What's up everybody,
Finally getting around to posting a summary of my first deer season out of a saddle.
Gear I Used
Aerohunter Kestrel- Bought last summer off of here.
Ropeman 1
Hawk Helium Sticks
Tethrd Predator Platform-The best thing in the world!
Mathews Vertix 73lbs 30'' w/475gr black eagle renegade & rage hypodermic.
Location: Southwest Virginia
A little background on why I decided on a saddle. I have been bow hunting for around 10yrs or so and had a couple of seasons where I was wanting more mobility. I had typically used a climber but that was limiting to where I could setup. Specifically I hunt a public and a property where an old fence row funnels deer through an opening. The thing is there aren't any trees big enough to get a normal stand or climber into, so started researching saddles and I knew it was the way to go. So picked one up used and played with it in the backyard to get somewhat comfortable in it. Gotta say leaning away from a tree is not a natural instinct.
Onto deer season:
Opening day of season I was able to climb into a small poplar about 27yds away from this fence gap, I hung the platform at around 7 o'clock on the tree with the fence opening directly to my left, so anything coming through the fence would be on my strong side. After around an hour or two and being picked off by a group of turkeys, I finally caught some movement about 75yds away. A year an a half old forky was working perfectly towards the fence gap. I had by bow hung on the left side of the tree and was able to get clipped on and pivot slightly where the tree was between me and the deer. At this point I am shaking like a B&C buck is working in and as soon as he came through the fence he turned broadside and I let one go. Shot felt great and was tucked right behind the shoulder, the buck kind of hunched up and walked off slowly. I ended up climbing down to check the arrow, finding a lot of fat on the fletchings. So backed out for 3hrs and picked the blood trail up. I followed it for about 200yds and it dried up, so on my hands and knees looking for blood for 10 minutes or so. I looked up and there he was standing 40yds from me too weak to run off. So followed up with another shot and done deal.
The next day I planned to sit in a different spot on the same piece of property. The spot was in a narrow band of mixed timber on the side of a steep hill that acted as a funnel between a large hay field and a contiguous block of timber. The plan was to catch deer coming back to bed down during the morning. This setup was the exact opposite of the day priors hunt, it seemed like everything was going wrong and it took way too long to get in the tree. Already breaking daylight I fought with a screw in bow holder for over 15mintues-a cheap hanger that was so dull it wouldn't bite and go into the tree...So once I finally got settled it was around 7:15 or so. Pretty frustrated at this point but remembered I had a couple trail camera pictures of does moving after 8a.m. so not all hope was lost and the morning was young. Ended up seeing a bobcat working through and missed him at around 37yds. So settled back in and 30min later heard something running towards me quick.
I hung my platform on the opposite side of the tree that I expected deer to come from, and I saw two deer running towards my tree on my weak side. I ended up having to stand with my back towards the tree on the platform-which felt very sketchy on this steep hillside looking down 25-30ft. This is all happening quick and the lead doe was only 5yds away from the base of my tree when I was able to get drawn back. Had to stop her but the shot was very easy and she crashed around 100yds away. This hunt taught me a lot and brought forward things I needed to work on, mostly how to move around the platform and shooting from your weak side. It felt pretty unnerving standing on that little predator platform with my back to the tree.
The next week I am once again on the same property and sitting on the opposite side in a wide popular/oak drainage with a power line cut about 25yds from me. A small stand of pines were scattered throughout and deer often bedded here mid morning. So I found another poplar and climbed up before daylight and felt good about the setup. At this point I have about 5 or 6 hunts in the saddle and am feeling much more comfortable moving around the tree, sitting, and how to use the platform effectively.
On the hillside I am on I was able to look down the drainage and power line cut in case a deer was working in, I thought this would let me get setup well before the deer came within range. This wasn't the case. I ended up hearing a group of turkeys and called back to them bringing them in to 20yds about 30 minutes after I figured they weren't coming in. So I was completely unprepared for the turkeys and they took my full attention trying to get a shot at one. All of the sudden I catch movement to my left and a mature doe is only 25yds away, never heard her at all. I ended up getting a slight quartering too shot through the front shoulder with the hypodermic burying in the offside shoulder. I'm pretty confident in taking quartering shots under 30yds with my setup and even though I hit the ridge of the shoulder blade straight on it busted right through and did exactly what I wanted.
That was the last deer I was able to kill from the saddle for the remainder of the season as I hunted off of the ground a lot during muzzeloader and rifle season. I ended up killing a couple more does and my biggest buck to date last season, but most importantly I learn a TON about hunting out of a saddle and how to do it safely. The biggest take homes for me were no matter how many trees you climb in your backyard or before season, you are not going to replicate doing it in the dark. So for anyone new to this sport reading this practice practice practice and do not rush getting setup when hunting. Also, I need to practice weird shot angles and shooting from my weak side, this was something that I tried to avoid when setting up and planned my hunts around shooting from my strong side, but as we all know deer don't do as you think and you need to feel confident in your gear when wiggling around in a tree. So this spring and summer I will be doing a lot more practice with awkward shot angles from my weak side and transitioning around the platform.
2019 Buck is attached below, unfortunately not from a saddle but an awesome hunt mid day from the ground. Might have to write that one up soon.
