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  • bgoodsoil

    Member
    Aug 24, 2020
    76
    Not gonna lie, I mostly like the tree saddle idea because it seems so cool :D I love the idea of shooting from a climbing harness.

    I haven't tried a saddle yet but I think you're right--it can't be more comfortable than a stand. But is it comfortable enough? Plenty of folks seem to think so.
     

    bgoodsoil

    Member
    Aug 24, 2020
    76
    The recliner strap that TAstro mentioned:

    maxresdefault.jpg


    That doesn't seem bad at all. I sure wouldn't want to spend 4-5 hours in a tree without it.
     

    BDWMS

    Active Member
    Feb 21, 2013
    403
    Howard County
    My saddle is more comfortable than my climber, hands down. I'm a leaner and use a platform. It's really surprisingly comfortable.
     

    TAstro

    Active Member
    Dec 8, 2015
    329
    I know that tree surgeons don't hook up trees unless they're taking them down.
    I've spent the best part of 40 years of my life in treestands. I usually sit from sun up to sun down. There's no F'ing way a saddle is more comfortable than a tree stand. No way. My stand, along with pack and weapon, probably weigh 50#. I'm 62. You telling me you can't hump that ?

    Do you hunt public or private? For me, it’s not the weight so much as it is the bulk. I’m trying to be quiet going under trees, around branches, etc. The climber just got snagged on everything!
     

    bgoodsoil

    Member
    Aug 24, 2020
    76
    Found a discussion of legality on the SaddleHunter forum from last year:

    https://saddlehunter.com/community/index.php?threads/tree-spurs-in-maryland.16376/

    The best comment:

    You should be good to use them.. The rule states you can not leave anything in the tree.

    I hunt Harford county, Baltimore county, and Cecil county and used spurs last season, have had my license checked and never had my climbing method questioned.

    The only place I know about that you cant is watershed permit property's like loch raven and pretty boy.. their wording on the permit states you can not penetrate bark, no screw in bow holders ect. . .
     

    Doco Overboard

    Ultimate Member
    Are there regulations against using something that penetrates the bark (like climbing spurs) on public land in Maryland?

    Yes. Pecker tracks we used to call them. Dollar figure for every one the forester deems fit for. A few quick steps, get caught and you blew your whole paycheck.
    You used to only be allowed to use them when doing a removal.
    Maybe storm, hard to remember. I did line clearance before my line apprentices ship a couple decades ago. Approaching four.
     

    bgoodsoil

    Member
    Aug 24, 2020
    76
    Maybe it's changed? In that other forum, someone from Delaware said they used to be explicitly illegal there but that the state's wording had changed to allow them.
     

    bgoodsoil

    Member
    Aug 24, 2020
    76
    Certain areas (in the other forum Elk Neck was mentioned) will explicitly say on the permit that 'penetrating bark' is illegal. It seems like that's the verbiage used that would disallow climbing spurs even if the words 'climbing spurs/spikes' aren't actually used.

    It doesn't seem to be a state-wide law but it IS illegal in certain areas. At least, that's what I'm gathering from some internetting. I haven't talked to any officials and don't know anything for certain.
     

    Doco Overboard

    Ultimate Member
    Found a discussion of legality on the SaddleHunter forum from last year:

    https://saddlehunter.com/community/index.php?threads/tree-spurs-in-maryland.16376/

    The best comment:

    I live in Dorchester. I have friends who own/ manage pulp forest. Dont use them on their timber and expect a refund on your expensive lease without permission.
    Same would be true in DE on private property for the landowners I know.
    You can take your chances with DNREC or when in Md DNR.
    All I know is nearly 40 combined years of industrial and many years personal experience with landowners and for a shorter duration of time, DNR Foresters while doing tree removal/line clearance on a professional level.
     

    bgoodsoil

    Member
    Aug 24, 2020
    76
    That's a good point. Any place looking to use the trees for commercial use are likely to frown on someone poking holes in their product.
     

    bgoodsoil

    Member
    Aug 24, 2020
    76
    I wondered why people fooled around with sticks and the knaider/swaider set-up when spikes are so fast and simple. This seems like a likely reason.
     

    Doco Overboard

    Ultimate Member
    I know that tree surgeons don't hook up trees unless they're taking them down.
    I've spent the best part of 40 years of my life in treestands. I usually sit from sun up to sun down. There's no F'ing way a saddle is more comfortable than a tree stand. No way. My stand, along with pack and weapon, probably weigh 50#. I'm 62. You telling me you can't hump that ?

