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Rope climbing questions

mathhunter

mathhunter

Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2021
Messages
81
Location
Battle Ground, Indiana
I've been looking into trying rope climbing for next year. I hunt private very close to my house, so carrying my climbing sticks out to my hunting spots isn't a big deal. However, I don't have that much time to hunt (often just a couple of hours) and I get a bit annoyed at the amount of time I spend packing and unpacking and setting up and taking down my climbing sticks. I've been watching some of the videos by JRB and I really like the idea of having paracord presets in my best spots so I can get hunting faster and then get back to time with family quicker when the hunt is done.
Anyway, I feel like I have a pretty good handle on the different climbing methods that I can use to get me up in the tree. However, I'm not completely clear on how people set up once they are up in the tree. In particular, I have the following questions:
  1. It seems like it wouldn't be a good idea to have the rope you climbed on hanging down to the ground while you hunt. Movement you make up in the tree might shake the rope near the ground and alert a deer. Do people pull the rope up in the tree while hunting, and if so what are good ways to store the rope in the tree?
  2. Some of the rope climbing methods involve the rope going over a crotch in the tree that might be much higher than where you end up hunting. In these cases, it doesn't seem natural to use the rope you climbed on as a tether. Do people carry a shorter tether with them for using once they get to hunting height and then transition back to the climbing rope when they rappel down? Are there other options to use the rope you climbed on as a tether at hunting height even if the rope is going over a crotch 20 feet above your hunting height?
  3. Certain rope climbing methods restrict what side of the tree you will be climbing on. Are there good ways to transition to the other side of the tree for setting your platform once at hunting height?
Thanks for any help those of you who are more experienced rope climbers can give me.
 
I haul the rope up. I don't want the the rope flapping in the wind to distract the deer or get caught in stuff

I carry a short tether.

How I move to the other side is to take the short tether and use that to get me to the other side of the tree once I get to height. Set where the cinch point of the tether is where you want to get to or even a bit past
 
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I climbed Drt for a while. Generally, people pull the excess rope up and stow it away while hunting then let it back out when they are ready to come down. When you have a tie in point well above where you want to hunt, I found it generally best to have a regular length tether to hang from at height and stay clipped into the climbing rope. Just let a little slack out of the climbing. line and hang from the tether. Then when you are ready to come down just put your weight back in the climb line and unhook the short tether. Generally, gravity will have a say in what side of the tree you climb, or your will be fighting gravity the whole time. Once at hunting height, the short tether can be used as a redirect for placing yourself where you want to be.

 
1. I hunt with my line completely deployed as well as secured and haven’t seen a difference. There’s all kinds of stuff in the deer woods that moves around under the power of the wind - limbs, grass, flowers, etc. I’ve seen deer spook at that movement and I’ve seen deer completely ignore it. I will say securing your line decreases the risk of getting fouled in it and makes moving around and resetting easier. As for securing it you can shove it back in the pouch you carry it in, wrap it around your body(not recommended) shove it in your pack, etc.
2. I carry a linemans belt with me for just such an occasion. You can make single line transitions but they are super risky, one wrong move or lapse in attention and you’re gonna be butt over teakettle and we’re reading about it on Facebook. Linemans allows you to work hands free and focus on what you’re doing. I climb and rappel on a single line and have worked around crotches and have even hunted on one before, it’s not as difficult as you’d think once you’re hanging off the tree. It’s still a tree just a bit different but that’s where having a linemans comes in, when you get the crotch you transition to your linemans which you can then reposition your rappel line and you’re off.
3. A lot of working around the tree depends on where you have your knot or girth hitch at. You
have to move the knot with you as you reposition around the tree, after that much depends on if the tree has a lean to it.
 
If you have a bigger branch you want to climb but want to set up off from it, it's pretty easy to move around the tree if you have enough length of rope out. But the closer you are the limb the harder it is to move around.
I DRT and like to have my anchor point a little bit above me for setting the platform. I like to use a separate tether as well while hunting. If the angle and height is right, you could hunt from the climbing rope. But for me more than not it creates weird pressure points.
I usually tie my pack to the end of the rope and it doubles as a pull up. I then just coil up the rope, get it above my head some so it's out of the way. Gear tie or what ever can help manage that.
If your going to SRT you can get some of those CGM pre set rings, or make your own. You can't DRT on them.
Rope climbing for me still takes some time. If you can have a pre set platform it would really speed it up. But If you still have to set a platform and hang your bag it's all some extra time. Just saying don't think it's with out down falls. Make sure the limbs or what ever you use let you get your rope up and over with out to much trouble. Darkness and stuck ropes suck.
But with a little prep and proper planning it can go pretty smooth.
 
