How high is your first stick starting out?

[Bdwilliams]

My first season, I used full length Hawk Helium sticks without aiders and just focused on smoothly and safely getting up a tree. I was consistently at 13'. Before worrying about aiders and height, get used to the process.

 

[NMSbowhunter]

I was getting a little over 7 feet to the top step last fall with a full length Lone Wolf stick and a single step aider I made out of a piece of 1 inch tubular webbing with an 8 inch piece of climbing rope in the bottom to give it structure. The single loop aider doubled as the carry strap for the 4 sticks while carrying them in.

 

[bigbuck247]

Also remember the climb doen-its almost always easier to stretch up to a step than to lower a toe down to stretch to a too-far step in my opinion. The bottom stick being far from the ground may necessitate hopping down
[/QUOTE]

Found this out very true. If I did the bottom step as high as I could reach I was having to hop that last step down so I started going just a little lower than that.

I found I can put my top of my stick about shoulder height (I am 5'9" so that put my bottom step around the 32-35" mark and this was my max with closer to 30" being much more comfortable and that is pretty much my max without aiders for my first stick. But this still got me 13-15' easy and for the area I hunt that is more than enough to get to good cover. Ended up prepping 2 trees and have several others that do not require prepping.

I have a similar system, I know if my beast sticks have the top step at shoulder level the bottom of the cable aider is steppable. My suspicions are the OP will work out a helium mini/leg length routine as well.

 

[NMSbowhunter]

Also remember the climb doen-its almost always easier to stretch up to a step than to lower a toe down to stretch to a too-far step in my opinion. The bottom stick being far from the ground may necessitate hopping down

Found this out very true. If I did the bottom step as high as I could reach I was having to hop that last step down so I started going just a little lower than that.

I found I can put my top of my stick about shoulder height (I am 5'9" so that put my bottom step around the 32-35" mark and this was my max with closer to 30" being much more comfortable and that is pretty much my max without aiders for my first stick. But this still got me 13-15' easy and for the area I hunt that is more than enough to get to good cover. Ended up prepping 2 trees and have several others that do not require prepping.
[/QUOTE]
Good call on the hopping down part. In my opinion that short hop down is dangerous. The 2 times I have twisted an ankle has been that last little hop off the last rung of a ladder or stick. Hit a root just right and your ankle will go sideways in a way it wasn't designed to go.

 

[mattsteg]

Bottom step about belly-button height.

 

[Iron_llama]

Also remember the climb doen-its almost always easier to stretch up to a step than to lower a toe down to stretch to a too-far step in my opinion. The bottom stick being far from the ground may necessitate hopping down

That, and I find myself getting uncomfortably unstable if I have to stretch too far for my next step. My safety - or, maybe more accurately, my comfortable feeling of safety - isn't worth getting another foot higher.