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Question about bolts..

shoot2thrill25

shoot2thrill25

Active Member
Joined
Oct 31, 2019
Messages
176
This is probably a dumb question and I know what I think but wanted to see what you guys did and had experienced

I’m thinking about buying some bolts and a drill for preparing some trees instead of using sticks every time. I don’t want to leave bolts though. So if I prepped trees in April or may and pulled the bolts have you had issues with the tree growing back before oct/nov and the bolts not fitting? If its not feasible then I’ll stick to sticks.

So basically, prep a handful of trees in April and pull the bolts. Then when I know I want to hunt that tree, carry in just bolts and slide them in as I climb up. Less bulk, movement, and time for those more sensitive areas I hunt.


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Softer trees will grow closed for sure. I suspect hardwoods will as well. For me personally, i leave the bolts in, including a ring of bolts and a pull rope and bow hook. Not a dumb question.
 
I only use sticks when absolutely necessary, bolts for me, I would rather drill brand new holes the day I hunt then deal with sticks, I hate everything about them, try a drill and bolts, if you don’t like them they will sell on the classifieds for about $20 less than what you paid, I was skeptical at first when I bought my drill, I said this is going to suck and be something else I dump after a couple weeks of use, I was wrong.
 
I haven’t prepped them that early but marked trees post season then drilled in the summer & or as I hunt. Plenty of times I’ll drill a tree on a morning hunt & realize that I needed a small adjustment 40-50 yds . I’ll drill that tree that I need to be in on the way out & mark it then it’s ready for next time. It doesn’t take that long & really not a big deal.
 
they'll probably be closed up in that time frame. Trees I drilled in January were completely closed up by august. (Most were either post or red oaks)
 
I could just as easily prep them in august or September haha was just thinking I could throw the drill and bolts in my Turkey vest and do it then. Any reason going up a size on the drill bit to compensate would be an issue?


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"Any reason going up a size on the drill bit to compensate would be an issue?" That is a great question! I'd like to hear the results of a test like that>
 
I imagine they’ll be closed up. I had a poplar drilled from January last year, and it was closed up the following season. I figured re-drilling the same holes would be easiest, but I actually found that drilling new holes was much easier for some reason—I guess the drill just bit into the “virgin” wood cleaner than the formerly drilled out (and subsequently healed) holes. Might be different for different trees, though.

I’d also recommend presetting your trees closer to hunting season so you can trim your shooting lanes. Trimming those in April probably wouldn’t do.

Typically, I’ll mark my saddle trees on private with orange contractor’s tape/ribbon so I’m not guessing in the dark, but that’s about all I do in the spring.
 
Flyerzfan10 said:
Any reason why you wouldn’t leave them??
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The reason I started being mobile was people hunting my stands. So I started leaving sticks and bouncing around with my lone Wolf to those pre hunt spots. Then at every tree I had sticks on there magically appeared a a ladder stand right next to it haha. So I went full mobile and that eventually led to a saddle. So I don’t wanna leave any bolts bc I’m afraid of that starting again haha


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What I do is about once a month I cut a sapling tree down to pieces just smaller than the bolt hole and and little longer than the hole is deep. Toss em in my pocket and stick these sticks in the holes if pulling bolts. It's not visible like some other options and has worked well so far

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I love bolts. Last year I spent allot of time prepping trees post season. Will not bother again. By fall you have overgrown limbs, holes need to be redrilled etc. If I have a strong desire for a preset I leave the bolts otherwise drill as I go. The holes will close up over the summer.
 
Been looking at the treehopper drill and bolts but from memories of trying to screw in steps back in the day with my left hand, seems like a lot of work, Videos of people using them standing on the ground right handed, easy. Hanging on LB left handed side, not so sure. Less bulk and weight sure would be nice.
 
Blacksmith said:
Been looking at the treehopper drill and bolts but from memories of trying to screw in steps back in the day with my left hand, seems like a lot of work, Videos of people using them standing on the ground right handed, easy. Hanging on LB left handed side, not so sure. Less bulk and weight sure would be nice.
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I can’t explain it but it’s definitely easier than the cheap screw ins I always used, good screw ins like cranfords are pretty nice but I still like bolts better, like you I thought it would suck, it doesn’t and now I’m sold on a drill and bolts. Paranoid that I would break my drill during season I bought a complete second set of everything for just in case but so far it hasn’t been needed. The only tip I have is to let the drill do the work and don’t fight it, I bet
most people buy this stuff and have one bad day and say this isn’t for me, I’m sold on bolts and a drill and it will take something really innovative to change my mind.
 
Topdog said:
I can’t explain it but it’s definitely easier than the cheap screw ins I always used, good screw ins like cranfords are pretty nice but I still like bolts better, like you I thought it would suck, it doesn’t and now I’m sold on a drill and bolts. Paranoid that I would break my drill during season I bought a complete second set of everything for just in case but so far it hasn’t been needed. The only tip I have is to let the drill do the work and don’t fight it, I bet
most people buy this stuff and have one bad day and say this isn’t for me, I’m sold on bolts and a drill and it will take something really innovative to change my mind.
Click to expand...
Totally agree. Once you get a system down they are hard to beat. Once you have that tree drilled it literally takes 5 minutes to be up the tree and set up.. and they are completely silent.
 
Flyerzfan10 said:
Totally agree. Once you get a system down they are hard to beat. Once you have that tree drilled it literally takes 5 minutes to be up the tree and set up.. and they are completely silent.
Click to expand...
This is the key to bolts--returning for future hunts. I think ultralight sticks are easier if you're only going to hunt a tree once, even if you're not going to rappel down, but bolts really pay dividends on future hunts out of the same tree. They're also by far the cheapest for presetting if you're not doing SRT (paracord is unbeatably cheap), since you can get grade 8 bolts for less than $1 each, meaning you can preset a tree (leaving the bolts in place) for $10-20 (depending on how high you're hunting).
 
I bought some shrink tube for the section of bolt that sets outside of the tree and it deadens them down tremendously.
Drilled a tree at my grandparents house thanksgiving day just to give my sister a crash course in the saddle to see if she wanted to try it. Forgot how easy it really is drilling and setting bolts.
 
Are you guys talking about drilling the holes with the Treehopper hand drill or a power drill? Due to some shoulder issues it is hard for me to drill with the hand drills, but possible I guess
 
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