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Saddle Hunters! New Way to Climb!

sampotter

sampotter

Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2014
Messages
99
If someone has seen this before, don't hesitate to say so.

I've been hunting from a saddle since 2007. First it was the Tree Saddle and now the Guido's Web for comfort reasons. I am a mobile hunter and sit in a different tree than I've ever hunted out of before 90+% of the time. I've tried climbing spurs, tie-on tree steps, and screw in steps. I always gravitate back towards the screw in steps because they are reliable. I don't like the damage they do to the tree, their weight (and bulk), and of course there's always the ridiculous noise factor. I always take them out of my pouch like I am disarming a bomb, but every once in a while I screw up and that unmistakable metallic "clink" echoes through the woods. With much idle time hanging out in the tree tops, I came up with the idea of using nothing but rope to ascend a tree.

I was so convinced that this would work that I went into the woods last year in the pre-dawn darkness with nothing but rope and tried to climb a white oak during the beginning of the Minnesota rut. I floundered around at the bottom of the tree for over an hour before I gave up. Luckily I had kept 3 screw in steps in my pack for my platform and was able to use them to get up to a big limb, but at the time I decided my rope idea was a total failure. I didn't realize it at the time, but my mistake was I tried to use my lineman's belt in conjunction with the foot rope . The reason it didn't work was I could never get far enough away from the tree to be able to lift my legs high enough to gain any height up the tree. After that, I gave up on the idea and went back to using screw in steps.

The same draw-backs of the screw in steps have plagued me through this season, and again I started mulling over the rope idea. Then it dawned on me a couple of weeks ago that I should be using my tether instead of my lineman's belt while climbing. I finally got to try it for the first time yesterday and I was shocked by how well it worked! Right now I'm more excited than if I just had a new monster buck on my trail camera. Here is a video I put together to demonstrate my new technique (using very rudimentary gear):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMkAMZo ... e=youtu.be

I added the board for foot comfort instead of just tying a rope around my feet. I know I made some noise when lifting my feet, but like I mentioned in the video, this was only my 3rd time trying it and all I have to do is make sure the board doesn't rub the tree as I climb. Altogether, the Treesaddle along with the halters and 18" piece of hardwood weigh ~5# or so. My Guido's Web will weigh more than that, but this just shows how light a hunting set up can be.

This technique is obviously tailor made for saddle hunters, but I am sure a mobile hang-on stand hunter could use it if they incorporate a climbing harness as part of their safety gear. All I know is I'm done with any of the other heavy, bulky, and/or noisy climbing gear!

P.S. Because there really isn't anything to patent and sell I am at least going to try to name it. I am thinking of calling it Sam's Stealth Climb, but am open to other ideas...
 
Hey Sam! I think you may be on to something here. I have had a similar idea rolling around in my head since I tried using the lone wolf hand climber seat to climb. I just wasn't able to put anything together because I was stuck on trying to have something that my feet were on strapped around the tree at that level. With your idea if you have a carabiner on the end to clip around the tree you could easily go around branches. I like it and I'm going to give it a shot when I get a chance. Keep us updated on how it is working for you!

And I think we'll shorten it to the SSC method ;)
 
redsquirrel said:
Hey Sam! I think you may be on to something here. I have had a similar idea rolling around in my head since I tried using the lone wolf hand climber seat to climb. I just wasn't able to put anything together because I was stuck on trying to have something that my feet were on strapped around the tree at that level. With your idea if you have a carabiner on the end to clip around the tree you could easily go around branches. I like it and I'm going to give it a shot when I get a chance. Keep us updated on how it is working for you!

And I think we'll shorten it to the SSC method ;)
Click to expand...

I can live with the SSC method even if I'm the only one that knows what it means... Yes, the carabiner would make it really nice and easy to work around branches or limbs. When hunting, I plan to have my lineman's belt hanging so I can tie in if I need to disconnect my main tether. What I already know and like is I expend a lot less energy than when using screw in steps, which translates into not getting sweaty. You literally only need to be able to stand up from a semi-sitting position.
 
I'll know what it means too Sam ;) . From my experience with SRT, I think the most important thing will be dialing in the length of your foot rope to make everything work smoothly.
 
redsquirrel said:
I'll know what it means too Sam ;) . From my experience with SRT, I think the most important thing will be dialing in the length of your foot rope to make everything work smoothly.
Click to expand...

Very true. It probably needs to be around the length of your lower leg from the knee down. I say that because I couldn't get my knees much past 90 degrees, so I don't see a need for it to be a whole lot longer than that. I know I will learn more as I go, that's for sure!

BassBoysLLP said:
Did you notch the board at all to give it some bite?
Click to expand...

No, the "bite" is all in the tension of the rope around the tree. On the board I made last night for hunting I actually sanded all the edges down so they wouldn't dig into the bark or make any extra noise if I accidently dragged the board on the tree as I raised my legs. I just used an 18" piece of red oak from a pallet runner. I ripped it to 1.25 x 1.5, sanded it, then drilled 3/8" holes 1" in from either end to accommodate strapping. I'm not sure that is going to be a final design, but it is pretty much the same as what I used in the video.
 
Guy on AT showed similar method, but he used just rope and no stick. He used a continuous loop or in your case another loop instead of the board. I think your board has merit with the a constant foot location if strapped to your boot.
 
I think 1 leg rope with 2 foot loops could have potential to.
 
kenn1320 said:
Guy on AT showed similar method, but he used just rope and no stick. He used a continuous loop or in your case another loop instead of the board. I think your board has merit with the a constant foot location if strapped to your boot.
Click to expand...

I saw a video where a guy had 2 separate foot straps and used his lineman's belt. I tried and found it in a bit more inefficient and you ran the risk of smashing your crotch on the tree if you lost your balance.

redsquirrel said:
I think 1 leg rope with 2 foot loops could have potential to.
Click to expand...

When I first tried the 2 foot/1 rope setup without a board, the cinching pressure on my feet wasn't the most pleasant, hence the board. I guess it depends on your pain tolerance.
 
When I first decided to try rope ascent, I used a very similar method to your video. But I didn't use a board, I just tied a loop for my feet. It wasn't that comfortable for both feet but worked pretty well for one foot. I also left the rope longer on my foot rope so I could keep the hitches on the tree at approximately the same height without bending over much to reach the lower one.
This method works pretty well, but it wasn't my favorite. I thought it took me longer and made more noise. But I would definitely use this method again if I had to walk a long way (not much to carry) to climb a fairly straight tree (like you said, it didn't work as well for me on hickory trees I hunt often because of the noisy bark).
I had trouble negotiating multiple branches quickly with this method too. At least I don't think I got around them as quietly or as quickly as I would have liked.
It's definitely simple though and lightweight.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
 
I love it. Definitely something I will work on.

Clearly it is perfect for the deep woods stuff and it also looks like it could fill other little niche's. Even if I just use it to get up to screw in steps to keep them out of the easy use of others on shared private land...
 
That's definitely a clever method. I'll be watching this to see what all the smart people come up with for improvements. Good on you, Sam!
 
redsquirrel said:
I think 1 leg rope with 2 foot loops could have potential to.
Click to expand...

I tried something to that effect one day and had problems with my legs wanting to come apart so I was thinking about it after reading this today and I thought if you could do it with a closed loop with two Alpine Butterfly loops tied it would hold your feet together(Almost like the people that climb palm trees). Then just clip it into a prusik or something like that on the lanyard so you can adjust for the diameter of the tree.
 
DIYSaddler said:
redsquirrel said:
I think 1 leg rope with 2 foot loops could have potential to.
Click to expand...

I tried something to that effect one day and had problems with my legs wanting to come apart so I was thinking about it after reading this today and I thought if you could do it with a closed loop with two Alpine Butterfly loops tied it would hold your feet together(Almost like the people that climb palm trees). Then just clip it into a prusik or something like that on the lanyard so you can adjust for the diameter of the tree.
Click to expand...

Ok cool. I was also thinking something like to prussic to adjust for diameter as well.
 
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