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How long have you been hunting out of a saddle?

Stand height is totally related to what type of pressure the area you hunt in has and the types of trees that are available. In many Midwestern states I have hunted such as Ks., Ia., Il., and Mo., there was no need to get much higher than 15 feet because the deer out there don't get pressured and rarely look up. On my 17 one week trips to those states (public and free knock on doors for permission properties only) I have taken 15 P & Y bucks. Even in the areas where they may have been a slight amount of other hunter pressure in those states, most if not all the hunters I spoke with were only targeting 3 1/2 year and older bucks so of course until the bucks reach the kill criteria age they have minimal fear of hunter interactions because there had never been any negative consequence with their previous hunter encounters while growing to maturity.

Mature deer in lightly pressured or managed areas just don't look for hunters in trees as they do in the NE where bow hunter densities per square mile are often between 10 and 25 and nearly double that number of gun hunters. In those areas almost every hunter is targeting any legal antlered buck so if they don't get smart very quickly, they get offed.

Listed below are some statistics of a few of the higher profile whitetail states and when you take the bowhunter license sales for each state and divide it into the absolute square miles of each state, you come up with a bowhunter density per square mile stat. Each states land mass is absolute and these stats don't take into consideration lands within each state where hunting is not allowed. In high general population states like Mi., Pa., NY., and W. Va., for instance there are many large cities and sprawling suburbs where hunting is not allowed and these non-hunting land masses are added into the total sq. miles of the listed statistics skewing the density numbers much lower than they actually are, whereas states like Ks., Ia., Ne. have much lower general populations and therefore much fewer large cities and suburbs.

State Bowhunters per absolute square mile

Michigan 7.38
Pennsylvania 6.03
West Virginia 5.81
Kentucky 4.63

Nebraska .19
Kansas .24
Iowa .71
Minnesota .90
Illinois 1.97

-Bowhunting license sales taken from Archery Business Magazine
-State sizes from Almanac, US Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census
-Most hunter densities in every state are at least doubled during gun season.

If you just took the statistical numbers, every Kansas bowhunter would have 2,560 acres to hunt whereas every Michigan hunter would have about 80 acres.

It really gets interesting when you take P & Y entries per state and divide it into that states licensed bowhunter numbers. Since I live in Michigan and it has the most licensed bowhunters of all states I will use it as the example. In 2006 only one out of every 3,647 licensed bowhunters entered a Pope & young buck in the record book. To put that into perspective, if 91 bowhunters hunted for 40 seasons each, statistically only one of them would take a Pope & Young buck during their lifetime. In that same year only one in every 116,666 gun hunters entered a Boone & Crocket buck.

In Kansas that year, 1 in every 148 bowhunters entered a P & Y buck.

Not trying to make any enemies here but stats are stats and they can't be denied. In Michigan it is an extremely rare hunt when my feet are not a minimum of 25 feet off the ground and 30 feet is more the norm. Obviously early in the season when trees have tons of concealment cover in the form of leaves, I can get away with lower heights. Also later in the season from conifers or oaks that held their leaves I can hunt lower as well. Having to hunt from high elevations is not a macho thing, it is a necessary thing in heavily pressured areas.

I would challenge any hunter to hunt in a heavily pressured state on public or free permission property and try to take a mature buck from a 14 foot perch in a trees with no foliage. They might get fortunate and possibly get an opportunity at a fawn, or maybe even a year and a half old doe or subordinate buck, but at a mature doe or buck, very unlikely.
 
With all due respect the P&Y stats mean nothing. In KS for years a 140in deer wouldnt even raise an eyebrow, you would be reluctant to tell your buddies that's what you settled with unfortunately those days are gone forever. We just have more big deer here. Im sure if you shoot a 140 in MI your calling everybody.

If you take away all the areas of KS that are treeless Im sure our avg hunter per mile would look more like other states. If you start looking for 25-30 foot trees your looking for a 1% tree that more than likely will be off location. A 25-30 foot tree in MI or the South probably isn't to hard to find. Stay away from the Cottonwoods those things will kill you. A mediocre tree in the prefect spot is better than a perfect tree in a mediocre spot.

IMO pressure is a relative term. Deer on public land don't freak nearly as much as deer that see no one for 8mo then all of a sudden there are people everywhere trying to kill them. Bucks don't like humans weather their being shot at or not. An encounter with a human is never a positive thing for them.

The signature of a tree stand in a tree is something I think some deer figure out fully what it is and they don't like it. In a lot of our woods here a climber in a tree sticks out like a sore thumb at any height. Exactly part of the reason I love the saddle so much.
 
