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How would you climb this Grand Old Lady?

TradBowGuy

TradBowGuy

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2021
Messages
298
Location
The "Southern End" of Lancaster County, PA
The situation is this. I have 3 trees on my property in NW PA that are about the same size as this Grand Old Lady who is in the front corner of my 1 little acre of Heaven. She measures 10.5 ft around her trunk at waist level (I strung a piece of paracord around her, then measured it's length.) About 13 ft up, she splits into 2 trunks, (you can see her widening before the split at the top of the photo) then the North trunk splits again about 15 ft above that. I got a throw ball thru that upper split today, (not gonna say how many attempts it took, only that it was less than 30, & fun! ;) ) & fed a paracord loop thru, so I'm ready to pull up a climbing/rappel rope. That part of the tree has a decent lean in the North (right side of photo) direction.

Note- I learned that for me, the higher I need to pitch the throw ball, the less weight I should use. I went from a 16oz to a 12 oz, then I got it thru.

I want to use her as a practice tree.

The 3 trees that I want to hunt from are in killer locations-each of them are at a point where 4 or 5 trails intersect, & my cameras show good activity. Other trees around them are climbable, but small-basketball size, & I personally don't like hunting from a tree that I can't hide behind-it's just my way, I guess. I always hunt from big trees, which are harder for me to climb than smaller ones-but I just like big trees!

My thoughts-either do 2TC with REAL long tethers, or a better idea in my mind is to climb SRT. But I figured that I'd throw this one out to you "gurus," & let me see what you think. I watched JRB climb that big Sycamore on YouTube, & thought, what the heck...I can do that...with some practice maybe!

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Ddrt is my favorite way up into those huge trees. It is a very simple and safe method that arborists use all the time. How-to Saddle Hunt with Climbing Ropes - DRT & SRT Complete Guide - YouTube

I got the 75 feet of Samson predator. If you have the trees for it Ddrt is a great method. As much as I love 2TC it just won't work on trees that big, and I climb some pretty large diameter trees 2tc.

Here is one of the red oaks I have set up for Ddrt with a paracord loop.
 

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TradBowGuy said:
I've had bad luck with ladder stands on the property. Rude individuals have either damaged or stolen them, & I've had to have unpleasant conversations with rude individuals that decided they could hunt from them. I do intend to pre-set a platform, or a ring of my WE stepps.
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If it’s your property you need to talk with the local conservation officer and tell him that you’ve had problems. I agree with @Zero One Actual. Put up a ladder stand! Or use one of the smaller trees in the background!
 
TradBowGuy said:
I've had bad luck with ladder stands on the property. Rude individuals have either damaged or stolen them, & I've had to have unpleasant conversations with rude individuals that decided they could hunt from them. I do intend to pre-set a platform, or a ring of my WE stepps.
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That is unfortunate sir. Understanding that those are not options due to rude individuals not worth dealing with, maybe the DRT method already mentioned above is a good way to go. I have never tried it, I have only seen videos of others here on the forum doing it.
 
I’d JRB climb it. I’ve climbed DRT, SRT and JRB and I prefer JRB climbing over the other two.


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My man. My kinda tree. Yep. Preset Paracord. DRT that hog. You just gotta get high enough or around a split for your platform. That's the hardest part for me.
NY saddle hunters have some good tips..
I pre tie a clove hitch on a carbiner, with a real close figure 8 to go to the other end. This leaves the other end of your rope free to pull over the limb. Then I run a simple swabish hitch on the other end to the figure 8.
Few things I have learned..
Make sure your rope can be pulled thru the tree limbs.. sucks to get it stuck in the AM..
I leave my preset line tied end to end with a big tail to tie to the rope. If for some reason in the dark or in a rush your main rope comes unntied. You can try again. Standing there in the dark with your Paracord and rope all mixed together on the ground means plan B.
Last. Use a hand ascender. Trying to with just the knot and pulling the rope is easy in gym shorts in the yard. But sucks with your hunting gear.
Good luck!
 
No doubt you’ll get it figured out traditional! I hope to get this SRT thing figured out this year so I can climb bigger trees too…..that seems to be a good option.
 
DRT with a hand ascender. Ridiculously easy to go up a tree with a hand ascender and footloop using DRT. You need a little bit more rope than srt, but it is super nice not having to use a pull-down line. I've got a practice tree in my backyard, and when people see me climb they always comment on how that hand ascender makes it so easy. I climb srt, DRT, and JRB.

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I have quite a few trees of the larger caliber such as yours and I just set them up with bolts. If I ever had to do it on public land I would more than likely learn srt or jrb
 
TradBowGuy said:
Yep, in their defense, they couldn't really do anything after the "deeds were done," & they're simply not gonna hike to the locations on any given day & wait for something to happen-I get that. So, "no more ladder stands," & at least that problem is solved.
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This would be one of those times where a dummy ladder stand and a well-hidden cell camera to catch them in the act would be very helpful. Make sure you have a good no trespassing sign in the background of the video too. It would be hard to deny you did something when you are on video for the game warden to see.
 
You aren’t going to climb that with a 2 tether system. It’s simply too large to advance the ropes easily. For that matter, it’s too large to advance any system up that tree.

I’m in the camp of a permanent climbing system for that tree. I’d put screw in steps in it or use sone form of ladder. I wouldn’t go to a ladder stand or any other hang on though. The saddle is too comfortable and makes me feel too safe to ever go back. So, I’d set a more permanent way to climb and go for it.
 
I'd use bolts unless I had plans on harvesting them for lumber in the future, in which case I'd be looking into a rope climbing system
 
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