    When I did my line apprenticeship, I did side hustles for Wye Tree Experts, Myself sometimes, some guy in Reistertown who had yellow trucks can't remember the name but we worked with cranes from time to time and dumped chips of rt 26. Royal Crown I climbed for, Bob Arnold, Rick Shortridge, Rick Hilton.
    I threw tops, Half hitched them, blocked logs down over septic systems Dead-wooded a Beech tree on that Smithsonian property near Contee Wharf rd with some guy in full panic mode who was worried about protecting the original colonial glass window panes, tightened cables and repaired lightning protection on the Wye oak blahblah blah
    Was in on Storm proofing those 110 foot poplars in Glen Oban ,Manresa for Linburgh Dolan before the tracks were tore out and paved for bike trail took them down over top live 33kv sub-transmission lines yadayadyad and all that horse shit. I did tree work specifically for some guy who moved a stone thatched roof house from England and reassembled it in or near St margarets who fashioned clones of period captains boats all by hand with period tools for like the USS Constitution or maybe you need a viking longship with clinker construction and a one piece keel.
    Framed up and put wire in from tools on what seemed like every freaking utility pole out of Annapolis to Westminster service center to front street in the city to Perry Hall not to mention Canada and the US Virgin Islands when Georgia power re-conducted the Islands for rapidly approaching for close to 40years now. Wood, Steel lattice, transmission and distribution poles
    Been there done that got the t shirt and free coupons in minus 65 degree weather and sucked back pusser rum and Heinekin before doing live line work for 57 hrs with no sleep then go to a disco in sub base to get really tanked.
    I teach guys to climb and do pole top/bucket rescue and do CPR while aloft if they have to. How to glove off a pole and not get fried or for when no-ones looking.
    Burn holes in my body, electrocuted fillings out, cant walk anmore, guys with 1000lb logs sucking there belt down and knees bent backwards in their face and have to cut them down, running out of the woods becuase you stumbled into a rednecks pot patch in Arkansas walking the line out but its okay beciuase afterwards you learn he has caged hyenas that you can pet. real gunny Hwy shit

    Now I'm learning how to deer hunt from a tree saddle and the merits thereof for grassing the big one.
    Somewhere in here is a lesson perhaps.:rolleyes:
     

    TAstro

    Active Member
    Dec 8, 2015
    329
    Climbing spurs are one thing for private land but really not cool (ethical) for public land.
    If we all started using climbing spurs we would really wreck the forest.
     

    Doco Overboard

    Ultimate Member
    Climbing spurs are illegal on public land and damage the tree significantly. The punctures in the bark can lead to insects getting in and disease. The only time you want to use them is if you are taking a tree down.

    Water lays in the gaff marks and contributes to rot and decay also.
    The other thing is the transfer of harmful elements from tree to the next if some sort of blight is present that can do damage especially to a forest or a tract of susceptible species.
     

    AlphabetSoup

    Member
    Oct 28, 2019
    67
    Climbing spurs are one thing for private land but really not cool (ethical) for public land.
    If we all started using climbing spurs we would really wreck the forest.
    Yep. Your trees do what you want. Somebody else's trees....

    When you hire a roofer you'd be pretty pissed if he climbed your siding with spurs instead of a ladder.

    Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk
     

    bgoodsoil

    Member
    Aug 24, 2020
    76
    I've seen trees so covered with holes from woodpeckers you'd think Elliot Ness went at it with a tommy gun. There's one in my folks yard that's been standing for decades. Google is saying they don't hurt trees, but spurs do? I'm confused. How is it any different?
     

    Doco Overboard

    Ultimate Member
    I've seen trees so covered with holes from woodpeckers you'd think Elliot Ness went at it with a tommy gun. There's one in my folks yard that's been standing for decades. Google is saying they don't hurt trees, but spurs do? I'm confused. How is it any different?

    One way to look at it is woodpeckers occur in nature. Climbers or gaffs for tens of thousands of years or a couple of millennia didn’t.
    Darwin studied evolutionary chains in humans and animals and provided published theories.
    He left the planet before he could provide proper notification to the manufacturers and distributors of climbing gaffs that are offered to hunters in the modern area.
    One important aspect the manufactures omitted from the products they offer are the length of the gaffs.
    Tree gaffs are long and extend well past the bottom of the users foot so they can penetrate and support the climbers weight through bark and rot combined with surface irregularities.
    The products that target hunters are short and are of the type designed for pine, hemlock or fir and cedar logs that have been manufactured into poles.
    Not to mention being height adjustable to be fitted to the largest diameter of the lower leg and take advantage of available bone structure for proper climbing technique as well as user safety regarding fall prevention.
     

    GutPile

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 4, 2016
    3,218
    Cons - steep learning curve and by the time you add in steps or sticks + a platform you might as well be hauling a self climber. They also aren't cheap and you need a good lineman's belt. So you are paying the equivalent to a top of the line aluminum self climber
    Pros - you can keep straight/form when shooting. No more forgetting to bend at the hip because its not needed. Can also use trees that might be problematic for self climbers. I know my summits are very picky. You look more natural like you are part of the tree to deer and can even hide yourself behind the tree.

    The guys at THP have moved to them over lone wolf hang ons. Personally I like a place to sit but I might check it out next season.
     

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