• The SH Membership has gone live. Only SH Members have access to post in the classifieds. All members can view the classifieds. Starting in 2020 only SH Members will be admitted to the annual hunting contest. Current members will need to follow these steps to upgrade: 1. Click on your username 2. Click on Account upgrades 3. Choose SH Member and purchase.
  • We've been working hard the past few weeks to come up with some big changes to our vendor policies to meet the changing needs of our community. Please see the new vendor rules here: Vendor Access Area Rules

How many preset trees?

Bowtech12

Bowtech12

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2017
Messages
393
Location
Western New York
I’m just wondering for those that hunt public land h how many preset trees do you have?
And what do you use for a preset?
I was thinking of using a few of my lone wolf sticks as a top stick and just leaving them up in the tree. I just bought beast sticks so I’d climb up to that one.
Thinking I’d doing 4/5 trees/spots over the next couple weeks
 
Well last year I had only 2 spots and people moved in on top off me and killed the spot.so far I have 10 this spring and still looking. I don't do anything to preset.marking the erea won't stop people from hunting it.
 
True, public is public, when I find hunter sign I move on
It was more for just having 1 less stick to deal with and having it preset
 
Presets with SRT or DRT makes sense as youre only leave the parachute to get your rope in the tree quickly. The presets you are describing seem inconvenient and unnecessary. I wouldn’t risk a stick being stolen. If you want to get to that height drop a stick and ad a CAYG or Fixed Aiders. There is no need for 4 or 5 full length sticks in my opinion. If they are shorter maybe 4 no more.
 
I hunt almost exclusively public. I haven't preset any stands in years. That's not to say I don't have some specific trees in areas I have pre-scouted and picked out that would be good to set up in. However, I don't do any special prep to the trees or areas.

More frequently I have preferred "spots" that may range in area from about a 1/2 acre to 1.5 acres where I know want set up based on given wind directions or other factors. Generally once I get to these areas I'll do a down select on trees to pick the best one for the conditions of the day. I try not to repeat trees, or even spots for that matter, for at least a couple of days to keep the deer from patterning me or wearing a spot out.

The other plus to not presetting is that I'm not tied to any given tree or area. If I go in and there's someone hunting a spot I had in mind I just move on and find another option. To me that is one of the greatest benefits of saddle hunting . I'm able to be a quiet, mobile hunter who can adapt quickly and set up where ever I figure my chances are best for the day.
 
Last edited:
I hunt mostly public. Last season I had 5 "pre-set" spots (which means scouted and a tree prepared and some minor lanes pruned out) and about 5 other run and gun areas/spots. That is about the extent that I can prepare each offseason.
 
I preset 5-10 trees with paracord for SRT. They work out well when I only have an hour or two to hunt. Around here, most hunters will avoid a spot if they see evidence that someone else is hunting it.

Sent from my moto g(7) power using Tapatalk
 
Cant leave anything on public land in maryland. People still do. I hate when hunters leave that marker tape on all the branches. Considering the parcord though.
 
Last season was my first season with WE Steps. I hunt public land in NY and had four presets. I was using the knaider/swaider and getting approximately 4ft/step. I would remove the bottom two steps thinking that anything above 10ft up the tree is less noticeable, and is far enough out of reach from anyone with sticky fingers. This year I'm switching to a different aider system that will allow me to space steps about 6ft apart and only have to carry one step in and allowing me to expand to a 5th preset. My main objective is to get in the woods and up the tree as safe, quick, and quiet as possible.
 
Im in Florida , so it can be 80-90+ when hunting. I generally preset 3-4 trees as I don’t want to carry anything if I don’t have to (lots of water) I generally preset with cheap ladder pieces. Bottom piece is a lone wolf I carry with me. 3-4 sticks total, 5 if I’m in a really low part of a swamp. I am going to add Aiders to this routine to cut down what I bring in. I always chain my gear. I once had a jerk who was messing with my gear tell me he could brake the chain and take my stuff.. my response was didn’t put the chain to prevent you from stealing it, I put the chain on it to slow you down.. so I could put a bead on you. He left my stuff alone..don’t know why.
When it starts getting cool around BP season I become more mobile and use my tree steps or my ever reliable lone wolf sticks with Dano steps. With aiders I only carry four steps.
 
Most my spots are 1 and done. Maybe a 2nd sit depends on how far apart they are and conditions. I haven't preset a tree in a few years. Last year was my first in a saddle but have hunted mobile for about 15. I've gotten better about scouting fresh sign and setting up on it. The less I do to show the rest of the public shooting lanes or trees the better.
 
I use reflective bread ties.Only 1 tie. Tree marked by GPS. When i hunt go in in the dark. When gps says im close turn on flashlight and wal ah.... theres my tree
 
I never preset I look for the sign most of the time and pick a tree from there. I also use info from my trail cameras.
 
Before you commit to presetting a bunch of trees, try giving @WHW hunting strategy a read. It's pinned in I believe the deer hunting forum. I was taught to hunt by setting lockons over trails, feed trees, plots, feeders, creek crossings etc. a month before the season. And then rarely we'd set up a stand during season to take advantage of some pattern my mentors noticed. I broke out on my own at 16 years old and started hunting public land almost exclusively. I brought those habits to that game, and had my butt handed to me.

As I slowly worked through the problem, I got more mobile. I stopped setting things in advance. I still hunted many of the same places, but caught on to the first sit best sit concept. As I expanded my hunting knowledge, and started looking for ways to maximize time spent in a tree, I discovered Mr. Warren's writings. It all started to make sense. Unless you're the type of hunter who doesn't need to ask advice here, or hunt private land you can dictate terms on, you're only hamstringing yourself by committing to trees preseason in my opinion. I'm not saying it doesn't work. I'm not saying it can't be effective in certain situations. There are many who make it work.

I have a strong suspicion these folks have a deep understanding of the property they are hunting, including terrain, food sources, wind behavior, human pressure, etc. I personally don't have enough time to learn a property like the back of my hand, and then hunt it. I'm much more effective walking until I find sign, and hunting it if it's good enough to do so. When I do the math on what it takes to learn a property enough to make presetting trees effective, it never adds up for me. In my opinion, having my gear so dialed in that I don't mind making the quiet, slow, non sweaty climb whenever I think my odds are better than 50/50 to kill a deer, I do it. For me personally, presetting is a cop out for finding out where the deer are, and putting my butt there.
 
I have a few places on public land that produce year over year. I climb the same tree but I cannot preset it.


See you in a tree, Ricky
 
Can’t leave anything on public in SE Wisconsin so I have 0 presets. Also can’t cut shooting lanes. I do pick trees when I scout but generally don’t sit the same tree more than twice during the course of a season. I like to stay mobile and bounce around.
 
I have stopped presets. When I scout a new area I'll take my whole climbing get up and climb various trees I think I would like to hunt. I will put a tack in at the height I would hunt. I usually don't mark trails but if I choose to I'll mark a trail with small peices of reflective vinyl set up inconspicuous to were you are unlikely to see them in the daytime. The vinyl lasts for years if I don't pull it down.
 
New to the forum but been hunting a saddle for about 18 years, still in my original Trophyline.

I only hunt public land every now and then and usually do so with a group of buddies on a 3-4 day hunt but I still like to do a few presets in areas I know are historically productive. Around here, all you have to do is walk a mile +, 99% of the public land hunters, even bow hunters, very seldom will walk more than 15 min in the dark. You stretch that to 45 minutes - an hour and you see NOBODY. Maybe just around here but I suspect the same in many areas.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top