Not high enough?

[Weldabeast]

The negative...when u got a bow is the shot angles aren't good

I climbed higher than usual because I was in a big open pine flat and no trees shoulder width....he was right on me at 10-12 yards so the angle was extreme and it's harder to keep good shooting form, drop ur arm and miss high....

I got 80ft tether during gun season if I am hunting in the pine flats. Climbing sticks are holding u back there

 

[Westdesign03]

I hunt as low as available cover will allow but seldom go over 20'. In the last 3 season of primarily saddle hunting I have been picked off once. Just a few weeks ago I got picked off hunting from a hang-on stand. One of the 4 does inside 20 yards caught me making an uber small move with the bow to position for a shot. Late season just gets difficult. I can not recall a single deer picking me off while in a saddle but if at all possible I will either be in a multi-trunk tree or one with good back cover based on where I expect deer movement to be. Other than that work on moving like a growing turnip when the deer is in line of sight and when their view is blocked move like greased lightening to get in position. I mean guys are killin deer sitting on the ground in half a beach chair leaned up against a tree, the saddle isnt the problem.

That’s what blows my mind. I have been picked off on the ground too but somehow less than in the saddle. Must be something I’m doing wrong. I do tend to move a lot in the saddle compared to the Treestand so maybe that’s it.

 

[BTaylor]

That’s what blows my mind. I have been picked off on the ground too but somehow less than in the saddle. Must be something I’m doing wrong. I do tend to move a lot in the saddle compared to the Treestand so maybe that’s it.

It might come down to understanding the nature of the deer where you are hunting. There are areas here where deer are much more prone to looking up than in other areas. Hunt from where they aint lookin.

 

[3mbcrs]

Saddle and hang on stand hunting have many similarities but I notice I get busted from behind more. Why? It's because every movement i.e. back, leg, head, etc used to be covered by the tree. In a saddle, your back trail is wide open. And while seeing behind you is much easier in a saddle, every movement is exposed when looking...if there's a deer there, busted.

Plus I know I wiggle more in my saddle than in a stand...in a stand my feet, legs and butt are planted where in saddle they're mobile.

I'm 12-15 ft up tops with 3 Hawk sticks plus aider. High enough for me in mixed MI hardwoods.

Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

 

[DroptineKrazy]

Saddle and hang on stand hunting have many similarities but I notice I get busted from behind more. Why? It's because every movement i.e. back, leg, head, etc used to be covered by the tree. In a saddle, your back trail is wide open. And while seeing behind you is much easier in a saddle, every movement is exposed when looking...if there's a deer there, busted.

Plus I know I wiggle more in my saddle than in a stand...in a stand my feet, legs and butt are planted where in saddle they're mobile.

I'm 12-15 ft up tops with 3 Hawk sticks plus aider. High enough for me in mixed MI hardwoods.

Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

I like to have some kind of deterent behind me if I can. A very steep ditch or an open field or even a road works well. Water is another good one. Anything along those lines to try to minimize the chances that they will go behind me.

 

[DB4x4]

I one-stick climb with a stick-top platform. When I put the stick on the tree, the platform is at about 7' to start. I get about 4' on each subsequent move.

In bow season, I will usually make 3 moves to put my feet at about 19' and my head up around 23-24' depending on positioning.

This seems to be the sweet spot for me. Any lower, and I seem to get busted and scent checked. Any higher, and the shot angles are crap.

In gun season, when all the leaves are off, I go 4 or even sometimes 5 moves since the shot angle is less important and I can get away with more movement.

 

[Jrain904]

I’ll try to take a couple pictures from the ground of a couple similar setups I have. Late season zero leaves steep terrain, all still doable. I won’t try to get way into the weeds describing with out the visuals on those. But this one spot I moved 5yds over to a hickory that had a small beech growing in front of it. It gave excellent front cover had 3 holes to shoot through. I also had a 9-10” oak growing about 2’ away so almost a double, something nearby to break up my silhouette. There’s only 1 spot a deer could approach from a visually pick me off & would probably already have an arrow through them if they did….. I enjoy the process, you’ve got nothing but time while you’re in that tree, decide if there’s anyway to make your ambush better. I hunted that same tree 6 times & killed 2 deer at 20-28yds. One had a clue but couldn’t quite adjust in time & already made the mistake…..
Btw no idea what the tree you were in looked like, but all sign being equal I’d be in this tree…..View attachment 81098

I think the hardest part is dealing with the deer as the cross you at eye level. Can be 30 foot up in the tree And they will still cross you at eye level and even walk above you as they go up/down the mountain. I think maybe I have a problem cause i was 100% a leaner on a platform. Seems like the sitters on a ros probably blend in a lot better.

