First Experience with Climbing Stand
 

Hey guys I am hunting a nice buck and he is out of range for my nice box stand. I bought a climber so I could be mobile and possibly get closer to him for a shot. I have been wanting one for a while, but just now pulled the trigger.

I am having a problem with getting all nervous while climbing. I can climb around 15-16ft then I start getting butterflies. Once I get turned around and sitting then I am fine and I love it. I am getting a little depressed about it because I want to go higher, but I feel like I just cannot make myself do it.

I use a harness the entire time and I can tell that it will hold me if I was to fall. It is something about the climb that scares me. When I sit I am okay, but when I stand I get the butterfly feeling again.

My climber is a Summit Titan.

What are your first experiences with your climbers? I absolutely love it, but I also am scared of it. I really hope that I will get over this fear, as I can see many many uses for this stand.

One more thing... I was really tired when I got to the top the other morning, I was actually sweating pretty bad. Luckily the temperature wasn't too cold that day. Do you just pull your coat up and put it on after your climb? My abs were killing me a couple of days after my climb, good workout!

Yeah, I get nervous sometimes. That's just part of it. You'll gain confidence after you do it a few times. Make sure you pick a good healthy tree. I don't suit up completely until I'm up there. Sometimes I'll even wait a few minutes until I cool off a bit to keep from sweating.

The best part about climbers is the mobility. A few years ago, I climbed a pine near the top of a hill. There was a long food plot about 10 feet wide and 150 feet long that ran straight down the hill. It was a Saturday evening. Just as it got dark, I saw two does cross the very bottom of the plot. I wasn't ready and didn't get a shot. So Sunday evening I climbed a tree at the bottom. They crossed right behind me. I didn't get a shot but I also didn't make a noise. They had no idea I was there. It was a long week, but I took off Friday afternoon and climbed the right tree. One of them came back along the same path. She was delicious.

taha. well welcome! I only use a climber on my property. I love it because you can get any tree on any trail or bedding area, etc.... I mean whos gonna build a shooting house right in a bedding area???? So I like it for that. I don't go to high either maybe 12-15 ft. My brother will go up 20-25 but Hes just stupid. We should probally where safety harness's but there a pain in the a$$ to me. To bulky. Hard to move around in.

Heck just do what I do and sit on the ground. Now you have to cover your scent more but it beats gettin all nervous and sittin there afraid youll fall out the whole time. I used to hunt climbers and still do but very little. I fell outta a ladder stand when I was 19 from about 12ft up and landed right on my rump...boy did it ever hurt. Since ive just got on the ground if I can find a good cover spot were I can hunt.

I was extremely freaked out the first time I used one. when I got to 20 ft. and started to get settled in I noticed that I had the seat mounted wrong so while holding my bow in one hand and trying to fix the seat in the other the top section dropped to my feet, that just about made me swallow my stomach!!. you will get better with each use.

how do you like the titan? I am looking to have one of those for next season.

see i hunt in new york near lake erie and some of those trees get pretty high and the highest i will go is 20 or 25 30 is to high for me i know some guys who go 30 and they have more guts than most so you have to get use to the feeling of the climber cause the titian has that bar so you can sit on and climb up so i would try and get use to the feeling of being up in the air in the climber.

in this case getting scared is probably a good thing it tells me you still know what can happen if you get complacient with the safety aspect of what a climber can do to you:s4:

as for getting tired try taking smaller bites while climbing, use a sit and stand climb method, you may be using arm and leg, set on the bar and pick your feet up 6" to a foot then stand on the lower platform and raise the upper portion to where you can sit comfortably on it, keep repeating, i still use my climber religiously, nothing compares for mobility:s4:

the fear factor and the height, first pick a sutable tree, i prefer larger trees, and avoid scaley bark hickory....set your climber at as steep an angle as possible on the base of the tree, this angle will decrease quickly as you climb, a steeper starting angle will ensure that when you are at your desired height your platform(s) will be flat to slighly tilted torward the tree...tie a known lenght of pull up rope or use a "strapper" that is 20-25 feet look straight at the tree, the only thing you might want to look down at is your lower platform to ensure it is secure against the tree.. pick a good tree around your place and practice, it'll get where its like second nature:s4:..

and kudo's to you for being smart enough to wear a saftey restraint, if not for your own sake to keep your family from having to tube feed you:s4:..for people that don't like them i'd suggest a hunter safety system vest, i have used the seat of the paints design for years and it was a pain, but i promised my family that i would always wear it, and i did, but this vest the deal though for ease of use and piece of mind:s4:

Haven't you read all of the "I wish I had worn my harness, now I can't walk" posts?

