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How long have you been hunting out of a saddle?

redsquirrel said:
This upcoming season will be my 7th.

I've shot 6 bucks, 9 does and a bear out of the saddle. All of them have been with the bow except 1 buck, 1 doe and the bear, those were all with the muzzleloader.
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I can’t wait to get my first saddle. My brother and I have been hunting over 40 years. It will be a nice change and a lot to learn.


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I have been hunting out of saddles for a long time. My interest started with the Anderson's sling and the treesuit. I also had a TL neoprene saddle for years untill I sold it. I used the treesuit until I bought a Guido's web and now use the Kestrel. I still use my treesuit and web from time to time but mostly my Kestrel . Saddlehunting has sure change over the years from rope on steps to Wild Edge steps to lite weight sticks from straps to ropes with ropeman 1 on them . It's so great to see how far we've come and can't wait to see how far we can go.
 
Last year was my first. Killed a doe with my bow.(Never gun hunt) I did hunt from my traditional lock-on’s and ground blind(with wife and little boy). I’m hooked on Saddle Hunting! This year I’m using climbing spikes and a platform. Will rappel down. Even plan on hunting some public land. We can hunt from trees others have to pass!


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flinginairos said:
This will be year four for me. I'd have to look and see how many kills I have but it's several and some of my best bucks. Started with a guidos, moved to an Evo then a SitDrag. This year it will be the new Kestrel


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I can add two more good bucks and a few does from this past season. This will be my 5th season in the saddle. I can’t imagine ever going back to a treestand!


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This will be my 36th year of hunting Whitetails, but my first ever out of a saddle. Can’t wait till the season opens this fall. I’m gonna prove to all my hunting buddies that this is a superior way to hunt.
 
3 years exusively and 4 total. After one season of seeing the advantage I never went back.

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This will be my 3rd season exclusively in a saddle.
First season was in a Ken Molle saddle,
Second season (and next season too) was in my sit drag.
Maybe my 2019 season will be in a Kestrel :)


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I honestly don't know the exact year. It can be argued that I may not even saddle hunt today.

In the 90s, I used a waist belt safety harness similar to a tree hopper linemans belt to lean away from my portable tree stand and shoot 360 around the tree. I also picked up my first Lone Wolf stand from Andrae during this time frame which took my mobile hunting to a new level. That system was saddle-like but I was using a 10 lb hang on lone wolf as my platform.

Early 2000s, I bought a few trophyline saddles. I thought they were OK but I struggled with comfort at times (due to poor setup). I also wasn't a fan of the ring of steps and blew some great opportunties on big bucks because of the steps.

So I came back to hang on tree stands but this time I was using a rock harness. This was definitely safer than my original setup. I could still hunt 360 around the tree. With the rock harness I could also hang out on the opposite side of the tree if I wanted to.

Fast forward to today. I'm back in saddles. The Kestrel rocks my world. My "tree stand" is smaller as I now carry a seat platform. I usually face the tree but can still face away from the tree with minimal movement required. It really isn't that much different than how I hunted in the 90s....just lighter, safer, and a bit more comfortable. I still don't care for a ring of steps. I like a small platform with maybe a step or two on the opposite side on the biggest of trees.

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found this site in August last year and was one of the last to get my Kestrel pre-order in - so I did not have it until first week of November. I did hunt out of it rest of the season though unless I was in a box blind with my kids. I was in the middle of a lease switch in Dec. which disrupted things but put real run n gun to the test as I leased it purely from aerials. I was slow and sweaty getting up and set up - but the slow part was deliberate and not something I'm too concerned with. Hope to ditch the "sweaty" part though this year :) Saw lots of deer, and shot my first saddle deer - a doe - during gun season. I also managed to drop a rifle from the saddle twice in one hunt for those that may remember that story - but that wasn't the saddle's fault :) I'll be able to do presets with bolts this year, but will move as sign tells me I should and plan on observation sits early on. Not being stuck to a lock on that gets overhunted between lease partners is so liberating. I even downsized the number of hunters in the lease to just one other (@GunsightMountain) to help solve that problem - and he is prepping his SRT system and fleece saddle from @donnieballgame and parking the behemoth climber / recliner he has :) Saddlepalooza got him fired up. Goal this year is a buck with a bow from the saddle for me - his first bow kill, and his son's first deer - and to soak in knowledge of the property. Is it October yet?????
 
I think it’s been 10 years or so hunting out of a saddle. Started with the Trophy Line ambush saddle, then the Aero Hunter Evo and now the Kestrel.

Done a lot of experimenting with climbing and platform systems over that time and I’m still trying new stuff to see if it works better than my current system. Always evolving thanks in large part to all the ideas shared on this forum.
 
Long time saddle user, going on 9 years now, have been a reader of this forum off and on for about 2 years now. Was discussing saddle hunting to a friend and got me looking here again. I look forward to sharing with you all in the future. Have been quite successful in the saddle, with both bow and muzzleloader. I am still currently using TL leather version, if it ain't broke, but have been eyeing the new Kestrel.
 
Last year was my first year hunting with a bow and out of a saddle, it was an awesome season, I got 4 deer one 8pt and owe all of that success to the awesome hunters here on SH.com. I hunt out of a sitdrag and a rock climbing harness with a XOP hand climber for a platform, I'm with @BassBoysLLP on the platform, I tried the steps a few times, it really makes a big difference on that tough shot at 4-5 o'clock, imho.

I've been hunting pretty high when I need to, a lot of the woods here in NOVA are all hardwood with very little undergrowth, so being high like RS mentioned really helps me out, plus I move a lot, lol.
 
Picked up my first Trophyline in January 2017 and after buying and selling a bunch I have found what I like, spent 1/2 this bow season in a kestrel and half in Trophyline. My first season in the saddle and I took 3 deer all out of the TL. Only 1 Hunt was not in the saddle and that was when my son wanted to come so we sat in the blind. Never going back to ladders, climbers, or lock ons.


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