Finally getting around to posting a summary of my first deer season out of a saddle.
Gear I Used
Aerohunter Kestrel- Bought last summer off of here.
Ropeman 1
Hawk Helium Sticks
Tethrd Predator Platform-The best thing in the world!
Mathews Vertix 73lbs 30'' w/475gr black eagle renegade & rage hypodermic.
Location: Southwest Virginia
A little background on why I decided on a saddle. I have been bow hunting for around 10yrs or so and had a couple of seasons where I was wanting more mobility. I had typically used a climber but that was limiting to where I could setup. Specifically I hunt a public and a property where an old fence row funnels deer through an opening. The thing is there aren't any trees big enough to get a normal stand or climber into, so started researching saddles and I knew it was the way to go. So picked one up used and played with it in the backyard to get somewhat comfortable in it. Gotta say leaning away from a tree is not a natural instinct.
Onto deer season:
Opening day of season I was able to climb into a small poplar about 27yds away from this fence gap, I hung the platform at around 7 o'clock on the tree with the fence opening directly to my left, so anything coming through the fence would be on my strong side. After around an hour or two and being picked off by a group of turkeys, I finally caught some movement about 75yds away. A year an a half old forky was working perfectly towards the fence gap. I had by bow hung on the left side of the tree and was able to get clipped on and pivot slightly where the tree was between me and the deer. At this point I am shaking like a B&C buck is working in and as soon as he came through the fence he turned broadside and I let one go. Shot felt great and was tucked right behind the shoulder, the buck kind of hunched up and walked off slowly. I ended up climbing down to check the arrow, finding a lot of fat on the fletchings. So backed out for 3hrs and picked the blood trail up. I followed it for about 200yds and it dried up, so on my hands and knees looking for blood for 10 minutes or so. I looked up and there he was standing 40yds from me too weak to run off. So followed up with another shot and done deal.
The next day I planned to sit in a different spot on the same piece of property. The spot was in a narrow band of mixed timber on the side of a steep hill that acted as a funnel between a large hay field and a contiguous block of timber. The plan was to catch deer coming back to bed down during the morning. This setup was the exact opposite of the day priors hunt, it seemed like everything was going wrong and it took way too long to get in the tree. Already breaking daylight I fought with a screw in bow holder for over 15mintues-a cheap hanger that was so dull it wouldn't bite and go into the tree...So once I finally got settled it was around 7:15 or so. Pretty frustrated at this point but remembered I had a couple trail camera pictures of does moving after 8a.m. so not all hope was lost and the morning was young. Ended up seeing a bobcat working through and missed him at around 37yds. So settled back in and 30min later heard something running towards me quick.
I hung my platform on the opposite side of the tree that I expected deer to come from, and I saw two deer running towards my tree on my weak side. I ended up having to stand with my back towards the tree on the platform-which felt very sketchy on this steep hillside looking down 25-30ft. This is all happening quick and the lead doe was only 5yds away from the base of my tree when I was able to get drawn back. Had to stop her but the shot was very easy and she crashed around 100yds away. This hunt taught me a lot and brought forward things I needed to work on, mostly how to move around the platform and shooting from your weak side. It felt pretty unnerving standing on that little predator platform with my back to the tree.
The next week I am once again on the same property and sitting on the opposite side in a wide popular/oak drainage with a power line cut about 25yds from me. A small stand of pines were scattered throughout and deer often bedded here mid morning. So I found another poplar and climbed up before daylight and felt good about the setup. At this point I have about 5 or 6 hunts in the saddle and am feeling much more comfortable moving around the tree, sitting, and how to use the platform effectively.
On the hillside I am on I was able to look down the drainage and power line cut in case a deer was working in, I thought this would let me get setup well before the deer came within range. This wasn't the case. I ended up hearing a group of turkeys and called back to them bringing them in to 20yds about 30 minutes after I figured they weren't coming in. So I was completely unprepared for the turkeys and they took my full attention trying to get a shot at one. All of the sudden I catch movement to my left and a mature doe is only 25yds away, never heard her at all. I ended up getting a slight quartering too shot through the front shoulder with the hypodermic burying in the offside shoulder. I'm pretty confident in taking quartering shots under 30yds with my setup and even though I hit the ridge of the shoulder blade straight on it busted right through and did exactly what I wanted.
That was the last deer I was able to kill from the saddle for the remainder of the season as I hunted off of the ground a lot during muzzeloader and rifle season. I ended up killing a couple more does and my biggest buck to date last season, but most importantly I learn a TON about hunting out of a saddle and how to do it safely. The biggest take homes for me were no matter how many trees you climb in your backyard or before season, you are not going to replicate doing it in the dark. So for anyone new to this sport reading this practice practice practice and do not rush getting setup when hunting. Also, I need to practice weird shot angles and shooting from my weak side, this was something that I tried to avoid when setting up and planned my hunts around shooting from my strong side, but as we all know deer don't do as you think and you need to feel confident in your gear when wiggling around in a tree. So this spring and summer I will be doing a lot more practice with awkward shot angles from my weak side and transitioning around the platform.
2019 Buck is attached below, unfortunately not from a saddle but an awesome hunt mid day from the ground. Might have to write that one up soon.
Last edited:
