New tree stand set up on elk trail

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Dec 30, 2014
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I am just learning now. One thing that caught my eye with Novix is that it seemed they could be adjusted for not straight trees easily, "offest bracket". Do the others do the same? IF they do, it isn't apparent to an ignorant like me.

View attachment 430256

Others work on crooked trees too. I haven't hung a bunch of crooked tree sets so I don't have any insight on how some might work better than others. Basically the platform is always centered on the tree and the top contact point wont be centered but may be fine if it can get some bite into the tree.

an example from LWCG's website: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0051/1292/2212/products/hangon1_1800x1800.jpg?v=1595773057
 

CoStick

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I am using a climber this year, have a water hole and wallow close to each other and will be able to cover both plus hoping getting higher helps with midday wind.
 

rclouse79

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A few year ago my primary strategy was a tree stand over an active wallow. My take away lesson was the wind can still screw you even if you are in a tree. Good luck.
 
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Most of these guys wouldn’t know what a Baker stand is.
Let alone how dangerous they were.
Lol. I remember taking old steel bedframes cutting and welding them up with a plywood bottom (homemade Baker). Weighed about 50 lbs. Frick in deathtrap. Someone ripped it off . Pissed at the time. Probably the best thing that happened to me. If your weight wasn't quite right those stands would slide down the tree. No seat , stand there for hours. These stands now a days are Cadillacs
 

hobbes

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An aspen may scream climber but they sway like crazy from the few times I've hung a fixed stand in them. Not so much lately but in a former time I spent a pile of hours in all kinds of Midwest trees and never liked trees that swayed a lot but I'd bet folks that don't like a tree stand would really not like hanging out in an aspen.
 
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oregon coast
I’ve known about an elk trail for a few years and finally got in there the other day and set up a tree stand - along with a trail cam.

Should be a good location



View attachment 429481
Tree stands don’t work for elk!

Haha, looks good, I keep meaning to buy one (mainly for lion calling) but every year the season starts and I still don’t have a stand… I think this is the year, haha
 

md126

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cnelk, no doubt those Bakers were death traps!! Glad most people don’t remember them. Lol

In my opinion the height of the stand is not nearly as important if you have good cover/concealment.

If you’re hanging off a telephone pole you’ll need to get higher and even then try and get the tree between you and the trail/waterhole, etc..

Try and find a set up with multiple trunks, limbs and if possible add some cover. Artificial Xmas tree branch’s are great on pines.
 

wytx

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I'm assuming you take your lower sticks down so no one else will sit it, or steal it ?
 

Jaquomo

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Yeah, had a couple rides down the trunk on my homemade Baker. But it was what we had and could readily build. Then my partner started welding up totally adjustable fixed stands that were awesome. Just not really portable like the good stands today..
 

Read1t48

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Kifarucast just did a podcast with Cody from Lone Wolf Custom Gear. If you're looking to learn about stands and how far technology has come, it's a good podcast for that. Saddle hunting on this particular podcast doesn't get much love.

I've done a fair amount of climbing / arborist work and find saddle hunting styles to be very lightweight (with proper gear), very customizable, and good for run and gun especially if you had pre-sets in a tree by using 550 paracord or something similar so that you could quietly put your climbing rope in a tree and then ascend. With a pre-set, you could be in a tree in 5 min or less with the right saddle. (look at Dryad).

Without a pre-set, using SRT, one can still be in a tree in under 10 min. It sounds complicated but it's not. A true aluminum stand is great if you're not moving from spot to spot and you have a more permanent location. I hunt so much backcountry that it's nice to have a saddle style because it's less weight and more adaptable to various types of tree characteristics - limbs, no limbs, wide, skinny, crooked, straight, etc. In my hunting areas, you can find birch, firs, oaks, alders, maples, and cedars, all within a 100 yards of each other.
 

Btaylor

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Kifarucast just did a podcast with Cody from Lone Wolf Custom Gear. If you're looking to learn about stands and how far technology has come, it's a good podcast for that. Saddle hunting on this particular podcast doesn't get much love.

I've done a fair amount of climbing / arborist work and find saddle hunting styles to be very lightweight (with proper gear), very customizable, and good for run and gun especially if you had pre-sets in a tree by using 550 paracord or something similar so that you could quietly put your climbing rope in a tree and then ascend. With a pre-set, you could be in a tree in 5 min or less with the right saddle. (look at Dryad).

Without a pre-set, using SRT, one can still be in a tree in under 10 min. It sounds complicated but it's not. A true aluminum stand is great if you're not moving from spot to spot and you have a more permanent location. I hunt so much backcountry that it's nice to have a saddle style because it's less weight and more adaptable to various types of tree characteristics - limbs, no limbs, wide, skinny, crooked, straight, etc. In my hunting areas, you can find birch, firs, oaks, alders, maples, and cedars, all within a 100 yards of each other.
Saddle hunting didnt get much love lol. To hear Cody tell it, and you know he tried saddle hunting, you cant hardly shoot from the tree, you cant be efficient climbing, you cant be comfortable and only a dumbass would ever bother with it. Just love folks that think their sh!t dont stink and he has obviously never been down wind of his own. Saddle setup is a tool, a hang on stand and sticks are tools, climber is a tool, ghille suit is a tool. A smart hunter is going to use the tools that work best for them in the environment in which they are hunting at the time and most wont limit themselves to only one tool to do a job.
 

feanor

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That’s some cool video of the cow elk coming in.

So the question is, are you going to hunt in the stand exclusively this season? Or use it to target a certain size bull? Or just to change it up for fun?
 
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