I just bought this yesterday evening, only option there was in town on short notice. Haven't had a chance to practice with it yet, will mess around with it in elk camp before taking it into the woods to find an active wallow to sit on. I've never tried a climber before. How bad is the learning curve for a climber? My biggest concern is how a tree narrows as you go up, how much of a problem is this? I assume I'll want the cables as tight as I can use them at the base and still climb? Also I see that once at hunting height I need to install straps on the top and bottom (motorcycle style straps), I'm a little nervous about how well it holds while I shift around on it to get the straps installed. I don't plan to sit real high with it, probably somewhere between 16'-18'. I have the tether between the top and bottom installed, and will of course wear my harness. Any tips or advice would be great. TIA
I'm not familiar with that climber. I'll have to look it up. I only hunt out of climbers and I use Summit Vipers. The issue with the tree narrowing as you climb can be frustrating at first, but you learn fairly quickly how much angle you need to add at ground level. Some trees don't taper much at all, but I've climbed some trees that tapered so much I had to adjust the cables mid-climb. That takes some acrobatics on the bottom platform, but I can still do it and I'm 56 and not in the best shape of my life. Most of the time, though, I can just look at how much the tree tapers and get the stand adjusted properly so that when I get to hunting height it's pretty much level. I've never strapped the platform to a tree. I've never needed to, and since I always keep at least one foot on the platform even when I'm relaxing I've never had my platform drop away. If it ever does, though, I always make sure the tether is in place. When I get to hunting height I strap the seat section to the tree, finalize the platform position so I sit comfortably and that's it. My preferred hunting height in a climber is anywhere from 20 to 30 feet depending on the cover. There are times, of course, when 15 feet is enough, especially during early season with all the leaves still on the trees. Then again, there are times when 30 feet feels too low.
Going down is harder than going up so you might want to practice your decent once you hit 10 ft or so to make sure you can get down again.
Great advice. Blarney, I will definitely mess around on a tree in camp at low heights before actually attempting to hunt it and getting up to a good hunting height. LC, I like hearing that I won't necessarily have to strap the platform, that's the one I was most worried about. Having never messed with one I'm sure several things will become obvious once I do. How hard is it to get the top and bottom sections to bite and support at the base of the tree with the cables a bit tight for the taper of the tree since they won't probably be very level to start? Or does it not take too much? I'm hoping to find trees without a bunch of taper, I should have several choices. Main trees in the area are white fir, red fir, and tamarack. I'll prefer a tamarack since they often have very few limbs down low. Sawing limbs as I go will be a bit of a pain too. Another thought, I assume the only safe way is to have a harness on and a strap around the tree as I climb too? Or is it acceptable to strap off to the top section while climbing? I have two different wallows in mind, assuming their active again this year, so over the week I'll possibly only sit in one tree and two at the most.
just make sure you put it on the tree with it angling up so as u climb and tree narrows it will level out. you will get the hang of it in a day or 2
