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Treebolts revisited

justsomedude

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2014
Messages
2,514
Location
Nashville, TN
IMG_2944.JPG Just preset a couple of trees in my back yard for potential urban hunting this weekend. Takes all of 10 minutes and then you can get up and down the tree quickly whenever you want to.

It's a very sound method if you can preset with a power drill AND YOU WEAR THE RIGHT BOOTS (and not on {Public land)

I was wearing some muck shoes that aren't thick enough and it isn't very comfortable standing on bolts while setting the next one.

You can drill the first four before you even leave the ground.
I ALWAYS set the first one at my right knee.
Then left waist...then I use my elbow to fingertips to measure to the next one.

That system makes them easy to find in the dark. Just check the tree at knee level to get started

Can't find my old thread...
I use the EZ Kut power drill bit. Buy it. Don't question it.

I also have the hand drill mostly just in case I need to clean out a hole. You can drill a tree with it but it ain't fun

My bolts are Grade 8 from Home Depot
I dip them in plastidip or gorilla tape to the point where they should in the tree. Easy visual check to make sure they are in all the way.

10 bolts spaced about 20" gets you to 16+ feet and then I put the platform above that. I carry a few extra for going higher or as spares in case I dropped one.
 
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Just preset a couple of trees in my back yard for potential urban hunting this weekend. Takes all of 10 minutes and then you can get up and down the tree quickly whenever you want to.

It's a very sound method if you can preset with a power drill AND YOU WEAR THE RIGHT BOOTS (and not on {Public land)

I was wearing some muck shoes that aren't thick enough and it isn't very comfortable standing on bolts while setting the next one.

You can drill the first four before you even leave the ground.
I ALWAYS set the first one at my right knee.
Then left waist...then I use my elbow to fingertips to measure to the next one.

That system makes them easy to find in the dark.
So you leave them in the tree sometimes but you have the option to slide them out and reinsert by hand at a later time????
 
so weird...I got a woodpecker drill the other day...if you want a workout get it, but I need it and my forearms loved it! Could you not just get a regular drill bit...preset it to the depth you need and go to town?
 
I love mine and can't wait to try it as it would seem as you say a real quick and easy way to get up for a hunt
 
I'm quicker putting up lone wolf sticks. That hand drill kills me on the left side. I don't mind a battery drill when I can preset. They sure are hard for other hunter to pick out unlike sticks.
 
So you leave them in the tree sometimes but you have the option to slide them out and reinsert by hand at a later time????

Yeah you can leave them or pull them out and put them back when you return. Sometimes it's hard to find the hole on thick bark trees, especially in the dark.
Stay away from pine trees. The sap gets all over your drill and bolts.
 
So you leave them in the tree sometimes but you have the option to slide them out and reinsert by hand at a later time????
I don't leave them in the trees. Really very little point. just wear a little shoulder bag to carry the bolts up and down. The just slide in and out. The hole is exactly the size off the bolt.
 
Could you not just get a regular drill bit...preset it to the depth you need and go to town?
NO
You could use an Auger Bit with a depth setting. But this EZ Kut is so...EASY
You just drill the hole until it stops. Keep the drill moving forward (don't reverse it) and pull it out and it cleans the wood out for you. Clean off the bit and Give it another quick in and out and you're done.
 
The only reason I haven't preset a bunch of trees this year is that I just not good at picking out trees that will be good after the leaves have fallen.
A few years ago, I went out on a friend's property and drilled like 12 trees and only ended up using a couple.
 
NO
You could use an Auger Bit with a depth setting. But this EZ Kut is so...EASY
You just drill the hole until it stops. Keep the drill moving forward (don't reverse it) and pull it out and it cleans the wood out for you. Clean off the bit and Give it another quick in and out and you're done.
Too cool! I need to get one! The holes I have drilled with the woodpecker have all been with my right arm...be interesting to see how my left shoulder holds up running it in reverse...I guess I could spin around the tree and drill the left holes with my right hand.
 
Yeah you can leave them or pull them out and put them back when you return. Sometimes it's hard to find the hole on thick bark trees, especially in the dark.
Stay away from pine trees. The sap gets all over your drill and bolts.
How about a luminescent/reflective tack above each hole? Seems like that would make it real easy to find the holes in the dark as you scaled the tree.
 
I recently got the drill bit for the battery drill. I have only set one tree at the house. The hurricane and other events have stopped me from getting to the farm where I hunt. This is the last weekend before our bow season opens and I'm going to preset a few trees out there. This is an extremely fast method and the bolts are very light compared to tree steps.

I also use my knee to drill the first hole on the left side then I drill at knee height on the right and keep going up to the next knee height on alternating sides. This produces roughly a 24 to 25 inch step. 10 bolts gets me where I need to go but I carry 14 in case I drop some. I tried to wrap them with electrical tape but it is too soft and tears off too easy. I may try the Gorilla Tape.
 
To find them in the dark simply break off some dried sticks and leave them protruding from each hole. Years ago I had fixed a great spot along a river. Got up super early, used a conoe and paddled downstream, followed my tack trail to the tree, and wound up waiting till daylight to see the holes. That's when I started placing sticks in them.
 
To find them in the dark simply break off some dried sticks and leave them protruding from each hole. Years ago I had fixed a great spot along a river. Got up super early, used a conoe and paddled downstream, followed my tack trail to the tree, and wound up waiting till daylight to see the holes. That's when I started placing sticks in them.
That is a great idea! I am going to use that one!
 
Speaking of! Live from the tree!
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Do the bolts hurt your feet after you've been standing on them for hours?? Thanks!
 
How about a luminescent/reflective tack above each hole? Seems like that would make it real easy to find the holes in the dark as you scaled the tree.
Not needed if you follow a system like I do. A tack by the first hole could be good but then it will be down at knee level.
Every other hole will be exactly where you reach for it if you are consistent.

AND DONT stick something in the hole to help you find it. I tried a straw. Went out to hunt and it had rained and frozen....hole was iced up and I had to drill it out.
 
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