I just had a horrible flashback from another thread of some old Baker treestands I used back in the day. I'll never forget the frightening rides down some tall straight trees in these things. My forearms still bearing the scars from numerous rides down with me hugging on for dear life and the hand climber fast behind banging me in the head. I also will never forget that sound either while we skipped down the tree...."KaChunk, kachunk, kachunk, kachunk, kachunk. :laughing:
(http://i49.tinypic.com/69gz92.jpg)
Oh man just that picture brings back wrist burns!
we got a couple of these hanging in the shed
I remember a climber a friend had that he had bought at wally-world. He paid $79 for it. The thing was actually riveted together and the first time he used it the rivets became loose. You had to balance yourself in it to keep it from shifting around. That thing would tilt 2" side to side. He hunted in it for a couple of years until he could afford a Summit climber. Those old Summits had a folding seat that you had to bend down, pick up, and step over to get it into the sitting position. All of this 20ft or more up a tree with no saftey belt. Man we were crazy.
Ross
The old Baker's were the worst climbers ever built, but the scariest time of my life was using Loc-On Lem stands. They attach to the tree by chain with an S hook on the end. Twice I have been sitting in the stands up 16-18", just happen to look down and notice the S hook having just enough crook left to keep from straightening out. Both times I was afraid to even move enough to get out of the stand. This was back in the late 70's or early 80's. I always had on a safety strap, but back in those days it was just a strap around your waist. I reckon the strap would have kept you from falling to the ground but it probably would have cut you in half during a fall. I still have a couple of those old stand that I use ocassionally, but today it's always while wearing safety vest, and I've learned to inspect the S hooks before each use.
Oh come on now........you guys are all talking about the NEW stands. :rolleyes: Waaaaay back when, maybe 35-40 years ago, even before Bakers I built my very first tree stand from parts of an old lawn chair - yup, thin aluminum tubing, 1/4x20 bolts and a bit of canvas. Damn thing was tied on a tree. We were hunting Fed land back then and no tree pegs allowed so I "tied" triangular shaped blocks on the side of a popple tree to get up in the stand. Sure enough the "steps" slipped down as I was going up so I had to shinny down after shooting a nice buck opening day. I was young, dumb and brave back then and even I was scared of that stand :scared:
Next came a Baker and a homemade baker - neither had hand climbers so we had to HUG the tree to get up and get down. Never so glad to retire tree stands as I was when those were put to rest.
I am a confirmed ground hunter now............. :bigsmyl:
HA! HA! Baker climber! I love it. When I was around 13-14years old,my Dad had a Baker. I decided I was going to use it for some shooting practice while he was at work. I was real smart though,I went to the telephone pole in the yard to set-up because there was no limbs on that thing. Or bark. I got up around 14 feet,hoisted up my bow,nocked a arrow,began to draw.... AND DOWN I WENT!! what a ride. Even with tree's with bark on them,those were sketchy. rat'
Early 80's.....first "tree stand" I had was a home made beauty crafted out of a piece of plywood and a kit with all the hardware.
I can still remember laying at the bottom of a tree, in the early morning darkness, moaning in pain and being thankful to be alive.
Quick ride to the bottom when it didn't quite bite on one of my shimmies up that day.
Not to be deterred, climbed right back up. So glad to have made it through that stage in "treestand development."
I can still remember my brother walking toward me with blood gushing from his head. He took the fast way down on one of those and was fine til he looked up and the hand climber fell.
After that I upgraded :laughing: to a lock-on with a plastic floor. Can't remember who made them but they were pretty scary too.
Rob
I had a climber I made out of steel tubing and expanded metal. This was back when I worked as a welder and the stand was rock solid. You could climb like a monkey in that stand but it was HEAVY. That thing would kill a mule hauling it around in the Ozarks.
Ross
I kept my first (only) Baker so long I replaced the wooden platform twice! My chest had a red rash from tree-hugging most of the bow season until the weather turned cold enough to wear more padding.
I'm glad to have survived those 10 years or so.
I think I still have knots on my head from those hand climbers.
