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Anyone gun hunt out of there saddle?

Mlcatfish

New Member
Joined
Dec 1, 2014
Messages
8
Location
Arkansas
I have been thinking about trying the ol 7mm out. I’ve only bow hunted out of my saddle but throwing the idea around. Any pros and cons? Limited on time and need to make every minute count. Any advice are tips would be greatly appreciated. Happy hunting to you all!
 
I never did hunt from a saddle with a gun. What is the best way to get your firearm up the tree? What to tie a pull up rope to? I guess a sling if you have it.
 
I have been thinking about trying the ol 7mm out. I’ve only bow hunted out of my saddle but throwing the idea around. Any pros and cons?

Pros - having a high powered firearm I lieu of a handicapped modernized primative weapon

Cons - people will look at you funny because social media has glorified bowhunters as elite

Just messing, but i have really enjoyed gun hunting out of mine. You can use the tree as a prop for most shots, and the bridge makes a nice rest for more awkward ones. I find that sitting/kneeling against the tree helps steadiness, instead of leaning.

My rifle rests between my stomach and bridge, for basically the whole sit at the ready, as opposed to hanging on a hook.

I climb with my backpack on and pull up rifle by the strap. But decending i will lower my pack and wear the rifle down, so i dont worry about bumping my scope
 
I've only xbow hunted out of my saddle so far. Intended to use it for gun season but I've tagged out so maybe next year.

A gun would is much easier to use out of the saddle than my xbow.
 
I
I have been thinking about trying the ol 7mm out. I’ve only bow hunted out of my saddle but throwing the idea around. Any pros and cons? Limited on time and need to make every minute count. Any advice are tips would be greatly appreciated. Happy hunting to you all!
I have, no problems. Use my bow hanger and pull up rope to hang and get rifle up. I usually lean with the rifle across the bridge while waiting and hang rifle when not expecting actions. You can use the bridge and the tree to brace for stable shots. Too easy I think..
 
Quit watching hunting videos. A saddle is just another stand so grab your damn gun and go climb a tree.

I have a feeling bow hunters are like the guys that bought the Mantis. Once the mantis guys hunted out of it a few times they realized it was awful, but that’s not what they read.....are they the defective 1 in a 1000??? Can’t have folks you don’t even know thinking you suck at saddle hunting so they joined in the fanfare online and suffered in person.

Guys new to hunting want to kill deer. If you’re new and continually not killing deer it sucks. All they’ve seen on tv and YT is bow hunting so they go that route not wanting to be out of the loop. But they don’t kill anything so they adopt phrases like “passed” and “encounter” and “target buck” and “mature” and “a buck I call ______” to justify their lack of success. Inwardly they’re not enjoying themselves.

Finally, the Mantis crowd is provided with a new model and they all pounce “because it’s the new model, gotta try it” while inwardly they’re ecstatic because they’ve been given a socially accepted way out of their suffering. They post their Mantis for sale and as soon as it’s out of their hands you start to see the truth creep in......”never could get comfortable” , “sucked”, “hip pinch”, etc......

Don’t fall into that trap. If you want to kill deer and learn HOW to kill deer in the process then take a gun. The relief of knowing you might actually kill something in itself is liberating. Go do you. If you want to kill a deer then kill a deer. Once you kill a few with a gun it will sink in that it’s not that hard so a bit of the anxiety subsided and you realize you don’t have to shoot it as soon as you see it. You have a gun in your hands, the deer is dead, it’s now just a matter of where it’s going to die. This allows you to spend more time with deer in front of you and that’s where you learn them. And learn yourself.

Now that your wife/husband has renewed faith in your ability to provide if you decide you want to go back to bow hunting then start (gun hunting) setting up with a 30 yd restriction self imposed. Not saying you can’t shoot a deer at 80 yards, but setup to kill the deer at 30 and in. When this gets to be second nature then transition back to the bow.

Even after going back to the bow, every now and then grab your gun and go climb a tree and lay the smack down just to remind the deer, and your spouse, who the damn real boss of the woods is......
 
