• The SH Membership has gone live. Only SH Members have access to post in the classifieds. All members can view the classifieds. Starting in 2020 only SH Members will be admitted to the annual hunting contest. Current members will need to follow these steps to upgrade: 1. Click on your username 2. Click on Account upgrades 3. Choose SH Member and purchase.
  • We've been working hard the past few weeks to come up with some big changes to our vendor policies to meet the changing needs of our community. Please see the new vendor rules here: Vendor Access Area Rules

Saddle gun, full size or carbine?

B

brydan

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2015
Messages
821
When hunting with a rifle I'm curious to know if people typically hunt with a standard length rifles, say a bolt action 24"/26" barrel or go more with short lightweight rifles?

With saddles/climbers I'm pretty much always using a pistol or short single shot rifle (T/C Contender, Roger #1, CVA Scout, etc) because they seem easier to handle in the stand. Growing up western hunting I liked full size rifles because the additional weight/length made them a little more stable for longer shots. With that in mind I've been kicking around the idea of trying something a little longer/heavier than I've typically used from a saddle. Thoughts?
 
I shoot a CVA scout 44mag out of the saddle. Full size rifle or shotgun probably isnt an issue unless you're in a spot where the deer can come in from anywhere without a lot of time to prepare.

If you want to climb down and try to jump shoot a deer I'd revert back to a carbine.
 
SNIPERBBB said:
I shoot a CVA scout 44mag out of the saddle. Full size rifle or shotgun probably isnt an issue unless you're in a spot where the deer can come in from anywhere without a lot of time to prepare.
Click to expand...

It's insanely thick where I hunt, typically have very little time to prepare for a shot. But there's a section of woods that got selectively logged recently and I preset a few trees where there's much better visibility. That's what had me thinking about carrying something I could probably hold steadier from a saddle even if it's a little more cumbersome to get into position
 
I keep ear muffs with me most of the time and usually put them on before pulling the trigger. For the times I don’t feel comfortable putting them on my ears prefer 24-26 inch barrels over 30” barrels.
 
6.8 SPCII
12.5” ARP barrel. Suppressor brings it out to 18.5”
Good out to 400 yards

791b5492d50fb04551933579ad4ed174.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I have one tree where shots can be a poke, I lugged my 26” 300 RUM up it a few times, I can do it but it definitely sucks, I’m a huge fan of shorter barrel rifles, I’ll take a 30 fps loss on average, per inch, any day of the week to carry a more user friendly, quick pointing carbine, they just kick ass, a rifle that balances well is more important than anything, it never gets talked about but that’s the truth.
 
I hunted bear this season with a muzzleloader out of my saddle which is right around 60” in total length. I can tell you I would have done a few things different but the length was not really an issue other than maneuvering around a tree. Here are some ideas that came out of it.

- what I did: I strapped the gun to my pack for the climb - being a flintlock I didn’t want to worry about a drop and possibly having it go off unintentionally and the tree had a lot of branches
- what I will do next time: cover the barrel (stop crap from falling into the barrel or if it was dropped no worry about dirt clogging the barrel) and tie two 550 cords to it, one front and one back securely enough I can maneuver the gun up thru the branches (plan for two bright colors so I can easily tell which one to pul to maneuver the gun)

- what I did: once in the tree I had nothing to hold my gun other than lay it across my tether so I took my sweatshirt off, zipped it back up around the tree and tied the arms around the tree, I used the hood of the sweatshirt to put the stock in and used my straps on my pack to clip the barrel to the pack for a quick release
- what I will do next time: I will fashion a rifle sling and have a strap with a pouch for the stock and a double strap for the barrel, one strap to go around the tree and one strap to go around the barrel

- what I did: I was not worried about dropping my gun but 60” gun is rough to hold in a tree for a shot if not able to use your tether or tree as a rest
- what I will do next time: I might throw in a simple sling to go around my left arm or around the stock to steady the gun on an off shot

- what I did: I did not see nor did I shoot a bear
- what I will do next time: I will see and I will shoot a bear

1669904576067.jpeg
1669904701972.jpeg
 
Jagger0502 said:
I hunted bear this season with a muzzleloader out of my saddle which is right around 60” in total length. I can tell you I would have done a few things different but the length was not really an issue other than maneuvering around a tree. Here are some ideas that came out of it.