My first attempt at a climbing stand was with a Baker. My Dad and uncles laughed their butts off at me while I was trying it out on a tree in the yard. I quit using it after I took the express elevator to the ground in the dark!
Baker or home made baker alike without a doubt. Going up was iffy, coming down could be a real thrill, but they insisted you sit real still.
I have a friend who swears he rattled up a decent buck while trying to get down one day.
I don't remember a kachunk, kachunk sound. I was always screaming too loud.
Ross
Baker around '73 it was a big step up from standing on a tree limb balancing for hours in the cold. I never had a bad experince with mine but I was young strong and crazy.
Standing on a tree limb for hours would cause your feet to "go to sleep" and it hurt like he11 to walk those first 50 yards when you got down for the evening.
I shot my first buck in Stevenspoint WI in midair, it was jumping the fenceline the tree I was in was on, while balancing no hands on a limb 15 feet up an oak tree. I am lucky I am still alive with some of the dumb stuff I did.
I never had a kproblem with my Baker stand, but then I never ever stood on anything but the outside third either. We made some crotch stands, the first version was like flying an experimental stunt plane. They would flip you upside down in a heart beat. The second version worked and they all got stolen out of the trees. The problem that I had was that I worked on very tall buildings in those days, 18 feet seemed like jumping distance to me.
The closest I came to dieing was with a Sabor climbing stand, "the widow maker" as my son called it. After two hours of hanging, I shifted my weight on the seat and it dumped me off. The waist/chest strap nearly killed me.
I now only use the best tree stand I have ever used, a Huntmore chair, plenty high enough off the ground for me these days.
Can't say it was the stands fault but I did have a Ameristep climber as my first ever climber.
Put it together one night tested it in the back yard & I want a hunting.
Now mind you the bolts were secured right but this little piece of string that was in the packaging never went anywhere so I lfet it out, needless to say my first time I learned what that string was for.
Thank God that I had on the safety harness because I got to where I wanted to be & the foot portion dropped to the ground.. :scared:
Not only did I have to get into the seat but most of my day was trying to fish that foot portion up with the bow hul line so I can get beck down out of the tree.
Lesson learned.
Hands down, the suicide Baker! I can't tell you how many quick elevator rides I took on those suckers! I can't believe I used those things without any safety straps. I did tie myself into the tree midday but always slept with one eye open!
A buddy of mine had a Screaming Eagle - Eaglette stand. The dang thing was so small my butt was below my knees and my heals were the only part of my foot on the stand.
Hunted one night for bear out of it and changed to another bait the next day.
Mike
Its funny how you work so hard getting up the tree with the stand and one portion or another of the stand will go back down the tree without you so easily! We are probably all lucky we don't walk with a limp or worse.lol
My tree hunting was before tree stands. I carried a length of rope to throw over the lowest limb and then pull myself up. I use to like to climb as high as I could and stand on a limb or in a crotch, putting my weight on one foot and shifting feet when my foot went to sleep. Then I got smart and started nailing short lengths of 2X4 on the limb. I never even thought about a safety belt the Good Lord must have been watching over me.. :pray:
When the Baker stands came out it made hunting from trees a little easier..although you did have to mind your p's and q's with those man trap's.. :eek:
Can you imagine the lawsuits today???
I think of two things when remembering those home-made scrap lumber deer stands. Wasp nests and rotten lumber. How in the world did we ever survive.
The only good thing about bakers is all the time hunting with them you were expecting a fall which i think prepared many of us to survive the fall. I remeber when I started bowhunting getting that thing down from the shed from where dad had done retired it. Made me a climbing rope to use with it. Spent about 20 minutes to get 12 feet up, so damn tired couldnt pull a bow back if I wanted to. Worked up so much sweat that squirrels were winding me. Froze to death from the sweat. It had to be a blustery 40 degrees. Sit there afraid to move. Finally a slick head came down the trail from the next county over (no way anything within mile radius didn't spook during the climb) doe was approaching started to stand to ready myself. Stand sqeaked, doe went on alert and started to circle to get wind. I tried to reposistion to follow her, stand began its decent, i hugged tree to ground to save life. Man those bakers were sure fun. However I did finally kill several deer from that old stand. used some tree steps to climb, fastened it to a tree with some 12 inch spikes. Never took it down. Last I heard squirrels had built a nest in it, but it fell when the littles ones were playing in the next and all got on tree side of nest. Here is the best thing about an ol baker. People still get $15 for them every year in a yard sale. Gotta love it.
