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Gear Hooks

2K views 15 replies 15 participants last post by  icemole 
#1 ·
For you treestand hunters, since we are not allowed to use screw in hooks on public land, what do you guys use to attach your gear when you are up a tree?
 
#3 ·
Since I use a climber on SGL, I keep a carabiner handy. When I pull my pack up I attach the carabiner to the cable on the top of my Summit climber. I have the Third Hand Archery bow holder on the top section of my climber. I take my quiver and place it in my pack. Light stuff like grunt calls or rattling horns I usually either put in my pocket, or use one of the strap on tree hook devices.
 
#7 ·
After I am safely attached to my tree I attach a separate tree belt around my tree and above my safety belt then I attach a large strong carabiner clip to the belt to hang my backpack above my head and out of he way on the back side of my tree. The carabiner allows me to easily swing the backpack back to me should I need anything. I try to keep the most often needed things in the side pockets of my back pack to my right hand for easy access.

Then I attach my range finder to one arm of the climber and a rattler bag to the other arm. I attach two earth scents wafers on the clips of my tree stand furthest away from me so they have an opportunity to be in the air current. I put my grunt caller in my pocket. I kept my emergency contact (phone) in an outer vest pocket for quick access by either hand.

Lastly I pull up my bow and place it in my stand bow holder and I prefer to leave my quiver on my bow. I sometimes hold the bow and quiver in front of my face should I get in one of those deer stare downs.

I did put the call around my neck, but changed that as I do not like to have anything attached around my throat that could become a hangman's noose incase of a fall.

I put the back pack above the safety belt higher on tree for three reasons: 1) It is higher from the deer line of sight. 2) The backpack will not interfere in the safety belt system in case of a fall. 3) Should I choose to descent from the tree for any reason with the plan to return shortly I don't not have to remove the belt and backpack and it will be in place when I climb back up to continue my hunt saving time and effort.

I use two pull strings one for my backpack and a second for my bow. After I have everything in place I roll up each of the pull strings and tie them to the arms of my climber so they are not blowing in the wind and to prevent a curious deer from coming up to sniff them and the surrounding the base of my tree.

I am sure there are different methods for others, however; this system has worked very well for me over the years.
 
#8 ·
When I did do a lot of treestand hunting I had a nylon web strap to wrap around the tree that I hooked several carabiners on. I liked this better than any hooks as it allowed you to secure items better. Homemade, and cheap to put together.

I just got tired of knocking things off the hook and then trying to decide if it was something I had to climb down to get or let the hunt proceed with that item at the base of the tree.
 
#9 ·
Where did you see screw in hooks are OK. I have some 3.00 hooks from Lowes made to hang items in a garage. I put parachute cord through the top hole, wrap around tree twice and tie a square knot. Time to leave, pull one end of the cord, square knot releases , take them with me. Never had them slide down tree, just took 2 down that had been up tree since middle of archery season, still tight. I hang a heavy pack at times, no problem.
 
#10 ·
Summit (and a few others) makes what they call "rubber wire".

Basically, thin gauge wire with a thick rubber cladding on it.

I buy a pack of this, which is I don't know how many feet, and clip pieces to length. I put short pieces on the carry handle on a pack, for instance. Then I get in my stand and I use it like a giant twist tie...wrap it around the stand and twist it a few times and it holds. Even fairly heavy stuff. If I'm a little sketchy that the pack might be heavy or whatever, I'll put two pieces there so I can double up. It's really handy stuff and it's not super expensive. Cabela's has it, Amazon has it, I've seen it lots of places.

No knot tying, no tangles (you can wrap it up and it stays as you wrap it!), and no clips/clicks/noise to use it. Quiet, simple, effective.
 
#11 ·
Before this season I just strapped my fanny pack around the tree and used carabiners to attach gear to it. However, before the start of this season I bought a gear hanger from bigwhitetaildreams.com. Uses a cam buckle strap to attach around the tree, and comes with 4 steel hangers. I removed 1 of them and may only use 2 next year. Once I'm up to my desired height, I pull the gear hanger out of a pocket and attach around the tree. Then I pull up my pack and hang it on 1 hook, then pull up my bow, detach the quiver, and hang the quiver on a second hook on the opposite side of the tree from my pack. Bow goes on a bow holder on my climber. Keeps everything very handy. Well worth the $20! Good luck!
 
#15 ·
I've been using this for the past 3 years,,, holds my rifle and or crossbow no problems.. pretty handy for law abiding hunters on state lands.

Big Game Tree stands The Multi-Hook Accessory Holder

sorry the Bass pro ink didn't;t work for me.,

they are $8.99 at Bass Pro..
 
#16 ·
Most of my non-essentials go in the fanny pack which gets attached to the front rail....doubles as a cushion on the climb up. If it is later in the season I will also bungee my jacket on top of the pack. I also use another bungee to "lock" my feet in as I climb. Once I get to my height I take 1 bungee and attach to tree with the hooks facing "up" on my left side. My jacket I put under the bungee on the backside of the tree till I need it(if). On my right side I slip my bottle of juice under the cord (used to hang radio on that side too but just carry cell phone now). From the hooks I hang my bino's and grunt call and also on that side a small spray bottle of "no scent" under the cord. Everything else pretty much stays in the fanny pack. I hold my bow 90% of the time but do have a holster type holder that slides on my belt and gets tied down to my thigh.
 
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