I just purchased a Summit climbing treestand to use here in Oregon where I hunt. I primarily hunt the eastern central cascades region which is dominated by Pondo's and Lodge Pole. My question is are ponderosa tree's safe for climbing stands? or should I be looking at using it more on Lodge pole and some of the higher elevation species for my set ups? I ask because they say to be weary of loose barked trees and as I was testing it today in a Pondo in the front yard, I noticed that a lot of bark was chipping off. I know that ponderosa's have extremely thick bark due to there fire resistance adaptions but I figured I would come here and ask before putting myself any further in harm's way. This was my first year bow hunting and Im sold & looking forward to the adventure ahead of me. "Life with all it's bend's and confluences, rapids and obstructions, takes us on some interesting runs." Don Scheese
I should also say that Pondo's have really deep bark and that the "teeth" of the stand were digging in pretty well. But should I trust the bark under it to hold? "Starting from zero got nothin' to lose." T. Chapman
i tend to stay away from loose barked trees but i have climbed a few and havent slipped. here in iowa we dont have very many so its easy to avoid. thats just my opinion because i dont know exactly how safe those trees are but if you choose to climb those make sure you are fastened in securely.
I've been going away from climbers all together. With the portability offered by some hang on and a set of sticks, you don't need that perfectly straight tree. Closest tree I've climbed to yours would be some of the straight trunked white pines. They have loose bark on the outside, and I've never had my Summit seriously slip. Maybe an inch or two as I'm shifting my weight from the upper frame to the lower platform. Regardless of the tree though, I always use the Summit strap to hold the top frame tight to the tree.
Thanks! I thought about a hanger but treestands left up around here have a tendency to disappear because it's all National Forest, Very little private land. And plus I wanted to use my stand for hunting timber coyotes & bobcats this time of year in multiple setups. Hoythews, thanks! I didn't even think of comparing it to a white pine since I assume most people on here are Whitetail hunter's east of the rockys! but very similar trees, thanks!