:biglaugh: :laughing: :laughing:
How many of you guys had the experience of struggling up a tree only to realize you forgot something on the ground??? That's when I invented the barbless treble hook on a string retriever.
Baker's bring back floods of memories!!
I'm with pavan. I used a Baker for several years and only ever slid down the tree once. I was young, stupid and very lucky however. I took the Baker apart about 7 years ago so nobody could use it and put it in the trash.
The first "portable" stand we ever had was one that my grandfather built for us in about 1965. He was a blacksmith and built everything to last. It was made of iron and really heavy. It had these 4 long metal rods that ran from the end of the platform that were supposed to stick in the tree. The part that went near the trunk looked like a collar. I wish I had a picture of that thing. It was so bad that after testing it out in the backyard, we never used it.
Back in the day before portables I climbed into many trees and sat on the limbs or stood on 2X4's nailed between a couple of branches. The first deer I ever shot was from one of those that could not have been a foot wide and 2 feet long and must have been 25 feet up in the tree.
Yeah, I remember the old Baker stands and me sliding down those slick cypress trees we had in the swamps in Lousiana.
It's funny how amusing picking pine bark out of your belly seems when 35 years, or so, have gone by....
One time I was using a buddy's home-made, Baker-type climber. It was HUGE because we were hunting an area where the Eastern White Pines were so big, a regular Baker wasn't wide enough to get around the trunk. And brother, we hunted high enough to get a nosebleed from the change in altitude!
After an unproductive hunt, I hugged the tree to start down and immediately lost the stand. I swear that stand didn't touch that tree all the way down. I just heard the crash when it hit bottom, leaving me clinging to a trunk I couldn't get my arms around!
It wasn't painless and it wasn't pretty, but somehow, I made it down. I'm sure I didn't leave much more than a pound of hide on that tree.
I cannot believe I lived through my early tree stand phase. Thanks for the memories....
Owl, that story gave me the shivers. Never personally burned a tree with a Baker but I've had some real OMG moments with them. Thank God for the new climbing stands.
Ross
Back when I started deer and hog hunting it was still illegal to hunt from trees in some states. Homemade portables weren't out yet, so I just climbed trees and stood or sat on a good limb.
The first treestands I remember were what we called "Permanent Stands" nailed or tied to the trees.
Then we started building what we called portable stands. First one I had I bought from a guy who was building the best around and paid $25.00 for it. Piece of plywood fastened to a basketball rim with sharp studs welded to the back. Used a chain to attach it to the tried. It also had a piece of pipe with a round seat on top, fastened to the plywood with floor flange. The round seat fastened with a floor flange also and the pipe was threaded so you could swivel all around when sitting on it.
We used pole climbers we would bum from friends who worked at the power co.
My one and only Baker didn't have a seat or climbing section...had to hug the tree. Only stand so far I almost fell with. Left it hooked to a tree in Ocala, Forest.
I had 2 Bakers that were given to me. I took the quick ride down one time and when I got my Lone Wolf my dad asked what should I do with your stands in the basement? I said take them to work and cut them in half. He said what about the kid next door just starting to hunt. That is when I told him the quick ride stories and he understood why I said cut them up.
The first " Climbing Stand " I ever saw was a Baker knock off called a Tree Frog. My hunting buddy bought one in the late 70's.
He wanted to show it off so he climbed the phone pole in front of our house. He climbed to around 20 feet or so and then turned around to act like he was shooting his bow. When he stepped back to act like he was shooting below him he stepped in towards the pole causing the platform to release and free fall. It got about 3 feet off the ground and grabbed again acting like a spring board.
