Tales from the Hunt

[Jogeephus]

I wonder if this type of story is the reason that tree stands aren't used much up in this part of the country?

You are right. I've met the man who manufactured them and he told me the lawsuits put him out of business. They were not safe at all.

 

[I luv herfrds]

Was hunting elk with my Dad and a couple of his friends. We were hiking up to a clearing to get in the last light.
Thank God for good coverals. I found the only deep spot of the stupid creek. Nobody else did. I was waist deep in cold water with one leg in the water, the other on dry land and holding my rifle over my head. I think that was the first time my Dad heard me cuss. It was about 10 above, so they froze. Didn't want to miss out on getting an elk. Didn't see any though.

 

[blacksnake]

Several years ago my brother and I were deer hunting with our nephew. We were staying in a small camper nad stayed up late reliving past hunts. Our nephew was really getting gung-ho and around midnight said he was going to turn in so he could get up early and be the first one to his stand. He wanted to get up around 4:30 so we set the alarm for him. Around 2:00 a.m. we decided to have some fun with him. We set all the clocks, including the watch on his wrist, up until they all read 4:30. The alarm went off. We pretended to be asleep and let him wake us. He got dressed, grabbed a snack cake for breakfast and then stepped outside. He cam back in and informed us it was beginning to get a little lighter. We told him we were going to get ready and would be heading out in just a few minutes. He grabbed his gun and took off down an old logging road. We were really having a good laugh until we decided we had better go get him since our hunting area was adjacent to a wildlife refuge and the game wardens patrolled the area pretty often. They would never believe he wasn't night hunting.

 

[Jogeephus]

Blacksnake, that was cruel! I like it! :lol: :lol:

 

[sidney411]

I've been doing a lot of night hunting hogs. A couple months ago my Dad and I were out on the trail of some hogs. We could smell them and hear them. We were hunting a creek bed that is pretty thick and had to walk hunched down, moving slowly. There was a heavy bed of leaves and other debris under the trees and brush. I was in the lead and stepped into a small dugout and the ground was vibrating. I did some sort of sideways backwards backflip jump thing thinking I'd stepped in to a snake den or something. Shined the flashlight and it was 2 pigs about a lb or 2 a piece I'd actually stepped on. They didn't even squeal, and were totally hidden in the leaves. I could just see the leaves shaking at first. We dispatched them and heard the sow (I'm assuming) up ahead make a horrible squeal/growl. Our lights were starting to dim so we decided we didn't want to be stuck in the brush with an angry sow and went back out to open land. I'll tell you, stalk hunting at night is a whole different animal then stand hunting in the daytime. It's addictive!

 

[TLCfromARK]

The Baker Tree Stand - aka "Widow-Maker". Anbody ever own one? I did, and could write a novel about the falls I took from them.
:lol:

I never owned one but one of my brothers did and loaned it to me back in the early 70's with min. instructions on it's use. ( I still haven't figured out why he was mad at me ) I found a nice straight big Pine on the edge of a clear cut and made it up about 25 feet or so and hunted all afternoon. No problem until I started to go down the tree, I stood up, put my gun on my back and turned to face the tree preparing to go down the tree. When I bent over to put the bungee cord over my feet I got my weight too close to the trunk of the tree. If you seen or used one of these stands you can guess what happened then, it did a disapearing act and fell to the foot of the tree. One second I was standing on the platform and next I was hanging on the side of the tree with my arms and legs. Now even up as high as I was I couldn't reach around the tree with my arms, I had about 2/3 of the tree 'bear" hugged. I looked around and thought to myself, no problem, I'll just "coon" down the tree.
This worked well for about 5 feet,(being worried about the safety of the stand I had worn fall protection, a simple belt around my waist and the other end snaped around the tree. )
Unnoticed by me on the way up the tree, there was a knot on the back side of the tree, the loop around the tree hung on it and there I was hung up again. I tried to get some slack but the line was too tight, I tried to go back up the tree ( pine bark flew everywhere ) but I couldn't get make any headway. I ended up holding on with two legs and one arm and unsnapped the belt at my waist with my free hand and then went down the tree.

The bad part was that once down I had to go back up and retrieve the safety belt ( my brother's ). So that's my story of the two times I used the Baker tree climber, that afternoon was my first AND my last time. :lol:

;-)

 

[Jogeephus]

TLC, I have found myself in the same situation numerous times with that stand. Can you still recall how bad the circulation would be cut off on your legs with them dangling off the edge of the plywood seat? Man, have deer stands come a long way. Have you ever seen a Tree Lounge? Now that's hunting. :lol:

 

[TLCfromARK]

Yes I remember how bad they were. I hunted that one time out of a baker and it was enough for me. I've seen the tree lounge stand but never hunted out of it. The "Old man" two part stands are nice also.

I've started hunting more and more out of tripods and ladder stands over the last ten years or so. A lot easier to get in and out of and I can stay in them a lot longer also and they all have shooting rails around them which is nice. I used to stay all day in a tree platform stand but I had back surgery in 97 and just can't hunt as hard as I used to. These days I hunt till ~11 in the morning, get down and get a bite to eat, feed & check on the cows, etc and get back on the stand by ~2 in the afternoon.

I think one of my winter projects in to build a couple of box blinds ( I'm telling my wife there're for her ) so it'll be easier to hunt in bad weather. I'm looking forward to hunting season.
;-)

 

[sidney411]

I've never seen one of those type stands. I don't understand how you get it and you up the tree?

It's good I'm nervous with heights! I could NOT imagine hunting out of a tree stand. I really prefer box stands. Although my BFF actually got me up in a tower stand last year and I did take a buck. It was really a lot of fun because it was big enough she and I could both be in it and it didn't shake not even a little bit or I would have been out of it in a heartbeat!

 

[TLCfromARK]

I've never seen one of those type stands. I don't understand how you get it and you up the tree?
quote]

Sidney, the old Baker type stands were just a small platform with an angled "swingarm" on the back that you put around a tree and bolted back to the Platform. You then stepped up on the platform and there was a bungee cord/ rubber strap that you put over your feet. Then you stood up straight and bear hugged the tree, pulled the stand up as high as you could with your knees bent, put your weight back on the platform and hoped the angle arm on the back "bit" into the tree and held. You then repeated the process until you reached the height you wanted or was as high as you could stand . Once there you had to sit with on just the platform and let you legs dangle and go to sleep. Then when you got ready to go down you reversed the process.

There's no way I would attempt to hunt out of one of those stands these days. Now the new two part stands are nice, a platform for your feet and one to sit on, very comfortable and safe. The new Tri-pods are nice and I prefer them or a nice ladder stand now.

;-)

 

[sidney411]

Oh my goodness, my hands started to shake just reading your description! There is no way in h e double hockey sticks I could ever talk myself in to trying one of those! No wonder people fell!