Climbing stand tip

[Cut N Run]

After years of hunting from a climbing stand and not always climbing to the best height to hunt from in the dark, I have taken to bringing a bungee cord with me when I first hang the stand. It easily wraps around the stand out of the way as I climb. Just wrap the cord around the tree at the best height to hunt from. Connect the hooks to each other the direction the stand should be set for ideal hunting. You can leave the cord in place and return to hunt that tree at anytime and be in the best place.

I came up with this several years ago because I climbed higher than I should have and ended up putting myself too high in the canopy. I was unable to take advantage of one of my shooting lanes. Right at first light the deer were moving, so I couldn't move the stand around or risk getting busted (the stand was in a pine with noisy bark). A nice buck walked across the shooting lane in easy range and I never got shot off because limbs were in the way. If the stand had been at the right height, I would have added a buck to my personal best top 10 list.

Jim

[kribbz]

This is a good idea. I usually like to climb to 25 feet so I cut a string to 24 foot and tie it to my bow and to my climber rail. once I feel the weight of the bow on the climber I know I'm high enough.

[kellory]

My equiptment line is a permanant part for my climber and the line is marked at 12, 15, and 20 feet. the cord is 25. tied on to my gear. So a glance will show me my hight. and a camo cargo strap around the trunk hangs my pack.

[msbadger]

This is a good idea. I usually like to climb to 25 feet so I cut a string to 24 foot and tie it to my bow and to my climber rail. once I feel the weight of the bow on the climber I know I'm high enough.

I learned to do that a long time ago...my problem was always under estimating...

[ChasePhase]

Leaving a bow hanger helps too. I usually go by my pull up rope though.

[SwampLife]

You can also use that bungee to secure the top section of your climber (hook it near each side of the seat where it touches the tree). I have accidentally bumped the side of my shooting rail on my climber when trying to stand up, which raises the front of the stand and sends it down the tree around your ankles, resting on the bottom section of the climber. Not fun or quiet.

I usually use hooks or pull rope though for height indicator as others said.

[Cut N Run]

I've got 30 feet of rope on the back of my stand with knots tied every five feet, so I can tell how high is truly am (even in the dark). I also took an old pickup truck window rifle rack and cut it down to fit the seat back of my stand. I bungee the rifle in the rack and attach my pack to the rope to be hauled up. A few times, I've climbed up to where the pack was dangling 10-15 feet off the ground before I stopped climbing. Sometimes you just have to get way up in a pine to see down into a cutover.

Jim

[kellory]

I've got 30 feet of rope on the back of my stand with knots tied every five feet, so I can tell how high is truly am (even in the dark). I also took an old pickup truck window rifle rack and cut it down to fit the seat back of my stand. I bungee the rifle in the rack and attach my pack to the rope to be hauled up. A few times, I've climbed up to where the pack was dangling 10-15 feet off the ground before I stopped climbing. Sometimes you just have to get way up in a pine to see down into a cutover.

Jim

I like the rifle rack idea, I may try that. I have one of those racks laying here someplace gathering dust. But you are telling me you hunt 45 feet high?

[Cut N Run]

I like the rifle rack idea, I may try that. I have one of those racks laying here someplace gathering dust. But you are telling me you hunt 45 feet high? [/quote]

If I need to get that high during rifle season, I don't hesitate. I have a PortaClimb Cadillac stand where you sit facing the tree. I adjust the bar by moving it in or out as necessary, so on a large tree that gets thin way up there, I have to set it at a steep angle to start just so it is level by the time I get serious altitude. It is especially handy getting way up in a Loblolly Pine to overlook a few year old cutover with rolling terrain. Can't say that I've ever been busted from that height either. It is worth knowing ranges of things away from your tree on the ground. What appears to be close can actually be farther than it looks because of the height.

It can get scary being up that high when the wind picks up too. If the wind gets to whipping the tree around like a ride at the fair, you're not going to be able to make an accurate shot from up that high & might as well come on down.

Jim

[kellory]

I am working on an idea for a fall arrest system, and I asked for hunting hights and hunter wieghts for for better numbers, and got a big fat zero info. So I was figureing for a max hight of 30 feet. That will screw my numbers alot.