decided to simplify my hunting methods.
1) I started hunting out of ladder stands
2) I stopped using scents, calls, decoys and gimmicks
3) I started carrying my outer layers with me to the stand and crawled into them after I was up the tree.
It was amazing. My hunting success improved dramatically. In relation to this discussion I can say the following:
1) Be most careful about how much gear you tote into the woods. Climbers are notoriously heavy and clunky and noisy. That is not to say I have had bad luck in them. In fact, I've had bucks walk up right after ascending.
2) If you can get the stand on the tree ahead of time and keep it there, you're in better shape than having to tote it in every time. Then again, if you can place it there ahead of time, a ladder stand affords you the safest easiest quietest way to get up to a decent height.
3) Keep your outermost layers off until you're at height and then hoist them up and put them on. You expend a lot of energy getting up the tree and there is a lot of waste heat that has to go somewhere. It is better to dissipate that heat before bundling up for the cold. Otherwise you'll have sweat and stink all over the place.
4) Height is not such a big thing. I've taken some of my best deer with a climber from all of 8 feet up. I used to be a nosebleed cowboy and 25 feet was a good working minimum. Nowadays, I know better. 10-15 feet is a fine general purpose height.
5) Climbers, with all that noise and bulk, are best set up well ahead of hunting. I used to try to be up the tree at altitude a full hour before first light. Now that I've switched to ladders, I can be climbing in at first light.
6) Schlepping a climber on your back in the dark is a bit like walking through the area banging tin dinner plates together. Make your approach as noiseless as possible by prepping your path ahead of time. Mark it well. There is nothing worse than getting lost 50 yards from the tree and blundering around in the dark looking for it. As a comparison, I heard a strange noise about 20 yards from my ladder stand a few years. It was about first light. I could hear something, but I couldn't figure out what it was. I made it up the tree , climbed into my outer layer, loaded my rifle and sat there for a half hour waiting for the sun to come up enough to see that it was two doe munching acorns. I doubt they'd have stuck around if I'd showed up with my API Grand Slam Super Magnum on my back.
Here's a story I wrote a few years ago. It might be of some use:
Treestands-- a survivor looks back
