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Any trees you wont climb?

Jmilchuck3

Jmilchuck3

Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2019
Messages
55
Location
Barneveld, Wisconsin
Any trees you wont climb based on the type of tree/bark?

Main reason for my question is I have a shag bark hickory that gives me great shooting lines to a food plot a trail and an apple tree, but I'm not sure how I feel about attempting it with my hawk heliums?

Or an I over thinking it and the hawks should grip it fine and I should just go drop the hammer?


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Jmilchuck3 said:
Any trees you wont climb based on the type of tree/bark?

Main reason for my question is I have a shag bark hickory that gives me great shooting lines to a food plot a trail and an apple tree, but I'm not sure how I feel about attempting it with my hawk heliums?

Or an I over thinking it and the hawks should grip it fine and I should just go drop the hammer?


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Try one stick. If it feels too spongy on the tree, set up some ground cover at the base of the trunk and hunt from the ground.
 
I think I'd attempt a shag bark hickory. Be safe. If it feels sketchy, don't do it. I just won't hunt trees that I know have poison ivy vines on them. No way.
 
Paper bark maple trees...the branches break off so easy...as big as my forearm and it snaps like a twig.
 
Cottonwoods!! One of the worst! Especially with climbing spurs! Then sycamore. Both are very soft brittle wood.

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Jmilchuck3 said:
Any trees you wont climb based on the type of tree/bark?

Main reason for my question is I have a shag bark hickory that gives me great shooting lines to a food plot a trail and an apple tree, but I'm not sure how I feel about attempting it with my hawk heliums?

Or an I over thinking it and the hawks should grip it fine and I should just go drop the hammer?


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one of my best stands ever was in a shaggy bark hickory. Just watch out during heavy mast years, those nuts will ding you pretty good. i spent one fall getting pummeled but i saw a bunch of nice bucks.
 
PaTrout1 said:
one of my best stands ever was in a shaggy bark hickory. Just watch out during heavy mast years, those nuts will ding you pretty good. i spent one fall getting pummeled but i saw a bunch of nice bucks.
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I guess I'll have to risk it!!! Its a little chunk of private that I have within 30 yards a heavily used trail, oaks, that shagbark, and a food plot. That seems like a recipe for a good thing!

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Jmilchuck3 said:
I guess I'll have to risk it!!! Its a little chunk of private that I have within 30 yards a heavily used trail, oaks, that shagbark, and a food plot. That seems like a recipe for a good thing!

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i had no problems with it, although i was using the 20ft climbing sticks and a lock on. i went back to that spot this year (my lease land was sold to the state which is why i decided to give the saddle a try) with full intentions of using that tree again. its one in a group of three (hickory and 2 maples) but another tree fell and the top in now lodged in the middle of the 3 so no go but trust me, if there was a way i could get in it, i would.
 
Ghost23 said:
Dead trees, ones with poison ivy, thorny ones, trees with bees
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Lol, its so funny you mention bees. 2 weeks ago I was checking a camera on my brother-in-laws property and walked by one his ladder stands and saw this. I told him I saw a ton of sign there and he definitely needed to hunt there opening day
bae24ec8cb607372341ad78a59255f04.jpg


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PaTrout1 said:
one of my best stands ever was in a shaggy bark hickory. Just watch out during heavy mast years, those nuts will ding you pretty good. i spent one fall getting pummeled but i saw a bunch of nice bucks.
Click to expand...

Do the deer like the nuts?


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PJC said:
Do the deer like the nuts?


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I've never seen them eat them... They're sort of like a black walnut in that the nut is enased in a bigger "rind" (dont know the actual name) about the size of a small apple. The actual nut shell is harder than hell. I think it would wreak havoc on their teeth. Plus, hickorys are usually in with white and red oak so they go for those. That "rind" or whatever it is, are no joke when they fall. I found this pic on that there "interwebs"
8287a678e46cdcb1284e5749f9c73d96.jpg


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PaTrout1 said:
I've never seen them eat them... They're sort of like a black walnut in that the nut is enased in a bigger "rind" (dont know the actual name) about the size of a small apple. The actual nut shell is harder than hell. I think it would wreak havoc on their teeth. Plus, hickorys are usually in with white and red oak so they go for those. That "rind" or whatever it is, are no joke when they fall. I found this pic on that there "interwebs"
8287a678e46cdcb1284e5749f9c73d96.jpg


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Ok, so I used the google machine and found that skull buster the nut is in is called a husk...who knew.

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PJC said:
Do the deer like the nuts?


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I have a few dozen mature shagbark in my yard. I watch deer on a daily basis. For years, after literally thousands of deer observations, I swore deer did not eat hickory nuts. I even watched them try unsuccessfully to crack the shell between their teeth. But last year I did watch a young buck succeed in breaking one open. But I doubt hickory nuts are barely more than the slightest bit a regular part of their diet. I would not plan a hunt around hickory as a food source.

As far as the bark goes...not all shagbark are created equal. Some mature trees are extremely shaggy to the point they are impossible to climb and set up quietly. Other mature trees are much less shaggy. Must be some different sub species.
 
PaTrout1 said:
I've never seen them eat them... They're sort of like a black walnut in that the nut is enased in a bigger "rind" (dont know the actual name) about the size of a small apple. The actual nut shell is harder than hell. I think it would wreak havoc on their teeth. Plus, hickorys are usually in with white and red oak so they go for those. That "rind" or whatever it is, are no joke when they fall. I found this pic on that there "interwebs"
8287a678e46cdcb1284e5749f9c73d96.jpg


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Those are good to eat. Let them dry out a bit or roast them. They are sweet tasting. Much better than walnuts.
 
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