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Climbing tips

So tomorrow for my birthday I'm going to be going in my climber for the first time. I'm a little nervous and would appreciate any tips.. things not to do and things to watch out for. Any and all tips are greatly appreciated!!

Practice, practice. Climb a bunch of different trees before. You will feel more comfortable

Safety harness. A lot less nervous when you're tied on. Make sure bottom of climber is attached to top portion. When you cable the bottom to tree before going up, angle it. As the tree gets narrower on the way up, it will straighten out to level. It could take a couple practice sessions to get the hang of it. Strap top portion to tree once you reach appropriate hight. Paracord to pull up bow, backpack, etc. Don't drop your bow. You take some practice shots from your stand too, to adjust aim point and to make sure bow doesn't hit bar.

Attach to the tree BEFORE you leave the ground, and STAY attached until you get back on the ground. If you don't know how to do that or you don't have the equipment to do that, STAY OUT OF THE TREE!

Also, ALWAYS make sure the bottom portion of the stand is attached to the top portion. This is very important, don't ask me how I know.

Bring a haul line and pull your bow and pack up after you get set up. A few cheal screw in hangers to put in the tree make for a great place to hang packs, your bow, etc.

Set your tether so it's taut when you sit down, that way if you fall you will be able to get back on the platform.

1. Don't sit on your broad heads, it makes them dull. 2. Don't start a fire in your tree stand, smoke will get in your eyes and you'll miss the deer. 3. Don't test the strength of the tree by leaning from one side to the next, deer will pick up your movement. 4. Don't walk through grease just before getting onto your treestand, it will ruin a good pair of boots. 5. And don't shoot a big buck, you'll hurt your back trying to drag it out.

notme - you're next.

If you are nervous it probably means you have not practiced with it that much, I can't stress enough how important practice is. Probably best not to try to climb in the dark until you're comfortable with the stand.

Also, stay away from very smooth bark trees like Silver Beeches when it's wet or icy. And a really rough back tree like a shagbark hickory makes a lot more noise than a nice oak or maple or ash.

Pick a tree before you climb it, if you are going in when it's dark it's tough to tell if a tree has any small branches in the way.

Practice,practice and practice some more!!!!!..WEAR YOUR HARNESS!!!..shot angles are totally different from different heights than on the ground...if youre going 15'up, pay out 12' of pull line , when your bow stands up you have arrived....dont drink the night before..if its a hand climber dont put all your weight on the seat going up/down,youll bruise a rib and puke..when taking a dump remember to lift the rail out of the way...dont hug the tree while your up there youll look silly....make sure you have clean underware on cause your mother said so...dont face into the neighbors window unless shes hot..dont ever call sauce gravy...

Get 3rd hand archery stabilizer straps

ESPECIALLY this: "dont ever call sauce gravy... "

https://youtu.be/jh13Xd2loto

And dont ever EVER PUT SUGAR IN THE SAUCE!!! MENAGE CHRISTO!!!

always carry your pruning saw on the way up so you don't get stuck

Practice on a tree in you yard. You'll get confidence. If it's too late for that first i completely avoid gray birch. Hard slick bark . Danger . Your probably will not be climbing birch because Numbers two. You need a tree with no branches. Otherwise that's you max height. Third. Straight tree definitely best. Nothing worse then a really crooked platform to stand on. It's doable but sucks when you feel like your falling out of your climber the whole hunt. ,my favorite tree. Ash, then oak, then red maple. Forget shaggy bark hickory, try one then when no deer show up because you spend the whole time crunching bark you'll know why.

A few things you will learn with practice is that a tree tapers going up so your climber has to be at an upward angle at ground level but will level out as you go up. Only learned thru experience but genreally a 30 degree at ground level will be flat at 15 to 20 feet up. Otherwisent when you get the mad money you got a bling it out with third hand archery bow Holder and safety straps. Which reminds me, always attached the base to the top if the bottom falls away when you half way up the tree your f...ed I'll tell you I love my climber and it's always my go to. I actually have two of them and I love run and gun hunting. Summit viper is super comfy and I hunt early morning so when I get to the top an hour before light I can nap comfy knowing I won't fall out.

All good stuff from one eye. He knows his stuff. I wish I knew all these things when i started climbing

I did end up purchasing the summit razor. It is pretty comfy and seems stable. I've practiced with it a few times but sitting in it for 6 hours is totally different. I'll probably go in early on the afternoon hunt so I can get setup nice. I'll probably come down a little early so I don't climb in the dark on my first experience.

Tie a rope the hight you want to go say 12 ft for starters when the rope is off the ground you are there

I put range finder, binocs, grunt call, phone in my pockets before I climb so when I'm 20 ft up it's already on me and I won't drop it and less fumbling around thru my pack.

start low work your way up be safe

Like they said... except I recall MaMa used to put a small amount of sugar in her sauce. Sorry NotMe. Stay attached the whole time. Take your time. Go slow. Its safer, quieter and you won't get all hot and sweaty. If you are lucky enough to hit one, take some extra time to let your adrenaline settle before you try to descend and pay close attention to landmarks before you go down because everything looks different from above.

Thanks guys for all the great advice. Steve I never even thought about the rope idea. I'm planning between 10 and 15 ft. When I was about 10 years old my father took me hunting. On our way in we ran into a gent up in a tree and we could not believe our eyes. He must of been at least 30 feet up. It was a breezy day and you could see him swaying in the tree. I'll never forget the look on my dads face and how baffled he was that someone would climb that high.. O Ya and of course this was in mass. Lol..

Shawn,

I had to laugh reading the post above; I've been a fan of the southern strategy of "hunt high, wide and unnoticed" for years. As a rule whether in a climber or hang-on I'm somewhere between 28-30' (one stand I had was 33') up.

Over the years I've just found you can get away with bit more and if you're proficient with your bow to 30 yards or better you won't have difficult (steep) shot angles to factor in.

One difference between me and the gent you describe; I wouldn't go up that high in skinny trees-18-20" diameter or better and you're fine at the heights I hunt.

Like everyone has advised, connected to the tree at all times and don't be in a hurry.

I use the hunter safety system full length rope with prussic knot. I slide rope up as I climb and if I fall the length goes to the ground if I have to slide down. I also use the rope as a pull up for my bow and or pack and finally Its 30 feet long so I kind of use it as a height indicator. If rope is off ground I'm about 28 feet above.

Do understand climbers are not all perfect for hunting in every situation. You have to factor in an extra 30 min to set up and climb to height before hunt time and no matter how much you try to be quite you WILL make more noise then a hang on stand that is already mounted.

I use a hang on, last Saturday I was in a little tree 18 ft up (my max) and the thing was like a carnival ride :)

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