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Quit watching hunting videos. A saddle is just another stand so grab your damn gun and go climb a tree.

I have a feeling bow hunters are like the guys that bought the Mantis. Once the mantis guys hunted out of it a few times they realized it was awful, but that’s not what they read.....are they the defective 1 in a 1000??? Can’t have folks you don’t even know thinking you suck at saddle hunting so they joined in the fanfare online and suffered in person.

Guys new to hunting want to kill deer. If you’re new and continually not killing deer it sucks. All they’ve seen on tv and YT is bow hunting so they go that route not wanting to be out of the loop. But they don’t kill anything so they adopt phrases like “passed” and “encounter” and “target buck” and “mature” and “a buck I call ______” to justify their lack of success. Inwardly they’re not enjoying themselves.

Finally, the Mantis crowd is provided with a new model and they all pounce “because it’s the new model, gotta try it” while inwardly they’re ecstatic before they’ve been given a socially accepted way out of their suffering. They post they’re Mantis for sale and as soon as it’s out of their hands you start to see the truth creep in......”never could get comfortable” , “sucked”, “hip pinch”, etc......

Don’t fall into that trap. If you want to kill deer and learn HOW to kill deer in the process then take a gun. The relief of knowing you might actually kill something in itself is liberating. Go do you. If you want to kill a deer then kill a deer. Once you kill a few with a gun it will sink in that it’s not that hard so a bit of the anxiety subsided and you realize you don’t have to shoot it as soon as you see it. You have a gun in your hands, the deer is dead, it’s now just a matter of where it’s going to die. This allows you to spend more time with deer in front of you and that’s where you learn them. And learn yourself.

Now that your wife/husband has renewed faith in your ability to provide if you decide you want to go back to bow hunting then start setting up with a 30 yd restriction self imposed. Not saying you can’t shoot a deer at 80 yards, but setup to kill the deer at 30 and in. When this gets to be second nature then transition back to the bow.

Even after going back to the bow, every now and then grab your gun and go climb a tree and lay the smack down just to remind the deer, and your spouse, who the damn real boss of the woods is......

Long comment to embrace gun hunting and refute current trends.

That being said, 32 years of hunting and I have been MORE successful using a bow than a rifle/shotgun to hunt deer. Id gather the majority would have the same experience.

Most bowhunting seasons are longer, less crowded, less pressured deer, season coincides with the best rut activity, and the weather is more amicable in the early season to spending longer periods in the woods for less experienced hunters. After that you get the late season in which all you have to do to find deer is find the food and the snow will typically tell the story on what food source is hot. Not to mention 90% of hunters have hung it up for the year so you once again get to hunt the deer as they naturally move.

Most of the deer ive shot gun hunting have been pressured by the millions of other orange clad one week a year hunters out there which means throw most traditional hunting strategies out the window and hunt the pressure. Meaning hunt where the pressure is going to put the deer not where the deer would want to be if left to their natural patterns. Thats a recipe for inconsistent success.

Now to answer this guys original question. Ive essentially used my saddle to replace my treestand harness for BOTH bowhunting and gun hunting as it gives me more options in the tree. Meaning, i sometimes hunt off my top stick with my saddle for short hunts, i sometimes bring my platform and hunt a little longer, and I also still hunt out of fixed hang on stands and my LW hand climber WITH my saddle. I find the stands to still be the most comfortable way to hunt and much prefer them to using just a stick or a comparatively tiny platform with a saddle as you have to spend all day putting weight into the thing. That is NEVER comfortable for an all day sit, anyone tells you they were comfortable with their ass/hips crammed into a saddle for 12-14 hours i think is most likely fibbing or theyre 18 yos old with the same mentality i had at that age that caused me to continue playing a high school football game with a broken hand. With a stand or climber you can lean like you would with a traditional saddle set up but when your ass/hips get sick of that you can actually turn around and sit down or just stand on your stand without leaning into the saddle at all. Its the best of both worlds and how i have been doing all day sits the last 2 years.
 
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