• 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

Biggest obstacles during hunting

Loopwing said:
I will second familiarity of your set up is one of the biggest factors. You will never be able to accommodate for trees, branches, winds. Every set up is a little different. You need to be thinking and moving on your feet. Don't worry about height, don't worry about things from your couch. When you get to your tree and start to climb then worry about your set up. I killed a bunch of deer last year 10 feet up. I could have climbed 20, but I was above the canopy. Your platform is what fits your feet. I hunt a mission, I can spin and shoot a deer directly behind me at 20 yards, did it. I think a ROS would have gotten me busted because I would have left the back cover of the tree and been backlit. And the perfect tree may not be the perfect tree when you get to height, (backlit, branch from another tree, lean in the tree you didn't notice from the ground, get to height and notice a deer trail closer to another tree.....)

All that being said, the biggest obstacle is being dead set in hunting the way you decided to hunt yesterday and not what the woods are giving you today. Never be afraid to change.
Click to expand...
Great post. I am curious about the ROS statement. Do you think when you spin front side and lean out beyond the tree to shoot behind you on a platform that you are are moving less than stepping one or two steps to your weak side and taking the same shot from an ROS? The one thing I like about the ROS is I can make those shift steps in either direction when I need to make a shot. I just mean in my opinion you’re still making the same movement on the front side of the tree when you spin to shoot behind you. I am just wondering because you said you would have been busted on a ROS.
 
That ONE situation, the tree was large enough and the sun was behind the tree. I was able to pivot on the platform. If I was to go to the side of the tree I would have been backlit. I really tried to make the ROS work and it did not work for my size 14/15 (depends on the boot) boots. A ROS would have saved a lot of space. I was only 10 feet off the ground. I was able to keep my whole pivot inside the 12-13 inches of the platform. The deer were supposed to be coming from directly in front of me. That doe had not received the memo.

I did not lean out at all. I actually leaned back a little to stay close to the tree and in the shadows.
 
Loopwing said:
That ONE situation, the tree was large enough and the sun was behind the tree. I was able to pivot on the platform. If I was to go to the side of the tree I would have been backlit. I really tried to make the ROS work and it did not work for my size 14/15 (depends on the boot) boots. A ROS would have saved a lot of space. I was only 10 feet off the ground. I was able to keep my whole pivot inside the 12-13 inches of the platform. The deer were supposed to be coming from directly in front of me. That doe had not received the memo.

I did not lean out at all. I actually leaned back a little to stay close to the tree and in the shadows.
Click to expand...
Ok I see. I get what you’re saying as I am 6’3” with a 36” inseam and wear a 13 w or 14 depending on the boot. I do like platforms for comfort but ROS have definitely served me well. I’ve yet to find a shot I can’t make as long as I have enough steps to go around.
PS I really wish the deer would get the memo about showing up in the right location in a timely manner lol:sweatsmile:
 
A lot of good points here especially on being super flexible depending on the daily hunt conditions.
I tend to find the basketball sized trees and have a scout on my top stick to be able to use more tree. Last year I shot 3 deer from the saddle and not one of them allowed me to use the strong side shot I set up for. The great thing about smaller trees no bigger than my width is I just leaned around the back of the tree on all three of the deer I shot instead of swinging around for the offhand shot. Less movement and the tree more or less covered my movement.
 
Speaking as one who has hunted out of a saddle exclusively for 18 seasons, I’ve found the biggest challenge is to keep from getting sight-busted by deer.

It happened less frequently back when I hunted from hang-ons. I just seem to move around a bit more from a saddle.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top