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Setting up at height, SRT Method etc

bfriendly

bfriendly

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 15, 2021
Messages
1,110
I just had a shoulder replacement so I can’t really practice yet. I’ve been watching a bunch of videos, and I’m ready to climb and seamlessly rappel down……I think
I cannot find any videos showing how to setup at height. I’m pretty sure I won’t hunt from my SRT, but rather tie in a separate short tether…..or will I? What about a platform? I’m thinking of a monster white oak right now that tells me I won’t need a platform at all. Once I get 15’ up, I’ve got plenty of places to set my feet. I’ve seen @John RB get in a crotch no platform, and nothing else I remember. Even climbing videos show the climb, but few details….again, cept Johns. I’ll only climb presets and look forward to that as well. I’m sure every setup would be different, but is anything typical?
 
I like to use the SRT rope I go up with as my tether. You can gather up the excess rope and secure it to what ever you use to hold your bow, pack etc. By using the SRT rope as your tether there is one less thing to have to play with that may cause an oversight and problems. It also allows you to descend more quickly if needed. You can use the end/ends of the rope on the ground to hoist up items (bow, pack, etc.) once up to height whether you use a platform or not is up to you. I think you will find that a platform will give you more comfort and stability. Just remember if the pull down end of your SRT rope is not reachable from the ground you need to tie on a separate pull down rope before you rappel and always keep track of which half of the rope is the one to put your weight on.
 
My typical tether goes around the tree in front of me. If my rope goes over a big limb growing out to the side, my rope/tether is hanging straight down. That’s where my question lies. The angle(rope straight down) doesn’t seem like it would be comfortable. It’s obvious I need to learn which crotch to get my rope in to begin with. I did read somewhere someone said they typically use a separate tether for positioning. A few of these big trees are like jungle gyms once you get up in it, so there are plenty of places to put my feet, yet few places to even strap my platform against.
Only thing I’m sure of is each situation will be different. 1 sticking or 2TC climbing is pretty straightforward since I’m climbing and hunting from basically a vertical pole, wether or not it has limbs to go over. I can easily adjust my tether and platform height to just the right spot. The whole idea behind SRT Is to get in trees that I probably couldn’t fit my platform strap around the base of to begin with. Maybe I’m not explaining it well enough?
 
You can use an extension strap on your platform to get around really big trunks. I prefer a platform for my feet 98% of the time. I use the Jrb climbing method exclusively and find for me it depends how high above me the crotch I am tied to is. The higher up the more vertical your rope will be and less comfortable to sit in for long periods I imagine it depends on your saddle style as well. I have a phantom and think it is ok,but probably due to not having tried more comfortable ones.
It is pretty easy to just throw a tether around the trunk and hang from that. I have left my climbing ropes connected but loosened and hunted that way. Or switched to the tether exclusively It just depends on the situation.

Sometimes you end up not quite on the right side of the tree,or the side you want to be on and then the tether is unbeatable for changing positions slightly. I would always carry one anyway for an emergency.
 
I think a ROS might serve your purpose better since the trees you are planning have branches that would add additional foot placement from what I understand. But for me. I use a separate main tether to hand from the side of the tree that I want to be on, the rappel rope is pinched between the main tether and the tree and stay connected to me at all times and run parallel to the main tether. This is just a redudant setup, so when I'm done hunting, I just remove the main tether and rappel.

The NY Saddle Hunter guys have a few good video about leaning trees and using another tether as a redirector.

 
When I was trying to get DRT to be my go-to method I did a lot of practice climbs in my yard. I found that I always had to use a short tether at hunting height because, as you pointed out, the climbing line will be very straight up and down in front of you if you are tied in at all above where you want to hunt. In the picture below I climbed a tree and set up with a short tether well below my tie in point. I used one limb of the tree as a foot rest and used 2 Cranford strap steps as a small ring of steps for my other foot rests. Drt and Srt will be pretty close in this regard.

In the end, I could not make Drt work for me due to the types of trees I have to hunt out of. I found I was back to hunting for prefect trees and not hunting deer. I have a couple of trees set up with paracord presets that I check every season and if they have good sign under them then the Drt rope may get some action.
 

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HuumanCreed said:
I think a ROS might serve your purpose better since the trees you are planning have branches that would add additional foot placement from what I understand. But for me. I use a separate main tether to hand from the side of the tree that I want to be on, the rappel rope is pinched between the main tether and the tree and stay connected to me at all times and run parallel to the main tether. This is just a redudant setup, so when I'm done hunting, I just remove the main tether and rappel.

