A couple years back I bought a LW wide sit and climb.. For whatever reason I just struggle using this thing. I have practiced enough to the point where I can get up into a tree without taking forever, but it still takes me a while, and I usually work up a sweat. Plus I hate that I am limited exclusively to straight trees without large branches. Well for Christmas/ birthday, I got a LW alpha and sticks. Going to give that a try here pretty soon and see how that goes. If I can get up a tree in the same amount of time as my climber, is there really a point to keeping the climber? It still takes me probably 5-10 minutes to get myself set up in a tree at my absolute fastest. Am I missing some big secret? I attach my safety line to the tree and loosen/ reposition it every couple of moves, which probably slows me down some, but I can't think of what else is making me slow.
If you are slow with the climber my guess is you'll be even slower with the LW and sticks. Are you scared of heights / feel uncomfortable climbing trees? Its really all about comfort when climbing trees. Make sure you have a good harness/linesmens rope with the LW setup.
Take your time... enjoy the ride. It seems we live in a speed demon world these days. Who says you have to climb a tree in 20 to 30 seconds - it's not a race. You're gonna' sit in the thing for awhile and enjoy nature - why not enjoy it during the climb too? Stop putting pressure on yourself to get to your desired height in record time... enjoy the ride
I personally take my time getting into the tree, why work up a sweat. I like to make sure I've got it set right on the ground so that when I get to my desired height I've got to buckle it down and I'm comfortable. No reason to worry about how fast you get up there, Here In Florida, it's so hot in the opening month's I don't mind if it takes me 15-20minutes to get up and ready.
Lots of great advice so far. How in shape are you? A climber does take a bit of physical endurance to use. If you have any areas that you are weak in, a climber might show it. Are you climbing trees that are fairly straight? A crooked tree with nubs and junk on it can be a bear to climb at times. Some trees grab at the teeth in your climber and make it difficult to free it each time. If you can find some tulip poplars in your area, they are dream to climb. V
I don't think you'll ever be set up in a tree with a hang on in 5 minutes like you can with your climber, at least I cant do it.
Like gltomp said just take your time. I think because you are being safe it slows you down some, but it is worth it. When and if you ever start filming your hunts, it will take you even longer. Don't worry about it and do your best. I had a friend tell me years ago that I sounded like I was building a house the first time I used his climber in the woods. I was not in the tree 2 minutes and had a buck come running in. I made the shot!
That is pretty slow I can get up to 20 ft in my summit in prob about 1 with about 3-4 mins to setup first. Are you moving little by little? I move prob 3 ft with each climb.
3 feet at a time? Do you play in the NBA? I am 6'4, and the most I can move each platform at a time is maybe a foot and a half to two feet. This season I am giving the hang on a shot. I am guessing it will probably be a little longer to set up, but I like the options of not having to climb exclusively straight trees. Most of the ones I do even find are angled in the wrong direction from the trails I want to hunt over.
not a huge climber fan either. I have a couple, and sometimes use them, but pretty much every time I have a near slip or at least feel like I am going to. I rarely make it all the way up and settled in w/o getting soaked in sweat, and I'm in pretty decent shape. That being said once I'm settled in and cooled off, both my climbers are really comfortable. I admit there have been times where I ended up doing all day sits just b/c I didn't feel like doing the descent/ascent all over again just to go get a beer and a sammich.
I usually climb at a slow pace with no desire to go very fast. No reason to rush and get careless, also it's warm for a good portion of my hunting season and I try to avoid sweating in the stand.
It will probably be weird at first, but you will love it! This time last year I picked up my first LW and I sold my climber about a month later. It takes time to get used to and it will take you longer but you will spend more time hunting deer and less time hunting trees. I have climbed all kinds of trees with the LW and sticks most of my friends think I'm nuts when they see some of the trees I climb.
I use a Summit Viper climber 99% of the time deer hunting.. I can be 25' up in a tree within 5 minutes of finding the tree I want to climb, that is including setup. The more experience you get the faster you'll become using it, like with anything else you do. That being said, I'm contemplating using a stick and hang on more and more since you aren't limited to straighter cleaner trees..
Thats sick brother, great photography too. This might be our solution to getting a stand in these ancient knobby oak trees on the corn field, appreciate you posting this. Those sticks pretty pricy? I have a hang on/stick stand but my sticks just attack to make one main beam.
Just take your time getting into the tree. There is no reason to be a speed demon getting in your tree. I would recommend a Hunter Safety systems life line. They put the ease of use into getting up the tree safely. I use them with my climbers that stay static at my tree during season.
Yep. I've been in that boat.. I could climb all the way back down and do the whole process again, or I can nap right here for an hour or two. Pretty easy decision.
Now this is what I'm talking about. It usually takes me almost as long to find a suitable tree to climb as it does to actually climb the tree. Especially since I am going to try some more public land this year, I want to be able to walk in and pick the tree that makes the most sense with the wind and the predicted deer path as opposed to trying to make a subpar tree work since it's the only straight one.
Climber stands it's best to go slow in my opinion. I work up a sweat easily too and I would rather take a half hour getting up a tree than rushing. Rushing leads to noise too. Just give yourself extra time to get up the tree, especially in morning sets. No way steps and a hang on would be faster IMO or for that matter less strenuous with working up a sweat. Once it's up though you just have to climb up and sit down.
It probably takes me 10-15 min to get up a tree in mine. And I'm not in that great of shape. I like to take it slow to avoid noise and to keep from working up a large sweat. First day I used mine, It probably took me 30 min to get 15 ft up a tree (thought i was like 30 ft up lol) and I had deer coming in within 30 min of getting set up. I did get busted twice though. Once i realized how high I actually was, i started using my pull chord to gauge distance so i could get higher up. Got my first bow kill my 2nd outing in the stand.
