Saddle success on Missouri public land

[g2outdoors]

Saddles are freaking awesome.

I bounced around for 6 or 7 days with my saddle on public land. I hunted at least 10 different trees and found me a goodern.

HEROES of the trip:
Juiced Ripcurrent S e-bike - holy crap e-bikes are the TICKET for long treks into public land.

Saddles - we bumped into 4 or 5 hunters lugging around climbers. They were BLOWN AWAY when we explained saddle hunting. We even met a couple dudes in the parking lot to put on a saddle demo. There were some guys from OnX and First Lite hunting with us as well. They hunted with Lome Wolf hang ons the first day. After that, every single one of them switched to a saddle lol. VICTORY!

Down Sweater & Volt heated vest - I skipped the traditional layering system and went with a heated vest and ultralight backpacking down pullover. Mine weighs about 4 ounces and is filled with 850 down. The Brand is Stoic Hadron but I don't think it's made anymore. I've had it for about 8 or 9 years. This system worked really well with zero bulk. I wore a baselayer, then Volt heated vest, then down pullover (when necessary), then Russell APXg2 Whiteout jacket (discontinued) or the First Lite Solitude jacket. I only needed to add the down pullover twice. We had temps in the single digits with wind chill. Volt vest worked really well on medium. Setting for about 4 hrs per battery.

Scentlok Heavyweight baselayers - the best/warmest base layer I've ever used. Period.

LOSERS of the trip.
Badlands pursuit pack - it was noisy and the zippers suck. It's the perfect sized pack, and the price is right (79), but I wanted to throw it away after every hunt.

Scentlok Morphic Jacket/Pants combo - jacket was really bulky and not that warm. The pants don't have full zips on the legs. Really? Impossible to get on with big boots on.

I did a full video on the trip. Part 1 is live now. Part 2 is going live next week.

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[heretic]

Great video! That's in my neck of the woods! I've scouted that conservation area before but I tend to hunt futher west on national forest.

 

[Paraiso]

Awesome buck and great video! I enjoy seeing what works for others.

Can't wait to watch the next video. Thanks for sharing.

 

[IkemanTX]

Awesome write up!
I like the format of the pros and cons of the gear used... might have to do something like that next year.

 

[DaveT1963]

Very nice Greg

 

[Coathanger15]

Looking forward to watching. Thanks for sharing and congrats on a nice buck!

 

[flinginairos]

You’re lucky I passed that buck earlier in the trip. I wanted to be nice let you get him


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[g2outdoors]

You’re lucky I passed that buck earlier in the trip. I wanted to be nice let you get him


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I appreciate it very much.

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[Sziggy2.0]

I already watched the first video and I am looking forward to the second. Do you have a link or a little more info on the heated vest?

Congrats on your success in Missouri.

 

[Close caller]

Congrats! That’s a nice buck. Those are the most gratifying hunts when you go somewhere new, use all your knowledge and experience and get on a good buck.

I did that a few years ago in northern MI on public land. Just scouted and hunted new locations the entire 5 day trip. I had a close encounter with a 125 class buck (a monster up there). I wasn’t able to capitalize due to getting busted by a doe but still one of my most memorable hunts. Nothing better than figuring things out on your own in a new place and getting on a mature buck.

Cool idea with the vest and packable down jacket. I’ve been trying to tweak my system to be something lighter and less bulky. I hunted in the Catalyst pants and packed in the Woodbury jacket for most of my hunts with various degrees of layering. I was carrying in a lot of layers. I tried out the Kuiu axis soft shell pants and jacket with their super down pro in an attempt to go lighter and be warm. I wasn’t impressed but may try the heated vest and a less bulky down coat under a soft shell or maybe the catalyst jacket on my “free lance” hunts as Eberhart defines them.

Great buck. Congrats again

 

[EricS]

Congrats on a nice buck.

 

[str8jct]

@g2outdoors about that volt vest. Ive been looking at getting one but haven't heard of volt. What size do you have & hows it fit? The battery...I can't tell from their website but does it use a manufacturer specific battery or a generic battery pack (like used to charge a phone or electronics) thanks

That hunt looked like a ton of fun!

 

[g2outdoors]

The vest fits snug. I bought a medium and it's perfect. It's made to fit under your main insulating layers.

The downside is the connection is proprietary. I thought I could use standard Li-ion battery bricks... But no.

I'm a fan. Full video review going up next week.

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[KYRanger]

G2, Nice buck. I know what you mean about the badlands packs....great build quality, but terrible for whitetail hunting. Way too noisy and zippers are a pain to get open. They are rugged as Heck, just wish those guys would build a pack for whitetail hunting!

 

[Guff Dawg]

Nice buck!

 

[Apex7]

Nice buck and can't wait for part 2.

 

[PJC]

Nice buck. Thanks for the video.


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[Oldforester]

Congrats G2!

 

[g2outdoors]

Part 2 coming this week. Thanksgiving and travel for work slowed down my editing time.

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[Flee]

Thanks for the honest gear reviews as well. I like to see what works and doesn’t for people. I’ve been wanting to go the down route as well. Primaloft is also almost just as warm as a synthetic insulation. I’ve been eying the pnuma heated vest. Great video.