Alright guys, I have one more question. Which climbing sticks do you recommend for me Lone Wolf or Muddy?
Muddy, hands down. A step on both sides and the rope cam (no noisy metal buckle) make all the difference.
im a stick and hang on guy. reason being is cause i like to leave my stand in the woods and this way i just take down the last two sticks when i climb down for the night. with a climber i'd have to either leave it with a lock or hump it back out of the woods each night....grrrrrrrrrrrr
I would go with Lone Wolf sticks, they are proven. I'm sure Muddy is a great stick, but they have yet to be proven under all conditions. I would let someone else be the guinny pig.
If I had more straight trees where I hunt I would definitely be a climber guy. But 9 out of 10 trees that I hunt from are not straight and have a lot of big limbs that prevent me from using one. Therefore I'm a hang-on/sticks guy. In stands where I hunt year after year and don't move much, I'll use screw-in steps. Sticks are pretty much reserved for spots where I move around a bit, or only hunt 1-2 times a year. I really do want to pick up a LW climber just to have one, but I can't justify the cost if I only use it on the rare occassion I have a tree that's suitable for it. In those cases I'd have to pre-scout the location anyways so I'm better off with screw-ins or sticks.
I can put my LW sticks and Alpha stand in any tree a climber can go in, quickly, quietly and with great ease. I prefer the LW sticks/stand because of my options, they're endless!
I agree. I don't sweat, and it is easy and safe. A person needs to give himself 10-15 setups and tear downs, and then this type of hunting becomes 2nd nature.Every time it just gets simpler. After several seasons of carrying my LW Alpha and sticks in and out of the woods each and everytime I hunt, it is just....well...easy. crooked trees, trees with tons of limbs...where ever I want to hunt, my Alpha pretty well always will go.
For those of you that want to see a guy use these LW sticks, this guy is pretty smooth. I don't like carrying sticks up the tree with me hanging from a belt like some guys do, as I question if you could be impaled if you fell with sticks hanging from your belt .But this guys' system looks less risky as they are bundled on his back stacked. Now, if he had a rope tied to his stand with his gear and bow tied to it, then he wouldn't have to come back down to get his gear. I have a rope tied to my harnass that is attached to the stand, and then a rope tied to my gear/bow, attached to the stand. But regardless of how you do it, it is pretty simple. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3clPFGAwB3s
Ill admit that a climber is a bit faster on a straight tree with no limbs. With my muddy gear Im completely setup in 8 min. I attach the sticks to my harness, the stand is on my back, and a rope to the bow, so I dont have to go back down. A good climber such as the Summit Open Shot/ LW Hand climber only takes 4-5 min to setup. Yes Ive timed it. As long as youre familiar w your equipment both are safe and dont make you break a sweat.
I agree. It is more work walking to the stand location then hanging a stand and sticks. I have had so many guys sit and argue with us that hunt using this mobile method, or say that a climber is easy and sticks and hang on are too much work and you get sweaty. They feel that it is just WAY too much work to hunt like I do, or they would rather have 20 ladder stands out or hangons that they take out each Sept and then drag back out of the woods in the spring, only to repeat the procedure again. Then they are on forums or in the coffee shop complaining that someone stole their stand or a squirrel chewed up their seat. Lol...I am 47 years old. If I can go out and do 60-100 setups a season using sticks each and everytime I go, and bringing them back in each time....well you get my point. Granted, I have a 25 year younger girlfriend that keeps me fit, and I workout, but Geesh...it's not labor intensive enough to sweat from simply hanging sticks and a hang on!!!!
No assertion that using sticks and a hangon is superior here, but....it isn't inferior to climbers by any margin either. It's different. It suits some folks better than others. I am one of the folks it suits and my system makes it very easy for me. If it doesn't suit someone then everything about it will be difficult. I get quite a few sits in myself and some are close to a mile back. No problem carrying 4 sticks, an Alpha and my gear. Not better than anything else, not worse than anything else, just different.
I just ordered a Loggy Bayou Predator stand. Now I just have to wait for the sticks and stand to get here. Thanks again to everyone for their input. I can't wait to get my new setup and start practicing.
