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Big trees

O

one-eyed-jack

New Member
Joined
Nov 20, 2019
Messages
22
Any tips on climbing big trees where you can’t get your arms around? I’m focused on one-sticking. Thank you for any advice.
 
The most useful advice I can think of is don't climb them unless absolutely necessary. Personally I have not found a good way to climb them and it's always a miserable climb. If it is on private I would make a preset with sticks or screw in steps. If it's on public I would look into SRT or DRT.


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Use full length hawk sticks with long ropes. You can use the stick to help reach around the tree. Or like Connor said. Pick another, or SRT.
 
I made my own 1/8 Amsteel full bury rope for my Shikar mini stick with flat scout it is 8 feet, and on the end i used heat shrink to give it a little weight. This past Tuesday i climbed a huge Red oak when i got to hunting height my tree stand strap would not fit around it, so i got an extension i got years ago from lone out and put it on and got my stand set. Just need a little weight on end of rope and long arms. Lol
 
Redoak47* said:
I made my own 1/8 Amsteel full bury rope for my Shikar mini stick with flat scout it is 8 feet, and on the end i used heat shrink to give it a little weight. This past Tuesday i climbed a huge Red oak when i got to hunting height my tree stand strap would not fit around it, so i got an extension i got years ago from lone out and put it on and got my stand set. Just need a little weight on end of rope and long arms. Lol
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This. I have 10' ropes on my sticks and I often use it all. The trick is to have a little weight on the end of the rope and whip it around the tree. I have amsteel ropes and buried about 8" back into itself at the end. It works but a little more weight would help, I like the shrink tubing idea.
 
There's one particular sycamore I hunt from time to time that grows on a creek back where 3 transition lines combine into this perfect area to rifle hunt. I use 5 wild edge steps with 8' ropes and they BARELY tie. The bottom one has literally no slack. I'll have to do rope mods and stick there next year, as the tree is obviously growing. This is the only really VIABLE tree. I've specifically setup longer Lineman's belts for this tree and pack extra straps for my platform to loop together.
 
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trailblazer75 said:
There's on particular sycamore I hunt from time to time that grows on a creek back where 3 transition lines combine into this perfect are to rifle hunt. I use 5 wild edge steps with 8' ropes and they BARELY tie. The bottom one has literally no slack. I'll have to do rope mods and stick there next year, as the tree is obviously growing. This is the only really VIABLE tree. I've specifically setup longer Lineman's belts for this tree and pack extra straps for my platform to loop together.
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I hunt some massive cottonwoods and burr oaks like this too. If you don't have a SRT set up, it really is the way to go on these huge trees. I'll usually find the best crotch to stand in and call it good.
 
Big trees are such a PIA to hunt. They take alot of work to get in. Often you make too much noise getting ropes around the tree. You sling the rope around and hits a branch or something and it's a fight to get it around. One trick I learned is to hang the platform, stand or stick from a screw in and then your hands free. Then put a screw-in in the back and flip rope over it from the left side, then swing around to the right side and grap the tag end and pull back to you and finish your set up. As you can imagine this is alot of work especially with sticks. it takes too much time, makes too much noise, and you get sweaty. I hunt trees that are 22-26" at hunting height so the bases are huge. I have found that the best way is to preset them with 5/8" anchor bolts in the pre season. It's quick ,quiet and SO much easier. If I could not use bolts I would probably pre set them w/ para cord and DRT into them.
 
Jtaylor said:
This stuff is pretty stiff but breaks in after awhile, can't beat the price.
atwoodrope.com

3/8 Static - Olive Drab – Atwood Rope MFG

Very low stretch. 9.5mm diameter, 5450Lbs breaking strength. This rope hates water. Will not absorb it! Loves you! Proudly made in the USA
atwoodrope.com atwoodrope.com
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You really can’t beat that price. Looks like I’ll be ordering that and a figure 8.
 
1simplemann said:
Pre set them with bolts, DRT or SRT.
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I think the main hassle of trying to climb huge trees is management of my lineman rope.

Getting the lineman rope to travel up the back side of the tree can be a major issue. We have used a 2nd man on the ground with a pole saw used to push the lineman up the tree as the other guy climbs. We obviously needed an extension on the lineman...in one case, two 8 foot ropes (16 feet total) was barely long enough.
And the tiniest branch or even a bump is basically a road block stopping rope management.

Which leads to whether bolts are really feasible.
Huge trees almost rule out drilling with a hand drill...GOTTA have 2 hands to use a hand drill. Cant hold one bolt while drilling the next hole.

And 2 hands means you MUST use a lineman rope. It's a pain.
NOT ADVISED, but I have climbed huge trees with bolts, a cordless, and no lineman...definitely not a safe way to climb.

Sometimes a multi trunk tree is huge only at the bottom, and the trunks split off at 6 feet or so, and they do become small enough for lineman management. We have some huge maple trees like that. I'm not overly worried about climbing the bottom 6 feet or so without a lineman.

One more important point about bolts on big trees...What species of tree is it? A huge beech tree, for example has thin bark so standard 6" bolts work fine.
But huge trees in some areas of the country, are usually cottonwood. The thickness of the bark on these trees requires deeper holes and longer bolts. Do not attempt to use 6" bolts in trees with thick bark.
 
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