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Season ended, list your failed gears/methods/etc that you would not use again! And what do you plan to do differently next year

HuumanCreed

HuumanCreed

Well-Known Member
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Joined
Aug 21, 2020
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Location
Westminster Maryland
For most of us, end of season usually is a time to reflect on some of the gears and other things we field tested and found out it just was not working. Not that the gear was bad, but just for your own personal style, you don't plan to use again. Then list some things you are planning to try out next season.

Moving away from:
Going minimalist as possible. I realizes the deeper you go, going minimalist just does not make sense. Sure the walk in is great, but dragging a deer sucks if you don't have a good transport method on hand. If you're a few hundred years from the car, ok. But I want to go deeper the next year. So I think I rather add that 4-5lbs for a frame pack even if I don't do the gutless method.

Preset and SRT. I realizes I'm just as fast or only a few minutes slower one sticking than SRTing a preset tree. But limiting myself to a tree really limit myself. Especially in the dark and I was spending almost 15 minutes LOOKING for the tree because I forgot exactly where it was. It would of been less intrusive to the area if I picked a good tree in the general location instead of spreading my scent all over the place looking for the tree I preset weeks ago.

Maybe its me (its probably is me). But I'm going to not return to same area and/or tree the next day. It could be me, but I just don't see deer on any given 2nd day. Maybe I scared them all out of the area, but for me this has been the case.

Going to go back to 3 sticks with aiders next year. Since I'm carrying a frame pack, 2-4 more lbs is not going to matter, still going to rappel down no matter what, but it just easier setting 3 sticks instead of one sticking, just not as fun but simpler.

No more cushion, going to try kneepad next year. Just felt more restricted with cushion. Nothing really more to say on that.

Going to try to hunt based on geographical locations instead of deer signs/trails. Locate choke points on peninsula and edge area that are between bedding and food source. I have been trying to setup on communal scrapes and large trails, but I don't think this has been very effective.
 
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I wouldn't say that any of my gear failed me but I'm trying to figure out a system where I will have everything I need no matter where or how I hunt even on the private tract I hunt with preset locations. I one sticked a lot in the early season to keep the pressure off and had great opportunities but didn't see one of my target bucks I wanted (and harvested) until during the rut and in a ladder stand in a perfect spot that has taken deer consistently for me for several years.

My goal this year is trying to identify the most efficient early season set up to take bucks in their normal bed to feed pattern. I thnk I found a way to do it but it will take a lot of work to get in and set up early for the buck to come back down to his bed in the am and I'll have to side hill in early or up from a very steep gorge in very early hours to be all set up and as quietly as possible. I'm not sure the way everything is set up I would be able to do an evening hunt as the biggest boys seem to not start moving until much later AND I am overly (probably) concerned with spooking them on an evening set up so close to the best spot to be able to be within bow range for daylight movement. I'm still trying to figure that out. But yesterday I found a super sneaky (albeit very difficult) way to get in super early in the morning while the thermals are still dropping to get in and set up as they come down deep into a steep gorge. Found a lot of nice rubs and military crests on ridge spurs and realisticly, I don't think they are huntable unless I'm waiting for them to come back to bed. But some of these bucks are heading back super early to begin with soooooo that's my conundrum.

As far as gear, I'm using four Gen 3 One sticks with a BWMG GC-1 moveable aider for the One Stick OR Cranford rope steps either 8 or 5 with a versa strap or etrier. I think these may be my quietest methods to climb and light enough to be ablle to get far in. I still like to rappel down but I'm finding increasly more non-beneficial to carry all of the rappel rope etc. I also picked up some used WE Stepps and may try those too. Not sure yet its always evolving.
 
HuumanCreed said:
For most of us, end of season usually is a time to reflect on some of the gears and other things we field tested and found out it just was not working. Not that the gear was bad, but just for your own personal style, you don't plan to use again. Then list some things you are planning to try out next season.

Moving away from:
Going minimalist as possible. I realizes the deeper you go, going minimalist just does not make sense. Sure the walk in is great, but dragging a deer sucks if you don't have a good transport method on hand. If you're a few hundred years from the car, ok. But I want to go deeper the next year. So I think I rather add that 4-5lbs for a frame pack even if I don't do the gutless method.

Preset and SRT. I realizes I'm just as fast or only a few minutes slower one sticking than SRTing a preset tree. But limiting myself to a tree really limit myself. Especially in the dark and I was spending almost 15 minutes LOOKING for the tree because I forgot exactly where it was. It would of been less intrusive to the area if I picked a good tree in the general location instead of spreading my scent all over the place looking for the tree I preset weeks ago.

