upnorthairgunner
New Member
- Joined
- Jun 9, 2021
- Messages
- 10
I've been lurking here in the background for a few years now and though I would just jump in and start sharing some of my Tree Saddle Hunting journey. I bow hunt a ton, but most of my focus is on the big bore airgun sector and playing with those airheads over there in that community and working to support disabled Vets using airguns as adaptive hunting devices.
Since it is legal to hunt from an elevated stand here in Michigan with a firearm, the Michigan DNR considers big bore airguns a firearm for hunting regulations. Which meant I could go vertical during many different season with my big bore airgun rigs. Then I found all of you saddle hunting nuts!
4 years ago I made this belt from a padded tool belt with a built-in back brace for pulling my sled on the ice as a hands free pull harness. I can easily pull a few hundred pounds of gear with this thing on the ice. My first prototype I used a cheap sewing machine to sew on a bunch of MOLLE attachments and lineman's loops I needed to haul gear.
During that process I realized this thing could haul some serious weight and was super comfortable around my waist and provided a ton of back support. Plus as compared to some of the battle belt DIY saddle projects I had seen on SH.com (which are also awesome) the way this belt works is the buckle doesn't come into contact with your gut (which I have plenty of) like battle belts do where that buckle can dig into your skin.
So when I started looking for alternative elevated tree stand Deer hunting and reading through a bunch of stuff you guys were doing, I just made a saddle attachment to go with this belt. It worked PERFECTLY! After 3 different versions I made to try different attachment options, the issue I had was I didn't trust the strength of this thread nor the machine I was using to put it all together to get up elevated into a tree. So last year I got a Latitude Method (which is awesome), but I had some issues with comfort mostly to do with my Dad bod. I have buddies who run the Method with no issues at all so it is definitely my body type.
So I went back to my DIY saddle to make it elevation safe for me to run. I am lucky to have a friend who works at one of the leading textile manufacturing facilities right here in my backyard in Northern Michigan. They focus on Law Enforcement and DoD contracts and she was able to take my DIY concept to the next level with T135 thread and safety focused stitching patterns. Now I have a belt I can not only use for saddle hunting, but can also use it for a range / battle belt for my days at the range shooting with my ammo pounces and range finder etc, ice fishing to pull my gear as a harness, and hell I've even bought a Kong Frog attachment to use this thing to walk my dog. LOL!
Shout out to all you guys innovating and sharing your journey. This is definitely an awesome community of hunters. Thanks for having me.
Since it is legal to hunt from an elevated stand here in Michigan with a firearm, the Michigan DNR considers big bore airguns a firearm for hunting regulations. Which meant I could go vertical during many different season with my big bore airgun rigs. Then I found all of you saddle hunting nuts!
4 years ago I made this belt from a padded tool belt with a built-in back brace for pulling my sled on the ice as a hands free pull harness. I can easily pull a few hundred pounds of gear with this thing on the ice. My first prototype I used a cheap sewing machine to sew on a bunch of MOLLE attachments and lineman's loops I needed to haul gear.
During that process I realized this thing could haul some serious weight and was super comfortable around my waist and provided a ton of back support. Plus as compared to some of the battle belt DIY saddle projects I had seen on SH.com (which are also awesome) the way this belt works is the buckle doesn't come into contact with your gut (which I have plenty of) like battle belts do where that buckle can dig into your skin.
So when I started looking for alternative elevated tree stand Deer hunting and reading through a bunch of stuff you guys were doing, I just made a saddle attachment to go with this belt. It worked PERFECTLY! After 3 different versions I made to try different attachment options, the issue I had was I didn't trust the strength of this thread nor the machine I was using to put it all together to get up elevated into a tree. So last year I got a Latitude Method (which is awesome), but I had some issues with comfort mostly to do with my Dad bod. I have buddies who run the Method with no issues at all so it is definitely my body type.
So I went back to my DIY saddle to make it elevation safe for me to run. I am lucky to have a friend who works at one of the leading textile manufacturing facilities right here in my backyard in Northern Michigan. They focus on Law Enforcement and DoD contracts and she was able to take my DIY concept to the next level with T135 thread and safety focused stitching patterns. Now I have a belt I can not only use for saddle hunting, but can also use it for a range / battle belt for my days at the range shooting with my ammo pounces and range finder etc, ice fishing to pull my gear as a harness, and hell I've even bought a Kong Frog attachment to use this thing to walk my dog. LOL!
Shout out to all you guys innovating and sharing your journey. This is definitely an awesome community of hunters. Thanks for having me.
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