History of your setups

[elk yinzer]

Curious to see the progressions everyone has been through. Here is my timeline.

2000-2004: Loggy Bayou climber with TMA harness

2004-2005: Summit Bushmaster climber with TMA harness

2006-2016: Summit Bushmaster with BD rock harness. Around 2012 or 2013 I started using the rock harness to shoot and lean saddle-style occassionally.

2017: Added X-stand Xpedition hangon with Helium sticks. Still used Summit climber probably 1 out of 3 sits. Two late season hunts from my new kestrel but with the treestand as platform.

2018: 2017 gear plus whichever wins my Mantis vs. Mestrel showdown and my DIY pivot platform.

 

[Hawk]

API climber and permanent built stands for my first 10yrs. Then I added a LW Alpha and split time between that and the climber the next 4 years. Then I was strictly hunting in the ground or LW the next two years. Then I added a Web and have hunted out of that our the ground the last two years. Just bought the mantis along with the predator. From here on out if I'm in a tree is imagine I'll be in the Web or Mantis. If my wife goes she will probably only want to sit in the LW if we're in a tree. Don't have much user for a climber anymore so I sold it.

 

[WARPONY]

2014 Ground n Pound

2015 Summit Viper SD, RC harness

2016 Lone Wolf Assault 2, RC harness

2017 SitDrag, Rc Harness

 

[donnieballgame]

1989-1997 Grew up in NE PA, ground hunting, driving deer and building permanent tree stands behind the house, lol. I got a hang on back then and some screw in steps and thought it was so fancy, lol. Back then I strictly gun hunted, my Dad had guns that I could use and I never had any money for a bow.

2017 Sit Drag with a Rock Climbing harness, SRT and XOP hand climber as my 2 climbing methods. Added a fleece saddle around the end of the season.

2018 I'm adding WE Stepps to my climbing systems and I won an Ernie XOP Platform at Saddlepalooza that I plan on using, we'll see still trying to get my brother in a saddle.

 

[IkemanTX]

1997-2000
2X4 steps nailed to a tree trunk, with 2X4s and plywood bridging a Y in the branches for the stand.

2000-2006
Metal tripods and shooting houses (West Texas grasslands)

2006-2014
No hunting as I entered (and left) my first career

2015
Lone wolf assault with Hawk stock Helium sticks. @Ken1320 Molle saddle

2016-present
Sit drag with a combination of bolts and Helium sticks.


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[Gr33n Arrow]

2011 Ladder Stands

2013 ****s Climber - this thing is a tank

2014 XOP Hang On with Muddy Steps

2016-17 Sit Drag and Evo with Stepps

2018 Mantis and Kestral with Stepps


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[EricS]

1994-1998. Wooden ladder stands as guest on family members lease.
1998-2006 wooden ladder stands. Pre set loc-on stands of various manufacturers and a 30lb big cat climber. 100% public land.
2006-2007 public land with first aluminum climber. Had several bad experiences with other hunters in 2006. Joined lease in 2007.
2008-2014 hunted privat lease from tower stands, ladder stands, lock ons. Purchased summit 180 about 2012 and used it for the occasional public land hunt. Gained permission to hunt employers farm also during this time. About 50% of hunts during this time were with my son along.
2014 moved an hour and a half away. Dropped club membership. Started focusing a lot more on public land again but drove to bosses place on Sunday evenings. Public land was mostly solo but took my son some in either a pop up blind or double ladder.
2016 got a sit drag and played with it in the yard a lot. Hunted with it a few times.I had actually placed an order for a trophyline ambush saddle right as the company was going under. They called me back and didn’t have my size. I looked at used ones online for a long time and just couldn’t pay more used than what they ran new. Found g2s videos on the sit drag and decided to give it a shot. I ordered a hand climber and used it with lone wolf sticks. Wasn’t very happy with carrying lone wolf sticks with the climber. I wasn’t very happy with the setup. I used two sit drags and found comfort to be fine.
2017 attended saddlepalooza. It was a lot smaller turn out than this year. Looked at other guys setups. Found the stepp intriguing. Ordered the kestrel and wild edge stepps with aider. Hunted 75% run and gun with half of those going in blind and using the stepps as a climbing method and platform. Made the decision to preset trees for the early season this year and use the sit drag on my presets.
2018 is still to be determined. Joined a 6000 acre lease a few weeks ago. Ordered the mantis and predator so who knows. I was going to drill a lot of trees this year but will use the climb rites some also. Will continue to use the wild edge stepps on public land. I’m excited about this season already.

