Fear of Heights

Discuss deer hunting tactics, Deer behavior. Post your Hunting Stories, Pictures, and Questions/Answers.
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stash59
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Re: Fear of Heights

Unread postby stash59 » Thu Jul 25, 2019 1:24 pm

Not doing something for quite awhile can change how you feel/your confidence about it. I know I went quite a few years between jobs where I set trusses a work. I wasn't scared, but I as wasn't as confident that first time I did it again.

Age does have something to do with it. Face it you get less nimble as you get older. Reaction times are slower. So something like doing things at a height. Will bother you more.

Plenty of off season setting up practice should make it more tolerable.


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Re: Fear of Heights

Unread postby justdirtyfun » Thu Jul 25, 2019 3:19 pm

cspot wrote:
justdirtyfun wrote: Anyway, are you in a hunter style harness? Rear hitch?
Yes to both.


With using a rock harness or saddle, you are USING the tree tether at some point every time. That allows opportunity to accept the rope holding you. The hunting style/work fall harness gear really is a background piece of equipment that mentally, a guy will say " I hope I don't need this". It does't give confidence because things are wrong when they come into play. So before turning your back on hang on stands you might want some time with a rock harness or saddle with a tree tether.
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Re: Fear of Heights

Unread postby hambone » Thu Jul 25, 2019 4:03 pm

I've always been pretty surefooted for a fat man. But as I get older, anything much over 20 ft and I start feeling uneasy. Climbing into a HeaterBodySuit while perched atop an Assault is almost more than I can bare these days. Using a RC harness as my safety harness or as a back up to my fleece saddle, keeps me tethered to the tree at all times. That is very reassuring.
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Re: Fear of Heights

Unread postby DhD » Thu Jul 25, 2019 4:09 pm

I have issues with anything over 12 feet or so even in a ladder or climber. Hang ons look terrifying to me, so I am trying out a saddle this season. I figure if I wear a ghillie with a saddle I shouldn't have to get to high up to be fairly covered.
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Re: Fear of Heights

Unread postby tundra@1 » Thu Jul 25, 2019 5:02 pm

Heights

do not bother me at all, and I am going on 70,,,, but I will tell you this and the young guys will not believe it,,,, You want to know the truth,,,, most set ups on height are BS.... I mean from 8 feet to 18 feet, there is not much difference, a saddle hunter that gets up at 25 to 30 feet, now he or she may have an advantage, but other than that, I never believed it,,,,,, I did my own smoke tests to prove what I knew

Here is another observation, which is not covered, since it does not sell stands sticks etc,,,,, the closer you are to the ground in reality the less your scent is going to disperse,,,, I mean where is it going?

My method of one stick and a light hang on, has provided me, with quick options, fast re set ups, and good opportunities, with the right cover,,,, of course I am always in swamps, and do not hunt much hardwoods

For the time it takes for most of these guys to jag around getting set up I am already hunting in about under 5 minutes,,,,,,,

but my methods do not sell equipment, so there you have it
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Re: Fear of Heights

Unread postby Ack » Thu Jul 25, 2019 5:23 pm

Over the years I've come to appreciate a larger platform to stand on. Use to hang and hunt out of a Loc On Limit all of the time, but if I use that stand at anything over 15 feet nowadays I'm glued to the trunk at all times. I also feel more comfortable when I have another trunk or branch near me rather than hanging off the side of the tree in the wide open, but I deal with that if it's the tree I need to be in.
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Re: Fear of Heights

Unread postby RidgeGhost » Fri Jul 26, 2019 12:45 am

[quote="cspot" [/quote]

Work your way up. Start shooting your bow out of it at ground level and move it up a few feet each week. Condition yourself to fear :D
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Re: Fear of Heights

Unread postby Crazy4bucks » Fri Jul 26, 2019 1:03 am

I think Saddle hunting would be worth a try before restricting yourself to a climber. You could climb using both your tether and a linesman giving yourself 2 attachments to the tree if you want and once your up to hunting height your held by the saddle.
Have constant tension in your rope gives you the feeling of being held up at all times. I’ve never felt safer than in my saddle.
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Re: Fear of Heights

Unread postby ThePreBanMan » Fri Jul 26, 2019 1:06 am

In a climber like the Viper you have that bar around you. It gives you some sense of security. Plus the seat is like a recliner. You can't fall out of it when seated. In a hang on you're much more out there. Especially in a smaller platform option like the Assault. So I kind of felt that discomfort at first too. But in time your confidence level in the equipment and your ability grows and it goes away. At least it did for me.
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Re: Fear of Heights

Unread postby Dalton916 » Fri Jul 26, 2019 6:27 am

Klemz nailed it, it's 100% vertigo.

