1 stick climbing method

[ADKMtnTrapper]

I took all 3 of my sticks out this weekend for a hunt and honestly the 1 stick method is far easier and can be done in the same amount of time and the sky is the limit. I think I will be sticking to 1 stick with a 2 set aider. My next step will be coverting the strap to a rope with a LW versa button. I look foward to honing my methods over the next few years if its this easy now i can only imagine what 2 yrs of expierence will do.

I have gotten so used to doing it I actually carry the one stick with me when trimming lanes. I will climb a tree and cut limbs that are in my way. It's a pretty handy trick lol. I also used it to climb a tree to set an antenna for one of our Covert cellular trail cams for better service :lol:

Thats awesome and a really good tip im going to start using it for that!

 

[Waymore]

I might have to try this method. I have the muddy sticks with the rope cam. It seems like a strap with a versa button would be much faster when doing this method as it is easier to loosen the strap than to deal with the knot and cam

 

[flinginairos]

I might have to try this method. I have the muddy sticks with the rope cam. It seems like a strap with a versa button would be much faster when doing this method as it is easier to loosen the strap than to deal with the knot and cam

I may be "living on the edge" lol but when climbing up I don't knot the rope behind the cam. I've never had it pop out so I feel safe doing that. When I get as high as I want to go I will run the rope around and knot it like Muddy says to.


Sent from space

 

[Waymore]

I did a practice run the other day and It wasn't as easy for me as you guys make it look. I am currently using 20" muddy sticks with a 2 ft 1 inch sling on each one. I used some tubing to spread them apart and happy with the results. However when trying the one stick it was hard sliding the rope up as the tree I was using had really rough bark. Also the knot was time consuming to loosen each time and I wasn't going very far between climbs. Also after the fact since I don't normally use the legs straps on my GW I was having a hard time balancing which now that I think about it I probably need to use the leg straps because I was sliding forward to much with nothing to place my feet on.

I think a longer stick like the 32 inch muddy with the strap would be easier and may try that in the future.

How far do you guys get between moves?

 

[Cbigbear]

I found climbing with the one stick & the GW was a pain. Doable but harder & slower than using my rock harness. I started just wearing my harness under the web for climbing purposes.

The shorter the stick the tougher the climb IMO. The short sticks don't allow for a hand hold so you have to use your tree tether as a handle. I much prefer the 32" LW for climbing one stick, but do use the LW mini for all my saddle hunts because it just packs much nicer.

I can get around 6' per move with a 32" & probably 3' with the mini but my mini doesn't have an ext strap.

 

[Waymore]

I found climbing with the one stick & the GW was a pain. Doable but harder & slower than using my rock harness. I started just wearing my harness under the web for climbing purposes.

The shorter the stick the tougher the climb IMO. The short sticks don't allow for a hand hold so you have to use your tree tether as a handle. I much prefer the 32" LW for climbing one stick, but do use the LW mini for all my saddle hunts because it just packs much nicer.

I can get around 6' per move with a 32" & probably 3' with the mini but my mini doesn't have an ext strap.

Maybe I need to invest in a rock harness. Any recommendation that won't break the bank. I was impressed how fast you got up in the YouTube video you posted. That's a lot faster than what I am doing w 4 muddy sticks.

 

[kenn1320]

I found climbing with the one stick & the GW was a pain. Doable but harder & slower than using my rock harness. I started just wearing my harness under the web for climbing purposes.

The shorter the stick the tougher the climb IMO. The short sticks don't allow for a hand hold so you have to use your tree tether as a handle. I much prefer the 32" LW for climbing one stick, but do use the LW mini for all my saddle hunts because it just packs much nicer.

I can get around 6' per move with a 32" & probably 3' with the mini but my mini doesn't have an ext strap.

Maybe I need to invest in a rock harness. Any recommendation that won't break the bank. I was impressed how fast you got up in the YouTube video you posted. That's a lot faster than what I am doing w 4 muddy sticks.

He used to use an alpine bod harness. He turned me onto them, work well for fairly inexpensive/light weight harness.

 

[Bowhunter41002]

I have fine tuned this method to using 2 sticks and a 3 step ascender on bottom stick and a single foot rope on 2nd stick. I just hang off to the side while bringing my stick up to hunting level.

 

[Cbigbear]

Maybe I need to invest in a rock harness. Any recommendation that won't break the bank. I was impressed how fast you got up in the YouTube video you posted. That's a lot faster than what I am doing w 4 muddy sticks.

I use 2 Alpine BOD harnesses. One with an added waist belt for my saddle & the other is stock for my LW stand. I've tried several other harnesses & ended up back with an Alpine BOD.

 

[Waymore]

Maybe I need to invest in a rock harness. Any recommendation that won't break the bank. I was impressed how fast you got up in the YouTube video you posted. That's a lot faster than what I am doing w 4 muddy sticks.

