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Bolt Issue

Micneador

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Joined
Sep 19, 2020
Messages
872
Location
Sapulpa, Ok
First post, first season hunting out of a saddle. Loved it. Shot some deer and had a blast learning new things

I ended up using the tree hopper hand drill/ bolt climbing method and loved it aside from one incident. While descending one evening, about 8' off the ground, I somehow knocked the bolt out of the hole. This left me in quite the predicament as I could not reach to install a new bolt in the existing hole. I ended up tethering off, and while bear hugging the tree, slacked my tether a little at a time (using a ropeman1) until I was able to reach the next bolt on the tree.

This was a one time thing, never happened again all season (32 hunts) but I am curious if anyone else had witnessed or had this happen to them. How did you get out of this situation?


Did I drill the tree at a slight downward angle because I'm a newbie? Quite possibly. Is this a user error? Most likely. I'm just curious if there is anyone else out there that has had this happen.
 
Im going to this method to in certain spots im interested in this also.
 
I have moved a couple bolts while climbing and just push them back in with my toe. I was rushing. Slow down and be sure footed. Also drill at a slight down angle and try not to wallow out the hole any. Besides my climber the safest climbing I have felt has been on bolts.

On to your predicament... I always have my drill and enough bolts to do one tree (run and gun scenario) on me when hunting. Next time, tether in and you can lean down a little and reset another bolt. I had to do that one morning when I set my platform to high off my final bolt. I dropped my quiver and couldn't find the first bolt in the dark. Freaked out at first, then thought through the situation.i have also added a small grappling hook to the pack.
 
 
First post, first season hunting out of a saddle. Loved it. Shot some deer and had a blast learning new things

I ended up using the tree hopper hand drill/ bolt climbing method and loved it aside from one incident. While descending one evening, about 8' off the ground, I somehow knocked the bolt out of the hole. This left me in quite the predicament as I could not reach to install a new bolt in the existing hole. I ended up tethering off, and while bear hugging the tree, slacked my tether a little at a time (using a ropeman1) until I was able to reach the next bolt on the tree.

This was a one time thing, never happened again all season (32 hunts) but I am curious if anyone else had witnessed or had this happen to them. How did you get out of this situation?


Did I drill the tree at a slight downward angle because I'm a newbie? Quite possibly. Is this a user error? Most likely. I'm just curious if there is anyone else out there that has had this happen.
What happened to you is my worst fear about using bolts. They come out! When I grab onto or step onto a step I don't want it to move at all. EVER! I hunt private land so I permanantly spike my trees. The bottom 3 steps aren't pegged so no one can hunt my trees. I carry a few screws ins to get to the spikes. They come in handy all the time. In your situtation you could easily pull a screw in out of your pack..
 
Never had a bolt or rod come out of a hole. But if it happened, and in a way where I couldn’t reach another bolt or the hole of the one that came out easily, I’d just hook up my tether, wrap my legs around tree, and stick another bolt in the hole.

If you’re installing and climbing on the bolts properly, it’s a very low probability event. If you have common sense, and mediocre strength and mobility, it’s a very low risk occurrence. If you don’t do/have these things, climbing bolts, and trees for that matter, is probably the wrong hobby.

bolt could come out because of a combination of bad angle of install, sloppy drilling, muddy boots, or bad climbing technique. I can’t see only one of these on its own causing this to happen often.
 
kyler very well put and those were my first thoughts. When I said I had some move, the edge of my boot nudged a head, at no point was I afraid of stepping on the bolt. I just pushed it back in the 1/4-1/2 inch. If a bolt moves....user error. I have to work to get them out of a tree at the end of the day.
 
When I said I had some move, the edge of my boot nudged a head, at no point was I afraid of stepping on the bolt. I just pushed it back in the 1/4-1/2 inch. If a bolt moves....user error. I have to work to get them out of a tree at the end of the day.


I very well may have done this, but my thread wasn't about why it happened or who's fault it was. Unlike seemingly everyone wants to comment on, its about how to get out of said situatuon if you have to. Also, my bolts are quite loose in the hole, maybe I'm wallering the whole as well. I did seem to get in a groove while drilling later in the season so my problem may be remedied already.