The NY Saddle Hunter guys have a few good video about leaning trees and using another tether as a redirector.

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I do have a few steps on my platform strap, but I could bring a strap with just a few steps. Leaving the platform would be sweet!. I’ll be doing presets every time I climb this way. I’ll be sure to make lots of notes as I mark the locations on my HuntStand app. Thanks for the info guys!
 
I hunt ddrt and usually use a tether and platform or ring of steps at hunting height. The primary reason is that I like the consistency and predictably those methods afford me. When I deer comes in and I need to act, I don’t want to think about what kind of angle my climbing line is at and how that will affect my movements. As for feet, it’s a pretty rare tree that offers a foothold that is comfortable for several hours or more, that allows predictable function when it matters, and the last thing I want is for a deer to come along and for my movement to be cause a branch to bob up and down. I’ve watched numerous JRB videos and he’s demonstrating climbing techniques, not his tactics for an all day hunt. My guess is that he often uses some kind device to stand on. Lastly I’ll say that when I find a spot I want to hunt I don’t want the added burden of needing a tree that provides me the proper tie in angles and footrest.
 
NMSbowhunter said:
Are you going to be hunting public or private?
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All Georgia public except my Kentucky trip which is my cousins land. There are a few monster white oaks up there too!


Jammintree said:
I hunt ddrt and usually use a tether and platform or ring of steps at hunting height. The primary reason is that I like the consistency and predictably those methods afford me. When I deer comes in and I need to act, I don’t want to think about what kind of angle my climbing line is at and how that will affect my movements. As for feet, it’s a pretty rare tree that offers a foothold that is comfortable for several hours or more, that allows predictable function when it matters, and the last thing I want is for a deer to come along and for my movement to be cause a branch to bob up and down. I’ve watched numerous JRB videos and he’s demonstrating climbing techniques, not his tactics for an all day hunt. My guess is that he often uses some kind device to stand on. Lastly I’ll say that when I find a spot I want to hunt I don’t want the added burden of needing a tree that provides me the proper tie in angles and footrest.
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This^^^ is what I’m mentally picturing! Thanks @Jammintree ! Seems like most of the videos (all) have been all about the climb, not about the setup, hence my thread.
I normally climb with everything on my pack, but may use my rope to pull everything up with this method, like @drpike22 is saying.
I have everything cept my rope and I’ll get Canyon elite again. Minimum length for ddrt? I may give the JRB another shot too. I don’t want to get 70’ if I don’t need it, but I’d like to have enough to double the rope like JRB. THANKS YALL!
 
All I can say is I bought 75 feet of Predator rope for Drt and there have been numerous occasions (more often than not) when that just would not cut it. A lot of the trees around here don't have any load bearing branches or crotches until at least 50 feet. If I were going to buy more rope for drt I would get 100 at minimum and probably 120 feet to be on the safe side.
 
bfriendly said:
All Georgia public except my Kentucky trip which is my cousins land. There are a few monster white oaks up there too!




This^^^ is what I’m mentally picturing! Thanks @Jammintree ! Seems like most of the videos (all) have been all about the climb, not about the setup, hence my thread.
I normally climb with everything on my pack, but may use my rope to pull everything up with this method, like @drpike22 is saying.
I have everything cept my rope and I’ll get Canyon elite again. Minimum length for ddrt? I may give the JRB another shot too. I don’t want to get 70’ if I don’t need it, but I’d like to have enough to double the rope like JRB. THANKS YALL!
[/QUOTE
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If you’re interested in DRT, I suggest getting familiar with the basic concepts of arborist techniques. The NY saddle hunters are a good resource. What JRB is doing is excellent, though my perception is that his systems are somewhat complicated and require advanced techniques. First learn to climb on a rope with a basic friction hitch

i use a 70’ rope and like it. As was mentioned before sometimes to hunt at 20’ your rope needs to be over a branch at 35’. Also the tail of my rope is about 5-8’ depending on the complexity of knots I’m tying on any given day.
 
I personally think that if people think that John’s hitches are too complicated then they probably haven’t tried to tie them. Don’t let the complexity of his hitch’s scare you, turn on the video, pause at every step and anyone can tie them. No need to tie in the field just tie in the comfort of your home and take to the woods pre tied! John does a great job explaining everything in his hitches in extreme detail so don’t give up before you even try. I’ve always taught my son that we only fail when we refuse to try or quit trying!!! As for a platform, I really prefer them over the ring of steps for long sits, John just published a video about a platform attachment method that works great on big trees as well. God Bless and Happy climbing!
 
