Treestand nostalgia

Bill

Administrator
Call me weird. I have a soft spot in my heart for these old skeletons much like old barns with huge hay lofts their not returning to the American landscape any time soon.

As a kid you could roam the countryside and they were everywhere "and usable"

Were they safe? What was safe. Our 8 year old sisters had easy bake ovens. We ran unsupervised with BB guns. No one knew what a bike helmet was. Cars had unused lap belts and metal dash boards. So I guess at the time, they were safe.

I'm sure someone somewhere is still building them. But take the time to enjoy what they represent now. They're not coming back on a large scale ever again.

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Do you have a soft spot for old electric chairs and gallows? :D All death traps...
 
I was still building them less than 10 years ago. I really miss building them. The whole process of finding the spot, the perfect tree, scrap lumber... A simpilar time. I don't even hunt where I used to build them anymore. I wonder what shape they are in? The last couple were pressure treated lumber and lag bolts. Great thread.
 
More than once I've been exploring grounds looking for a place to put a stand up only to look up and see the remnants of an old wooden stand or step in the same spot.
 
Yoderjac, So are ATVs, 100mph snowmobiles, skateboards, Extension ladders, swimming pools, electricity, farm machinery, automobiles, wood stoves, firearms, and alcohol. What's your point Jack? Those old stands are still really cool. I've used a lot more dangerous things in my life. See list above.
 
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Call me weird. I have a soft spot in my heart for these old skeletons much like old barns with huge hay lofts their not returning to the American landscape any time soon.

As a kid you could roam the countryside and they were everywhere "and usable"

Were they safe? What was safe. Our 8 year old sisters had easy bake ovens. We ran unsupervised with BB guns. No one knew what a bike helmet was. Cars had unused lap belts and metal dash boards. So I guess at the time, they were safe.

I'm sure someone somewhere is still building them. But take the time to enjoy what they represent now. They're not coming back on a large scale ever again.

3350b352794eab0611570018466e62cf.jpg



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Ever heard the song A Different World by Covington? You may like it
 
I have four of those old treestands on my property and currently have stands right next to two of them and stands within 50 yards of the other two.

Always neat to think of what they saw back then to build a stand in that particular spot. I like seeing those old stands and thinking about everything that went into it.
 
Do you have a soft spot for old electric chairs and gallows? :D All death traps...

I guillotine would a neat conversation Piece
 
Ever heard the song A Different World by Covington? You may like it

Never heard of it, i'll look it up.
 
I have a couple of old dilapidated carpet blinds on the property. I have stands by both and the boys have killed deer out each. Seems the old guard knew the the deer movement patterns well.
 
Funny I also have stands near old wooden ones. Just shows how generations of deer use the same landscape features.
And as Sarchmo says, the old gaurd figured it out.
 
We eventually started building those with treated lumber. Then the lumber wouldn't rot but as the tree grew it put stress on everything. I learned to use decking screws on the platform boards and loosen them up to relieve the stress and then tighten back down. You could keep a stand going for a long time that way.

I have three ladder stands built out of treated lumber and two of them have stood in the same spot for over 25 years.

But, I get the nostalgia of the old stands and barn lofts. Love seeing anything that reminds me of the old days...............
 
Call me weird. I have a soft spot in my heart for these old skeletons much like old barns with huge hay lofts their not returning to the American landscape any time soon.

As a kid you could roam the countryside and they were everywhere "and usable"

Were they safe? What was safe. Our 8 year old sisters had easy bake ovens. We ran unsupervised with BB guns. No one knew what a bike helmet was. Cars had unused lap belts and metal dash boards. So I guess at the time, they were safe.

I'm sure someone somewhere is still building them. But take the time to enjoy what they represent now. They're not coming back on a large scale ever again.

3350b352794eab0611570018466e62cf.jpg



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I love them too ... hope evolution has thinned the heard with these idiots.

Imagine that on a website devoted to habitat improvement that these mental idiot pounded nails and whatever else into these trees ... I can safely say after 25 plus years of tree stand activity, I have never driven a nail into a tree.

get where you are coming from Bill, just don't agree with what these dumbasses have done.
 