 

[bigjoe]

1978 - 1980 gun hunted ground
( I have gun hunted every year since)
1981 - began bow hunting with and old bear recurve. 1984 bought a Bear Whitetail - compound.
hunted from trees with make shift stands ie 2 x 4’s & built permant stands. Dad made me a safety harness. Ground hunted and stalked

In college only bow hunted while at school.

1991 bought a Lock On coupled with screw in steps. Retired that about 10 years ago. I bought a Summit Goliath.

Ladder stands bought for when hunting with kids.

2014 bought a Lone Wolf Assault and lone wolf sticks. Gave those away 2 years ago.
I fell in 2016. Just ground hunted.

2018 Saddle hunting. Only way I will get back in a tree.

 

[huck72412]

25BC-2017 Trophyline Tree Saddle
2018 - ? Mantis

 

[Ontariofarmer]

25BC-2017 Trophyline Tree Saddle
2018 - ? Mantis

25 BC - 32 AD Were you hanging from a tree in a trophyline and is your alias Zacchaeus and were you a tax collector. I think I read about you.

Me I am much younger than @huck72412

2013-15 Summit climber and ladder stands
2015-16 Evolution and Guidos lone wolf sticks
2017 Kestrel and Guidos web muddy pro sticks and hawk sticks and 5 step aider and bolts.
2018 A praying Mantis - I will have wings like a praying Mantis and ??? bolts, homemade sticks... modified WE steps, spikes... all maybe.

 

[huck72412]

25 BC - 32 AD Were you hanging from a tree in a trophyline and is your alias Zacchaeus and were you a tax collector. I think I read about you.

Me I am much younger than @huck72412

2013-15 Summit climber and ladder stands
2015-16 Evolution and Guidos
2017 Kestrel and Gudios
2018 A praying Mantis - I will have wings like a praying Mantis and ???

LOLOLOL

 

[100rollie]

Cool Thread ! Have to really think about this.
1979-1984 2X4's and plywood - permanents , Baker Climber, Woods and Water Climber.
1985-1988 Loc On Lem, TSS Tree Harness style sling, with Cranford folding screw in steps.
1989-2000 Loc On Limit, Screaming Eagle, Lone Wolf hang on's, with Sky Hook folding steps and Gorilla climbing sticks
2001-2008 Tree Suit, and still Loc On Limit, Lone Wolf hang on's with Sky Hook folding steps, Tree Hopper Bolts, and Lone Wolf sticks
2009-2016 Tree Suit, Tree Saddle, Anderson Sling, and still Loc On Limit, Lone Wolf hang on's. Muddy Pro's
2017 Kestrel, Anderson Sling. and Muddy Pro's.

 

[boyne bowhunter]

Wow, this goes back. Bowhunting sets are listed.
1974-1984 Any tree I could climb near a trail and just stood on a branch. No safety harnesses of any kind. Many falls but luckily no serious damage.
1984 -1990 Homemade Baker Style treestand. No upper half, I just climbed up and attached it to the tree - Still no safety gear but falls ceased.
1990 to 1994 Homemade chain on platforms and fixed climbing sticks. Heavy setups meant for setting up and sitting over bait. Still no safety harnesses.
1994-2000 Loc-on style stand a homemade climbing sticks (2x4s with screw in steps strapped to trees). Still heavy stationary stands but by now had ditched bait piles for natural food sources (oak groves, beech trees). Safety harnesses some times. Loc-ons always make feel like I'm leaning out of the tree.
2000-2009 Summit Bushmaster completely mobile playing wind directions and food sources. No Harness, have always felt completely safe in my Summits.
2009-2014 Summit 180 Max. Same as above but gave me the ability to turn and face the tree so I could set up behind it.
2015-2016 Split time between my Summit and AeroHunter Evo with various climbing methods.
2017 AeroHunter Kestrel and SRT and single stick with the Summit used for Late Season very cold conditions
2018 Plan on using the Mantis early and he Kestrel late. SRT, Spikes and Wildedge Stepps for access.

 

[Dewey]

1980's Homemade aluminum framed climber with wood platform or just stood on branches as well. No safety harnesses available!! Feel lucky to be alive after this period. Had a few falls but luckily no serious injuries.