I've been noticing it getting progressively worse for me the last few years when I hunted from a loc on and didn't have a visual reference right in front of me. On the first hunt of the season last year I climbed into a loc on and knew right away it was to the point that it just wasn't going to work for me. Never sat down, just climbed down and went to researching other methods on my phone. That's how I discovered saddles. Holy Cow! World of difference. I just wish I had known about them 30 years ago.
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Re: Fear of Heights

Unread postby <DK> » Fri Jul 26, 2019 3:22 pm

I hunt the hills and hunt low. Occasionally I go to 20 but its rare. Sometimes I move around too much.

Pay attention to back cover and be very aware of the wind. I also like to use draws or cuts to funnel scent. Its worked well for me
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Re: Fear of Heights

Unread postby Jonny » Fri Jul 26, 2019 9:28 pm

KLEMZ wrote:I have some issues with trees that have a bit of lean. For some reason, if I don't have the trunk right near me as a reference, I get a vertigo feeling. I use a lock on stand. On a couple occasions I was only gonna take a sitting shot because I didn't dare stand. What I do to deal with this issue is to use a tree saddle as a safety harness. This allows me to hang off a tether while in my tree stand (exactly like saddle hunting). That connection to the tree has completely eliminated any fear of height issues for me.

I still use the tree stand normally 90% of my hunts, but go into "saddle mode" on weird leaning trees.


Same here. Best of all worlds.

Best advice I have to get past a fear of heights is just start exposing yourself to them. I climb up open grate stairs to the top of vertical tanks or asphalt silos darn near every day. Probably 150’+. Suddenly running up a ladder to 20’ doesn’t even draw your attention and going into a treestand is a breeze. I went from hating heights with a passion to not even noticing them.

I also feel a lot safer in my assault than I did in my climber with a railing.
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Re: Fear of Heights

Unread postby Redman232 » Sat Jul 27, 2019 1:29 am

justdirtyfun wrote:
cspot wrote:
justdirtyfun wrote: Anyway, are you in a hunter style harness? Rear hitch?
Yes to both.


With using a rock harness or saddle, you are USING the tree tether at some point every time. That allows opportunity to accept the rope holding you. The hunting style/work fall harness gear really is a background piece of equipment that mentally, a guy will say " I hope I don't need this". It does't give confidence because things are wrong when they come into play. So before turning your back on hang on stands you might want some time with a rock harness or saddle with a tree tether.



I agree with this, I feel much safer with a rock climbing harness than I ever did with a back harness. Also with my focus mainly being mature bucks, setups under 10-12, have become a lot more common for me personally.
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Re: Fear of Heights

Unread postby Tennhunter3 » Sat Jul 27, 2019 2:49 am

Trout wrote:I've occasionally had a fear of the tree I'm in falling while I'm strapped to it. I actually got down and went to a different tree on a hunt last year, was up un a smaller tree and was sure it was going to fall. :lol:



You mention this brings a scary experience I had.
5 years ago I climbed up a mid sized softwood sweetgum tree in my summit climber before daylight it appeared healthy on a east facing slope. The temp was below freezing I sat their for about 3 hours and I began hearing several loud cracking sounds. I started to really freak out and began lowering my summit viper climber very slowly down the tree.

I hunted the area 2 months later and the tree from the mid point up was on the ground.

I think the cold and climbing stands pressure combined was what did it.
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Re: Fear of Heights

Unread postby Huntress13 » Sat Jul 27, 2019 5:15 am

I hunted shotgun for years and years and never climbed any kind of tree stand. It wasn't until I started bowhunting not that many years ago that I ever got in a ladder stand. I'm not a big fan of heights (or rather, it's not looking at the height that bothers me, it is mental, I have to feel secure). Never used a climber or hang on. But I really really want to try saddle hunting. Just need to start saving up for all the gear, probably for next year. That will give me time to learn and practice with it. I just am having a hard time spending all that money in case I don't like it and then have to try to sell it. But love the idea of being able to get in just about any tree without carrying a ton of weight.
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