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Climbing Spur Questions

Rookie

Rookie

New Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2018
Messages
38
I'm just getting into all of this and thinking about buying a set of spurs. Where I hunt is in South Alabama and is all hardwood river swamp, about 2000 acres and only 2 pines on the property. I'm thinking that spurs and a saddle will give me the level of mobility that I need in there, as I am often hunting from the river and walking a long way to my spots. So I have a couple questions...

Gaff length:
I see that a lot of folks on here are trying to swap out their tree gaffs for pole gaffs. Since I will be climbing hardwoods primarily, would tree gaff's be too long? Or not make a difference since I would just be climbing up and taking them off shortly after? A lot of my hunting buddies hunt where there are mostly pines though, so if i got pole gaffs could I get away with using them in a pine tree?

Using tether while climbing:
I don't think that I would want to climb with spurs and a lineman belt only. Do any of you all connect your tether (in my case a HSS tree rope with prussic) to your bridge as soon as you get on the tree and move it up as you climb? If I had time to preset some trees with screw in steps, I could rig a lifeline and avoid this, but as far as being mobile goes, I can't think of a different option.

Thanks so much and I look forward to hearing some input.
 
Rookie said:
I'm just getting into all of this and thinking about buying a set of spurs. Where I hunt is in South Alabama and is all hardwood river swamp, about 2000 acres and only 2 pines on the property. I'm thinking that spurs and a saddle will give me the level of mobility that I need in there, as I am often hunting from the river and walking a long way to my spots. So I have a couple questions...

Gaff length:
I see that a lot of folks on here are trying to swap out their tree gaffs for pole gaffs. Since I will be climbing hardwoods primarily, would tree gaff's be too long? Or not make a difference since I would just be climbing up and taking them off shortly after? A lot of my hunting buddies hunt where there are mostly pines though, so if i got pole gaffs could I get away with using them in a pine tree?

Using tether while climbing:
I don't think that I would want to climb with spurs and a lineman belt only. Do any of you all connect your tether (in my case a HSS tree rope with prussic) to your bridge as soon as you get on the tree and move it up as you climb? If I had time to preset some trees with screw in steps, I could rig a lifeline and avoid this, but as far as being mobile goes, I can't think of a different option.

Thanks so much and I look forward to hearing some input.
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Roll tide, brother! I'm about to move to Stockton, across the river from the Upper Delta WMA. Sounds like we have very similar thoughts. Wish I had all the answers, but I'm still figuring it out myself.

If it helps, I'm going with pole gaffs, and experimenting with either crossing my lineman's in front of me (thanks G2) or rigging up a tree-squeezeish system.
 
Roll Tide! Very similar thoughts, and that WMA is full of game just make sure you bring your GPS. We hunt on the Tombigbee in Sunflower. I'm unfamiliar with the tree-squeeze but will look into it.
 
Rookie said:
Roll Tide! Very similar thoughts, and that WMA is full of game just make sure you bring your GPS. We hunt on the Tombigbee in Sunflower. I'm unfamiliar with the tree-squeeze but will look into it.
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I'm familiar with Sunflower, spent some time in Leroy as a knee-high. You're right about a GPS, everything out there looks the same in the winter.
 
I wouldn't think climbing with a Tether is very practical. Remember, climbing with spikes isn't unique to saddle hunting. Thousands of arborists do it every day. The way to do it safely is to practice half a dozen times before you do it in a hunting scenario.

The first 3 or 4 times I tried spikes, I HATED it. I almost sold them straight away. I felt totally uncomfortable and unsafe. By the 5th or 6th practice session, I was getting pretty good. Now 2 seasons into it, I'm like an old pro.
 
I’m thinking a lil Alabama group hunt may be in order.
@Rookie, I replied to your message and left my number.
@Nutterbuster, same to you. If I can help y’all just let me know. I can bring my gear and meet y’all somewhere and y’all can try stuff out.
 
I’m from south Alabama also , about to buy a pair of climbing spurs myself. Really excited to try them out. Can see how it would definitely be a “game changer” in climbing. From Washington County.


