What is your routine.........seriously, I can't figure it out. How on earth do you get set up in a reasonable amount of time without making a ton of noise or killing yourself. I like the idea of the freedom to climb almost any tree and setup and possibly a lighter pack in but I can't even imagine getting it done safely and quietly in under 10 minutes.........but I hear plenty of guys say they do. So what is the process?? and is it REALLY as easy as some guys make it sound? If I see a tree I can't get into with a climber.....I just hang a lock on in the summer. Help me figure out if this is something I need to try.
I really don't try to keep too quiet walking in and getting set up. Now don't get me wrong I am not banging pots and pans going in and up with my climber, but I am not trying to be as quiet as a mouse fart either. Most of the time when deer Hear something crashing through the woods and do not see it they will come and investigate what is trouncing through their living room. However if they hear something TRYING to be stealthy and making these slow undeliberate noises I really think they spook. This is my IMHO don't worry about they noise, let em come and check you out!!! Ken
Atlas this one heck of a challange for me this year. As for the stick that was no problem but when I got to the LW I seem to always make a bit of noise hanging that stand. But I do need to practice it more because before season I did not do this at all. I know the L Duko could answer this one pretty good for you. It did seem like so much work this year doing these setups but next year should not be as tough. T
I do it all the time but I also have a second person handing me the sticks and stands seeing I have to hang one for the camera man also. We 90% of the time hunt out of our climbers and I will just trim as we go up if need be and trust me you can trim queitly because we did it with a doe and buck bedded about 60 yards away and they never flinched. I will go with climbers any day if I can but it can be done with sticks and LW hang on as long as you wear a linemans belt. If hanging sticks I get there and seperate everything first then I put on the first step climb and put on the second stick I then go down and put a rope on the stand and attach it to my pack and then throw the fourth stick over my shoulder so it is hanging on my back and carry the third stick up and put it on then the fourth goes on and then pull up the stand get that in place hang my pack go down and connect my bow and back up and can do all of this in less than 15 minutes and not break a sweat. Walt
I do pack in a stand/sticks from time to time and hang/hunt that same morning or evening, but not always. When I do, it certainly doesn't take me 10 minutes to get in and be ready to hunt, that's for sure. I'd say more like 20-30 minutes depending on how quiet I'm trying to be, how large the tree is, and how many branches/trees I need to cut for shooting lanes. If I was walking into a tree that was straight as an arrow and was already trimmed, I could probably get up in 10 minutes but in the real world, it doesn't happen. Personally, I much rather prefer to hang/hunt a stand for an evening set than a morning set unless I've already picked out the tree, and possibly even trimmed it out. It just makes my life a whole lot easier when I can see what I'm doing without the aid of my little cap light. And despite the fact that I do it quite a bit, it's not always my preferred method. When it comes to being quiet and slipped into a spot on a still morning nothing beats having a stand in place and trimmed already. But if you need to get into a new spot, you need to get into a new spot. Simple as that. As for technqiue - when I'm by myself I do pretty much what Wally does. First and second sticks go on the tree easy, then I carry the 3rd in my hand, fourth slung over my shoulder, and pull the stand up with a rope. The safest and easiest way to accomplish all of this is with a lineman's belt. I personally use the Treehopper belt, but there's a variety of other options out there as well. I don't know about you guys but where I hunt over 80% of the time I'm in a tree where a climber would never work. I thought about it on my way into work this morning and during the trip to our lease in Novembmer we hung and hunted in 8 different sets. Of those sets only 2 of them would've worked with a climber. A few of them we even had trouble with stands/sticks. But I would rather sacrifice a little bit of comfort and ease of setting the stand up to be in the perfect tree when the time comes. I'm headed back to the lease this weekend with a friend of mine who works 2nd shift until 11, which means we'll drive all night, roll into town around 4 am, grab a coffee and donut at the gas station, then head right in. We have no stands hung which means we both need to hang in the dark. Good times!!!
Justin is right, on a clean tree that isn't too big around, I can do it in 10 minutes. Most sets are 20 minutes though. I leave a little early to compensate for it. Being in the perfect tree is important to me. I still use my climbers in areas that it makes sense to do so.
