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Epiphany or Crisis?

I'd say epiphany. You've got a pretty sweet system that seems tailor made for your situation. How much better or lighter can gear get? Time for big bucks, babies and maybe bass fishing?

I'm still on the gear train, but then again I'm still a relative newbie at all of this. Short/medium/long term needs & desires:
JX3 to make all day rut hunting more enjoyable.
ebike to get to remote areas away from orange army.
Self filming system to help this aging brain with memories (not a YouTube star).
New camo setup. Mostly for comfort in extreme weather variation, but possibly for scent control. Still internally debating between Sitka system for comfort or Scentlok to test JE's theories and kill more/better deer.
Sounds like crossbow hunting is opening up in my state next year and if not I will be 50 soon which works under current law. I like the challenge of archery but I like killing and eating deer the most (probably opening a can of worms on this one, sorry. Just pointing out a possible impending expense).
New kayak or canoe? Possibly.

As my wife can attest, the list never ends.

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@TNSTAAFL I want to start filming hunts, but just for my private viewing, like you said. I also refuse to buy/carry an arm. I'm thinking about just a gopro clipped to my tether, and maybe a lav mic so I can whisper. I don't want anything interfering with primetime, but I've really enjoyed @WHW and his post-kill walkthroughs of successful hunts. I recorded one of my last buck on my phone, but it somehow corrupted!

I think a video journal would be useful and cool to watch during the off season.
 
Nutterbuster said:
@TNSTAAFL I want to start filming hunts, but just for my private viewing, like you said. I also refuse to buy/carry an arm. I'm thinking about just a gopro clipped to my tether, and maybe a lav mic so I can whisper. I don't want anything interfering with primetime, but I've really enjoyed @WHW and his post-kill walkthroughs of successful hunts. I recorded one of my last buck on my phone, but it somehow corrupted!

I think a video journal would be useful and cool to watch during the off season.
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I have experimented with a GoPro. The deer looks like a little brown dot lol. They don't do distance very well
 
Murph4028 said:
I have experimented with a GoPro. The deer looks like a little brown dot lol. They don't do distance very well
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I know. I've owned 2. I just don't know that I need to film kill shots. I have thought about just using my phone, but it drains the battery. I have a hero session, and have thought about a lightweight, handheld recorder for things I can't kill.

That would also allow me to "hunt" some parks around here that have deer...
 
I’m so far from a gear person that it isn’t funny. The only two categories of gear I’ve ever put any effort in is how to get in a tree and how to get to that tree. It’s all about the chess match.
 
Nutterbuster said:
I'm at a loss.
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sounds like you have it dialed in. If you "need" that constant search then add another hobby. I've had LOTS of hobbies for a while just to learn something knew basically. Metal detecting, prospecting, fly fishing and tying, poker, bicycling, etc.

Or move to Idaho. Learning that one would keep you busy for a decade! (Less radically you could just come out and hunt elk each year. Lots to learn there)
 
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It's funny, right now I think my system is really set. My go to is my Mantis saddle, single modified Hawk Helium with a single aider and the Predator platform.

Then I think back to this time last year and I felt exactly the same way about my Kestrel and WE Stepps using Cain's method. At that point for me the Kestrel was unbeatable on comfort, I had a reliable compact climbing method that worked everywhere and doubled as my platform.

Along came Tethrd and I had to at least give their products a try. Long story short, my "dialed in" method from the April 2018 time frame changed completely before the 2018 deer season. Given that, its hard to imagine the next innovation and how it will affect my current "perfected" system.
 
boyne bowhunter said:
It's funny, right now I think my system is really set. My go to is my Mantis saddle, single modified Hawk Helium with a single aider and the Predator platform.

Then I think back to this time last year and I felt exactly the same way about my Kestrel and WE Stepps using Cain's method. At that point for me the Kestrel was unbeatable on comfort, I had a reliable compact climbing method that worked everywhere and doubled as my platform.

Along came Tethrd and I had to at least give their products a try. Long story short, my "dialed in" method from the April 2018 time frame changed completely before the 2018 deer season. Given that, its hard to imagine the next innovation and how it will affect my current "perfected" system.
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Your exactly right and when the new trophyline comes out I'm sure I'll buy that too
 
@Nutterbuster I am kind of in the same boat as you. I was actually looking forward to some major tweaking this summer, but I got nothin'. I really love my custom sitdrag. WE steps with knaider/swaider is the best climbing system for me. Two WE steps and a pair of ameristeps provides a really nice platform. I could go for a light pack but decided a nice stable pack that can handle anything, including my steps and the pile of clothes I carry in, trumps weight.

My focus this year, when time affords me, is finding the deer. I am looking forward to seeing the various setups this weekend at our Massachusetts Saddlepalooza though. Very interested in platforms like the perch and the predator, although they will have to be pretty amazing in order for me to ditch just the Steps as a platform.
 
