Safely Hunting Saplings

[Twenty Up]

Being a Southern Boy I hunt a lot in the pines, particularly younger growth (5-20’). In the past my Lone Wolf Alpha while sketchy, got the job done. I’m curious before attempting and possibly humiliating myself, is this possible?

My biggest concern is tree sway and having more weight concentrated on one spot, which would be higher up than my hang-on.

 

[kyler1945]

You’re going to move the whole tree a lot because your body is so far from tree, and the force is exerted higher onnthe tree at the tether. You just have to be still more

 

[Kurt]

I know one thing from doing eagle work in my home state. The tops of those pines are soft and succulent, and more prone to snapping.

 

[Slingpredator06]

I go through the same thing here in NC. I cant stand pine trees they always make me feel like im gonna die even in the lightest winds. I usually just hunt the hardwoods but if I have to hunt out of a pine tree I tend to hunt lower and never in a pine tree that's located in an area prone to flooding.

 

[mattsteg]

The saddle's gonna be safer than the stand, but tree motion is always a concern.

 

[Twenty Up]

I go through the same thing here in NC. I cant stand pine trees they always make me feel like im gonna die even in the lightest winds. I usually just hunt the hardwoods but if I have to hunt out of a pine tree I tend to hunt lower and never in a pine tree that's located in an area prone to flooding.

They’re horrible in every aspect possible, but deer love bedding in them.
Have you found a size limitation (height,diameter) where it’s no longer feasible to hunt? I’m 190lbs for reference.

 

[Twenty Up]

The saddle's gonna be safer than the stand, but tree motion is always a concern.

My biggest concern is on those “off” windy days, the combination of my motion and the wind pushing the tree it could begin violently shaking.

 

[Tjraley2]

I’ve hunted some smallish pines in south Alabama. I’ll attach a pic of one of the smaller ones. This one swayed a good bit, but seemed sturdy in a light, sub 5mph wind.

 

[Tjraley2]

For perspective, I have really small hands and was about 20’ up. The pines there are roughly 15 years old. Just thinned for the first time so tall and spindly.

 

[EricS]

They aren’t fun to hunt. Big pines that have been thinned a couple times aren’t bad but you have to get so high to have any cover. I hunted a small pine tree last year on the edge of a fire break. I was concerned about visibility down the edge but once setup I realized that if I leaned out into the fire break I didn’t stop moving until I was half way across it. Visibility wasn’t a problem. I hunted a tree just like the one above and it made a huge difference what side of the tree I was on. On one side it started leaning and didn’t want to stop. On the other it was stable.

 

[Slingpredator06]

They’re horrible in every aspect possible, but deer love bedding in them.
Have you found a size limitation (height,diameter) where it’s no longer feasible to hunt? I’m 190lbs for reference.

Im 210 lbs which isn't real big and pines around here are generally shaking atleast a little when im in the process of climbing and im 8 feet off the ground. In some of them Ive hunted as low as prolly 15ft. Ive even just gotten down out of others that were real shady. Luckily I only have to worry about this where my private land is near where I live. I usually go to Uwharrie National Forest and its loaded with huge hardwoods.

 

[Twenty Up]

While this isn’t a pine nor is this particular tree near a cutover.. This is essentially the size of trees I find myself in at one point or another.
This set was roughly 6’ off of the ground. Due to access, property lines, wind and deer trails this was my best option*** nearly killed 2 mature bucks from this very tree as well

 

[Buckhole75]

Don’t be afraid to hunt on the ground.Better to be on the ground and covered than eyeball to eyeball in the bald open on a tree like that any day IMO

 

[Slingpredator06]

Yeah I may be get crucified on this site for saying this but sometimes a saddle isn't an option and the situation calls for a ground blind. The private land I hunt would be impossible to hunt out of a tree if it weren't for a stream that's lined in hardwoods that runs through the center of the property. I have various ground blinds set up in prime locations where a saddle is impossible. Im not a huge fan of hunting on the ground for a number of reasons but sometimes you gotta work with what you got.

 

[mattsteg]

Yeah I may be get crucified on this site for saying this but sometimes a saddle isn't an option and the situation calls for a ground blind. The private land I hunt would be impossible to hunt out of a tree if it weren't for a stream that's lined in hardwoods that runs through the center of the property. I have various ground blinds set up in prime locations where a saddle is impossible. Im not a huge fan of hunting on the ground for a number of reasons but sometimes you gotta work with what you got.

Nah. This site is primarily for people looking for the best and most flexible way to hunt as many sites as possible as easily and effectively as possible. It's also for people that enjoy climbing, tinkering, customizing etc, but nothing against ground hunting at all here if it's the best way. In some cases a saddle might even be useful in such a situation sitdrag style, and if not it's still a lot less wasted effort vs. Hauling in and not using a big ol tree stand.

 

[Twenty Up]

Don’t be afraid to hunt on the ground.Better to be on the ground and covered than eyeball to eyeball in the bald open on a tree like that any day IMO

Believe it or not I had 9 deer inside of 34 yards.. 2 hot does were literally under this stand. Wasn’t busted by any of them. Deer movement was from behind to forward.
This was of the open side, the other 3 sides I was covered up and apart of the reason why I couldn’t kill either of the bucks,