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How long does it take you to climb?

I have filmed myself climbing to 20ft in about 15 minutes drilling a tree with a treehopper, and climbing to 16ft in about 4.5 minutes with squirrel steps. Both on "perfect" trees.

Setting my ROS, tether, and gear strap takes maybe another 2 minutes?
 
kyler1945 said:
I’d be curious to know if anyone can, from the time they pick the tree, climb up to top of whatever method they use(minimum 18’), in under ten minutes, without their lineman’s belt getting below their hips, or their tether having no more than 18” of slack in it.
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6:30 video.

Not sure about the 18' part but four 2 foot sticks and 2 foot spaces = 4x4=16' plus ROS above top stick. Gotta be close to 18'
 
kyler1945 said:
I’d be curious to know if anyone can, from the time they pick the tree, climb up to top of whatever method they use(minimum 18’), in under ten minutes, without their lineman’s belt getting below their hips, or their tether having no more than 18” of slack in it.
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So, I want to redo it with the steps wrapped, setting ros, and pulling up bow. But I think I could blow that time out of the water with a bag of squirrel steps.

 
I'm no spring chicken, but I'm in decent shape for +50. I'm careful when I climb and I'm methodical about it. I pause alot to listen and look. This also keeps my temperature under control, I hate working up a sweat if it's avoidable. So my realistic safe and quiet climb is about 20+/_ minutes from the arrival at the tree, to the nocking of the arrow or chambering a round. It's not fast, it's not slow, but it's silent and safe.
 
kyler1945 said:
I’d be curious to know if anyone can, from the time they pick the tree, climb up to top of whatever method they use(minimum 18’), in under ten minutes, without their lineman’s belt getting below their hips, or their tether having no more than 18” of slack in it.
Click to expand...
This is how I learned to climb my first season. It’s pretty close to what you’re talking about, I think. Granted, it’s a treestand, if that makes a difference to you. I’m also not as tall or fast as Garret Prahl, but I can do 8-10 minutes on a straight tree.
 
I feel like people a lot of people don't include all the set up time at the base of the tree and then pulling up and hanging their gear. Also, a telephone pole tree is easy...what about if you have a bunch of branches etc...I think 20 minutes (if you include everything) is fine.
 
The cam cleat on the Muddy Pro seems hard to beat in the speed category.

My DIY sticks use the Alumibutton and woven daisy chains which are considerably slower based on tree diameter variation and setting the strap.

That said, after seeing a timing post by @kyler1945 I did a practice climb with them earlier this week and started a stopwatch. My tree had a branch I had to pass using my tether as a secondary LB. I was on top of my 4th stick in under 10. I didn't memorize the exact time but it was something close to 10. I remember being disappointed that it wasn't closer to Boswell's sub 7 minute climb. Then again, I'm kinda a stick rookie, and I'm not using Muddy Pros. My sticks are 5 lbs lighter than the Muddy set though.

I also wasn't at 18' since my 4 sticks get me to 16 (4×4). My platform would get me there but that would take longer. Boswell's time is amazing considering he has an arrow nocked at the end of 6:30.
 
dlist777 said:
I feel like people a lot of people don't include all the set up time at the base of the tree and then pulling up and hanging their gear. Also, a telephone pole tree is easy...what about if you have a bunch of branches etc...I think 20 minutes (if you include everything) is fine.
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Yep. @denots actual climbing speed once he got his sticks unpacked and his gear situated was much faster than mine. But I was several steps into the climb by the time he was putting the first stick on the tree.

Bolts are even better. I'm usually walking up to the tree with a drill in my hand.

Then figure how much faster my rig is on a long walk through thick brush. Nothing to hang up, work loose, or need adjusting.
 
@WHW Whats your time? You've killed the most deer on this forum, I'm almost certain. Thats all that matters anyways.
 
I thought i was at 30 min so i had to see. Im in the tree right now fri 8/9/19
16 min 12 seconds goin easy. Thats 4 LW sticks with aiders Mantis saddle and predator platform, bow hangin in the tree ready to hunt at 23ft. HOWEVER thats not setting up camera gear which ill have to time later. Didnt feel like hauling out all the gear.
 
Red Beard said:
This sounds like a "video proof" challenge. @kyler1945 has thrown down the gauntlet... Who's game!? :)
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Haha, I was hoping I'd tease out some good stuff with that post, and was not disappointed!

There are ways to get up a tree that quickly, safely, and quietly. But it requires practice, repetition, the right gear, and confidence in it.

I will say, the only video so far that's come in under 10 minutes, while showing them actually unpacking the gear for the climb, is Nutterbuster with the crocs and squirrel steps...He was only at about 16' though, so you'd have to tack on an extra minute or so for the last two steps.

I have found that when you factor in all aspects of the walk in, the unpacking of the gear, the climb up/down, crossing branches(more often than not for me), packing up of the gear, and the walk out, they really all are about the same.

So far three methods (not including spurs, I think they probably beat em all) stand above everything else for me - bolts, squirrel steps, one stick/rappel - in that order.

