The Trophyline ministicks that I ordered came in yesterday. I played around with them in the yards a little bit last night, but didn't climb to hunting height. I already like these better than the Hawk Heliums I was using.
What are you using for aiders? I've been thinking of simply using my lone wolf sticks because I already have a set of 4 and can get plenty high for the areas I hunt. However, I've also been contemplating getting a set of minis with some sort of helper. I'm, clearly, new to saddle hunting so I'm needing some direction with climbing ideas. Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk
I don’t have an aider for these at the moment. I may get one. I can get four feet off the ground with the first stick without an aider. That would put me about 16 on the top stick plus another 2 or 3 after the platform.
Well I just joined the saddle hunting club. After doing a ton of research I tried on multiple saddles and I chose the Cruzr XR. It felt the most comfortable to me and with the pull out pleat which open the seat of the saddle out was a nice feature. Did some shooting in the yard with it on and it was a lot better than I expected.
Final question, what's the reason you like them better than the hawk sticks? Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk
I know I have seen pics of the hawks steps breaking before, so think some people get a little freaked out. Also hear there customer service is pretty bad. I personally never used Hawk sticks, but lots of people do and like them. I have bought about about 5 different brands of the last couple years and found what I like best. I like a 2 step double sided stick with a single step aider attached to each stick. Also fixed tree bracket, no moving parts to deal with. So I put the investment into Beast sticks and never looked back. It has been the perfect stick for me. Unreal how well they bite into the tree! Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
I was running the full length 30” Hawk heliums with a single step aider on each stick. Very cumbersome to pack, this is the main reason. I wanted to try a shorter stick for packability. I chose the trophyline sticks because they are made in the USA. Hawk moved production to China and QC went down.
On my old 30” Hawk heliums I had 18” aiders. On the Trophyline sticks, no aiders yet. Just got those the other day.I need to do a practice climb with those to see how high I can get. Its 105 today, so probably not going to happen unless I do it this evening roght before dark.
Regarding the aiders, are you fellas making your own or buying then from somewhere? Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk
I made my aider out of climb rated accessory cord. If I was to buy them, I would get the cable aiders. With the stiffness of the cable it helps on keeping the aider open so you can step into it better. Doublesteps.com is a great place to buy them. Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
I picked up a cherry piece of property summer of 2019. I keep my atv on the truck for recovery only. This place is so populated I'd blow deer everywhere riding in. This place is owned by a client using it for forestry. The property had been cut years ago and although I love my old API climbing stand it was NOT going to work in these trees. I bought a new LW Alpha II for the 2019-2020 season and I absolutely hated life. I don't have the luxury of leaving a setup there, in and out every trip. I HATE hanging loc-ons. Always have. Summer of 2020 I looked into this saddle deal. Getting a saddle and platform was like pulling hen's teeth. I ordered all the saddle gear from Tethrd which was backordered and Trophylines platform which was backordered but not as bad as Tethrd's platform. I already had LW and Hawk Helium sticks. In the meantime a client gave me a $100 giftcard to Sportsman Warehouse. I hadn't realized they built one 32 miles from me. Went in one day and they had the whole Hawk setup for whatever MSRP Hawk sells it for which is too high. The ropes that come with are throwaways IMHO. I already had a quality tether, ropeman and linesman rope from climber and loc-on. So I'm in the store looking at this Hawk package on the internet and found a few online places with some crazy deals on this package. I got the Hawk saddle package and the platform and the store matched and beat the online price by some percentage (I don't remember exact percentage) and with my free $100 gift card I got - I got a setup for $28 counting sales tax to tide me over until my other stuff came in. I hunted Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 with the Hawk setup. I actually like the Hawk saddle fitwise better than the Tethrd Phantom. I put a LW standoff on the Hawk platform and it's a tossup between it and the Trophyline platform. I like them both about the same. I'm keeping my climber just because but the LW Alpha hit the classifieds and left. I found the saddle very comfortable and easy to shoot from and infinitely easier to walk in with and then setup. I don't usually follow fads but had known about saddle hunting for years, it just always looked sketchy and uncomfortable to me. I did get roped into checking out this newfound popularity and glad I did.
I did my first climb with the new Trophyline sticks. I can only go to about 16 feet on the tree in my back yard. Sticks worked great, held to the tree much more securely than the Hawk Heliums I used the last couple years. I do have a feeling that I may end up wishing I had spent the extra money for the double step model instead of the single step. Hopefully, I can get used to it, this the first set of single step sticks I have owned.
My new platform/climbing method is ready to try out on a tree. Noticeably smaller as it is the top piece to a summit open shot hand climber. The One I built last year was out of a regular summit viper and we just about 9 pounds. The new one I built weighs in at just a few ounces over 5 pounds. The true test will be with it on the tree of course. The humidity needs to GTFO first....lol
Report back on how that works, it is making me think about buying an old summit of facebook just to try it.
Well done Joe. You may of explained it before, but how does it work? Are you climbing the same as a...well a climber.
