Hunter's Stand Bag

This invention relates to the field of hunting equipment, and more particularly to storage and carrying containers for hunters' supplies.

In the sport of hunting, a commonly used strategy is for the hunter to secure a position from which the prey may be observed while the hunter remains unnoticed. Many types of shelter, blind or camouflage are used for this purpose.

A particularly useful device employed is a hunter's tree stand which permits the hunter not only to be unobserved, but also to be relatively comfortable for long periods of time. Such a device is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,417,645 and 4,452,338, both to Reese E. Untz. The stands described in these patents relate to hunter's devices for sitting in a tree while waiting for the designated prey to appear.

The function of camouflage in hunting is well established. Even though the tree stands discussed above are placed above the line of sight of most animals, the hunter will ordinarily take special precautions to conceal himself. The commercially available stands are sold in a nonreflective black painted finish. Regardless of the stand's color and finish, the hunter will typically paint spots of green and brown to more completely blend the stand to the background woods.

A typical model hunter's stand is sold by the BuckShot Company of Wilmington, N.C. under the name of PortaClimb. In addition to a non-reflective finish, this stand is equipped with a cushioned cover for each arm to protect against the arm being accidentally hit by a hard object and making a noise. Such a noise could reveal the location of the hunter.

While the hunter may be reasonably comfortable when seated in the stand, he requires means to store such things as food, drink, field glasses or a raincoat in addition to storage provided by his pockets or a backpack. He often remains in a particular location for many hours. Both pockets and a backpack have serious limitations. Pockets are normally limited in size and capacity, and a backpack is awkward to access while in a seated position.

There is presently a bag on the market which is useful to a hunter for storing and accessing supplies. It is sold by Trophy Hunter Products, Inc. of Townville, S.C. 29689. The Trophy Hunter bag does not satisfy all the objectives below because it is closed by means of a zipper, it does not have an opening covering closure flap, and it utilizes fabric straps with buckles to hang from an arm of the hunter's stand. The effect of these drawbacks and the relative improvement provided by the present invention will be described below.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an equipment container for a hunter which may be attached to a hunting stand.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide a container which will be easy to access while the hunter is in a tree stand.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a container which may be utilized without causing noticeable noise.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a container which will not be visually noticeable in use.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent through the disclosure and claims which follow.

The invention disclosed provides a bag for hunters which may be removably attached to the arms of a hunter's stand of a type commonly used in hunting. The bag of the invention furnishes a convenient and spacious place to store items needed by the hunter during his wait for prey. The bag is made of camouflage pattern fabric, is water resistant, and has noiseless nonreflective clasps.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the hunter's stand of the prior art illustrated in use on a tree.

FIG. 2 is the perspective view of FIG. 1 with the addition of a hunter's bag of the present invention mounted on each arm of the stand and showing in dashed lines, a hunter seated thereupon.

FIG. 3 is an elevation view of the hunter's stand seat of the prior art with an arm cushion positioned to be placed over an arm.

FIG. 4 is the elevation view of FIG. 3 with the addition of a hunter's bag of the present invention mounted thereupon and an arm cushion positioned to be placed over the bag support flap.

FIG. 5 is a sectional elevation view taken in the direction of line 5--5 of FIG. 4 with the closure of the hunter's bag closed and with an arm cushion placed over the bag support flap.

FIG. 6 is the sectional elevation view of FIG. 5 with the closure of the hunter's bag open and with an arm cushion positioned over the bag support flap so as to retain the closure in an open position.

FIG. 7 is a perspective exploded view of a relatively quiet operating twist clasp with a twist clasp tongue positioned to be inserted into a twist clasp slot and then twisted closed.

FIG. 8 is a sectional elevation view of the hunter's bag in position to be mounted to an arm of the hunter's stand.

The invention described herein provides a hunter's stand bag which satisfies the objects outlined in a practical manner. It is lightweight, water resistent, camouflaged, spacious, easily transported and relatively quiet in operation.

FIG. 1 illustrates the prior art commonly used hunter's stand mounted on tree T as it would be normally used. The hunter's stand S is comprised of two major parts, seat frame 10 and foot supporting frame 24. Seat frame 10 is held in posit on by the weight of either seat frame 10 alone or of a hunter seated in place which presses blade 14 into tree T and causes the frame 10 to pull against seat bracing frame member 12. The hunter will be seated in position upon seat 16 with his back against seat back 18. Seat back 18 is supported by arms 20 which may be fitted with arm cushions 22, made of soft, flexible material for comfort and noise avoidance and whose resilience and shape tends to hold them in place.