:hit:

Thanks for all the responses. I have only hunted it 3 times, but I can say that each time I get a little more comfortable.

As far as the Titan goes, I don't really have much to compare it to. I cannot imagine one being much better though. After I get settled into the stand I absolutely love it. I just wonder how I have managed it this long without using one.

thx fer the info, i was thinkin bout gettin one next year. pine tree's good fer these things?

That is what I have it on right now. Seems to really dig in there.

I was going to search the forum for a discussion about which trees are best to climb. I have one member at camp that says he only climbs pine trees, another said he only climbs oaks. I would love to know what others think. The pine tree guy is about 300lbs the oak guy is about 150lbs. Not sure if that has anything to do with it.

IMHO, you don't really need to go much higher than 15 feet. The highest I've ever been is 18 feet and that's plenty high enough.

Deer don't have great vision, but they do see motion really well. I just wait until they are looking down or away when moving and 15 feet has been perfect. Just my 2 cents.

yeah i agree, as long as you are above the roof..where most of the tree's canopy's start at, you are in good shape.

It just takes time, but you will get use to it and develop a routine in setting it up ,climbing and settling in, the muscle fatigue you experience will go away too, as you use those muscles more. I get up there pretty high when Im bowhunting, but when I 1st bought my api 10 years ago it freaked me out too, but now I do 90% of my hunting out of a climber.

You let the area and situation dictate how high you go. I've purchased many climbers over the years and have had some great experiences using them. Nothing like sneaking into an area early for the first time, finding a hot spot and slowing start climbing and cutting limbs until you've reached your height. I've been as low as 5 foot and as high as 33'-35'. Most people don't even know their height and exaggerate how high they thought they were. You can have a rope to haul stuff up with and that can be your gauge if you know how long it is.

And as for what tree is better to climb, that's sort of non-sense to me. You get into the tree that best gets the job done, not because it's oak, pine, etc. By that I mean one that is in the better location and can hide your silhouette. Do not pick a tree because it seems like a good tree with enough cover. Pick a tree because of it's location in reference to where you see the sign.

As for asking about first time climbing experience, I was a professional tree climber and had already hung at least 75 stand locations before I went up a climber my first time, so the height was something I was already familiar with. Just keep doing it and eventually you will get more comfortable with the height. Do this, if you want to get higher; climb like you did before... to the point where you are uncomfortable like before, then climb another 1 to 2 feet and sit there.

While you are in your stand, stand up and turn around, etc. Get use to standing. It will help you faster to get acquainted with the height as well as prepare you for a situation where you will have to stand up.

I sure hope you are wearing a safety harness. If not, I won't say that makes you stupid, but it does make a person selfish because if they fell and got hurt, they will soon learn their life affects so many other people. And in that situation, mostly negatively.

Take care and good luck!

iSnipe

Thanks for the advice. I use a harness, I will never attempt to climb without it.

bingo, most people (including myself) are poor judges of distance and height, that is why i started utilizeing a certian lenght of pull up cord, prior to this i may have been climbing 10-12 feet and calling it 15-20:eek:,,when i changed this i started seeing more deer right away;) at this point your safety and comfort level should be your primary concern

m.t.hands!

What's funny, is that I have a whole lot more experience being up high in trees than most, but still, those first few trees I'm in every year with my climber, ALWAYS seems to be much higher than I actually am. LOL!

It's not the fall the scares me...

..it's that abrupt stop at the end.

iSnipe :biggrin:

Climb to the height you are comfortable with. 16 feet is high enough.

There is no magical height. Depending on the area 12' may be enough. Or 14'. Or 16'. But it may be more.