- what I did: I strapped the gun to my pack for the climb - being a flintlock I didn’t want to worry about a drop and possibly having it go off unintentionally and the tree had a lot of branches
- what I will do next time: cover the barrel (stop crap from falling into the barrel or if it was dropped no worry about dirt clogging the barrel) and tie two 550 cords to it, one front and one back securely enough I can maneuver the gun up thru the branches (plan for two bright colors so I can easily tell which one to pul to maneuver the gun)

- what I did: once in the tree I had nothing to hold my gun other than lay it across my tether so I took my sweatshirt off, zipped it back up around the tree and tied the arms around the tree, I used the hood of the sweatshirt to put the stock in and used my straps on my pack to clip the barrel to the pack for a quick release
- what I will do next time: I will fashion a rifle sling and have a strap with a pouch for the stock and a double strap for the barrel, one strap to go around the tree and one strap to go around the barrel

- what I did: I was not worried about dropping my gun but 60” gun is rough to hold in a tree for a shot if not able to use your tether or tree as a rest
- what I will do next time: I might throw in a simple sling to go around my left arm or around the stock to steady the gun on an off shot

- what I did: I did not see nor did I shoot a bear
- what I will do next time: I will see and I will shoot a bear

View attachment 77127
View attachment 77128
Click to expand...
Saddle specific comment here. You can take your Dryad bridge and use it as a vertical stabilizer for the rifle. It works really well on either side.
 

Attachments

  • 113390ED-2391-49CB-8E80-730098562A9F.jpeg
    113390ED-2391-49CB-8E80-730098562A9F.jpeg
    723.3 KB · Views: 34
EricS said:
I keep ear muffs with me most of the time and usually put them on before pulling the trigger. For the times I don’t feel comfortable putting them on my ears prefer 24-26 inch barrels over 30” barrels.
Click to expand...

You find a 24 inch barrel less loud than a 30 inch? I've not compared the two, but I'm surprised as I thought that longer barrels were always more quiet since more powder burns inside the barrel.
 
I am taking my Marlin 1894 44mag lever action carbine so far. This weekend I may go TC Omega muzzle loader, but I'm not sure. In either case I am in the shorter length category.
My first time with a saddle this year. I have taken 4 deer from it (2 private, and 2 in a state park reduction hunt). My biggest complaint is where to put the rifle while watching for deer. Hanging it on the tree and getting it down to shoot is a lot of extra movement. Laying it across my tether seems to cause me to sit oddly and cause back ache. So I am learning to adapt. Any thoughts for better placement?
 
Todd Brown said:
I am taking my Marlin 1894 44mag lever action carbine so far. This weekend I may go TC Omega muzzle loader, but I'm not sure. In either case I am in the shorter length category.
My first time with a saddle this year. I have taken 4 deer from it (2 private, and 2 in a state park reduction hunt). My biggest complaint is where to put the rifle while watching for deer. Hanging it on the tree and getting it down to shoot is a lot of extra movement. Laying it across my tether seems to cause me to sit oddly and cause back ache. So I am learning to adapt. Any thoughts for better placement?
Click to expand...

I've never rifle hunted from a saddle, but I'll throw a crazy idea at the wall

Maybe you could make a loop of paracord that is adjustable with a blake's hitch for length of loop. This is clipped to your tether's carabiner. Attached to the paracord you could do something like a Nite Ize S biner clipped to it but with the wire gate removed from the side of the S biner closest to you. You then just have to figure out how to attach that S biner to your gun.

The gun still sits on your tether and balances on it but you can not adjust the paracord loop so that it is away from your body.
 
If you have a sling on your rifle, put your haul rope on the sling instead of the rifle. Your barrel will be (more-or-less) horizontal on the ride up. After tying everything off I set my pack, with my rifle resting on it, 6-8' from the tree to prevent damage to either of something (branch, carabiner, me, etc.) falls on them on the way up.
 
My Ruger American Ranch 450 is relatively short at 36” overall. I just laid it across my bridge. But it makes things kind of crowded. I’m considering building an AR in 450 Bushmaster or 350 Legend next season. Put a single point sling on it and it’s ready to go when needed.
 
BuffaloBill said:
My Ruger American Ranch 450 is relatively short at 36” overall. I just laid it across my bridge. But it makes things kind of crowded. I’m considering building an AR in 450 Bushmaster or 350 Legend next season. Put a single point sling on it and it’s ready to go when needed.
Click to expand...
Thinking out loud... single point sling, reversed (so slung on strong side) with a bungee or something to tie it to your hip MOLLE... effectively a strong-side holster. Thus preventing movement from a dangling rifle, or bringing the rifle up across your body to engage.
 
Full size Savage 110 in 30.06. if I need to reach out 300-400 yards I can. I like killing deer and not limiting myself when rifle season is in. Savage 220 when in shotgun territory. CVA MR X during muzzleloader season. None of my guns are short and I have never had a problem shooting from the saddle 20-400 yards. They all drop dead.
 
raisins said:
You find a 24 inch barrel less loud than a 30 inch? I've not compared the two, but I'm surprised as I thought that longer barrels were always more quiet since more powder burns inside the barrel.
Click to expand...
Not sure what happened there. The 30 should have read 16”-20” barrels. Your correct everything else equal longer barrels are quieter.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top