Screw in tree steps?
01-12-2009, 05:42 AM
#12
Super Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Southeast Central Illinois USA
Posts: 6,969
RE: Screw in tree steps?
HCH, I agree the Lone Wolf sticks are hard to beat when wanting to be mobile and used with the LW hangons, but as for screwinsteps ya can't beat Cranford Ezy Climb steps and I can leave my steps in the tree. I ain't about to leave my LW sticks in the tree for fear of getting them stolen. I still use my Cranfords a lot each season, probably more than my sticks.
01-12-2009, 09:24 AM
#13
Join Date: May 2005
Location: StL, MO
Posts: 745
RE: Screw in tree steps?
ORIGINAL: hardcorehunter
No comparison to the labor of screwing tree steps in and damaging trees...
No comparison to the labor of screwing tree steps in and damaging trees...
Also, I have seen several forestry guys postthat there is no perm damage associated with screw ins and no one shouldfeelbad for using them in any tree type. Actually, a couple of them went into much more detail than that withsome technical names of the tree's layers and such, but...can't say I remember that stuff.
01-12-2009, 09:52 AM
#14
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 1,282
RE: Screw in tree steps?
I have used screw in tree steps for years and they are hard to beat. I have climbing sticks too but i rarely use them because they are bulky and a pain to carry in. I can pull out the bottom 4 or 5 steps and nobody can get in my stands or mess with them. Yeah they can bring their own but that is not likely. My favorite treesteps were made by DeerMe, they screw in easy and are coated. I don't think they (DeerMe) are around anymore soI will have to check out the Cranfords. API and Gorilla tree steps are not easy to screw in, I really don't like those. As for the holes in the tree, I have been using some of the same trees for years and they have not died or become diseased. If you stop using the tree the holes fill in in a year or two. Just my observations over the past 20 years or so of using tree steps.
01-12-2009, 10:24 AM
#15
Typical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 772
RE: Screw in tree steps?
Never tried the Cranford's, the cheap one's work great once yourough 'em up a bit with a dremel or file. I use my LW sticksto huntnew areas, thenif I like what I see, I set up a couple trees with steps.
01-12-2009, 10:40 AM
#16
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Jackson, Missouri
Posts: 7,051
RE: Screw in tree steps?
Who's in the dark ages?!?
Screw-in steps do NOT kill trees, nor have ANY of the landowners whom I've hunted on cared. There's too many scientific studies and research at our disposal to say otherwise. The ONLY way I could see someone caring was if they were going to veneer out a big walnut or oak, but that's not the woods I'm typically hunting. If I were worried about that, I could simply lug in my LW sticks or my Summit Bucksteps or haul in a climber, all of which I have at my disposal and more -- which serves to give my statement that none are as easy to use as Cranfords some pretty good validity.
http://www.bowhunting.net/eMagazine/Articles/KarenCranford-002.html
Screw-in steps do NOT kill trees, nor have ANY of the landowners whom I've hunted on cared. There's too many scientific studies and research at our disposal to say otherwise. The ONLY way I could see someone caring was if they were going to veneer out a big walnut or oak, but that's not the woods I'm typically hunting. If I were worried about that, I could simply lug in my LW sticks or my Summit Bucksteps or haul in a climber, all of which I have at my disposal and more -- which serves to give my statement that none are as easy to use as Cranfords some pretty good validity.
http://www.bowhunting.net/eMagazine/Articles/KarenCranford-002.html
01-12-2009, 10:57 AM
#17
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location:
Posts: 3,465
RE: Screw in tree steps?
If anyone believes in the products they personally use the most, it HAS to be HCH.
Not that it is a bad thing, it's awesome having confidence in your setup. Confidence breeds success....but man, it is what he uses or nothing.
BUT, like Greg said...unless the trees are going into furniture, you aren't harming them with screw in steps, as long as you don't leave them there forever....even then the tree often just grows around them.
HCH, we just aren't used to the Cranfords obviously. I too LOATHE screw in steps, they are a freakin bear to get in, take forever, make you sweat profusely...and the cheap ones you get 2-3 trees out of before they are duller than a blunt hammer. I use them for presetup sites, and that is it. Even then, if I have a stick ladder at my disposal, it is going up instead. easier to setup, faster to setup, safer to climb IMO. Downside is weight packing in, but who CAN'T pack in 25 lbs once a year? I also found that the preconceived notion that screw in steps are the cheaper alternative is badly mistaken. I can get a 20' stick ladder for $35 bucks. That gets you 3' off the ground with LW, probably 10-12 feet with screw ins.....by far the cheapest way to go....maybe not the best, but by far the cheapest.
Not that it is a bad thing, it's awesome having confidence in your setup. Confidence breeds success....but man, it is what he uses or nothing.BUT, like Greg said...unless the trees are going into furniture, you aren't harming them with screw in steps, as long as you don't leave them there forever....even then the tree often just grows around them.
HCH, we just aren't used to the Cranfords obviously. I too LOATHE screw in steps, they are a freakin bear to get in, take forever, make you sweat profusely...and the cheap ones you get 2-3 trees out of before they are duller than a blunt hammer. I use them for presetup sites, and that is it. Even then, if I have a stick ladder at my disposal, it is going up instead. easier to setup, faster to setup, safer to climb IMO. Downside is weight packing in, but who CAN'T pack in 25 lbs once a year? I also found that the preconceived notion that screw in steps are the cheaper alternative is badly mistaken. I can get a 20' stick ladder for $35 bucks. That gets you 3' off the ground with LW, probably 10-12 feet with screw ins.....by far the cheapest way to go....maybe not the best, but by far the cheapest.
