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How many sticks do you use?

Jmilchuck3

Jmilchuck3

Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2019
Messages
55
Location
Barneveld, Wisconsin
So I'm brand new to saddle hunting, and I'm weighing the options between sticks and WE steps. Steps seem great, but sticks seem a lot more convenient when it comes to packing them in and reducing weight. My question is, how many sticks do you think I would need being a 5'8" man wanting to get 20' in the air with out the assistance of an aider? I'm new to the whole tree stand world that doesn't include a ladder stand, and I'm not comfortable with aiders yet!

Thanks for any help!
 
Newish myself too. I use 4 lonewolf sticks with two wild edge Stepps at the top for the platform and can generally get 20 ft (unless the tree is really crooked and crazy, then I am a little lower).
 
philsanchez76 said:
Newish myself too. I use 4 lonewolf sticks with two wild edge Stepps at the top for the platform and can generally get 20 ft (unless the tree is really crooked and crazy, then I am a little lower).
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Great thanks what i was thinking of doing was just going with 4 sticks and either a predator platform or even a couple WE steps! Thanks for the reply!
 
Sorry should have said I am 6' 2" so if you are 5' 8" that may require 5 sticks like Nathan said. Or you can start getting comfortable with an aider. They are not that bad. Just take practice.
 
All you need is one. Get a muddy pro stick, attach a foot loop and 1 stick climb. Can't beat a muddy pro for 1 sticking. With my permanently attached foot loop I can monkey my way up on it and get to the top of the stick and that puts me at 7 feet right off the start. A major plus to using the muddy pros is that you can utilize the entire stick while one stick climbing vs only using the bottom steps. Reason for this is they use a rope and a cam. All you have to do is reach down and pull the stick up to you then you can reach the cam to release the rope and move it up for the next climb. Pretty easy and the whole climbing system weighs about 3lbs.
 
I'm 5'4". Without an aider, I'd go 4 or 5. Last season I used a single moveable aider and carried 3 sticks. Can get 18-19 feet. Going to try some single rope climbing for some setups this season.
 
Murph4028 said:
All you need is one. Get a muddy pro stick, attach a foot loop and 1 stick climb. Can't beat a muddy pro for 1 sticking. With my permanently attached foot loop I can monkey my way up on it and get to the top of the stick and that puts me at 7 feet right off the start. A major plus to using the muddy pros is that you can utilize the entire stick while one stick climbing vs only using the bottom steps. Reason for this is they use a rope and a cam. All you have to do is reach down and pull the stick up to you then you can reach the cam to release the rope and move it up for the next climb. Pretty easy and the whole climbing system weighs about 3lbs.
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Country said:
I'm 5'4". Without an aider, I'd go 4 or 5. Last season I used a single moveable aider and carried 3 sticks. Can get 18-19 feet. Going to try some single rope climbing for some setups this season.
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I'm too 5'4" and used three muddy pro sticks with a moveable aider..I was able to get about 17feet with three. If I had my 4th stick I would have been over 21 feet to my platform. Now, I know you stated you are not comfortable with an aider, but i built one one of tublar webbing and a 12" section of heater hose. It is 32" long to the hose and when I place my foot in it, it will stretch to 36". When I put it on my top step it hangs down 18" past my bottom step.

Now, I use the single stick method and can go higher with one stick and my aider than I can carrying 3 sticks and 3x the weight. I was able to place my platform to 25 feet using the one stick method. Easy as pie...look up the Cain method on youtube.
 
3 Beast sticks with a moveable aider and my Predator platform put me plenty high for just about any tree.
 
I'm 6'0" and I use Muddy Pro's. With sticks alone I can easily get 20' with 5 sticks. If I add Swaider/Aider I get 21' with 3 sticks. This year I'll be one sticking it up and rappelling down and I'm going to hunt 25' to 30' up.
 
I am 6' and have a good long stride. Have been using 4 BEAST sticks with a one-step aider at the bottom.

I'm playing around with 3 BEAST sticks and a knaider and swaider this season.

Not a huge weight savings (stick/strap minus knaider/swaider and amstel loops, but hey ...why not try it?

Ounces = pounds and pounds = pain over a long distance.
 
My advice would be at least think about using an aider on your bottom stick. Just by adding in that one aider easily equates to carrying one less stick. To get to an honest 20 feet that probably means 4 sticks instead of 5. With the bottom stick, you're still low enough you're probably not going to hurt yourself. That's a no-brainer to me.
 
I use 4 cut down LW Sticks (21 inch between steps). I use a moveable aider that basically adds a third step 21 inches below. If I keep the sticks spaced 21 inches apart that means I get 63 inches per stick. That's 21 feet from 4 short sticks. When I cut the LW sticks down, I converted the single step to a double step which makes it easier to manage.
 
I think you could start with 4 sticks and an aider on the bottom and conventionally climb. If you wanted to go lighter, you could do three, and one stick with your top step to get to whatever height you wanted to. Or just switch to one sticking completely. I personally didn't like fumbling around with 4 sticks at the tree. Having to hook sticks to saddle when climbing etc in the dark. Then ending up with a yard sale on the ground after. I have one stick I climb with and am planning on trying out a lw hand climber as well this season. Seems more efficient to climb with unless the trees you are climbing have branches to get around.
 
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