It catapulted him at least 10 feet in the air!! Luckily he wasn't hurt. After we were through laughing we had to cut the stand off the pole with a hacksaw. A $100.00 lesson on climbing treestands.
bretto
Didn't have a hand climber, but hugged the tree with a Baker back in the day. Usually put an elastic cord from arm to arm and around the trunk to hold it in place once I got into position. Never had one drop from under me once I got it set up.
Opening day of gun season many years ago, we had a sleet storm the evening before. I shinnied up that tree, and slid back down again, three times before I finally got it set. I was younger, stronger and probably more persistent then. Stupid also comes to mind. Anyway, I'm still here to tell about it. :dunno:
Glad that we are all still in one piece after using equipment like that. :eek:
I never hunted this stand, but it was on a lease I had. I never went by it without shaking my head. It has an old swivel seat rolling office chair on top. It was a death trap the day it was made.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v611/dudleyg/100_4271_0113.jpg)
For me, tree limbs and a single 2x4 were actually worse than the Baker. However the Baker was still an experience I care not to relive.
2 X 12 Wedges were far better.
Even Bakers could be made safer by simply adding a strap around thetop and the tree. But they were fun.
Bear had a stand that was actually pretty sturdy, but it had heavy metal points that really dug into the tree. Hunting public ground, they were. . . well , , , an issue.
I had another, can't recall the name, with a round ball earing swivel seat. Quiet as all get out, 'cept when you turn one way or the other and it almost throws you off the stand.
Heck, those were the good ol days, when you tied a rope around the tree and you to stay safe.
ChuckC
Does anyone recall the stand. . a climbing stand, that was in two parts. Each side strapped to a foot and you walked up the tree like steps ?
I saw that advertisement and giggled.
ChuckC
QuoteOriginally posted by ChuckC:
Does anyone recall the stand. . a climbing stand, that was in two parts. Each side strapped to a foot and you walked up the tree like steps ?
I saw that advertisement and giggled.
ChuckC
I forgot about that! I do remember that! I never saw one, but I remember the advertisement.
An old Ammaker steel climber (think the Maislide model?) like carrying a house if you went far. Much faster coming down than going up. Often it was Maislide's idea.
worst ive used, on a moose hunt in alberta i was put in a 2 piece climber that had grown into the tree. the seat was leaning down and the foot rest part was leaning to one side. called it the iron maiden... and that was the least of my troubles on that hunt.
worst here was a cheap hang on i bought. the stand was fine, but the ratchet straps were junk. setting it up i about fell out of the tree when one of the straps let loose. junk.
Baker by far I took the ride down once and never used it again.
Had a friend sitting on the ground in the early AM dark. Through the woods he hears a guy walking, "clank, clank, clank. . ." The guy comes up within 20 yds of my friend who does not say a word. . . After a few more clanks and metal scrapping, he hears, "Kachunk, kachunk, kachunk.. . .etc" up a nearby tree. Then silence for a few minutes. . . then all of sudden like a rapid machine gun he hears, "chunk, chunk, chunk, chunk chunk, chunk, chunk, ka THUD! :scared: Cough cough cough. Gasp for air, cough." :bigsmyl:
When I read the title of this thread, the word "Baker" sprang to mind......and I guess others had the same thought.
On my second trip down a tree on my Baker the seat climber caught about 8' up, my rapid decent stripped me through it almost tearing my arms off. The foot platform caught about 3' from the ground and my momentum pitched me out backwards. The problem was my feet were still in the foot straps. The back of my head bounced off the ground, guess this kept me from breaking my back.
I lay on the ground, my arms were completely dead, no feeling in them at all, couldn't move them so I thought I was paralyzed.
After about 30 minutes of deep thought about my condition while I lay on the ground, I felt a tingle in my fingertips. The feeling slowly came back in my arms. My arms were bruised jet black from armpit to wrist.
As this was my second rapid decent in my Baker I took a sledge hammer to it when I got home and pitched it in the trash, I didn't want someone to retrieve it and put it back in service.