Foot supporting frame 24 operates in similar manner to seat 10 by pressing foot blade 28 into the side of tree T as the applied weight pulls on foot bracing frame member 26. The manner of assembling and of raising the hunter's seat device in a tree T is outlined in the patents identified above to which reference is directed.

In FIG. 2 the same view of seat 10 and foot supporting frame 24 is shown, modified by the addition of hunter's bag 30 of the present invention. Bag 30 may be hung from either arm 20 or one bag hung from each of arms 20 of hunter's stand seat frame 10 by means to be described in detail below. Each arm cushion 22 will fit over the portion of bag 30 which is wrapped around a corresponding arm 20 so as to allow the hunter the same comfort as usual. The coverage afforded by camouflage pattern bag 30 aids in hiding a portion of the body of the hunter when seated as can best be seen from FIG. 2. The bags 30 also provide the hunter a considerable amount of storage space for food and equipment which may be needed during the time spent waiting for prey.

Seat frame 10 of the prior art hunter's stand is shown in the elevation view of FIG. 3. Seat bracing frame member 12 has locking pin 12a which is removed in order to separate and place member 12 around a tree. Locking pin 12a is then reinserted to lock member 12 at a desired length, thereby determining the level of seat 16 and seat back 18 in use. Seat blade 14 contacts the tree trunk and helps support the stand (FIGS. 1, 2). Each arm cushion 22 is resilient and is shaped so that it can be resiliently secured over a respective arm 20 to soften the surface on which the arm of the hunter will rest.

FIG. 4 illustrates the present invention in greater detail as it is mounted for use on an arm 20 of seat frame 10. Bag 30 is attached by means of support flap 50 to the selected arm 20 before placing an arm cushion 22 thereupon. Bag 30 is made of a camouflage pattern fabric which is water resistant and lightweight to optimize the benefits intended. Front panel 32 is made in a size to fit the length of arm 20, to best cover the hunter and to optimize use of available space. Closure 38 (FIGS. 4, 5, 8) fits completely over the upper opening of bag 30 and is constructed with downwardly extending flaps 38a, 38b, 38c connected to the front and side edges respectively and configured to overlap and adequately close bag 30 and aid in keeping rain out. Twist clasps 40 (shown in detail in FIG. 7) are adapted to hold closure 38 in place and allow the hunter to open and close bag 30 with the least amount of noise possible.

In the preferred embodiment, bag 30 has an approximate height of 12 inches (30.5 cm.), a length of 20 inches (50.8 cm.) and a width of 3 inches (7.62 cm.). In this same embodiment, bag 30 is made of camouflage decorated 400 denier nylon woven fabric and is sewn together with a water resistant polyester sewing thread. In areas of particular stress, such as support flap 50 and the edges of closure 38 and front panel 32 where twist clasps 40 are installed, a reinforcing layer of compatible fabric may be added for strength.

Referring to FIG. 8, the preferred embodiment is made by sewing two substantially equal panels, front panel 32 and rear panel 34 to a U-shaped edge panel 36. Edge panel 36 extends around the two vertical edges and the lower horizontal edge of panels 32, 34, and is firmly stitched thereto. The upper horizontal edges of panels 32, 34, 36 surround the access opening of bag 30 which is covered by closure 38. Closure 38 is sewn to the upper horizontal edge of rear panel 34 and is positioned so as to be capable of flexing forwardly to cover the opening between front panel 32 and rear panel 34. Downwardly facing front flap 38a, end flap 38b and end flap 38c, not shown, overlap the top edges of bag 30 when closed. Support flap 50 is stitched into the same seam as is the attachment of closure 38 to rear panel 34. A hook and loop type fastening material 52 is sewn to the side of support flap 50 to wrap around the arm 20 on which bag 30 is supported with the gripping face exposed. The hook and loop type fastener used in the preferred embodiment is similar to the materials sold under the trademark Velcro.RTM. and is manufactured and sold under the trademark Aplix.RTM. by Aplix, Inc. of Charlotte, N.C. A piece of mating hook and loop material 54 which has an adhesive backing is adhered with its gripping face exposed to the respective arm 20 in a central location.

