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Spurs!! Why Not?

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"No worries my friend. We will chat about spurs in your camper since you have available sleeping space."
:eek::eek: careful Donnie.......
 
Rappelling is fun, and fast, but like @flinginairos mentioned, my rope got hung up more than once. Also, like @redsquirrel mentioned, carrying all that rope is bulky. If I was hunting on a ring of steps, I would rappel. Since I use a platform, putting them back on is pretty easy. I have no complaints about spurs. I love them.
 
Rappelling is fun, and fast, but like @flinginairos mentioned, my rope got hung up more than once. Also, like @redsquirrel mentioned, carrying all that rope is bulky. If I was hunting on a ring of steps, I would rappel. Since I use a platform, putting them back on is pretty easy. I have no complaints about spurs. I love them.

Putting them back on really isn’t a big deal. And going down is pretty easy. I can take pretty big steps going down. And the good thing is once I hit the ground I am packed up and walking out within a minute or two. No messing with getting the rope to come out of the tree and untangling it in a brush pile haha


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Click to expand...
"No worries my friend. We will chat about spurs in your camper since you have available sleeping space."
:eek::eek: careful Donnie.......

LMAO, I know right, I did offer to let folks that were flying crash there, but I didn't think @huck72412 was flying in. Knowing huck he was probably just messing with me!
 
They're illegal on state land in Indiana because they can pierce the tree more than half inch. I spoke with the Purdue Extension office about them and they highly disagree with their use unless the tree is going to be removed. If you do use them they said to wash them before switching trees, as diseases can be passed between trees with their use. With that being said, I used them on some private land two years ago in an urban area that was going to be developed for residential properties and loved them.

edit: They said the washing part should be applied to anything that pierces the tree. bolts, screw in steps and bow holders. Some trees are diseased and haven't shown sign yet. Just food for thought.
 
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Personally, I hunt 95% public land so not really worth it for that 5% of the time I don't. I may eventually reach that point of tinkering but it's an ain't broke don't fix it kind of thing for me. Sticks work well, they aren't too bad to carry, so I don't feel the need to go searching for another method. I guess it seems like a significant learning curve for maybe an incremental gain.

The tree damage concerns me a bit too, especially with oaks. Even to the extent they are a good climbing method, I don't feel like it's a real positive/responsible thing to publicize and try to encourage their use more widespread. Chestnuts, ash, now beech and hemlock are in trouble. Freakin A, can't the next disease hit some useless junk tree? If we ever get some nasty oak disease our forests will be nothing but junk.
 
Personally, I hunt 95% public land so not really worth it for that 5% of the time I don't. I may eventually reach that point of tinkering but it's an ain't broke don't fix it kind of thing for me. Sticks work well, they aren't too bad to carry, so I don't feel the need to go searching for another method. I guess it seems like a significant learning curve for maybe an incremental gain.

The tree damage concerns me a bit too, especially with oaks. Even to the extent they are a good climbing method, I don't feel like it's a real positive/responsible thing to publicize and try to encourage their use more widespread. Chestnuts, ash, now beech and hemlock are in trouble. Freakin A, can't the next disease hit some useless junk tree? If we ever get some nasty oak disease our forests will be nothing but junk.

I agree. I wouldn’t suggest spiking good mast bearing trees. The areas I hunt have been heavily logged and the only trees I have to climb are crap maples and poplar. I don’t think I have ever sat in an oak tree where I hunt because they don’t exist lol. I’m not honestly worried about the small maples and poplars I hunt from once or twice a year.


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Rappelling is fun, and fast, but like @flinginairos mentioned, my rope got hung up more than once. Also, like @redsquirrel mentioned, carrying all that rope is bulky. If I was hunting on a ring of steps, I would rappel. Since I use a platform, putting them back on is pretty easy. I have no complaints about spurs. I love them.
How is your rope getting hung up all the time? If my rope is getting hung up, so is my bow.

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My rappel rope would get hung up while I was pulling it down. Maybe I need to add one of those small pulleys.
 
Just my take on spurs damaging/killing trees. Since 1973 myself and my hunting partners have climbed hundreds of trees with spurs. Probably more oaks trees than any other species and some multiple times. During all those years I can only remember two that died and they weren't oaks. Maybe the spurs killed them and maybe they didn't, I have no way of knowing.
 
Just my take on spurs damaging/killing trees. Since 1973 myself and my hunting partners have climbed hundreds of trees with spurs. Probably more oaks trees than any other species and some multiple times. During all those years I can only remember two that died and they weren't oaks. Maybe the spurs killed them and maybe they didn't, I have no way of knowing.
This is exactly why I have zero shame in walking up the side of any tree that meets my hunting strategy. Thanks for pointing this out for some people that may be undecided due not to restrictions but fear they may be killing a healthy tree.
 
This is exactly why I have zero shame in walking up the side of any tree that meets my hunting strategy. Thanks for pointing this out for some people that may be undecided due not to restrictions but fear they may be killing a healthy tree.
I have to obey the rules even when I think the rules might be dumb.
I doubt the damage is serious. Think maple tree that are tapped for syrup every year. Tapping a tree does discolor the timber when cut but seldom kills the tree otherwise we would have no maple syrup production because all the trees would die.
A hole in a tree for syrup production is a big hole.
That said I don't use spurs because I am not allowed to
 
I don't get how everyone is having a hard time with the rope getting hung up. The only trouble I've had a few times is getting it out of the tree and that was because I either had it going the wrong way through the delta screw or my 550 cord was tied into the delta screw, once I moved it back a few inches on the sewn eye, it comes down so much easier. Also, soft bark can sometimes be a problem but can be easily handled as I mentioned. I'm no expert, someone else here helped me out in one of the SRT threads.
 
As someone who has made every mistake in the books, my rope has never gotten caught on the way down. Every other stage...yes.

I may add other climbing methods to the play book but will never get rid of rappelling. So easy and quick.
 
Definitely going to work on spurring back down this year. Not sure if rappelling worth the extra weight, bulk, and equipment to save a few minutes getting DOWN the tree. If I could rappel UP the tree different story lol


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Definitely going to work on spurring back down this year. Not sure if rappelling worth the extra weight, bulk, and equipment to save a few minutes getting DOWN the tree. If I could rappel UP the tree different story lol


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You can it's called SRT, but it's a little more work, lol.
 
If im going to hunt the same tree several times and it's on private property, I will try and find a different method.

It's mainly out of respect. Land access is really hard to get here and I don't want to jeopardize it by making a tree appear damaged.

I know the marks will heal, and on public land or in a situation where I'm not going to use the same tree repeatedly, it's the only method I use.



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So do you guys not use sticks or steps to get up? I saw these for the first time today and this looks great. Haven’t read the whole thread yet so following.
 
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