01-12-2009, 11:24 AM
#18
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Jackson, Missouri
Posts: 7,051
RE: Screw in tree steps?
Trevor, this statement would change...
... if this one did.
There's just simply a WORLD of difference between Cranford and anything else out there in that market. Ascending a tree with Cranfords is NO work at all. Quick, quiet, easy and a pleasure to pack in and out. Guys talk about the advantages of being able to screw them in and leave them up for a few months, and they're right -- but I think they're so easy to use that I've used them for my runn'n 'n gunn'n foryears as well.
I too LOATHE screw in steps, they are a freakin bear to get in, take forever, make you sweat profusely.
HCH, we just aren't used to the Cranfords obviously.
01-12-2009, 05:52 PM
#19
Giant Nontypical
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Mont County, Pa
Posts: 7,368
RE: Screw in tree steps?
ORIGINAL: hardcorehunter
I disagree...Lone Wolf sticks with Utility Constriction ropes(UCR's), Summit bucksteps, rapid rails; ANYTHING is better than screwing in a treestep...that is from the old days b4 safety harnasses and back when my bows were shot with fingers as releases weren't invented yet. No comparison to the labor of screwing tree steps in and damaging trees, not to mention screw in steps are not allowed on public land and are also a gr8 way to piss off a landowner when he sees screws in his tree. It takes a tree 40-50 years to get old enough to hunt in and then some guy comes along and screws in steps which could possibly kill it or open it up for disease; just doesn't make sense to me. I respect the woods too much and I like to leave the woods the same way I entered it....minus the dead deer I take out with me. If you guys like bows with 80% letoff, releases, A/C/C arrows, safety harnasses, fast and quiet bows, and all of the other modern bowhunting tools, then I suggest you get out of the dark ages and get into a simpler and more woods friendly climbing system.
ORIGINAL: Greg / MO
Yep,I've tried almost everything else out there, and there's simply NO comparison. None.
Yep,I've tried almost everything else out there, and there's simply NO comparison. None.
If you guys like bows with 80% letoff, releases, A/C/C arrows, safety harnasses, fast and quiet bows, and all of the other modern bowhunting tools, then I suggest you get out of the dark ages and get into a simpler and more woods friendly climbing system.
)any live growth on public land either. Admittedly I do both. At least I'm honest.
As you know, I'm an arborist by trade, and I'll tell you that screw in steps won't hurt a tree unless it was done regularly (in/out)to the tree.Leaving them in the tree does absolutely no harm at all to a tree. Like was said earlier, if left in the tree will simply grow over the step.I install support cables in tree's all the time, and lag bolts are used in the process. A hole is drilled, and the lag is turned into the tree.I see these years later, and the tree just grows right over the lag bolt.The LW climbing sticks are great, and I'll use them at some point later on, but, I can GUARANTEEthe Cranfords aremore quiet than the sticks, and much more compact. There reallyis verylittle effortinvolvedin screwing these steps in. Cranford is to tree steps what LW is to tree stands!
01-12-2009, 06:30 PM
#20
Banned
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: IOWA/25' UP
Posts: 7,145
RE: Screw in tree steps?
LOL..I knew I would wake up Greg from hibernation
1. I wonder why the states don't allow screw in steps in the trees if it is in fact ACTUALLY good for them to have the steps screwed in?
2. I don't care how EASY a screw goes into a tree..it isn't as fast as one strap around the tree and instantly you have 3 steps. NO way can 3 steps be screwed in a tree faster than one strap thrown around a tree. One strap eqauls 3 steps to a stick. DARK AGES[8D]
3. Sticks make no noise installing. They make noise touching each other while removing from the stand. Screw in steps make noise jingling against each other pulling them out of a pocket or pack too.
4. A lot of hand rotation movement is made while screwing in a step...could be easily seen by a deer imo..much more than installing a strap or UCR.
LOl...fire away guys...convince me to get rid of sticks and use steps. If I used steps..here are the ones I use. easy and fast to install and laborless.
5. I have a land owner that made it a POINT to tell me that he doesn't want screw in steps in his trees.
1. I wonder why the states don't allow screw in steps in the trees if it is in fact ACTUALLY good for them to have the steps screwed in?
2. I don't care how EASY a screw goes into a tree..it isn't as fast as one strap around the tree and instantly you have 3 steps. NO way can 3 steps be screwed in a tree faster than one strap thrown around a tree. One strap eqauls 3 steps to a stick. DARK AGES[8D]
3. Sticks make no noise installing. They make noise touching each other while removing from the stand. Screw in steps make noise jingling against each other pulling them out of a pocket or pack too.
4. A lot of hand rotation movement is made while screwing in a step...could be easily seen by a deer imo..much more than installing a strap or UCR.
LOl...fire away guys...convince me to get rid of sticks and use steps. If I used steps..here are the ones I use. easy and fast to install and laborless.
5. I have a land owner that made it a POINT to tell me that he doesn't want screw in steps in his trees.