• 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

Those realy are noisy! !

g2outdoors said:
I want to use my Heater Body Suit, the saddle isn't really an option
Click to expand...

Au contraire. Two well placed slits and the HBS works really well with a saddle. I enjoyed hunting out of my newly modified HBS twice this year, then it turned warmer and rainy for the past couple of weeks.
 
g2outdoors said:
hmmm. What about with a fixed bridge saddle like the Mantis?
Click to expand...

I forgot about the fixed bridge of the Mantis. That might rule it out. The only way I see that working is if you modified the zipper. It would have to zip in two sections. The first section from the feet to the bridge and the second section from the bridge up.
 
I carried my guido quite a ways this weekend and by the time I had gotten back to the truck I felt like I had a climber on my back....but then that little voice in my head said "yeah, but you didn't"
 
g2outdoors said:
I don't think we'll ever beat the comfort of a big climber. My API Grand Slam is unreal. And when it's super cold, and I want to use my Heater Body Suit, the saddle isn't really an option. That's why the API has stayed on the wall of my garage without seeing the woods for 3 or 4 years now. Maybe one day?

I also don't think we'll ever beat the ease of use of a climber. To me, climbing with them is soooooo easy. I hate the setup/tear down/hike with a climber, but if you have good climber trees they're a pretty good option.
Click to expand...

WRONG. Just admit you're wrong!! :D I think if I had to go back to a climber i'd go crazy.
 
Been biting my tongue on this one, but here goes! Forgive the length of my post, but sharing my story to make a point. I love saddles and got my first saddle deer a couple of weeks ago using a diy fleece. BUT...climbers still have their place and the public land 8 pt I got in Nov would not have happened if I was using my saddle. I climbed a tree on the edge of a grown up field only to realize that another tree had to many leaves at height and was blocking my view too much. It was already 3:45 pm and deer were already moving. I climbed down, moved 7 yds to another tree and got up to 30 ft so I could see better, all in less than 10 minutes. Once I pulled my gun up and looked around, I spotted antlers only 50 yds away, bedded straight in front of me, and my climber was so quiet he never knew I was there despite climbing 2 trees in 45 mins right in front of him. I had to wait an hour to shoot when he stood up due to too many saplings in the way. There are noisy, bulky, heavy stands out there, but my 11lb Xstand climber is not one of them. Had I been using my saddle, I would not have made that move because I know how much time it would have taken to come down, and then climb back up, so I likely would have stayed put and never would have seen the buck. I also personally will not climb as high with sticks as I do with a climber. I don't like heights and just don't feel as comfortable, not happening, so I would not have seen him at a lower tree height.

Point being these are just different tools and they each serve their purpose to the same goal, but neither is better for all situations than the other. I know this is a saddle specific site, but in the words of Aaron Rogers - "RELAX!" It's ok to use a stand sometimes too, your momma will still love you. Gun vs bow vs muzzleloader = same thing, all good tools to take a deer. I will keep using both and over 75% of my hunts have been in the saddle this season. Good luck to all those still hunting hard out there!
5f446d1023815fffb30057cb5c8c3ec1.jpg
630dd281fefb11e3a65731a848941f90.jpg


Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 
I use hang-ons, climbers, ladder stands, home made blinds, natural blinds and may even "still hunt" under the right conditions. I prefer saddle hunting, but I also like to keep my "quiver full" so my options are always open..... And for ever ying there is a yang...It so happens that my 2018 kill would not have happened, had I not been in a saddle. I was headed to parts unknown, happened on fresh sign only to discover that the tree I needed to be in was a huge Osage Orange, with nary a straight piece of trunk among it. I used LW extension straps on sticks until I got to a limb I could stand on, tied off, and started hanging. A few hours later, the magic hour truly got magical, when a mature buck following two does, crashed into view. He ran 20 yds before piling up There is no other way of hunting that I am aware of, that would have allowed me to hunt this particular tree.
 
I had a deer come in Saturday morning, that had I not been hunting in a saddle, there would have been no way I could have gotten turned around on. Simply stood up slowly lifted the tether and moved around the tree. Silent and deadly, saddles just give the hunter an edge that conventional stands never have been able to do.
 
noxninja said:
I carried my guido quite a ways this weekend and by the time I had gotten back to the truck I felt like I had a climber on my back....but then that little voice in my head said "yeah, but you didn't"
Click to expand...
The JX 3 Hybrid does not carry like a guido. I seldom used my guidos deer hunting but often use the hybrid. I carries nearly perfectly.
 
There's no doubt a climber can be an effective tool. However, if I was starting out hunting, or if I could only afford (or was only willing to purchase) one system, I'd pick a saddle. No question. It's definitely the most versatile hunting system ever created.
 
noxninja said:
Yeah I think old age is catching up with me, with a bad shoulder it fatigues easier and makes carrying anything a chore after a while.
Click to expand...
In spite of a bad shoulder and bad knees.. The hybrid carries well which is why I reach for it as often as I reach for a kestrel or mantis. I really have not decided what I like best or just all three. I would never reach for a climber anymore but I did own a big comfortable clumsy one. A summit viper.
 
Last edited:
g2outdoors said:
There's no doubt a climber can be an effective tool. However, if I was starting out hunting, or if I could only afford (or was only willing to purchase) one system, I'd pick a saddle. No question. It's definitely the most versatile hunting system ever created.
Click to expand...

Kinda sounds like a sales pitch, lol, just saying!

Also if everyone keeps killing bucks out of their climbers/ladders whatever then they can't use them in the hunting contest, I recommend you sell all of that crap so you never put yourself in a situation where you kill a big mature buck but can't enter him into the hunting contest, seriously folks what are you thinking?
 
After all of the post and each opinion, I used my climber again Monday. I was able to get to my hunting spot an hour before daylight and take my time taking the climber apart and climbing to preferred height. I think that my main issue is that I have not used the climber much in the last couple years and I'm out of practice.
If I did not use my JX3 Hybrid much, my routine would be out of whack and I would be noisier than ever.
So yes, the loc-ons, climbers, pop up blinds and so forth are all tools needed to pursue the game we hunt.
So pactice with all the hunting tools that you may use and use it with perfection when the situation calls for it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top