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First hunt out of a saddle

C

Chris_l

Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2017
Messages
40
Today was my first hunt out of my kestrel and it went alot better than I expected being I received it last week. I did find a few things to work on thought that I'm hoping some of the regulars will chime wirubsome advice. I definitely will be looking into a ropeman due to the pain trying to adjust the Blake's. I'm wondering if there us anyway to quiet down ameristep, I struggled to keep them from rattling around. Next thing is trying the figure out a good quiet way of carrying helium sticks up the tree so u don't have to go up and down for every stick. All in all I'm glad I made the switch, once I get the bugs worked out I think it will definitely be a game changer. Thanks
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I don't use sticks myself but I know a lot of folks set the 1st one climb it and set the 2nd then hang the other two on opposite sides of their harness so they don't bang together then climb up the rest once.

If anyone has a trick for the ameristeps I'm all ears, I just go slow with them. Ratchet them down slow and put a finger on the lock plate thing that holds the ratchet gear in place to reduce noise and don't move the steps into position until it's mostly tight so they can't slide around on the strap and hit each other then ratchet it all the way.

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The ameristeps are just kind of clunky... no way around that. You could wrap them in some camoform tape and that might help... a little. Just have to be careful with them.
 
What @rabidd099 said about the sticks. Put one up, attach the other 2 to the sides of your saddle and go up. Just practice.

For the ameristeps, I would keep them in something like a molle dump pouch. I hang it over my shoulder or hang it off the side of my saddle. When you are ready to use them, you just slowly and careful take it out of the pouch. You just have to be slow and pay attention to detail and you can do it silently. And if you haven't put one on the strap, you need to put and over center buckle, AKA the boat buckle on it.
 
You know, this site is all about helping each other become better hunters. What about a thread where people post a video of themselves climbing as they would to hunt in full gear. Then others can offer coaching. There is so much that can be seen with the camera that we may not be aware of ourselves.


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Glad to hear it went well. Also glad to hear you have realistic expectations about learning this new system. Some guys hunt out of it one time and go "Man, this isn't for me it's too...." It's a learning process.

Concerning the Ameristeps - I've been hunting with them for many years and I don't have a good solution other than taking my time and going slow. I can set them up with virtually no noise now.

You only need to make one trip up the tree. Attach the first at ground level and hook the other two on your hips/back.

I'll do a full video on climbing with sticks soon. However, halfway through the video below you can see me attach my permanent sticks to my SitDrag.

 
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