Agree 100%! I bought a set from thirdhand this September at PA Bowhunters Festival. They work great for keeping the stand together and make it so much more stable while hunting from your climber.
Glad you're ok man! I have to say I'm in the not using a harness category. I hunt a lot of ladder stands and frankly.... never saw the need for one. However, the older I get, the more I look down at planet Earth and not wanting to arrive there from 18 feet.
I'm new to hunting off the ground, and use a climber. I don't use a harness. I can see the benefit once I'm up and in place, but how can I use one going up and down the tree? Also, I saw in the thread that someone lost the bottom section of the climber. Is that a common occurrence? Do I need to tie off the bottom to the top?
Yes, You need to start using a harness. The tree strap goes around the tree, you hook in with your back tether off the harness. Slide the tree-strap as high as you can above your head. Climb, when the tree-strap is waist high repeat the process all the way up the tree! It common /best practice to have some type of cordage that connects the top of your climber to the bottom in case the bottom gets away from you. Its very import that you do this!
It would be very wise to tie them together. And as far as the harness in a climber is concerned. I strap in before I start climbing. From my experience, when I'm climbing is the time that I feel I need it the most. Once I'm set I feel more stable but still wear it the whole time. All you have to do is slide your strap up the tree as you climb. Might take you like 1 minute longer to get up the tree but if you ever need it, it will be worth that extra minute. I have a muddy and love it. It comes with a linesman belt as well.
Heckler, did this happen with your rope modded LW sticks? I had a similar experience with my rope modded LW sticks as well. I'm switching back to the buckles for several reasons. Glad you are ok bud Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
this is part of the reason when I tear down I take one down piece at a time. when trying to do it all in one trip you lose mobility and can't pay attention to what your doing as well. plus you run the risk of a weight overload in the sticks. add all the weight together your hauling down and most likely the sticks aren't rated for that weight. glad your ok heck!
Holy crap, just found this thread Heckler! Glad you were OK and had yourself tied in. As for some of the other stories, glad you guys are OK as well!
Heckler you mention being off into the woods and in a place where likely no one would find you right away, have you given much thought as to what you can do to let someone know where you are? Some of the apps out there can show latitude and longitude on a map where you can take a screen shot on your phone and text it to someone. Maybe something that can be done at the base of the tree before you start to climb? Years ago when I fell hanging a set I was way back in off of a two track road much further than where I had describe to a friend that was going to do the same thing in a different direction. That I think was the one thing that scared me the most after I regained my breath and composure, that it might have taken someone a long time to find me and I could have been bear bait where I was at.
Chuck, Where I hunt there is no cell service. I hunt big blocks of public ground, into the hundreds of thousands of acres. If hunting alone, I try to plan my hunts in advance and let my adult age son know about where I should be. He hunts with me and knows generally where I like to hunt. But, it's about 1 1/2 hours from our homes to where we hunt. If I hunt all day nobody could expect to hear from me until I drive out on the way home to a certain point where I can make a call or send a text. If I shoot a deer right at dark I could be in the woods recovering that deer until very late into the night. If a guy gets in trouble early in the morning nobody will expect to hear from you until well past that night. In my case that's too long to wait for help, gonna have to deal with it on my own.
I always let two people know where I am going. One hunting buddy and my wife. I provide a google earth map where I intend to park and the approximate area I intend to hunt. I always send my location before I start to climb.
^THIS^ I strongly agree! I have been using them for 4 years now. They are getting more popularity and they should. Glad you are ok man. Thanks for sharing!!
I ask a lot of people who don't use harnesses "what happens if you fall?" To which they reply "I won't".............well no one plans on falling, or anything else bad for that matter. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
This is the real danger of hang ons. Too many folks dont use a life line when climbing in and out of them. Numbers don't lie. Thats when the falls usually happen, not once your in the stand. I understand that hanging a set and hunting it, you can be connected the entire time. There is simply no good reason not to be. Heckler, glad you're OK and glad the harness did its job so you can be on here, telling us about the incident and not busted up or even worse.
Glad you are OK! It was mentioned before but is worth repeating, we need to always tell someone where we will be. Not just in case of a fall, but what about a medical emergency? What if god forbid you have a stroke or heart attack in an area with no cell service? I had my already bad back go out last season while up in a tree in a climber. Getting down with a climber was almost impossible, and horribly painful, and then hobbling and crawling over a mile back to the car was just as bad. I really could have used help, the pain was that bad. Only if you have a bad back and nerve damage can you understand. Luckily I got my bow and stand back a few days later. Another time I got salmonella sickness while on an all day sit. Hiking a mile out of the woods with the squirts, pukes, and chills from a 104 fever was no picnic either!
RC harness for me ...won't leave the ground without it. Glad to hear your ok, still not really understanding how the stick kicked out ...unless you missed the step and kicked it out from the nonstep Side when you fell ...that could happen in a spit second and I can see how you'd miss that. Another thing ...I ditched all my LW sticks ...I won't use a one sided stick ever again. Too much to go wrong by something so simple. Also double sided step let you set the step and stand evenly ...plus coming down have hand grabs on both sides if your holding onto the step.