To install hunter's bag 30, the two lengths of hook and loop material 52 and 54 are pressed into contact which enables the bag 30 to be supported by support flap 50. FIG. 5 illustrates bag 30 mounted by hook and loop type fasteners, parts 52, 54, to arm 20 with closure 38 closed. If it is desired to keep closure 38 in the open position for an extended period of time, closure 38 may be wrapped around arm 20 and arm cushion 22 then placed over the layered fastening material 52, 54, support flap 50 and closure 38 (FIG. 6) to hold closure 38 open. An adequate grade of Aplix.RTM. fastening material to support bag 30 is rated at 15 pounds/square inch (1,056 grams/square cm.) shear strength with a piece two inches wide and the length of support flap 50 being used. As is known, the hook and loop fastening material has mating surfaces with the loops on one surface adapted to receive hooks from the other surface so as to achieve a grip. Since the loops and hooks must engage in sets, it is therefore desirable to always attach the same side (e.g. loops) to arm 20 so that if the bag 30 being attached thereto is a different one than usual, the gripping action will operate normally.

Due to the ability of the hook and loop attachment material to be repeatedly connected and disconnected, bag 30 may be either left in place on seat arm 20 or removed according to the needs of the hunter. If bags 30 are left in place on arms 20 and the hunter's seat 10 is taken down from the tree, bag 30 will not tend to slide out of place and the hunter can transport the assembly as one piece. Many stands S are provided with back straps to enable stand S to be carried on the back of the hunter, which can be accomplished while bags 30 are on arms 20 and held by the fastening material.

As illustrated in FIGS. 5, 6, 7, and 8, the components of twist clasps 40 are assembled to the upper edge of front panel 32 and to closure 38 on its front downward facing edge. The means of attachment employed for twist clasps 40 in the preferred embodiment is by a set of metal fingers which are forced through the fabric and bent over to clamp the clasp in position. A further depiction of clasp 40 is in FIG. 7 in a perspective exploded view. Twist clasp 40 is made of a pair of interlocking parts, twist clasp tongue 42 and twist clasp slot 44. As shown, tongue 42 is mounted to front panel 32 and slot 44 is mounted in a matching location on the front flap of closure 38. When closure 38 is brought into a closed position and slot 44 is placed in locking position around tongue 42, tongue 42 is twisted 90.degree. in either direction to hold closure 38 in place. This particular form of clasp has been discovered to be preferable over snaps, zippers or hook and loop fasteners for this use since it affords the most noiseless secure means for closing bag 30. In addition to the advantage to the hunter of silence, clasps 40 are painted with a non-reflective black paint to minimize the chance of being seen by an animal due to light reflection. Three clasps are used to securely contain the contents of bag 30. Also, while not shown, some bag embodiments are divided into several compartments by the interposing of fabric dividers stitched to the inside of front and rear panels. The use of multiple clasps to close the bag top provides greater security of containment for each compartment and is particularly useful when a hunter's stand S is being transported with bag 30 attached.

A further modification of the invention which may be employed in certain embodiments without departing from the overall principles is the addition of a handle upon the top panel of closure 38. This handle 39 (FIGS. 2, 4, 5 and 8) would improve the ease of carrying bags 30 when carried independent of seat 10. Such a handle 39 would best be either removable or made of a relatively thin strap material so as not to interfere with the ability to wrap closure 38 over arm 20 and place arm cushion over the combination.

Thus, all objectives of the present invention are satisfied by the details disclosed herein. Hunter's bag 30 attaches easily to seat 10 and can be readily removed therefrom. Whereas the hook and loop fastener attachment will make a noticeable noise when being separated to remove bag 30, this is ordinarily at a time when the hunting activity is completed, and noise at that time is not objectionable. The fastener is virtually noiseless when being joined for mounting bag 30 to arm 20. Otherwise the invention has provided a bag which is essentially silent and not visually obvious. It is water resistant with closure edges overlapping the body for further protection. The bag provided is easily carried either with or without the seat.

While the preferred embodiment has described various details of the invention, other means of accomplishing the objectives may be apparent to those skilled in the art, and are to be considered within the scope and principles contained herein.