Maybe its me (its probably is me). But I'm going to not return to same area and/or tree the next day. It could be me, but I just don't see deer on any given 2nd day. Maybe I scared them all out of the area, but for me this has been the case.

Going to go back to 3 sticks with aiders next year. Since I'm carrying a frame pack, 2-4 more lbs is not going to matter, still going to rappel down no matter what, but it just easier setting 3 sticks instead of one sticking, just not as fun but simpler.

No more cushion, going to try kneepad next year. Just felt more restricted with cushion. Nothing really more to say on that.

Going to try to hunt based on geographical locations instead of deer signs/trails. Locate choke points on peninsula and edge area that are between bedding and food source. I have been trying to setup on communal scrapes and large trails, but I don't think this has been very effective.
Click to expand...
Excellent idea for a thread.
Things that I won't be using next season:
XOP Renegade Saddle- This was my first saddle, so I went with a budget pick of the XOP bundled with the Edge platform. The saddle is not very comfortable, and in particular I always had trouble getting it to stay under my butt while one sticking and trying to sit while moving my stick. Still debating what my next saddle will be, but I'm leaning toward either a Cruzer or a CGM Cobra currently.

Knee cushion- Walmart thermaseat was an excellent proof of concept, but I am tired of fooling with trying to get it set to the tree and then inevitably dropping it. Knee pads will dramatically decrease the fiddle factor of my whole setup.

Things to try next season:
I really enjoyed one sticking this year, but might dip my toes this offseason into 2TC climbing. I also plan to buy a hand ascender so I can SRT back up if I drop something and decide to rappel down.

One big change next year that I'm considering is that I think I may start quartering and packing out my deer in the field. I've been fairly lucky the last two times I've shot bucks that I knew someone also hunting in the same area that was willing to help me drag my bucks out on my cart, but it is a long way from the car with a bunch of big ridges. I figure I could potentially even hoist the deer using some of my climbing rope/gear to skin and debone if I don't want to do the traditional gutless method. I'm pretty sure I can get about half of the meat in my XOP Renegade pack, so two trips and out sounds pretty nice, considering I'm already taking two trips to take my gear out and then retrieve the cart.
 
I talked about getting away from mechanicals and back to ropes and knots but wasn't as successful as I'd like, need to practice more this off-season and decrease the swinging metal bits.

I also want to return to giving 2TC a fair shake, though also plan to bring my beast sticks out from time to time, I limited myself to one sticking this year to try to give it a fair comparison, can see the utility at times but can also point to a number of times where sticks would have been better/quieter. But here I am talking about sticks when I meant to talk 2TC lol. In reality just moving away from one sticking with a mix of mostly 2TC, some multi sticks, occasional one stick.

The main difference I plan on is to try to stop limiting myself unnecessarily. I've avoided hunting in the rain because I don't trust my blood tracking yet but there's pretty much only one way to learn, shoot more deer! I also didn't think I could get a quality hunt in after work, but proved to myself that if I hustle I can close to get a hour of daylight in late season, which will be like 3 hours in September, so hoping to capitalize on the after work hours next year.

I'm also thinking about replacing my hero clip bow hanger, I think there's a few better options out there, and the rubber end on the hero clip occasionally gets stuck between the bow limbs (I could just chop it off I suppose) as well as debate replacing my bow itself, but that's more of a want than a it failed me.
 
Cut 10-12ft off my rappel rope to use to make a new Linesman's belt and remove Amsteel bridge and replace with webbing.

I switched midseason from using a hard plastic water bottle to a 1 liter capped bladder.... Much better IMO

No failures and no need to tinker...systems all dialed in

Wait....I did have a failure..I had a zipper fail on my platform but I fixed it already
 
thedutchtouch said:
I talked about getting away from mechanicals and back to ropes and knots but wasn't as successful as I'd like, need to practice more this off-season and decrease the swinging metal bits.

I also want to return to giving 2TC a fair shake, though also plan to bring my beast sticks out from time to time, I limited myself to one sticking this year to try to give it a fair comparison, can see the utility at times but can also point to a number of times where sticks would have been better/quieter. But here I am talking about sticks when I meant to talk 2TC lol. In reality just moving away from one sticking with a mix of mostly 2TC, some multi sticks, occasional one stick.

