A hunting ladder for attachment to a tree or pole includes a plurality of ladder sections that can be assembled together to form a rigid structure, including side rails and rungs extending between the side rails. In an exemplary embodiment, the side rails comprise elongate structural beams. External bolsters, shaped to match and closely abut the structural beams and adapted to be mounted to the outside of adjacent ladder sections, couple the ladder sections together. Fasteners extendable through the side bolsters and the structural beams allow adjacent ladder sections to be coupled together and uncoupled, as desired. In an exemplary embodiment, a seat is attached to an upper portion of the ladder without requiring attachment of the seat to the tree or pole.