Same thing here John,when I read the title I almost started laughing.Those Baker stands were just crazy,but the thought of a climbing tree stand was just so cool.I would not get in one of those today for love nor money. :scared:
Its funny how you work so hard getting up the tree with the stand and one portion or another of the stand will go back down the tree without you so easily! We are probably all lucky we don't walk with a limp or worse.lol
As I read the title the Baker stands came to mind. There wasn't many to pick from in those days.
A Baker nightmare for me as well.RC
Fox squirrel and a early model summit.
:campfire: God bless.
I got even with my Baker. I burned it up in a large bonfire.
1st generation LocOn. Had one collapse on me. Luckily I was trying it out and was not high up. Early 90s. The stand was given to me and was older when I got it. Aluminum parts except the plywood platform. Aluminum gave way. Not the wood.
Didn't hunt from a manufactured stand again until last year.
I was a "Baker Era" bow hunter too but the one that hurt me the worst was an old River's Edge climber that a friend loaned me. That thing weighed 487 pounds and of course I dropped everything from my quiver to my Bic and had to go up and down a dozen times. My abs felt like somebody had beaten my belly with a broomhandle! When the hunt was over I bought it from him and mounted it permanently so no one would ever have to go through that pain again.
I started out with homemade version of the Baker, minus the hand climber. It also had a aluminum sheet for the base instead of plywood. I have a pretty funny story about those stands. Needless to say, I still don't like treestands.
Baker,still have the scars on my forearms. :scared:
QuoteOriginally posted by KentuckyTJ:
Can you imagine the lawsuits today???
No kidding. That's what I was thinking. I'm afraid of heights and couldn't hunt from a tree anyway. You guys are/were brave!
I was hunting one morning when I heard all kinda racket about a 100yds from me. I just knew it was two bucks fighting. Lasted about 5 minutes and stopped.
When I got down I eased down that way and saw a guy up in a pine on a Baker Stand.
Baker for me, the best thing that ever happened was when it got stolen, I smile when I read these accounts and think of the thief who got mine.
My older brother tells horror stories about a climbing stand called the squirrel? apparently it spiraled around the tree as it fell.
I felt like a "test pilot" with quite a few homemade and commercial models back in the 80s.
Baker's should have come with a life insurance policy attached. That being said, I shot several deer from my Baker Mighty Might.
I'm glad it's easier now.
Trap
Yep! I still have nightmares about the old baker rides!!!
Wow--The old Bakers sure have been taking a beating here. I bought mine before it was called a Baker--it was first called the "Profane Tree Stand" supposedly because when someone saw you climb a tree with it, they would exclaim, "Well, I'll be DaXXed".
Mine arrived on a UPS truck one morning, and that very afternoon I killed my first decent buck from it. On a soft barked pine tree it worked very well. On harder barked trees it could slide if you weren't careful. I still have that old stand and actually use it once in a while yet.
Joe
One thing that can be said about the old Baker's, they got the ball rolling, in terms of better climbing stand development.
Saw one in front of a consignment store, for $5, back last year. Sent chills up and down my spine.
My father welded one up like one of those Bakers. It turned out so well, someone broke into the shed and thats all that they stole. Thief might have saved my life.
Some of my friends put a row sharpened bolts through the bar on their bakers to make them grip the tree and be safer. This worked, they never took a ride down a tree with them after they had been altered.
never owned a baker...though friends did and teh stories of them sliding down the tree were enough to keep me away. Worst I had was an early Loggy Bayou aluminum stand...not sure if they had not gotten the welding or design right as of yet back in the 90s....but the damn thing creaked and groaned with every movement. Impossible to go from sitting to standing or to shift your weight the slightest once the temps got down to 50 or below. Heavy dose of silicone lube and running straps around the platform helped but ended up selling to a guy in florida that never sees cool weather and rifle hunts. :)
My early loggy was my favorite stand until it started creaking and groaning, never could get it to stop. Sold it to a rifle hunter that never stood up.
The worst stand I ever owned was a Baker Mighty Mite that I dubbed "the torture platform". This thing was about 15"X15" after you got up in the tree you moved very little. I upgraded to a TSS stand, one of those do it yourself deals where you supply the plywood. The platform was bigger and it had a spring steel band to go around the tree but still slipped a lot going up and coming down.