The main difference I plan on is to try to stop limiting myself unnecessarily. I've avoided hunting in the rain because I don't trust my blood tracking yet but there's pretty much only one way to learn, shoot more deer! I also didn't think I could get a quality hunt in after work, but proved to myself that if I hustle I can close to get a hour of daylight in late season, which will be like 3 hours in September, so hoping to capitalize on the after work hours next year.

I'm also thinking about replacing my hero clip bow hanger, I think there's a few better options out there, and the rubber end on the hero clip occasionally gets stuck between the bow limbs (I could just chop it off I suppose) as well as debate replacing my bow itself, but that's more of a want than a it failed me.
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Sometimes I think we as a community keep trying to be fancy or cute with new gear/innovation. Honestly hanging gear on a tree is not rocket science, Something simple as this is all you really need and I think I'm going back to this next year. Maybe trim a little off the tip for my bow. But I dont need to hang 50+ lbs.


Hmm....have you built your 2TC setup yet? Or still trying to find the right design?
 
Unsure about Salomon Quest boots, they are falling apart already and probably only have around 100 miles on them. Same reason I moved on from Lowas. May try Crispi next, but I do really like the Salomons other than the falling apart part.

That's about it. I made the switch to one-sticking with a ONE stick this year and will most likely stick with that. Maybe give 2TC another shake.

My thoughts on rope climbing/SRT are about the same as OP. I dabbled a bit this year but I just don't find presetting a very practical use of my time. Even if I do head into a preset I still need to carry in a plan B and a lot of times I would need to have multiple trees prepped in a small areas for different winds, etc. I carried around a throwball for some run and gun hunts this year and I won't be doing that anymore. I'm pretty decent with it I think, I can usually hit my shots within the first couple throws, but managing that process in the brush is just flat out a pain in the butt.
 
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HuumanCreed said:
Sometimes I think we as a community keep trying to be fancy or cute with new gear/innovation. Honestly hanging gear on a tree is not rocket science, Something simple as this is all you really need and I think I'm going back to this next year. Maybe trim a little off the tip for my bow. But I dont need to hang 50+ lbs.


Hmm....have you built your 2TC setup yet? Or still trying to find the right design?
Click to expand...
Agreed and I know I fell deep into the gear trap. I do enjoy toys but trying to be more realistic about needs vs wants.

For 2tc I need to build an actual/better system, I've been dabbling with my extra LB and tether but since those systems are all temporary, have had their issues. Making or buying a better foot loop is my primary need, the bite of rope works but isn't great
 
I've been dead set against mechanical ascenders, preferring to place my trust in friction hitches. After one season, the sheathing on my C-IV and hitch cordage is visibly worn and fuzzy, and I'm planning on cutting the worn end off for safety's sake. Plus, after my hitches tightened up, they got much, much harder to tend than I wanted to deal with; my shoulders were sore for a week after the season after trying to keep my slack tended out while 1-sticking. I'm contemplating picking up a GriGri or similar with a friction hitch backup.
 
Iron_llama said:
I've been dead set against mechanical ascenders, preferring to place my trust in friction hitches. After one season, the sheathing on my C-IV and hitch cordage is visibly worn and fuzzy, and I'm planning on cutting the worn end off for safety's sake. Plus, after my hitches tightened up, they got much, much harder to tend than I wanted to deal with; my shoulders were sore for a week after the season after trying to keep my slack tended out while 1-sticking. I'm contemplating picking up a GriGri or similar with a friction hitch backup.
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I have used the safeguard, figure 8 and gri gri. The gri gri is my go to and the 8 stays in a dump pouch for a back up (although you can do the same thing with a biner). I HATE friction hitches for all your reasons.

Do not use friction hitch back ups!!!!!! If you don't trust the mechanical 100% then why are you using it?
 
Loopwing said:
I have used the safeguard, figure 8 and gri gri. The gri gri is my go to and the 8 stays in a dump pouch for a back up (although you can do the same thing with a biner). I HATE friction hitches for all your reasons.
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This has been my experience as well but I hope that by changing ropes perhaps it may be alleviated. Lots of push-pull on this one where I think both sides have valid points, my safeguard didn't fail me, I failed it by not controlling it enough and letting it swing into my one stick lol
 
Loopwing said:
Do not use friction hitch back ups!!!!!! If you don't trust the mechanical 100% then why are you using it?
Click to expand...

I've been singled-up on hitches and figure-8s because I don't 100% trust mechanical devices. Anything mechanical can fail; that's one of the first concepts we teach to novice shooters - use the safety, but don't trust it. We've all seen the pictures posted of broken Madrocks and the like. Could be that those pictures are the only 2 units that broke but still... why is redundancy bad?
 