 

[casts_by_fly]

My first hunt out of a saddle I got busted by a doe and her young one. I knew the property and where I thought the deer would be and I was right. What I didn't know was how to set up in a saddle vs setting up in a treestand. The tree i picked was practically a telephone pole. The nearest tree was at least 10-15' away. The deer were coming down a trail at a 12:00 position to the tree so I set up my platform on the 9:00 side so I had a great strong side shot. Of course the doe looked up and saw me hanging off the side of the tree perfectly silhouetted. That was a very quick learning session for how not to do it. In the full 2 seasons since then I have yet to be busted again. I don't much care if there are 4 trails intersecting with 3 hot scrapes and a line of buck rubs. if there isn't a tree that gives me good cover I'm not sitting there. We have a lot of mature hardwoods here that grow 60' before their first branch. I just keep walking past them until I find a much smaller beech with leaves on it or a good young oak with a split trunk and a bunch of vines coming every which way out of it. The latest was a pine tree that had me covered at ~14'.

 

[Robert loper]

@Fl Canopy Stalker not too much trouble being busted in the thick swamps here in FL but It’s hard to find much cover in country like this I hunt in WV. The trees are rarely thicker than a volleyball at height and the steady inclines make it hard not to be skylined by deer. To add to it the deer are almost always at eye level or even above you at some point as they pass you. Can’t really tell I this photo but it’s very steep here and the top of the mountain is just behind me at around 30 yards.
View attachment 81095

I get busted a few times a year whrn im actually able to hunt lol.
this year i only hunted maybe 7-8 times and i got busted once from a you g buck because i did a very bad thing before i set up.
i was in a hurry to choose a tree and setup in it.
this made me not think of the whole picture of whats going on in that area.
with that said , Get into those vees of the trees or
( crotches).
They are thicker in general and the break off in two directions breaks your outline just enough to not be as noticeable. When im choosing a tree its rarely a tree i get multiple angles to shoot from.
most times its maybe 1-2 shot windows.
alot of the 360 degree saddle marketing ploys are pushing 360 degree shooting which is very unlikley in thick high pressured areas.
at least where i hunt its super rare to hu t an arra to be able to even go around the tree compared to be able to shoot 360 degrees.

 

[2Sloe]

Cover is key. But all things being equal, you can get away with more at 20’ than you can at 15’, just like you can get away with more at 25’ than you can at 20’. But anything over 20 and shot angle and a greater number of limbs to shoot through can quickly overwhelm any advantage you gain by being over 20’. So personally, I‘ve found 20’ +/- a foot or two to be the sweet spot. Of course, more experience in when you can draw and when you can get away with more movement based on the deers manners and position is all also key, but all that aside…IMO it’s 20’.

 

[AttackMode]

If I have little to no tree cover I try to sit against the tree and also use my pack to provide some weakside cover. I also try to never hunt areas where deer will approach from my backside. But if I was hunting an area that has both I would only hunt from 27-30'+ and be as still as possible.

 

[ricky racer]

If you're getting picked in a tree there are several things that can cause it, most have been mentioned here. The usual reason for getting busted is backlighting, movement or poor choice of clothing color.

John Tomasko is probably not known by many or any hunters on this forum but he was one of the best bear hunters and bear guides that ever lived in Michigan. A few years before he passed away, he wrote a book called "Archery Bear Hunting Tips-Tips from 35 Years Experience Guiding And Hunting Bear With A Bow And Arrow". In his book he talks about camouflage clothing. He would try to explain to his hunters that camo was a bad choice for bear hunting arguing that the dark color of most camo patters just look like a dark blob in the tree. The incoming bears would mistake that dark blob with another bear and would shy away from the bait and those that did come in were keen to someone or something in the tree and would circle around the tree to get a scent to identify what might be in the tree.