When I get to the tree I am going up I take the stand off my back and lean against the tree. Unattach my pack and quiver and set them near the bow, then I set the stand on the ground. I take the first two sticks and put them on the tree without using the flipline. They are not high enough for me to worry about falling yet. Then I grab the next two sticks and the stand strap. I get onto the top of the second stick, put the flipline around the tree, lean back and attach the third stick, climb to the top of that and start looking for the platform height as now I am getting close. I now attach the fourth stick, determine my platform height and then put the stand strap around the tree. Climb back down, tie my pull rope(attached to my pack) to bow and quiver, put the stand over one arm and climb up, flipline goes around after getting past second stick. When I get to the stand strap, I get the stand off of my arm and raise the seat bar, hook it on the stand strap and then attach the second stand strap on the bottom versa button. Go up another step or two and step down onto the stand. It sounds long and complicated but, having done it alot, I could do it in 10 minutes. I normaly just take my time, maybe 20 minutes, as I figure me just walking in there has disturbed things enough so there is no hurry to get up the tree.
for those of you having trouble keeping the lone wolf quite, check out this guys product. I have ordered 6 for my sticks and a stand. http://www.archerytalk.com/vb/showthread.php?t=664190 P.S. I know that it from another forum, but I think it is a great product.
Good idea, but I've never been a fan of those constricter ropes. The treehopper belt utilizes a similar rope that I found more difficult to pull/adjust than with a standard LW buckle system. And to be honest, the metal buckles on the LW sticks aren't a problem. You can keep them from banging into things easily enough. My biggest noise maker is usually the walk in on the crunchy leaves and cutting down trees/limbs. I also heard rumor of a new climbing stick hitting the market next year using an all-rope attachment system that will eliminate buckles without having to pay an arm and a leg above and beyond the sticks you already paid an arm and a leg for. Hoping to see/hear more at ATA.
The more I do it, the more I am liking going in with the stix & a hang on. I have a loggy bayou predator stand. One strap same as the LW stix. I can be up a tree & ready to go in 20 minutes. Which is about as long as I take to get set up in a climber. Stick 1 goes around the tree. Then 2 & 3 goes up. Back down for 4. Back down for the stand, carried up with back pack straps. I use my Seat o the pants harness as a lineman's belt for hte stand part. I am dressed as little as possible and can do this sweating less than or equal to my climber. I can hang it in the dark and do so very quietly.
I have been using my setup for 2 yrs now. I try to find trees (especially early season) with a lot of cover and that usually means branches in the way if using a climber. A couple of productive setups I have had were in a tree with a holly tree right up close or branches that are around/below where the stand goes. Even in a difficult tree it doesn't take that long or that much energy to setup. You really have to do it for, say, a couple of weeks multiple times to get any kind a realistic routine that will give you some idea what is involved effort and timewise.
Alright here's my deal Atlas... I use a Loggy Bayou Predator hang on with 3 sticks at this point (which will be 4 pretty quickly). I'll use the same scent precautions as I usually would while entering the area and locate the tree that is suitable. The biggest factor that I've found to being quiet is to take your time. This doesn't mean you can't move quickly but to be fairly maticulous with your actions. I use a ratchet strap to hold my sticks to the stand and carefully remove it. Next I set the stack of sticks vertical with the tree grabbers on the ground separate them. Next I make sure the stand is untied and that the ratchet is is on the side that I plan to tighten it from. I wear my gorilla safety harness and am sure bring the telephone pole strap, loop it around the tree and hook on. At this point I strap the first stick to the tree to where the bottom peg is a couple inches above knee height (Roughly 20"). I quickly ascend and secure the stick each about 24" apart. At this point I pull up the stand which i previously freed up, pulling it quickly but making sure that it doesn't swing into the tree. I place the part of the stand that separates the seat and the platform on my bicep and basically bearhug the tree while I secure it. At this point it's just as you would hunt any other stand... the process can absolutely be done in under 10 minutes, just like anything else... the more you do it, the faster you get. The height that I can get on a tree with no branches is roughly 15' with 3 sticks, that is setting your stand 2' above the last step... Just how I do it, not saying its the best way but it works for me.
I'm just gonna jump in and say thanks for the tips and tidbits you guys are offering. I will be embarking on my maiden voyage of the "hanigin and huntin" stratagy in the next few days, and I am wondering how difficult it's actually gonna be.
This year was the first I tried the hang and hunt stratagey thanks to the Lone Wolf stand and sticks. Christine and I have hunted together once since I got it. She uses a Summit climber. We were set up almost indentically time wise. (She was maybe a minute or two quicker) It (the hang-on and sticks) is heavier than a climber and while you can set up in trees that a climber can't, I usually wind up in trees that could use a climber. My set up is very similar to what's already been posted. The only difference that I sometimes use is a second haul cord. I tie onto the stand with one and the bow, coat and pack with the other. The time to put it up varies greatly for me. Sometimes things don't go as smooth as I'd like and it winds up taking longer. I'd say that it was never longer than 30-35 minutes and when things work well, maybe 12-15 minutes. (maybe) When things don't go well I wind up sweaty. When they go good and I don't have to climb back down a dozen times, I'm warm but not sweating. Also it seems that the morning, setting up in the dark, always takes longer. I don't think I've ever been ready to shoot at first light with this set-up no matter how early I start. Good luck to ya if you try it. Be safe.
