Climber stand don'ts

[AJLBucks]

One thing I look for in a tree is a limb that is at the height I want to climb to that I can have the strap on my harness go over as I tightened it to the tree. There is no way, if I fall, the strap will slide down the tree. This past weekend I climbed a tree that had a smaller tree growing beside it and at about 25 feet up, that smaller tree had a fork in it that brought it up against the tree I was in. I ran my strap around my tree and through the fork of the other tree.

 

[Hillbilly stalker]

So actually used my tree lounge on a hunt for the first time. Got up about 15' and was satisified with a first time, lol. Turning around in it is challenging for sure. It was locked in stable though.

It's a load to haul around.

One thing I did learn - don't pour out the fluid from a can of vienna sausages directly under you. At one point there about 20 yellow jackets down there all over that stuff. The didn't come up and bug me though, they stayed on the ground. I waited until last light to get down, temps were falling, and they had gone home.

Getting it to unlock from the tree (an oak) was a bit of chore. It was wedged in tight and I had to be real careful to not lunge up while dislodging it. I didn't want to "jump" my weight up, taking it off the bottom foot platform and accidentally have that thing move.

I can see if being a good one for if you're gonna hunt an area over multiple days. Setting it up, leaving it overnight, etc. I don't think I want to haul that thing around on days where I want to jump around to different spots a lot.

WAIT A MINUTE.......your telling me you didn’t drink the juice ???? I ain’t believing that ! That’s redneck Red Bull . Only time I won’t drink it is when it’s clabbard. Kinda greasy then, gotta hunt on the ground.

 

[Waddams]

WAIT A MINUTE.......your telling me you didn’t drink the juice ???? I ain’t believing that ! That’s redneck Red Bull . Only time I won’t drink it is when it’s clabbard. Kinda greasy then, gotta hunt on the ground.

No I didn't drink it. I'm a trim, fit 200 lbs at 6'2". Managed to win the battle of the bulge so far by not drinking the juice!

Would you believe I have a squat rack in my garage that I build myself from lumber? Barbell and weights are keeping me young.

 

[Gl4di4torRr]

Anyone want to share thoughts on things to NOT do while using a climber? I'm just starting out with them. So far, I've got:

• Use a safety harness and tether to the tree.
• Always make sure the foot section is tethered to top/seat section. (had meant to include this originally, it's added as an edit)
• Don't drink and climb.
• Good trees - use softer bark trees (pine, others?), don't use hard/thin bark trees (types?)
• Have a stepping strap, if you find yourself dangling, you can step up in the strap and take the pressure off yourself.
• bring a lifting rope, don't climb with a pack or your weapon.
• Use a safety harness.
• Tree size? Any guidelines on good tree sizes? Too big? Too small?
• Angles of the climber/platform on tree? How tight at the bottom when you put it on? Any advise? Seems that if it slopes down it wouldn't bite as well into the tree.
• Use a safety harness.
• One problem I've had practicing - my foot platform has wobbled a few times. Have to be careful with weight distribution. Any advise for how to deal with this?
• Another problem - I've got a tree lounge with the archery platform. While I might invest in something like a Summit Viper soon, at the moment, it's very unbalanced and lifting the top the section, going up and down, it's pretty weighty towards the end. Makes it awkward to handle. Any advise? I grip it farther back towards a better balance point but it's still a bit ackward, can only go so far back.
• Another problem - I can go up okay. Going down is more challenging. Any advise?

Well, there's a lot of do's there, but are there other don'ts anyone can advise?

I wear a rock climbing harness as my safety harness. It's way more comfortable. Also, if you really want something to step up on if your climber falls, you could add a couple of wild edge steps or a climbing stick to your bag and strap it to the tree for a little support. And if you really want to go further, you can learn to rappel and setup a rappel system after your climber fails... All up to you on how far you go...

 

[chpeterson]

I had a tree lounge for a few years. Slept 80% of the time lol. Yep there great once you get turned around and situated, but the turning around part is dangerous in itself and for the life of me I don’t see how there have not been bad accidents with the guys trying to stand out in the bow platform.

All good safety points mentioned By you guys above .

 

[NastyBruises11B]

One thing that has helped me a whole lot is to wrap the safety bar on the top with some nice, quiet fabric. I like to rest my rifle across it, and after spooking a nice one by bumping that bar, I decided to never make that mistake again.

*EDIT* Also...I've been inactive since moving away from GA almost 4 years ago...came back to see I'm now a "Senior Member"...that's cool

 

[dixiecutter]

x2 on strapping the top to the tree, I carry a good bungee for that purpose

it will still bump loose with a bunjee