I used the original Baker stand but I don't remember a hand climber. Believe mind was purchased before the hand climber was available. I never had a bad incident, but I saw my hunting bud come down a tree so fast it took all the hair off his chest. Can remember hugging those trees for dear life, bending my knees and positioning the stand for another bite and then standing up on the stand and adjusting my arm hold for another go. Those were the days.
I killed a lot of deer out of those old bakers ........................ today I wouldnt use one if you paid me !!!!! .....LOL... times change 8^)
My brother used his Baker up to 10 yrs ago, it was his lucky stand, changing plywood every two years. His ribs finally gave out.
My first tree stand was my worst. It was a home made, $5 flea market stand with no climber, you hug the tree. I'd put my arms through the strape on a boat cussion and hug the tree. Killed my first deer, an 8pt, from this stand after it ratching out from under me vtrying to get up a straight live oak tree. This was about the time the Bakers first came out.
Loggy Cheap Seat and Strap-On Steps.
Used to just find a bigger tree and sit on a hefty limb. No safety harness. Went to Stuben County NY one year, saw deer traveling a ridgeline and set up in an OLD tree, about 30 feet up to keep myself above the deer on the steep trail.
Once set up, I started a practice draw and AAIIIYYYEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!
Like Wile E. Coyote, hit every limb on the way down, thank God....or I'd be dead! Bow was perfect, I was a little crooked.
What memories..Back in the early 70s my dad built a wooden stan for my brother and I. The thing was all boards and about 20 ft or so up. Our dad went up the tree and my brother and I used a rope, pully and a horse to bring the lumber up to our dad as he built it, and the ladder was a big rope with knots tied in it every couple feet or so. Man it was a job just to get up in it. I don't think there was any deer took from it but we had fun with it.
It beat setting on a tree limb. (did that too)
Loved my Baker, Big John or something like that.
24" X 32 "
Never has a mishap..
Biggest mistake, was standing too close to the tree, causing it to kick out.
Once they gained thier unenviable reputation, no one wanted it.
Could leave it anywhere, no one would steal it..
Baker? :scared: :scared:
Do I have some stories!!! Not enough time for here! Glad they went the way of the Dodo!
I've also had issues with some early model hand climbers from a fairly well known stand company from down south.....don't want to start a screamin contest here....just stating my experiences.
Thinking about some of those old Baker "experiences (and those of others), makes me laugh......'course, it wasn't funny back then.....till the stand stopped moving!!!
baker hands down
it ruined me on climbers till a few yrs ago
i could handle the occasional ride down back when i ws a teenager
wouldnt want to do it now
TSS.
I received it as a gift for my birthday. I supplied the plywood and put it together. I set it as a semi-permanenant stand and not as a climber.
I put it up and hunted out of it ONCE. About 15 feet up a cottonwood tree, coming to full draw on a fat doe one October morning, the stand slipped about 4 feet down when I shifted my foot near the rear of the stand to brace myself for the shot.
I quickly climbed down, checked myself for battle wounds and left the stand there. That was 1987. The stand is still there, though much tighter because the tree has gotten much bigger. Only remnants of a platform exist from wood rot and squirrel feasts.
It was only last year that I discovered the Double Bull........
8' home made ladder stand, made from 2X4's. No place for my butt, not much room for my feet and only 8' high...so my feet were at 6'. I did kill my first deer [bow] from it with a compound.Learned a lot from that whole thing!!.....LOL!
What was the treestand (70's) that you pushed up the tree with a pole, and then climbed up a rope ladder? Was that the Baker?
I've already responded to this thread once but have to say that all the guys who managed to slide down trees on their Bakers were doing smething wrong. If you kept you weight out front it would not slide.
Before the handclimber came out I shimmied up and down trees just fine, but when the handclimber arrived, I really loved my old Baker. with a safety belt I could lean away from the tree and shoot in most any direction. I loved my old Baker and still use it now especially on large pine trees. I strap it on my back and hunt wherever I find a good spot.