Jammintree said:
I often hunt DRT and love it. However, if youre close to home on private, it might be even faster and quieter for short sits to have screw in steps, bolts, or a set of budget climbing sticks all set up and waiting for you.
Click to expand...
Great advise by all, and I can confirm. But having screw in steps or a ladder/sticks is even faster and easier.
 
Yes, if it is private and screw steps, etc are OK, then bolts beat just about everything, hands down. You can get grade 8 (6"x3/8") in bulk for about a buck a piece. You can prep a tree with 25 bolts for $25. Fifteen bolts will usually get you 27 or 28 feet and then you have ten left for your ring of steps. It's very easy to prep a tree with a drill and bolts and then it is good to go. I love them on private.
 
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mathhunter said:
I've been looking into trying rope climbing for next year. I hunt private very close to my house, so carrying my climbing sticks out to my hunting spots isn't a big deal. However, I don't have that much time to hunt (often just a couple of hours) and I get a bit annoyed at the amount of time I spend packing and unpacking and setting up and taking down my climbing sticks. I've been watching some of the videos by JRB and I really like the idea of having paracord presets in my best spots so I can get hunting faster and then get back to time with family quicker when the hunt is done.
Anyway, I feel like I have a pretty good handle on the different climbing methods that I can use to get me up in the tree. However, I'm not completely clear on how people set up once they are up in the tree. In particular, I have the following questions:
  1. It seems like it wouldn't be a good idea to have the rope you climbed on hanging down to the ground while you hunt. Movement you make up in the tree might shake the rope near the ground and alert a deer. Do people pull the rope up in the tree while hunting, and if so what are good ways to store the rope in the tree?
  2. Some of the rope climbing methods involve the rope going over a crotch in the tree that might be much higher than where you end up hunting. In these cases, it doesn't seem natural to use the rope you climbed on as a tether. Do people carry a shorter tether with them for using once they get to hunting height and then transition back to the climbing rope when they rappel down? Are there other options to use the rope you climbed on as a tether at hunting height even if the rope is going over a crotch 20 feet above your hunting height?
  3. Certain rope climbing methods restrict what side of the tree you will be climbing on. Are there good ways to transition to the other side of the tree for setting your platform once at hunting height?
Thanks for any help those of you who are more experienced rope climbers can give me.
Click to expand...
1 - I haul my line up after me, coil it up, and stash it in/on my pack. If need be I can drop it to the ground and bail. I've practiced this, and bailed last season during sudden high winds. Don't forget to attach your haul line to your quick link or you'll be making the infamous climb of shame after the danger has passed.
2 - That's up to you. I use a redundant tether; sometimes my rappel line is at or near my belt level and sometimes it's higher than I want it to be. I just tend in a little slack and hang from my redundant tether, which is placed at about my hairline when I'm standing on my platform or ROS. On my Recon, my rappel line is on my short bridge; on my RCH+Drey my rappel line is on my belay loop and at height I hang from the Amsteel bridge on my Drey. Multiple ways to skin that cat. There's an NYSH video about using a second tether as a redirect in leaning trees. This season I climbed a multi-trunk tree and had my rappel line on one trunk and my redundant tether on the other. Depending on the wind and where I thought the deer might come from I could switch from 1-stick to ROS between the trunks. A bit convoluted but it worked much better than I expected it to.
3 - Check out that NYSH Redirect video on leaning trees.

I'll caveat that I'm still frustrated by my lousy SRT and 2TC technique. I can 1-stick faster and with less effort than either of those techniques. That said I'm a huge proponent of developing a base level of competency in secondary or tertiary climbing techniques; maybe you want to move around in the tree or get on the 'uphill' side of a leaning trunk, or need to un-stick a stuck throwball, or on second thought you don't like the branch your line is over and you want to place your pre-set just out of reach. 2TC will get you where you want to go, and I keep my footloop on my redundant tether for just those moments. Once you and I figure out SRT we can (hopefully) climb a line more quickly and quietly than we can climb the tree the line is in. So these are techniques that can complement your preferred climbing method, and may eventually become your preferred climbing method.
 