Edit - I should clarify - I'm also leaving out anything preset, sorry rope walkers. Although I still would like to see a video of someone walking up to a tree they've preset, and unpack and get ready to climb SRT or DRT, and get to height. I've made a handful of hunts with rope, but never have timed it, and it has always been slow.


I was not really challenging anyone to go make a video and time themselves. But hell, if it gets folks practicing, I'm all for it!
 
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kyler1945 said:
I will say, the only video so far that's come in under 10 minutes, while showing them actually unpacking the gear for the climb, is Nutterbuster with the crocs and squirrel steps...He was only at about 16' though, so you'd have to tack on an extra minute or so for the last two
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Boswell's 6.5 minute climb doesn't count as under 10? He started at the tree all loaded up the way he presumably walks in.

I'm not advocating for using 4Muddy's however. No way I wanna carry 12 lbs of sticks just to be up the tree faster! Just pointing out that it can be done if a speedy climb was someone's objective. The cam cleat really is hard to beat as an attachment mechanism.
 
kyler1945 said:
I’d be curious to know if anyone can, from the time they pick the tree, climb up to top of whatever method they use(minimum 18’), in under ten minutes, without their lineman’s belt getting below their hips, or their tether having no more than 18” of slack in it.
Click to expand...

I get slack in my tether Everytime I climb. It's virtually unavoidable while 1 stick climbing. But it's a risk I am willing to assume just like those do with carbon bolts and spurs. And if it takes me a whole 10 mins I'm either climbing a tree with a lot of limbs or I dropped something
 
TNSTAAFL said:
Boswell's 6.5 minute climb doesn't count as under 10? He started at the tree all loaded up the way he presumably walks in.

I'm not advocating for using 4Muddy's however. No way I wanna carry 12 lbs of sticks just to be up the tree faster! Just pointing out that it can be done if a speedy climb was someone's objective. The cam cleat really is hard to beat as an attachment mechanism.
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He gets to 16 feet. He'd need another stick. Another muddy stick brings the total weight of that set of sticks to 15lbs. I highly doubt someone is slinging 15lbs of sticks over just their shoulder with a 1" strap to walk in. Maybe I'm wrong, but most folks carrying that kind of stick weight have it strapped into or onto some sort of pack. And if they do, they have to take it off, get it unpacked, get the pack back on, get first stick and second stick on tree, then they have to attach 3 sticks to their person somehow, then begin climbing.

I suspect even with a fifth stick, he'd easily be under ten minutes still. He's also the exception - and why I like these types of threads. They show guys how you can safely, quietly, and efficiently climb with practice.

The point I'm trying to get at though is the speed that you ascend the tree once you've started climbing, is only a part of the equation for how long it takes to climb. Time spent wrestling through the woods, or taking your pack off, or unpacking a method, climbing up and down, repacking, etc. is all time spent not hunting. Its value is the same regardless of which step it is. Just trying to help new folks take a more wholistic approach to the though exercise.
 
kyler1945 said:
He gets to 16 feet. He'd need another stick. Another muddy stick brings the total weight of that set of sticks to 15lbs. I highly doubt someone is slinging 15lbs of sticks over just their shoulder with a 1" strap to walk in. Maybe I'm wrong, but most folks carrying that kind of stick weight have it strapped into or onto some sort of pack. And if they do, they have to take it off, get it unpacked, get the pack back on, get first stick and second stick on tree, then they have to attach 3 sticks to their person somehow, then begin climbing.

I suspect even with a fifth stick, he'd easily be under ten minutes still. He's also the exception - and why I like these types of threads. They show guys how you can safely, quietly, and efficiently climb with practice.

The point I'm trying to get at though is the speed that you ascend the tree once you've started climbing, is only a part of the equation for how long it takes to climb. Time spent wrestling through the woods, or taking your pack off, or unpacking a method, climbing up and down, repacking, etc. is all time spent not hunting. Its value is the same regardless of which step it is. Just trying to help new folks take a more wholistic approach to the though exercise.
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Valid points. I walk in ready to climb. I carry my bow on my backpack and am walking to a predetermined location with stick in hand with an aider loop that never leaves the stick. That probably cuts down on time. I do it for efficiency. I don't like putting step one on my back and carrying step 3 in my hand. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Also goes for the way I pack my things. Everything is streamlined and ready for use in the order I need them. But I am sure if I was going in blind, the time it takes would increase but I wouldn't imagine it would be by much.
 
kyler1945 said:
The point I'm trying to get at though is the speed that you ascend the tree once you've started climbing, is only a part of the equation for how long it takes to climb. Time spent wrestling through the woods, or taking your pack off, or unpacking a method, climbing up and down, repacking, etc. is all time spent not hunting. Its value is the same regardless of which step it is. Just trying to help new folks take a more wholistic approach to the though exercise.
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Agree and I'm with you on everything except the part about time spent walking through the woods. Not real sure that can be added to the calculation on how long it takes to climb a tree.
 
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