I stuck with my gear most of the season. Most other seasons I go through a lot of gear… obviously.

This year I have strayed away from one sticking a bit. I don’t see weight savings using the tethrd one sticks. I find it safer and not as restrictive on tree selection using multiple sticks.

When saddle hunting I used the fix with a squirrel step on each side I really like that system. Sticking with that.

My system is set saddle hunting. I plan to continue to use the fix and one sticks.

I will also continue to use a treestand a lot of really thick heavy cover areas I just think a treestand is better for me. I will be using a .75 with one sticks

I will also be adding a 2.0 and XOP X2 sticks for late season. I want more room in the stand than the .75 offers and more toe room on sticks with my heavily insulated size 14s. I just think a saddle sucks in the really cold and I freeze from the butt/waist out from the compressed insulation.

Other than that I think I am all set. Might pick up a K4 frame to keep in the truck for packouts or try to finder a cheaper frame with out the bag.

I was extremely satisfied with my setups this year.
 
Iron_llama said:
I've been singled-up on hitches and figure-8s because I don't 100% trust mechanical devices. Anything mechanical can fail; that's one of the first concepts we teach to novice shooters - use the safety, but don't trust it. We've all seen the pictures posted of broken Madrocks and the like. Could be that those pictures are the only 2 units that broke but still... why is redundancy bad?
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If there is a part of my gear I don't trust 100% I am not hanging from it! We introduce a known non-recommendation from the manufacture to the equation. I haven't seen a madrock failure that wasn't 100% user error, just like using a friction hitch with a mechanical device is 100% documented user error.

With all that being said, we all take unnecessary risks everyday, like climbing a tree to kill a deer. How many people smoke cigarettes every day, we aren't the smartest species. Do what you want, it is your life ( or your kid's to figure out) after it clearly says don't use together, or this product will cause cancer.
 
Mine is more bow related. Moving away from light fast arrows to heavier arrows. Shot a buck quartering to me last season, never recovered it. I think it was one lung liver. Thought maybe it was my mech broadheads not deploying, may have just been me not shooting in the right spot. Either way I’m moving to fixed blades and if I’m going to fixed blades I’m going to do it right. Did a deep dive into my bow setup, arrow weight, arrow length, FOC, all that stuff. I never used to tune my arrows or anything, after further review my arrows were flying tail high and to the right. Hopefully losing that deer will make me a better hunter with a better set up.
 
Loopwing said:
If there is a part of my gear I don't trust 100% I am not hanging from it! We introduce a known non-recommendation from the manufacture to the equation. I haven't seen a madrock failure that wasn't 100% user error, just like using a friction hitch with a mechanical device is 100% documented user error.

With all that being said, we all take unnecessary risks everyday, like climbing a tree to kill a deer. How many people smoke cigarettes every day, we aren't the smartest species. Do what you want, it is your life ( or your kid's to figure out) after it clearly says don't use together, or this product will cause cancer.
Click to expand...

My life not my own. Kids and wife have bigger saying in my decisions. I'm surprised she even let me hunt elevated. But we have an agreement that I show her documental proof of everything I do is safe and she has to see me use it at home before I use it in the wood. Well...for now at least because I have many more income making years left so I'm worth more alive.
 
SaddleUpPartner! said:
Either way I’m moving to fixed blades and if I’m going to fixed blades I’m going to do it right. Did a deep dive into my bow setup, arrow weight, arrow length, FOC, all that stuff. I never used to tune my arrows or anything, after further review my arrows were flying tail high and to the right. Hopefully losing that deer will make me a better hunter with a better set up.
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Honestly this is the main reason I snorted the fairy dust. Yes, the heavy arrow arguments make a lot of sense to me, but I thought the process of tuning and building arrows, all that jazz, would make me a more knowledgeable (and hopefully proficient) archer. Deliberately arrive at a coherent system, instead of just sticking with what the bow shop set up for the guy that sold me the bow.
 
HuumanCreed said:
My life not my own. Kids and wife have bigger saying in my decisions. I'm surprised she even let me hunt elevated. But we have an agreement that I show her documental proof of everything I do is safe and she has to see me use it at home before I use it in the wood. Well...for now at least because I have many more income making years left so I'm worth more alive.
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Yep, the day we say "I do" or the become a parent, we live for them. If the manufacturer of a product says don't do it, probably shouldn't do it.
 
Finish the house renovations so I can spend my normal amount of time in the stand. My brain works better if I get to hang from a tree more than once a week.
 
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