I'm aware that stuff happens and 90% of the time its user error. I'm not saying its the bolts fault nor am I moving away from the bolts as I enjoy carrying 5lbs to make 18ish feet up a tree. Especially in the NE Ok post oaks that I set up in most often.


Weldabeast, thanks for the foot loop idea, I'll have to try that this off season and get proficient in setting it in case this happens again. Other than the one incident, they've been a great climbing method. I really enjoy the open holes when hunting a tree multiple times and not even having to drill or reset sticks.


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I have moved a couple bolts while climbing and just push them back in with my toe. I was rushing. Slow down and be sure footed. Also drill at a slight down angle and try not to wallow out the hole any. Besides my climber the safest climbing I have felt has been on bolts.

On to your predicament... I always have my drill and enough bolts to do one tree (run and gun scenario) on me when hunting. Next time, tether in and you can lean down a little and reset another bolt. I had to do that one morning when I set my platform to high off my final bolt. I dropped my quiver and couldn't find the first bolt in the dark. Freaked out at first, then thought through the situation.i have also added a small grappling hook to the pack.
I figured out about half way into the season to get a grappling hook. Makes life so much easier.

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Wasn't trying to bash. My bolts fit pretty tight and I have to work to get them out of the hole. Was more of a "check your technique".
 
I‘ve used bolts for 30+ years and only had issues on soft trees where the bolts angled down slightly with weight. I think in most hardwoods if the drilled angle is slightly downward, and the hole is clean, there is a distinctive sound of a solid bump from the tip when pushed in. If the bolt does not bottom out when inserted it can be because of drilled chips left in.
 
I've had 1 pull out. It happened while pre setting a HUGE beech tree. The tree was so large that I needed 2 eight foot linemans to reach around it, and my buddy had to manage the LB on the backside with the pole pruner. Huge trees are a definite pain to climb and I guess I was fumbling a little. I kicked a bolt out. I believe that I could have handled the issue if I was alone but my buddy was there to set a new bolt.
One bit of bolt advice that I would add is to resist spacing them out to your limit. I have a bad habit of trying to minimize the number of bolts I use. I think that habit goes back to the days of using $5 Cranfords. When you start having to really stretch out to reach the next bolt, you run the risk of knocking out a bolt.
Drill at a slight downward angle, too. Sounds obvious, but it's easy to mess up the angle. When I drill, like to drill the hole that will be located in front of my face because I have a better guage on my angle. Drilling above or below eye level can lead to misjudging the angle of the hole.
And I feel most secure with bolts located at around 4 and 8 o'clock but that can depend on the tree itself.
 
Man i bet that did suck Tom as much as i like my bolts I still prefer Cranfords on really big trees They are just easier to hang on to when climbing a SILO as i call em
 
I pulled one out with my pull up rope. Another reason to use a Doyle’s. It’s the slack end dangling that always catches stuff. If you put your bolts 2’ apart it’s not that hard to skip a bolt if you have to.
 
One bit of bolt advice that I would add is to resist spacing them out to your limit. I have a bad habit of trying to minimize the number of bolts I use. .

I did learn this. Ended up that my measurement (approximate) was just below my knee cap to be right. Slightly less if I had my berber wool pants on for cold cold hunts.

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Man i bet that did suck Tom as much as i like my bolts I still prefer Cranfords on really big trees They are just easier to hang on to when climbing a SILO as i call em
I hear ya.
Since it was a preseason preset we were using a cordless to drill the holes so it was as easy as could be expected, but it was still difficult. A hand drill would have been a little bit harder.
I still have all my Cranford and I have no intension of getting rid of them. I love bolts but there's times when a quality screw-in step is preferred.
 
@Allegheny Tom is right about spacing. I had a good weight loss and workout year last year. I was able to space my bolts 30” and had no problem climbing them. Well I injured my knee on a hunt either dragging my deer or my buddys deer out. At camp cleaning deer and eating lunch I noticed my knee was tender. Nothing terrible but I knew something wasn’t right. So I hunted that evening and drilled my tree about 30” spacing like I had the entire hunt. I could feel that knee but it was ok. Four hours later knee had cooled off and I couldn’t make the step down. Wound up having to do negative pull-ups every other step on the way down and because of the spacing and removing the bolts on the way down there was only one bolt to hold onto. It was a crappy way to end a great hunt.
 
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