Since I pattern my hunting after John Eberhart these days, I pretty much agree with him on all points. And in regards to hunting height in a tree, I am deathly afraid of heights, which I'm sure has been the savior of many a paranoid Michigan deer over the years. I have this internal barometer when I'm setting up a tree that usually gets me to a foothold of 15ft. plus/minus a few inches. Its uncanny how accurate I am by pure guessing (which is actually a fear factor). However, this is with hang-on stands, and here is another beautiful attribute of saddle hunting. I feel so safe hunting from a saddle, I can most often push myself to 20 plus feet for the typical set-up when prepping a saddle stand. I consider this a huge victory for myself personally. I have spent too many hours in stands that I set too high fearing for my life the entire time I was in them and not enjoying the hunt at all. Saddles are so safe in my eyes, I pretty much go to the height that I know takes me completely out of a deers' peripheral vision, and scent drift.
 
That is great to hear you are able to get higher using a saddle. I find a big advantage of the saddle that I can setup at the height I need to be, regardless of if I could get a stand in there. I do have my preferences on tree positions but I am able to make something work.

I also feel much safer in a saddle than a hang on. I always have a tight connection to the tree. In one of my few hunts in a hang on the past couple years I have to catch myself sometimes as I lean different ways. Not a problem with the saddle :D
 
I've hunted from a treesaddle virtually exclusively (with the exception of a few impromptu ground hunts) for ten seasons now, starting with the TS9 and switching to the ambush model after a couple years. I've personally found them to be much more comfortable than hang-ons, though I understand that's not the case for everyone.

Took delivery of my Aero Hunter Evolution today, and am still working on figuring it out. Seems more complicated than the Treesaddle, though it is also unquestionably more adjustable. Looking forward to getting accomplished with it.

Insofar as height goes, my feet are generally 22-27 feet off the ground, except for a couple odd locations where terrain and prevailing cover are such that I feel less visible around 15-18 feet than I would be if I were higher.
 
farmlegend said:
I've hunted from a treesaddle virtually exclusively (with the exception of a few impromptu ground hunts) for ten seasons now, starting with the TS9 and switching to the ambush model after a couple years. I've personally found them to be much more comfortable than hang-ons, though I understand that's not the case for everyone.

Took delivery of my Aero Hunter Evolution today, and am still working on figuring it out. Seems more complicated than the Treesaddle, though it is also unquestionably more adjustable. Looking forward to getting accomplished with it.

Insofar as height goes, my feet are generally 22-27 feet off the ground, except for a couple odd locations where terrain and prevailing cover are such that I feel less visible around 15-18 feet than I would be if I were higher.
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Glad to have you aboard farmlegend :D .

I hunt basically at the same heights as you and I agree that sometimes I will stay lower if that is where I have to be. I always prefer to hunt higher but if the tree/terrain dictate I stay lower than so be it. A lot of the places I hunt nowadays are open hardwoods so I do have to get high, but I always try to get to the first main structure on the tree. I prefer trees that break into a Y and I love to set up in that Y if I can, or just below it. Otherwise I setup just below the first main branches to try to give me some cover.
 
This will be my 3rd season


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I started when the treesuit first came out I think it was mid 90s. It's he'll getting older. I only bowhunt out of my saddles. Taken a lot of deer over the years. Two Pope and Young bucks out of saddles. I hunted out of treesuit, trophyline, Guido's web and soon a Kestrel.
 
I feel old. My first one was stolen about nine years ago. I remember being in a panic to find another one. I'm going to guess not too long after the original TS came out.
 
This will be my fifth season and my first exclusive only form of hunting. I sold all my conventional stands and blinds. I am fully convinced this is the way to go for me.

As far as hunting heights are concerned it depends on several factors for me. Terrain, cover, time of year, and hunting pressure dictate my heights. I live in Connecticut and there is a fair amount of pressure which is why I try to go deeper than other hunters but I have some spots were I have killed deer within eyesight of the parking area.
 
MCDM said:
This will be my fifth season and my first exclusive only form of hunting. I sold all my conventional stands and blinds. I am fully convinced this is the way to go for me.

As far as hunting heights are concerned it depends on several factors for me. Terrain, cover, time of year, and hunting pressure dictate my heights. I live in Connecticut and there is a fair amount of pressure which is why I try to go deeper than other hunters but I have some spots were I have killed deer within eyesight of the parking area.
Click to expand...

I live in CT too , what part of the state are you from ?


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