Joe
QuoteOriginally posted by RkyMtn Joe:
. . . If you kept you weight out front it would not slide. Joe
That is a Big "IF" to risk your life on. . .
A homejob rebar ladder stand with road signage for the base, which was slick and leaning away from the tree, while sitting on a 20 gallon bucket and getting terrorized by mosquitoes. Memories :coffee:
QuoteOriginally posted by Roger Norris:
What was the treestand (70's) that you pushed up the tree with a pole, and then climbed up a rope ladder? Was that the Baker?
That one was sold by Bear. There is one still in my shed. Had plastic rollers on the chain so it would slide up the tree. Didn't work worth a damn.
baker and it still gives me chills for those rides down those trees
Thinking about it, there was one I used that was worse than a Baker. Don't know the name but it was a climber that had a flexible steel band covered in rubber that went around the tree and there was also a rubber covered "V" on the platform. It was a borrowed stand and the one and only time I used it I got up about 8 feet before the elevator to the ground floor - I did use it the rest of that morning but I only put it up 2-3 ft.
I used a Baker from the age of 10 to about 14. Maybe my dad didn't love me? But, the one I had was actually one of the sit down/stand up climbers where you face the tree. I never had any trouble with it slipping. I think my dad liked me using it because it had the seat rail around me to help keep me from falling out. The tiny foot platform wasn't great for bowhunting though, and that's all we did.
But the worst stand I ever had was a Loggy Bayou. I don't remember the exact model but that thing was a death trap while climbing. It was great once you got set up because the seat flipped up and ratcheted to the tree. It was rock solid at that point. But getting there usually had me in a cold sweat.
A climbing stand called a "fox squirrel" that came out around 1971 or so give or take a year. i bought it in Athens, Ga from either Dan Quillians archery shop or another local guy named Garth Fuller who had a shop in his house. The original model had no rubber coating on the steel bands so it was very loud putting the stand up. There wasn't a hand climber with it at the time so you used your arms to climb up and then down the tree. i usually left a good bit of skin behind. Eventually we learned to tape around the metal straps to quiet them, and the company finally put some rubberized coating on the straps. i think i paid $29.95 for the first one that i bought.
QuoteOriginally posted by Pete McMiller:
Thinking about it, there was one I used that was worse than a Baker. Don't know the name but it was a climber that had a flexible steel band covered in rubber that went around the tree and there was also a rubber covered "V" on the platform.
That would be a Loggy Bayou. Still have mine from 1983 when they came out. With the climbing aid I never had a problem. But. . . first time before I bought the aid. . . ouch!
I had two that I bought from garage sales. They were aluminum hang-ons that SQUEALED when temps got below zero. Cost me two doe, grrrr!!!!
Had my Baker come off my feet about 20' up a Beech tree :scared: Left quite a blood trail from my hands on the ride down ! Also climbed up in an old wooden stand once that I found in the woods. Without warnind it fell right off the tree. All I remember was throwing my bow and broad arrow on the way down so I wouldn't land them.
QuoteOriginally posted by LimBender:
A homejob rebar ladder stand with road signage for the base, which was slick and leaning away from the tree, while sitting on a 20 gallon bucket and getting terrorized by mosquitoes. Memories :coffee:
Those were the days Will. I can see your Uncle Leroy saying .... GET UP THERE BOY AND SHOOT US A DEER!!
First Loggy Bayous with the band! OMGosh I can't believe we climbed the trees we did with that thing!
QuoteOriginally posted by Fletcher:
QuoteOriginally posted by Roger Norris:
What was the treestand (70's) that you pushed up the tree with a pole, and then climbed up a rope ladder? Was that the Baker?
That one was sold by Bear. There is one still in my shed. Had plastic rollers on the chain so it would slide up the tree. Didn't work worth a damn. [/b]
Yep....I went bowhunting when I was 12 with an Uncle. He had one of those......I was 12, and treestands were a new thing, but even then I knew that was a scary looking contraption. I never hunted out of a tree until the LEM Loc-On became affordable. Probably about 89?