Look at it this way. You are using a safety harness and using it correctly, right? So you are protected. There really isn't much difference in falling 10', 20' or 30'. Once you are 10' or over any fall is what it is.

Man, if I don't get at least 25 foot up in a tree I am way too low. Where I hunt is very open and big tall pines. The humidity makes sure that your scent gets to the ground quickly and there is a good bit of short underbrush so I must get up high enough to shoot down into this stuff. My pull up rope is 30 foot long and I climb until it is tight. Many times I wish I was 40 foot or higher so I could see down into the brush better and shoot over the short shrubbery. If I only climbed 15 foot I would feel like I was sitting on the ground.


FYI, soft bark trees are far easier and safer to climb. The stand bites into soft bark, like pine bark, much much better than hard bark like birch, hickory or oak. If you climb a big pine with thick bark you can dance a jig in the stand and it won't move and shift on you.

thx man, i was wonderin that..and i feel ya on 20 feet..same here..its all hilly and brushy in this 4-5 year ol pine tree farm..so i imagine ill be up higher as well.

.make sure you have a way down after your fall..people die in their safety harness from blood poisoning!!!

I made a reference earlier about to me it's nonsense to favor one tree species over another for climbing. However, I didn't consider maybe it was for safety reasons, like bigbulls was referring to. In that case, the softer bark trees do allow climbers to dig in more to get a better bite for grip. When it's freezing, like during later hunting seasons, trees like Birch and Oak can get very hard. I guess bigbulls just said that. LOL!

iSnipe

My reasoning for asking about the tree was most definitely about safety and getting the stand to bite into the tree. I can pick out the tree for hunting purposes, it is the safety that I am primarily posting about.

I know how high I was because I had a rope with me the first day that I practiced on the tree. We (Dad and I) measured how high I was after I got to the point of being uncomfortable. I then tied a small rope to the tree where I stopped being comfortable so I would know where to stop that next morning. At that particular hunting spot I think 20'-25' would be better than where i was.

i cant believe how many people are afraid of heights? especially in a secure treestand etc...? did you guys climb trees as a kid?

I'm always in a ladderstand with a full shooting rail wrapped around me feeling very secure.

I don't have a problem after I am seated, its the climb that bothers me. I used to climb trees all the time and walk down a branch to get on my grandma's roof. Never bothered me. I guess things change? :confused0024: Heck maybe people that are scared of heights have actually gotten smarter with age and realize the danger of hitting the ground!!:poke:

Afraid of heights is a poor way to put it.

Take you and I for example. We're in the ring about to square off. You know for fact you're going to taste canvas. You're scared. It's your first time. The 2nd time around, same thing, you're scared. You eat canvas again. However, as time goes on and you step in the ring, time after time eating canvas, you eventually get use to the taste of canvas and yet, you're fear level for the event is waning.

Going up in trees is like that. The more you do it, the more you get use to it.

iSnipe

i have an old api climber i love it you can move anywhere you want took me some getting used to but i can climb with it very easily now. i only go bout 12-15ft i just dont see a point in going higher

keep focused on climbing, and don't look down,go slow, plan each step up and down and did i mention GO SLOW,, i have a titan also and am 60 years old,, love it
p.s. go slow

A pain in the ass is spending your life in a wheelchair.

a slight inconvenience is wearing a harness. it can save your life. These are the lightest most comfortable harness i have found.
http://gomuddy.com/shopping/Departme...d-Harness.aspx

just remember there's no canvas under your tree!

Nothing is universal
 

Climbing stands can make it or break it for some hunters.

Some people seem to be instilled with the ability of taking a platform to the 35th floor and think nothing of washing the windows.
I use tree stands and I got nervous watching a roofer walk to the edge of a two story home, and look over it without any safety equipment.

I'm an inbetweener. Never loved height, but use to climb oil storage tanks without safety equipment.

I can easily use a tree stand, but I don't like those open stands. Open like an olympic height diving board, just so you can easily make a swan dive during a deer hunt.

And for some, one of the nice ground blinds is a good option.

And more hunters going to tree stands, means getting in shape and losing some weight. And learning to like the height; once you get there.

But again, there are no absolutes. And some of it has nothing to do with hunting.