In defense of Paul, with his well known superstitions, he has to put in twice as many tree steps because he feels he just can't climb down on the same steps he climbed up on. So he climbs up on 9 and down on a different 8, then makes the last two foot jump at his own peril.
And Gene, it's a well know fact that you exceed the weight limit on any commercially made tree steps, so you use individual tree stands as steps. When you finally get to where you want to perch, the tree looks like the tower of Babble.
And Biggie will confirm this.