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New member from SE Michigan

The Dish

The Dish

New Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2019
Messages
3
Location
SE Michigan
Hey everyone - I’ve essentially been forced out of the small property I grew up hunting. Over the last few years I’ve become overwhelmed by new neighbors jamming as many people into the woods as possible (next door guy had 4 guys on about 3 acres opening day of firearm) so I’ve decided to turn my attention to public land. Granted public land can get quite busy, I just need something new and a better chance to not have 20 guys hunting the same 200 yard strip. I’m an avid duck hunter and love backpacking, so I have a few isolated deep areas to check out in mind that I’m hoping not too many people are willing to hike to

Stumbled into saddle hunting while researching light weight options for getting stands deep into woods. I’ve been lurking the forums for some time and watching as many videos as possible and have really learned a lot - thank you all for everything you’ve already contributed. I’ve gone from first discovery and thinking “heck no that looks dangerous as all get out” - to budgeting a weighing my options to get a rig for this fall.

Still trying to decide on a DIY sit drag or shelling out the cash for a mantis or Kestrel. Budget will play a big factor, but after adding everything up It seems a sit drag/rock harness is only going to be about $100 ish cheaper. And for $100 I might lean towards having the peace of mind of something produced for this purpose as opposed to worrying about if I bought the right kind of rope. Still debating, would love to hear some suggestions. Thank you all again
 
Welcome to the site Dish. This is where you'll get your questions answered. I haven't had a sit drag so I can't help there. I love my Kestrel though.
 
Welcome from SE Michigan as well! You can't go wrong with one of the commercially available saddles now. If you want to try out a SitDrag or Kestrel clone let me know, I may be tempted to part with my Sit Drag / RCH.
 
DanO said:
Welcome from SE Michigan as well! You can't go wrong with one of the commercially available saddles now. If you want to try out a SitDrag or Kestrel clone let me know, I may be tempted to part with my Sit Drag / RCH.
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Thanks for the offer, I might have to take you up on the test drive - I’ll be in touch
 
Welcome to the site. I sure do love my Mantis. Piece of mind is a beautiful thing. And don't forget the Predator platform, and the Wild Edge steps, your probably going to need a new pack to get all that sweet new gear into the woods. Budgets, we don't need no stinkin budgets. oh, and @Jcline will make you a knaider and a swaider, your probably going to want a versa strap, and @Dkiss will send ya some of those sweet kydex hooks. Come on guys am I forgetting anything. Ha Ha Ha.
 
Welcome from Petersburg MI! Also saddle newbie. Asked a similar question and advice was to find the $100 to put towards the purchased saddle setup as a learning rig and tinker down the road. Whatever the chances are that you dont like it or want to try something different a slightly used brand saddle will have much better resale value. If you throw together your own rig you're much more susceptible to eating a lot of the cost if you try to offload it. Havent watched the classifieds to see what custom rigs go for but just my $0.02 .

Sent from my SM-J337V using Tapatalk
 
Welcome from New Baltimore,1st year hunting out of saddle,kestrel,love not having to lug tree stand around.
 
Welcome from Toledo. @Kurt is spot on! I've only been doing the saddle thing a short time and I have already bought the Mantis w/ Predator platform, the Knaider/swaider, the Kydex clips and I have the Wild Edge Stepps on order.
YOU WILL BE ASSIMILATED!
RESISTANCE IS FUTILE!
 
Gumbymedic said:
Welcome from Toledo. @Kurt is spot on! I've only been doing the saddle thing a short time and I have already bought the Mantis w/ Predator platform, the Knaider/swaider, the Kydex clips and I have the Wild Edge Stepps on order.
YOU WILL BE ASSIMILATED!
RESISTANCE IS FUTILE!
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Toledo is almost a second home for me. I used to play with a band out of Toledo, and we own land on the state line in Whiteford township, Michigan with plans to build in the future. I spend a good amount of time on the Maumee in the spring.
 
The Dish said:
Toledo is almost a second home for me. I used to play with a band out of Toledo, and we own land on the state line in Whiteford township, Michigan with plans to build in the future. I spend a good amount of time on the Maumee in the spring.
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Good to meet you. We kayak fish on the Maumee quite often. For just a lazy day kayaking on the river, nothing beats the Huron River near Ann Arbor. By the way, if you need any help hunting that Whiteford Twp. property, you know where to reach me
 
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