How long does it take you guys to drill a tree for the 10 bolts? I’m considering this myself and want to understand the time taken. Thanks!
Something like 8-12 minutes to climb. I might take 15 if it's really cold and I have a bunch of clothes on, need to drill 12 times due to shorter step length or taller tree, and don't want to work up a sweat.
But, I can climb down, and my climbing method is shoved in a pocket, in about a minute.
Total climb time up and down - normally about 12 minutes. Total time to unpack to deploy the method, climb up and down, pack up, about 12.5 minutes.
For me, with multiple sticks, climbing time might be 4-5 minutes up, 2 minutes down. But I'm adding taking pack off at tree, deploying sticks to climb, and packing everything up when I get down. That total is something like 12-15 minutes, just like bolts.
For me, carrying 1-2lbs of gear that fits in a pocket, over bulky sharp heavier metal things, is a no brainer anywhere I can drill.
One stick climbing versus bolts is a much closer calculation, and I do both depending on where I'm hunting.
I've been using bolt/aider combination and rappelling a good bit this season, and this is even faster going up, same speed coming down.