I've got scars on both fore arms from my Baker experience. I still pull it out when I teach treestand safety as and example of what not to use.
I started out with a Baker Pro Hunter it was like carrying a half sheet of plywood around on your back. And yes the down the tree slides were memorable I remember sliding down a tree with the hand climber attached about 15 feet up. Hand to stand there and throw sticks at it to knock it down.
That's good stuff Randy! Ole Fox Squirrel....DD still hunts from his.. Dan swore up and down that Loggy Bayou knocked him off. Which brings me to my worst stand.
Loggy Bayou original climber... I called it the "Elevator".. That band would slip on a damp pine tree in a heart beat.. I fell 12 feet one time so fast I thought I was in an elevator watching the bark pass in front of me.....it's still in a tree in Geneva Ga
Baker climbing treestand, tried to kill me twice in the same day. I used the stand once and that was it.
A totally homemade hangon. I was wearing my waist belt, about 15 feet up an gnarly old maple tree. I was dozing and woke up when I suddenly hit the end of my belt. Seems the cable clamp had cut through the plastic covered cable but had not gripped the cable. I was lucky-as I dangled, I threw my bow and my arrow as far as I could, worked my way to the tree, climbed down, and went home and cleaned my drawers!!!! No more home made stands and no more waist belts!
QuoteOriginally posted by Roger Norris:
What was the treestand (70's) that you pushed up the tree with a pole, and then climbed up a rope ladder? Was that the Baker?
Roger,that one was actually sold by Bear Archery.I used to have one.That was a pretty crazy system.
old tss kit was my worst, slipped several times, Mike
This has been a lot of fun reading and a lot of laughs remebering back when.My worst was a home made climber,it had to wiegh 50 lbs.I carried it through some of the worst swamps in Fl,untill one day i left it at the bottom of a tree about a half mile out in the swamp.The things we do?
oh the memories. the 'Baker Slide' was pretty common in the late 70's and early 80's. I thought I had hit the jackpot when I got mine but, until I got a ratchet strap tight I was on pins & needles. I drilled holes in the bar and carried a ratchet strap and as soon as I was up I secured it to the tree. looking back at some of the places I carried that thing and hunted by myself from daylight to dark I wonder why I'm still alive.
oh well' live and learn.
The cheap POS I fell out of...change your rachets or end up in one of these great hats :) Seriously, though. I have found the cheaper the stand the thinner the rachet. All of mine end up with a chain on them this year and replaced rachets and cables are a must!
(http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r296/wapiti792/hand3.jpg)
Baker Slim Jim!
I stated that you must keep weight to the front of the stand (Bakers) and the reason of course is entirely about mechanics. Forward weight pulls the rear bar against the tree and pushes the bottom v-bar against the tree from the front. When you step too far to the rear, that pressure is lost and slides can occur, especially on slickm hard barked trees.
I have almost had a slide occur a few times on hard barked trees, but I haven't climbed an Oak or a Hickory with mine in years. I prefer about a 10 or 12 inch soft barked pine and I've never had the slightest problem with my old Baker.
My biggest complaint with it was that having an Accessory seat while using it was next to impossible, and also, even with the handclimber, it can be noisy.
I do think there are much better and safer stands available now though. However I will continue to use my Baker for the time being but as I am in my 70's, it ain't as easy to get up in the tree as it used to be. Everyone be safe and use a safety belt/harness no matter what kind of stand you're using.
Joe
I always wonder about they guys who did the baker slide "twice"
Either tougher than nails or dumb as a stump.. Maybe a mix of both :knothead: :knothead:
Before the Bakers came along, I spent lots of time building stands in different places in the areas I hunted. Of course, the big deer immediately began to use different routes to and from bedding and feeding areas.
The day mine arrived on UPS truck, I took it to the woods and climbed a tall pine tree with about a 10 foot cedar growing right alongside. This was in an area where I had seen lots of buck sign. I turned that stand so that I was in effect standing on top of the cedar and within an hour, I killed my first really nice buck.
Yep, when one continues to have the same problem, one wonders why that is so.
Joe