I'm always looking for new gear.

My wife hates it lol.

Only thing I NEED is a bow holder. Probably gonna go with a U slide Mini.

I also want an 80lb elite E35 bow but just got a sick Nitrum Turbo.

Never ends

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I am way new to deer hunting and the saddle, but I can see that I am looking forward to getting a complete package that just "works". I am getting more and more comfortable with the Kite and cannot wait for the WE Stepps to be here. For me, hunting is all about the preparation and time spent before the first, (or last) day out. I don't want to be constantly adjusting my gear, yet I completely understand the need to try out what works. Yet, I am also the type that refuses to follow what others have done. I even restrict my reading or asking seasoned hunters what their tricks are. I have to learn on my own, yet I can be impatient in the process of this at times.

At least my wife gets me and loves venison!

Nick
 
saint1480 said:
I am way new to deer hunting and the saddle, but I can see that I am looking forward to getting a complete package that just "works". I am getting more and more comfortable with the Kite and cannot wait for the WE Stepps to be here. For me, hunting is all about the preparation and time spent before the first, (or last) day out. I don't want to be constantly adjusting my gear, yet I completely understand the need to try out what works. Yet, I am also the type that refuses to follow what others have done. I even restrict my reading or asking seasoned hunters what their tricks are. I have to learn on my own, yet I can be impatient in the process of this at times.

At least my wife gets me and loves venison!

Nick
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Coming from a divorced family and having a Dad that didn’t care much about hunting I get where you are coming from. I will say you should glean all the knowledge and tricks you can from seasoned hunters. Don’t take anything as fact but compare what you read to what you’re experiencing on the ground to figure out how that applies to how you hunt. There aren’t many people if any that I could consider experts on deer hunting. There are a pile that know more than me and every now and then I will here someone say something that helps me make sense out of something I couldn’t wrap my mind around before. I approach much of life the same way.
 
I know this thread has been up for a while, but I am feeling more and more like this every month.
I have 3 main purchases I want for the foreseeable future... the tree hopper mini, a kayak, and a Mantis.
The kayak is really my only must have. I have an EZ-Kut that works well enough, and my sit drag has nothing wrong with it.

After that, I really plan on just spending more time scouting, and what money I can afford to on DIY out of state hunts. I guess it comes with 5 years of tinkering with my gear until there’s not a whole lot to fix...


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I'm 100% happy where i'm at with camo, weapons, and saddle gear. The only thing that is a question mark at the moment is a framepack for hauling gear. I decided to try and piece together a modular system from kifaru. Spendy, but the pieces I have so far look like it's going to be a killer setup.

After I get that figured out i'll go back to obsessing on how to accessorize the new coop and run for our chickens.

And after that I promised to get the kids a dog... damn my summer is going to hell quickly.
 
@Nutterbuster move to Saskatchewan for a chance at hypothermia and huge deer at the same time!!. Honestly though I am not where you are but am getting close. I am looking to hunt more species now other than waterfowl, small game turkeys and deer. Bear is next on my list. Then travel for Pronghorn.
 
IkemanTX said:
I know this thread has been up for a while, but I am feeling more and more like this every month.
I have 3 main purchases I want for the foreseeable future... the tree hopper mini, a kayak, and a Mantis.
The kayak is really my only must have. I have an EZ-Kut that works well enough, and my sit drag has nothing wrong with it.

After that, I really plan on just spending more time scouting, and what money I can afford to on DIY out of state hunts. I guess it comes with 5 years of tinkering with my gear until there’s not a whole lot to fix...


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I'm in agreement with you and @Nutterbuster. I'm so content with my climbing method and my SitDrag, that I'm not sure my next direction. I have now acquired not 1 but 2 kayaks. My wife had to have one. So now I'm researching how to perform all the mods needed to hunt from it. Duck and Deer. I know that I will always continue to tinker with improvements, but honestly, I just can't seeing myself ever buying a commercially made saddle. Who knows, maybe that's a mistake but for now I'm happy.
 
Nutterbuster said:
Already working on it.

Not really my thing.

There ain't enough room in the world for NutterBuster and NutterBuster Jr. One of us would kill the other. Or Ms. NutterBuster would kill us both.

;)
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I’m starting work on my family’s 40 acres next year. I plan on slowly converting 25 acres of it back into Blackland Prairie.... but that’s DANG expensive.
I figure I will plant several hundred trees, a whole mess of prairie, and about 6 acres of food plots a year (4ac for deer and 2ac for dove) all in the hopes of maybe hunting it a decade from now.

I threw up a corn feeder first week of January and stuck a camera on it..... still not a deer or pig one on camera.


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