Anyone Treestand hunt?

[gogoalie]

If so, how do you like it & what kind of set up have you bought? I just purchased a Summit & have a gorrilla harness, & hope to use it for both bear & moose...I see challanges though using a treestand with calling & am wondering if people use calling techniques in a treestand, most likely scraping & banging brush...

Thanks in Advanced
Marvin

 

[Daveinthebush]

Yes I have a few stands

Yes I have a few stands

I have a couple: Three Gorilla chain-ons, a LocOn, and two oddball chain-ons, a Loggybouy ladder, two climbers. Lets on get into homemade ladder stands........lost count there.

Yes for bear baiting ladder stand are great. More exciting on the ground but as the hearing gets worse I feel safer in a tree. We usually place two stands in the same tree so that one person can video tape and or a right-hand shooter or left-handed can shoot. (That would be me.)

I have tried one on a moose last year but he never came out in the daylight hours. Beds all over, a shed and he was in the area. He just never showed.

There are a lot of tricks to stand hunting and it takes time to learn them all.

Heres a start for ya:

Always plan on 2-3 stand locations just in case of the odd wind day. That way you can still hunt the area and have the wind in the correct position.

Place the stand so that you have some background cover behind you or the animal is looking into the sun. Spruce trees work fine. A coupls of thin branches in the platform mess helps break up the outline.

Practice at home on a second story deck or roof at about the same height as your stand. Place a piece of tape on your pull up rope at the height you practice at so you are at the same heigth every time.

If you have to clear shoot lanes keep it to a minimum and stagger the distances. In other words: clear out to 15 yards in one area, a few degrees left or right, clear from 10-30 and so on. That way the animal does not have a path to visually follow directly to the tree and you.

Always place treesteps closer together than you think you should. On colder days when you are wearing more clothing you might not be able to stretch from one step to the other.

Always place a step above the stand so that you step down onto, and not up onto the stand.

If entering the stand you have to stetch to get into the stand, reposition the stand so you don't have too. Most tree stand accidents happen getting into and out of the stand.

Always, always wear a safety belt or harness..........

 

[BucknRut]

Second That!

Second That!

Now I've never hunted moose, but I've been hunting whitetails out of stands (climbing, ladder, lightweight, homemade(heavyweight), and "built in treehouses") for years and I agree with everything Dave said.

Safety is a number one concern!

At the beginning of each season I practice getting in and out of the stand several times, I suggest you do the same so that it becomes second nature, but never get to comfortable with it, that's when mistakes happen.

I always make sure my safety belt is adjusted correctly so that it will not interfere with my shooting AND so that it will save my life in the event of an accident. I always walk in with everything harnessed on my body correctly, when I get to the tree I simply attach it to the tree and hunt. Mark your tree so that you strap it at the appropriate level so that you can sit down and stand up without having it restrict your movement. (I have friends that don't use them properly or don't use them at all...one of those friends won't ever use one because he didn't once, fell out of the tree, broke his hip and pelvic bone and can no longer physically climb up a tree.)

Always use a rope to hoist your bow or gun. I tie mine on the opposite side of my ladder, up about shoulder level (you don't want to have to bend over and hunt for the rope). I use a brass marine clasp on the end of my hoist...the extra weight always drops the hoist streight down and it is large enough that I don't have to take my gloves off to snap it to my bow string.

Buy or make some kind of device to hang your rattlers, calls, binos, etc. from in the tree. I use a bungy-cord with about 5 large hooks on it. It's a "one-size fits all" contraption, just stretch it around the tree and connect the hooks. I don't like to hang stuff from my body...reduce your amount of error whenever you can.

I also practice shooting out of a stand I put up a tree behind the house, makes it much more realistic than "house hunting" as many of my friends do.

Don't forget that your range changes when you climb a tree...ask Leupold, they are making millions off their RX Rangefinders that calculate the angled distance! I do not own one of these, but I do figure out my exact distances by pacing out from the tree to "landmarks" (that I will remember), figure in the height of your stand (I try to hang mine around 20 feet, but usually have to hang lower for all sorts of reasons) and then apply the pathagorean theory asq+bsq=csq. PM if this math is jibberish to you and I will try to explain more clearly.

Dave touched on some of the tactics on where and how to set your stands, I can give you lots more details on that too, just ask...moose walk, see, smell and hear the same as deer...the same rules should apply!

I hunt above and below and love them both, but there are somethings that you will witness by being in a tree that you may never see on the ground...it's like nature doesn't even know you are up there!

Good Luck!
BNR

 

[TBLOOMA]

Tree stands

Tree stands

tree lounge is the best, a little heavier, but worth it. I serious, I've used alot, hunted whitetail all over the northeast and south east. Google it and it will give you the correct link. The Bow attachment with an harness, works great, it is the safest stand I have ever hunted. The harness is a must!!! I can hunt probably 330 degrees in that stand. I can't say enough about the stand, go to the website and check it out, well worth the money, as it is a little more expensive than the average stand.
Tim

 

[Alaska Gray]

In the spring I tree stand hunt for bears and also in the fall.
The fall if I do it's on a will beaten path that the bears use that leads to a berry patch. Spring is over bait.

 

[BucknRut]

Summit Tree Stands

Summit Tree Stands

Second the Lounge, if I have to hike in any distance, I take my Summit Tree stands. They are a little heavy about 20-22lbs, but they are great packers. Through it on your back with the backpack straps (come with it) and you don't even know it's there.

bnr

 

[bigdog]

Treestands

Treestands

If you guys like the Summit stands, try a Lone Wolf treestand. You will never hunt from anything else again. I use them for deer and bear hunting here in WI and the are great, lightweight and the quitest stand there is.

 

[Wombat]

If you guys like the Summit stands, try a Lone Wolf treestand. You will never hunt from anything else again.quote]

I agree the Lone Wolf is a great stand. You can put up in just about any tree (without being crooked). Not to mention how light it is! It is well worth it.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...at20055&parentType=index&indexId=cat20055&rid=

 

[BucknRut]

How about there climbers...

How about there climbers...

Have you guys you guys used the Lone Wolf climbers?

Do they pack nicely?
How are they up the tree?
Are they comfy?

 

[bigdog]

Lone Wolf Climber

Lone Wolf Climber

Yes, I have a climber from Lone Wolf, it seemed to work great on the bear I shot last week with my bow. Quite, lightweight, and alot easier to get thru the woods with than the summit climber I have. It folds down really nice and I can easily put my pack on it with a strap or two.

 

[BucknRut]

The search for better gear....

The search for better gear....

Sounds like you guys have got me talked into it...now we just need to work on Coral! That won't be hard, I'll just tell her how much lighter and easy to carry it will be for her to carry and I'll be in!!!

BNR

 

[Daveinthebush]

If

If

If I had a hunting partner as pretty as that, I'd go for a 2-person stand!