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I love them too ... hope evolution has thinned the heard with these idiots.

Imagine that on a website devoted to habitat improvement that these mental idiot pounded nails and whatever else into these trees ... I can safely say after 25 plus years of tree stand activity, I have never driven a nail into a tree.

get where you are coming from Bill, just don't agree with what these dumbasses have done.

Tree Spud, what's your objection? Just wondering about your feeling that anybody who has ever built a tree-stand the old school way is an idiot, dumb-ass, Darwin award winner? Is it the safety issue of rickety tree-stands? Is it the safety issue of potential future accidents resulting from loggers and/or sawyers striking the nails? Or are you just a tree-hugger?

I've never personally built one.
 
I love them too ... hope evolution has thinned the heard with these idiots.

Imagine that on a website devoted to habitat improvement that these mental idiot pounded nails and whatever else into these trees ... I can safely say after 25 plus years of tree stand activity, I have never driven a nail into a tree.

get where you are coming from Bill, just don't agree with what these dumbasses have done.

You missed it. Its not that they were dumb for doing it. Granted its not the safest way to be in a tree. They figured out it was better to above the prey. Prior to that they hunted like Natty by stalking or sitting next to a brush pile at eye level. No offense to Natty. Its pretty bad A$$ to give that a try today.

The anchoring system wasn't the best idea by todays standards. But without the first scientists we would still be walking around looking for food.

You're in an elevated stand today because some old timer used nails and boards. My lawn mower has more HP then Henry Fords model A, But that dude was a Genius.
 
Tree Spud, what's your objection? Just wondering about your feeling that anybody who has ever built a tree-stand the old school way is an idiot, dumb-ass, Darwin award winner? Is it the safety issue of rickety tree-stands? Is it the safety issue of potential future accidents resulting from loggers and/or sawyers striking the nails? Or are you just a tree-hugger?

I've never personally built one.

Ask any logger about nails in a tree when they are chain sawing ...
I have dropped several 1000 trees over the years. Worked on a crew in college that thinned pine stands for pulp wood. Nails, spikes, etc are a huge safety issue.
 
You missed it. Its not that they were dumb for doing it. Granted its not the safest way to be in a tree. They figured out it was better to above the prey. Prior to that they hunted like Natty by stalking or sitting next to a brush pile at eye level. No offense to Natty. Its pretty bad A$$ to give that a try today.

The anchoring system wasn't the best idea by todays standards. But without the first scientists we would still be walking around looking for food.

You're in an elevated stand today because some old timer used nails and boards. My lawn mower has more HP then Henry Fords model A, But that dude was a Genius.

Not exactly sure I would equate nailing a board to a tree with the invention of the combustion engine ... :confused:
 
YPrior to that they hunted like Natty by stalking or sitting next to a brush pile at eye level. No offense to Natty.

None taken. LOL. Going out tomorrow for an all day hunt....on the move...looking for a buck track.

Ask any logger about nails in a tree when they are chain sawing ...
I have dropped several 1000 trees over the years. Worked on a crew in college that thinned pine stands for pulp wood. Nails, spikes, etc are a huge safety issue.

Got it. I thought maybe that was it. When I posted my land several years ago I used aluminum nails to hang my signs for just that reason. Probably still a bit dangerous, but less so than steel nails or lag bolts.
 
I love to look at those old skeletons too. I always wonder what the area looked like when they were built & why the builder chose that spot. I built one about 28 years ago at camp & it's down and gone now. Group of 4 close trees. Trees swaying in the wind did it in.

Natty - Do you hunt with moccasins / buckskins on when you track/stalk ?? :D Use a spear ?? :p ( No offense either, but Bill left a thread hanging - had to yank on it !! )
Many deer taken by tracking & stalking - I've done it myself. Benoit family of Maine - monsters in the woods. It's an exciting way to hunt.
 
Not exactly sure I would equate nailing a board to a tree with the invention of the combustion engine ... :confused:

Yea that was a stretch, but you get the point. They weren't loggers they were hunters and they took us in a new direction.
 
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