It may sound weird but what he recommended to all of his hunters was a light pastel color of pants and shirt. Now granted, that would look pretty weird but any light colored clothing like a light gray or tan would be a better choice but it doesn't need to be camouflage. Lighter camo patterns like ASAT is probably better than most of the dark camo patterns as are some of the "skyline" or snow camo prints out there. Oftentimes adding a "camo" pattern to a light color clothing just makes the light color darker overall and sometimes no camo may be better. See for yourself in the example below.

I've posted this before but it's always worth another look:

Take a few minutes and look at this video posted by BobinTN. Go to somewhere around the 3:10-3:20 minute mark when the he is leaning against his saddle and pause the video. Maximize video on the screen. Now scan across the ground like you were looking for a deer in the heavy cover. Notice how the hunters legs nearly disappear from your vision? His dark jacket stands out like a sore thumb but you hardly notice his legs. That's a perfect example of how most camo patterns are too dark to work well in a tree. I've been saying it for years, light colored camo is much better than dark tree bark camo. I just thought I mention it one more time but this really shows what I'm talking about. Note: the hunter is only about 10 or 12 feet up with no cover and nothing to break up his outline. Imagine if he chose a better tree with a bit of cover or maybe another tree close to it and set up behind the tree clothed all in light color clothing like his pants...

 

[tailgunner]

I have had blackbears walk past me at 10 feet.trust me good camo is key to survival for most animals.my dude is right about light colors with a breakup.observe.

 

[tailgunner]

See me.only 15 feet off the road.lookin strait at me

 

[Maverick1]

I go just under the available canopy in the tree I’m in, however high that is. Two reasons:
1. Provides sufficient back cover so I’m not skylined.
2. if you go above the canopy of the tree you are in you have to shoot through all the limbs and branches you just climbed past, which limits shoot-ability out of that tree.

For most of the areas I hunt it’s usually above 18’, rarely higher than 25’.

 

[elk yinzer]

If I'm not right around 15-18 feet, I'm usually a bit lower. Never had any widespread issues getting busted. I pick out trees with good back cover and try never to be skylined. Higher isn't automatically better, if the good cover is at 8 or 10 feet, that's where I am.

Secondarily, you absolutely need to see the deer before they see you. Many factors play into this one. It's dependent on staying still and where you are paying attention, how loud the conditions are, etc. It's the ones that sneak up on you and get into your bubble without you seeing them that usually spook, for me anyway. Some of that can be prevented by setting up properly, some is largely condition dependent, and some of it is just that in bowhunting sometimes the deer win.

And never play peekie boo with a deer using the tree. It's sold as a saddle perk, but trust me, it just doesn't work. Maybe with a gun or shoulder fired bow-like device. Anticipate your shots, and be ready for the first best chance you get to draw your bow. If possible, you want that to be the only movement, not adjusting to get there.

 

[Jrain904]

I’d love to hear other ppls experiences with saddle hunting in mountains where no matter how high you climb deer will be above you and cross at eye level as they go up and down the mountain. Thanks

 

[elk yinzer]

I’d love to hear other ppls experiences with saddle hunting in mountains where no matter how high you climb deer will be above you and cross at eye level as they go up and down the mountain. Thanks

When you walk downhill in steep terrain, do your eyes naturally focus mostly on the ground in front of you, or up in the trees at eye level?

 

[tailgunner]

I have the luxury of having almost endless brush to keep me hidden up hill.its that or keep the tree beetween me and the hillside.its always better to set up off to the side of known travel routs and knot in direct line.some people get hung up on being able to shoot 360.at multiple trails,and put theirselves dead center of the games perifrials.just like a fight keep your back to à wall and dont look back for nothing,you will get blindsided.it dont matter what you hear behind you, you dont have a shot that way anyways and if you move you get busted.

 

[tailgunner]

hands down best camo shirt i have used.had à doe look right through me at 8 feet.scaning the horizon while i sat on a stump infront of green reeprod.her eyes never hung up.its the old fusion 3d camo from wallmart.perfect breakup