homemade shooting rail for ladder stands

[crazyfarmer]

anyone make homemade shooting rails for their ladder stands? If so, post a picture. Im looking for something cheap to rig up for my ladders.

[peter p]

I used 1/2 inch emt pipe (electrical metal tubing) and bent it with a pipe bender to get the right width. I then cut the ends to the desired height and wrap it with black copper pipe insulation.
Sorry, I dont have a picture of it but it works great.

[Rich]

CF,

I have made several for my API climbers, I do the same as Peter P with a piece of electrical conduit. I have the wife make a cover for it with a piece of camo fabric. I can run the conduit and a conduit bender down to you one day if you don't have access to it.

Rich

[crazyfarmer]

i may by the bender.. its like 20 bucks at lowes I think. How much does the piping run per 10ft if you know? I havent priced any of it yet. Ill probably use U bolts and connect it to the stand. How long of a peice does one rail usually? Thanks for the info btw everyone

[peter p]

They are not that expensive.

The length depends on how high you want the rail to be.
Take some measurements of an existing rail or put 3 pieces of wood together in the shape of the rail and once you figured your comfortable height you can measure the length of the 3 pieces of wood to determine your rail length.
I myself like a lower rail.
On one of my ladder stands, the rail was too high and I had to cut it to make it more comfortable.

Here is a link to USA Home Depot prices.
http://www.homedepot.com/Conduit/h_d1/N ... =c_Conduit

[warydragon]

Attached is a photo of one of my ladder stands with an 1/2" electrical conduit shooting rail. Normally I have a camo cloth draped over the rail to hide my hand movements. I took it off for the season. I welded this particular stand in 1989. It uses a 24' ladder.

This rail uses a white chord tied to the tree to hold it up. It gets in the way but is usable. While hunting, I place my crossbow or rifle across the rail to leave both hands free.

I normally run a piece of PVC water pipe through the second ladder wrung from the top and connect a piece of 3/4" PVC with a 90 degree elbow to each end. These vertical pieces fasten to the shooting rail with bungee chords and hold the rail up. I've used this rail system for many years.

To grip the tree, I welded an angle iron with some teeth to the ends of the shooting rail. A chain with turnbuckle is used to secure it to the tree.

You can also see my red safety rope chained to the tree.
Fred

[Rich]

CF,

Conduit is cheap......probably less than $3 for 10 ft 3/4". The benders are size specific though, I have 3/4, 1" and 1 1/2" at work if needed.

Rich