I use 2 Alpine BOD harnesses. One with an added waist belt for my saddle & the other is stock for my LW stand. I've tried several other harnesses & ended up back with an Alpine BOD.

I just ordered an Alpine Bod. Looks like exactly what I need to wear with my web. Only $29 can't go wrong.

 

[Waymore]

Well I finally got out and used my Alpine Bod with a old gorilla 3 ft stick I had with a 20 inch single aider. The climb was pretty easy and I'm 230lbs. The gorilla stick is very solid but very noisy (creaks like crazy) and the strap hookup imo is not the safest. This is definitely a awesome option with the only downside is like cbigbear said there is more movement needed. I think I will pickup a muddy 32" aerolite to use

 

[Waymore]

A couple more thoughts. Instead of your tree rope being wrapped around and then dropped thru the loop why not use a carabiner on end of line and then clipping in? It would be must faster to unclip to go around branches. Also not having "fresh" sticks hanging lower on tree would reduce scent and risk of being seen by deer specially if using aiders that flop around in wind

 

[kenn1320]

Well I finally got out and used my Alpine Bod with a old gorilla 3 ft stick I had with a 20 inch single aider. The climb was pretty easy and I'm 230lbs. The gorilla stick is very solid but very noisy (creaks like crazy) and the strap hookup imo is not the safest. This is definitely a awesome option with the only downside is like cbigbear said there is more movement needed. I think I will pickup a muddy 32" aerolite to use

Guess we have to think about movement a bit. If your attaching additional sticks to your waist or over your shoulder on a carry strap, then yes the single stick will be more movement. If your climbing down to fetch sticks, I think the amount of movement could be argued. Cbigbear in his video is scrambling up the tree to show how quick and easy the method is, without concern for silence or movement. The down fall to the single step is moving off to the side of the tree. This can expose you, but then again it seems saddle hunters like smaller diameter trees, so we are exposed regardless.

 

[redsquirrel]

but then again it seems saddle hunters like smaller diameter trees, so we are exposed regardless.

I don't think that we are exposed. On a smaller tree I would try to keep the tree between myself and the deer to minimize exposure and break up my outline. Even better on a small tree I want to be up inside a fork in the tree. I routinely hunt larger trees as well, although small trees are a little easy for a mobile setup. If I am hunting a small tree without a fork I try to go higher also.

 

[kenn1320]

but then again it seems saddle hunters like smaller diameter trees, so we are exposed regardless.

I don't think that we are exposed. On a smaller tree I would try to keep the tree between myself and the deer to minimize exposure and break up my outline. Even better on a small tree I want to be up inside a fork in the tree. I routinely hunt larger trees as well, although small trees are a little easy for a mobile setup. If I am hunting a small tree without a fork I try to go higher also.

Im talking about movement during the climb.

 

[redsquirrel]

but then again it seems saddle hunters like smaller diameter trees, so we are exposed regardless.

I don't think that we are exposed. On a smaller tree I would try to keep the tree between myself and the deer to minimize exposure and break up my outline. Even better on a small tree I want to be up inside a fork in the tree. I routinely hunt larger trees as well, although small trees are a little easy for a mobile setup. If I am hunting a small tree without a fork I try to go higher also.

Im talking about movement during the climb.

Gotcha. Didn't realize that!

 

[kenn1320]

I don't think that we are exposed. On a smaller tree I would try to keep the tree between myself and the deer to minimize exposure and break up my outline. Even better on a small tree I want to be up inside a fork in the tree. I routinely hunt larger trees as well, although small trees are a little easy for a mobile setup. If I am hunting a small tree without a fork I try to go higher also.

Im talking about movement during the climb.

Gotcha. Didn't realize that!

Np. In the dark its a no brainier, but slipping in close to bedding on an evening hunt is a different story.

 

[Cbigbear]

One stick can be slow with reduced movement when moving in close to beds. As Ken mention the biggest issue is misplacing the tether & having a swing out.

http://youtu.be/vBxTq0u5hHY

 

[flinginairos]

The trick is getting your rope attachment set to the right length to maximize each move without going up and down. I always climb to the top of the stick and get the rope as high as I can reach and them sit down in the saddle, reach down and grab the top of the stick and pull it up. To do this you can't have the stick strap cinched down tight on the tree. The rope and cam on the Muddy stick work well for this and I always leave some slack in the rope. I can normally slide the stick up high enough I can step right in the bottom step of my five step aider. It takes some practice but I've gotten it down to 3-4 moves to be at hunting height. Coming down I set my rope attachment just above the top step and walk down to the last step in the aider and then take up the slack in my rope. That sets your distance coming down. Once I am below the stick I reach up and bump the bottom of it with my hand and it normally slides right down to me. After that I reach as low as I can and set it, then just step back on and lower my rope attachment again. Smaller trees are easier for sure. The bigger ones will be harder as the rope is constantly getting snagged trying to go up the tree.