I don't typically rope climb, but I do generally rappel and have left the rope deployed. Even in relatively heavy winds, with a bit of rope tail on the ground, it doesn't really "blow around". It typically just hangs down. And in that much wind, the trees/branches/vines etc are moving around anyway so I don't think it matters much.

To move around the tree you can always set your platform 90 degrees, stand on it and shift the tether around, then dangle off the tether again , take the platform off and move it 90 degrees again. Hopefully that makes sense, I've done it a few times one sticking and it isn't that difficult.
 
thedutchtouch said:
I don't typically rope climb, but I do generally rappel and have left the rope deployed. Even in relatively heavy winds, with a bit of rope tail on the ground, it doesn't really "blow around". It typically just hangs down. And in that much wind, the trees/branches/vines etc are moving around anyway so I don't think it matters much.

To move around the tree you can always set your platform 90 degrees, stand on it and shift the tether around, then dangle off the tether again , take the platform off and move it 90 degrees again. Hopefully that makes sense, I've done it a few times one sticking and it isn't that difficult.
Click to expand...
I pull up my rope mostly because Im sure that it has lots of human smell and also because if it is a still day and I move around, the rope will move too. It only takes a few seconds and eliminates some potential for getting busted.
 
NMSbowhunter said:
Yes, if it is private and screw steps, etc are OK, then bolts beat just about everything, hands down. You can get grade 8 (6"x3/8") in bulk for about a buck a piece. You can prep a tree with 25 bolts for $25. Fifteen bolts will usually get you 27 or 28 feet and then you have ten left for your ring of steps. It's very easy to prep a tree with a drill and bolts and then it is good to go. I love them on private.
Click to expand...
Get yourself an Alfa Tools short auger bit 1/4" hex shank part # AUG 361409, for your cordless drill.
Use a collar on the bit to prevent drilling too deep, McMaster Carr # 9414T8, drill about 2.5" - 3.0" deep.
As stated, make sure the bolts are GRADE 8, don't ask how I know.
 
Leave paracord presets in the trees you plan to hunt. SRT is 40’ of small rope I prefer 9mm protac many guys like 8mm oplux (if you canopy anchor or 80’ if you plan to basal anchor over a branch), a mechanical device and a hitch to back it up.
If you are climbing healthy oaks with large branches, DDrt is simply 80’ of large 24 strand climbing line such as deep woods by all gear or predator from Samson. Hook to the preset, pull the rope up and girth hitch your SRT, or tie in for Ddrt and away you go. It’s about 4 minutes to 5 minutes from arriving at the tree, to being at height set up, once you’ve practiced enough. Lastly pull up your climbing rope and hang it in a back pack or on your gear hanging system so that there is no scent at the bottom of the tree except your boot marks. This also prevents wind blowing it around and potentially drawing a deers attention to it.
 
I have become a little more paranoid about safety as my years have grown. If your using bolts or pre set sticks are you still using a lineman's belt as you climb? I always seem to get it hung up on steps, have it to low and such and make extra noise. Versus just going up a rope. So I weigh out potential of falling on a LB on sticks pre set with the odds of falling versus failure of a rope I brought in with me.
Im not sure if one is statistically safer over the other. There is room for error on both sides.
If anyone has any data to back up one way or the other I'm open to hear it. Pre fastened climbing device do sound way easier and part of me just wants to go back to ladder stands. But I just enjoy the saddle.
 
I always use a lineman's rope when climbing with bolts.
It is fairly straight forward, as I ascend, I flip the lineman's rope up over the upper steps.
The rope is a little longer than if there were no steps, as to be able to get over the bolts.
I forgot to mention the bolt length, it should be 6.0".
 