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If you feel the need to climb with your tether the first few times you can certainly do that, but it’s really not needed. Once you get used to the spikes the linemans rope is just fine and perfectly safe. I hunt mainly hardwood trees in my area and switched to pole spikes this year. I think they are gonna be the way to go for me! They are an awesome way to get up the tree, just don’t give up after the first time because you WILL hate them the first time


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Man I must be crazy because when I got my spurs and climbed fro the first time I loved it. I knew it was gonna be a game changer.

After you practice some with your spurs you'll see all you need is your lineman's belt. You'll want to have it where you're leaning away from the tree a little bit, maybe 12" you'll just have to see where its comfortable to you. Leaning at an angle reduces the likely hood of a kick out, it can still happen but it not as big a deal as it seems because your lineman belt will catch you.

I have pole gaffs on my spurs. The only time I would need longer gaffs is on some thicker barked trees such as live oaks. I've had more kickouts on those trees than any other but if you take your time and go slow its no problem.

The benefits far outweigh the negatives, I can't see myself hunting without them.
 
I may be going against the flow, here. But I prefer tree gaffs instead of pole gaffs. When I first started climbing many years ago, I had a pair of Klein's with pole gaffs. I used my spikes as a platform. After several kick outs on thick bark trees, which are common around here, I switched to tree gaffs instead. My Buckinghams have 3.5" gaffs.
 
Drslyr said:
So what’s the difference between pole gaffs and tree gaffs?
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Tree gaffs are a little longer than pole gaffs, so you can get deeper past the bark of the tree.

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i5ASerS.jpg


They both work for hunting conditions. The difference for me has been; I find the longer tree gaffs better for irregular shaped trees and those with vines. The down side of the longer tree gaffs is there's little to no foot contact with the tree and your foot will tend to pivot. It only takes a few climbs to adjust and accept the difference. If I hadn't been gifted a lighter aluminum pair of tree spurs I would still be using the shorter pole gaffs.

Also, I see no difference in tree penetration.
 
WHW said:
i5ASerS.jpg


They both work for hunting conditions. The difference for me has been; I find the longer tree gaffs better for irregular shaped trees and those with vines. The down side of the longer tree gaffs is there's little to no foot contact with the tree and your foot will tend to pivot. It only takes a few climbs to adjust and accept the difference. If I hadn't been gifted a lighter aluminum pair of tree spurs I would still be using the shorter pole gaffs.

Also, I see no difference in tree penetration.
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That’s what I would think. Penetration past the bark would be determined from your weight. It’s just to get to the trunk past the vines and thick bark. I’ll order mine with pole gafts. I like the idea of some foot contact but I may be wrong once I get some experience.
 
I'd be in for that Alabama hunt. I just got spurs this year as well. I like them so far. I still need some practice. I think I started out leaning too far back and spurs were to far apart. I think.
I'm about an hour North of Mobile, Alabama on I -65. War Eagle! LOL
 
War Eagle! Looks like a group hunt shouldn't be anywhere close to Nov 24th to keep the bantering to a minimum. Unless y'all are into that kind of thing.
Cain said:
I'd be in for that Alabama hunt. I just got spurs this year as well. I like them so far. I still need some practice. I think I started out leaning too far back and spurs were to far apart. I think.
I'm about an hour North of Mobile, Alabama on I -65. War Eagle! LOL
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Cain said:
I'd be in for that Alabama hunt. I just got spurs this year as well. I like them so far. I still need some practice. I think I started out leaning too far back and spurs were to far apart. I think.
I'm about an hour North of Mobile, Alabama on I -65. War Eagle! LOL
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I’m 1/2 an hour north of Birmingham on I65. I’m new to Alabama so Y’all would have a better idea of where would be a good middle ground place for us to meet.
 
g2outdoors said:
I wouldn't think climbing with a Tether is very practical. Remember, climbing with spikes isn't unique to saddle hunting. Thousands of arborists do it every day. The way to do it safely is to practice half a dozen times before you do it in a hunting scenario.

The first 3 or 4 times I tried spikes, I HATED it. I almost sold them straight away. I felt totally uncomfortable and unsafe. By the 5th or 6th practice session, I was getting pretty good. Now 2 seasons into it, I'm like an old pro.
Click to expand...

Going to try mine this weekend!!


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I wouldn't want to climb without a lineman's belt. It gives me something to lean into when I stop. I don't think a tether would work as well.
 
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