Seekbigger said:
I personally think that if people think that John’s hitches are too complicated then they probably haven’t tried to tie them. Don’t let the complexity of his hitch’s scare you, turn on the video, pause at every step and anyone can tie them. No need to tie in the field just tie in the comfort of your home and take to the woods pre tied! John does a great job explaining everything in his hitches in extreme detail so don’t give up before you even try. I’ve always taught my son that we only fail when we refuse to try or quit trying!!! As for a platform, I really prefer them over the ring of steps for long sits, John just published a video about a platform attachment method that works great on big trees as well. God Bless and Happy climbing!
Click to expand...

I’ve tied the hitch, use the hunters bend thanks to jrb too. I also leave my schwabish on my rope, and a prussik on my tether…..I don’t typically tie knots in the field. Last year I barely tinkered with SRT and bought a bunch of stuff like preset materials ascenders clip biners etc.. I even made the slingshot/fishing reel setup:tearsofjoy:…….it works phenomenal btw!
I think I had TMI Fever and got overwhelmed with too much stuff. Gonna simplify it then tweak from there.


NMSbowhunter said:
All I can say is I bought 75 feet of Predator rope for Drt and there have been numerous occasions (more often than not) when that just would not cut it. A lot of the trees around here don't have any load bearing branches or crotches until at least 50 feet. If I were going to buy more rope for drt I would get 100 at minimum and probably 120 feet to be on the safe side.
Click to expand...

Definitely do not have that issue here in north GA. I doubt I’d ever have to go more than 40’ to find a crotch…..usually less than that and I don’t need to get 30’up most places. I’m leaning towards 70-75’
 
I usually SRT with presets and always carry a 12 foot tether to hunt from but leave my climb rope attached to the bridge with just enough slack to allow the hunt tether to work properly. I usually get by with a 40 foot climbing rope but sometimes with bigger trees I have to take a 60 foot. I pull my pack up with the climb rope and hang it from my pack in loops until ready to rappel down. Practice before season and see what works best for you as we are all different animals. Good Hunting wishes to you.
 
Still Kicking said:
I usually SRT with presets and always carry a 12 foot tether to hunt from but leave my climb rope attached to the bridge with just enough slack to allow the hunt tether to work properly. I usually get by with a 40 foot climbing rope but sometimes with bigger trees I have to take a 60 foot. I pull my pack up with the climb rope and hang it from my pack in loops until ready to rappel down. Practice before season and see what works best for you as we are all different animals. Good Hunting wishes to you.
Click to expand...

So with only 40’, are you typically running your preset lines through your delta link(or carabiner, figure 8 on a bite etc..)? While I’m on that, what do you use? My tether has a figure 8, and a carabiner on my rappel rope. I don’t see a problem doing that. I have about 20’ of elite I’ve sent up that way on my short practice tree. I may revisit pulling up my pack with my bow attached, using the tail end of my rope. I wear my pack with bow while climbing with my 1 stick……it’s kinda heavy when my water bladder is full.
 
I love SRT, but if it's going to be dark, it's gonna be a preset! If it's light out, it could either be a preset or a new tree. I run 65' of Canyon C-IV and this is my tether as well, no switching at height... I do use my regular tether as a redirect often, as I don't like hunting off a super long tether due to the float/sway effect, dependent on hunting height vs. rope/crotch height.
 
bfriendly said:
So with only 40’, are you typically running your preset lines through your delta link(or carabiner, figure 8 on a bite etc..)? While I’m on that, what do you use?
I run the tail up and around with the pull up rope then through the Notch Quickie and pull it tight, fasten my chest ascender, hand ascender with foot loop and Notch foot ascender. At height I set my platform, hunt tether, attach hunt tether to my bridge, loosen and remove ascenders and stow away, put my figure 8 descender and back up on the climb line and re-attach to bridge as back up, pull up my pack and hang and coil my now rappel line and hang from my pack. I pull my bow and quiver up with a Doyle's fixed to my pack. It all sounds complicated but it is a routine that goes pretty smooth, quiet, and safe. If I have any problems I also carry several prussik cords, several caribiners, a linemans rope, and 30 feet of 7mm escape rope in my pack.
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