Thanks for the answers to my previous questions. As I've looked at the trees in the woods where I hunt and envisioned how I would climb these trees with ropes, I came up with a few more questions.
  1. Are there any rules of thumb for when a branch will make a suitable crotch for rope climbing? On some of the trees I climb, the biggest branches lower than 40-50 feet are only approximately 3 inches in diameter. I would think that something like this would hold me (as long as the branch has enough angle to keep the rope right at the base of the branch), but if I'm dangling 20 ft up I don't want to be just hoping that my intuition is correct. Are there any more well established rules that I can use to determine when a branch is safe to use as a crotch?
  2. If a branch is deemed too small to use as a crotch, is it safe to use it as a way to help set a canopy anchor; that is, have the rope girth hitched around the tree, with the small branch on the back side of the tree so that it is mainly helping you get the rope at the height you want. If this method is indeed safe, are there other practical considerations why I shouldn't do it (i.e., is it for some reason difficult to rig ropes correctly like this in practice)?
 
mathhunter said:
Thanks for the answers to my previous questions. As I've looked at the trees in the woods where I hunt and envisioned how I would climb these trees with ropes, I came up with a few more questions.
  1. Are there any rules of thumb for when a branch will make a suitable crotch for rope climbing? On some of the trees I climb, the biggest branches lower than 40-50 feet are only approximately 3 inches in diameter. I would think that something like this would hold me (as long as the branch has enough angle to keep the rope right at the base of the branch), but if I'm dangling 20 ft up I don't want to be just hoping that my intuition is correct. Are there any more well established rules that I can use to determine when a branch is safe to use as a crotch?
  2. If a branch is deemed too small to use as a crotch, is it safe to use it as a way to help set a canopy anchor; that is, have the rope girth hitched around the tree, with the small branch on the back side of the tree so that it is mainly helping you get the rope at the height you want. If this method is indeed safe, are there other practical considerations why I shouldn't do it (i.e., is it for some reason difficult to rig ropes correctly like this in practice)?
Click to expand...
As for me personally whether SRT basal/ or Ddrt I want a trees branch that is at least as big around as my calf. That has been a safe rule of thumb for me personally.

If you are connecting a canopy anchor that will girth hitch the entire tree, the size of the branch truly isn’t important, as it’s only supporting the weight of the rope temporarily while you pull the pull line and rope into position. Once the rope is girth hitched and pulled snuggly, the entire tree is supporting your weight, not just the crotch of the branch. I hope that makes sense

I will edit this to also mention, be sure to check the back and sides of the tree for little splinter branches or twigs that may keep your girth hitch from fully cinching. I bounce on my rope several times at ground level to be sure my rope fully cinched, Because when they break while you’re climbing, your butt ends up puckering pretty badly from the fear of that surprise 8 or 10” sudden drop while the rope finishes tightening…. :sweatsmile:
 
Fl Canopy Stalker said:
I will edit this to also mention, be sure to check the back and sides of the tree for little splinter branches or twigs that may keep your girth hitch from fully cinching. I bounce on my rope several times at ground level to be sure my rope fully cinched, Because when they break while you’re climbing, your butt ends up puckering pretty badly from the fear of that surprise 8 or 10” sudden drop while the rope finishes tightening…. :sweatsmile:
Click to expand...
The good news is you will have fresh deer to hunt though. All the squealing like a little girl would have run off the ones that were there. :cool:
 
mathhunter said:
Thanks for the answers to my previous questions. As I've looked at the trees in the woods where I hunt and envisioned how I would climb these trees with ropes, I came up with a few more questions.
  1. Are there any rules of thumb for when a branch will make a suitable crotch for rope climbing? On some of the trees I climb, the biggest branches lower than 40-50 feet are only approximately 3 inches in diameter. I would think that something like this would hold me (as long as the branch has enough angle to keep the rope right at the base of the branch), but if I'm dangling 20 ft up I don't want to be just hoping that my intuition is correct. Are there any more well established rules that I can use to determine when a branch is safe to use as a crotch?
  2. If a branch is deemed too small to use as a crotch, is it safe to use it as a way to help set a canopy anchor; that is, have the rope girth hitched around the tree, with the small branch on the back side of the tree so that it is mainly helping you get the rope at the height you want. If this method is indeed safe, are there other practical considerations why I shouldn't do it (i.e., is it for some reason difficult to rig ropes correctly like this in practice)?
Click to expand...
Never tie into anything smaller than 4". Yes, I know Billy bob's tree service tied into 1" diameter white oaks and haven't died. But arboriculture has a fatality rate 40x the all industry average for a reason
 

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