1990-1995 Loc On Limit and Loggy Bayou hang ons with rope steps. Used a Silent -Slide “safety” belt which was a single waist belt. By todays standards very unsafe for a harness.

1995-2008 Summit Cobra and Summit Viper climbers. Used a Trophyline saddle for a bit around 2008 but never really gave it much chance and sold it. Also had a few API stands and climbed with Summit Bucksteps. Did some ground hunting in a Double Bull blind.

2008-2017 Lone Wolf Alpha and Assault with Lone Wolf sticks. Still my go to but really warming up to saddle hunting.

2017-2018 Aero Hunter Kestrel with XOP platform and various climbing methods. Infalt prototype sticks with aiders and WE Stepps with aiders.

 

[redsquirrel]

In the late 80's I used to sit in permanent wooden stands with my dad or by myself before I could use a weapon.
1993-2001 permanent wooden stands and cabelas portable stands with screw in steps
2001-2007 pre-set portable stands with screw in steps
2008 pre-set portable stands with screw in steps and pre-set trees for my new tree saddle
2009-2013 preset trees with screw in steps for a saddle
2014- present preset trees with screw in steps for a saddle, mobile climbing methods with a saddle

From 2009-2013 my solution to being mobile was to have as many trees prepped as I could. I have over 40 trees prepped throughout the state. Some I will hunt a couple times in a year, others may not get hunted at all.

 

[GCTerpfan]

Mid 80's to early 90's - permanent wooden stands with my dad.

Mid to late 90's - started bowhunting-permanent wooden stands and homemade hang on stands pre set, our "safety" system was a strap around the tree with a hook that we clipped onto our pants belt after we climbed into the stand.

Late 90's to mid 2000's- only hunted rifle and muzzleloader from the ground or occasionally from climbing stand. Didn't bow hunting through this period.

Mid 2000's to 2017- pre set hang on stands or double ladders with my kids.

2017-? Kestrel with WE steps (often in the tree next to my pre set hang ons that just didn't seem as comfortable anymore.)

 

[Wolverinebuckman]

25 BC - 32 AD Were you hanging from a tree in a trophyline and is your alias Zacchaeus and were you a tax collector. I think I read about you.

"Zacchaeus, put down your bow and arrow and climb down from that tree, I am eating at your house tonight"

" But Lord, I haven't shot any game for dinner yet"

"Do you have a fish or some bread, maybe a jug of water? I have worked with less, you know...."

 

[Nutterbuster]

I don't have dates, but:

Permanent stands with my dad.

A HEAVY (40+lbs) steel climber

A 3 legged stool/turkey vest. Still use this option during gun hunts pretty frequently.

XOP hand climber

Kestrel with LW sticks

Kestrel with WE Stepps

Kestrel with EZ kut drill

I'd like to maybe transition to spurs.

 

[ImThere]

Grew up hunting out West. I had never seen a climber, saddle, ladder stand in person.
moved to Tn in 2004
2004 bought a summit revolution Catman hunts from it now
2006 bought a summit 180,
2010? summit ?? from Bigasports (the only climber I still have)
2011 i bought some climbing sticks and a light loc on from API
in 2014- 2015 I bought a Sitdrag after searching for a saddle
2018 I won the a Kestrel in Predator, I have never hunted from it yet. I find the sitdrag super comfortable

 

[flinginairos]

1997-2004: Ground, ladder stands and a steel Summit climber that my dad would let me use. Killed my first deer with a bow from the climber in 2004!

2005-2013: API Grand Slam climber. I carried that thing everywhere! Killed a pile of deer from it. Loved that thing but when I started filming the weight was just unbearable and started looking at the Guidos Web in 2011. Money was tight and I couldn't bring myself to buy one.

2014: Guidos web. The start of my saddle career. Still heavy but a huge change from the climber. Really enjoyed it and opened my eyes to a whole new realm of hunting and mobility!
2015: AeroHunter Evolution. Started the year with it and found all the straps and buckles annoying so went to just the top belt like DaveT and finished out the season.
2016: Modded sit drag which I really enjoyed. Very comfy and lightweight. Super simple setup which was nice
2017: Aerohunter Kestrel. I finally thought I had found the saddle I was going to use for a long time. Loved every minute of hunting from it
2018: @g2outdoors changed my plans with the Kestrel and dropped the Mantis on me. Mind blown yet again and will be going to the woods my lightest ever. Super excited for this season and the new gear!!