I'm single, no kids, and like messing with gear. I like to tell myself I do it so I can help other people avoid wasting money. The reality is I like trying gear out. Tried all the saddles, all the climbing methods.
There's a thread on the tether I use, with an energy absorber.
I use the JX3 hybrid almost exclusively. Long walks, thick crap, on the ground, in a tree, wherever whenever, I'm comfortable when I hunt. Packs my critters out with ease. I see hunting effort in a very different way than most folks I think. The hybrid is in a category by itself.
On occasion, I trot out my kestrel and a ridge runner platform. Low tether hook up, and a stand more than lean posture. You could really sub any saddle and platform if you're hunting this way. I just had the kestrel from get, and none of the others I tried made a material difference in comfort or function. Agree with
@kenn1320 it's a great way to hunt. That said, it went from hybrid/kestrel 50/50 two years ago to hybrid/kestrel 95/5 last year. I don't see a reason to use the kestrel this season, but we'll see.
As far as climbing methods, I use bolts when I can as first choice, one stick as second choice, and squirrel steps on ocb's as a third choice. I mostly end up using one stick. I've been doing that several years, and have gotten to a point that climbing with one stick is no different than climbing with multiple sticks. I factor in all time to pack, store, hike, unpack, climb up, climb down, repack, hike out, all of it when thinking about gear. Ultimately, when you have to cross one branch, and you're the type that will always stay hooked up, pretty much every climbing method evens out at that point. I'll take the easiest to carry, and least amount of parts and pieces to deal with.
Packs - I pack my critters out, I don't like making two trips if I'm deep, and I think packs with no hip belt are for cretins. I bought a popup 28 and it's been great. I've packed several of my own, and several friends' deer as well. One of the most enjoyable hunts I've had was walking in about a mile, finding good sign, setting up at the end of my scent trail, having a spike walk right in my lane (I thought it was a doe), making a great shot, watching him fall close by, packing him up, walking out. Left no trace besides a carcass. One trip in and out, max efficiency. Not a giant deer, nothing crazy happened on the hunt. I just executed perfectly, and the plan came together. If I'm not hunting with the hybrid, I'm carrying the popup.
Ground Chair - Honestly, the hybrid is still the winner here, because I can sit low on the actual ground, or I can hook up at base of a tree to get up a little. But I bought a Waldrop Pacseat at DaveT's recommendation a couple seasons ago. I killed a nice buck out of it last year. It's a really nifty setup, and I use it around the house, camp, concerts, etc. too. If I had it to do over again now that I've found the hybrid - I wouldn't buy it because it wouldn't be justified for hunting. But if you're a minimal saddle person, and looking for a good way to ground hunt - look at the waldrop. I actually have made several hunts where I had drill/bolts/ros and kestrel in a pouch on the back of the chair and packed in. Had the option of being in a tree or on the ground. He promotes it as a frame pack, and it will function as so, but the straps are not very comfy. I packed a quarter of an
@Nutterbuster doe out on it, and I wouldn't want to tote much more. But it's damn comfy, very versatile, and the guy is cool that makes em.
Platforms - tried them all. Big ones, small ones, trendy ones. I use a ring of squirrel steps on an ocb 95% of the time. The hybrid requires minimal foot support, and I still like going all the way around the tree. I had an assassin for a few seasons. Didn't make sense once I got the hybrid. I tried the ambush, same deal. Tried a predator, didn't make sense to have if I wasn't going to have one I could free stand and turn around on. Made quite a few hunts on a ring of Jim Stepps (wild edge stepps) before discovering the squirrel steps. I built a one stick/platform combo, it works fine, just not my favorite. Bought a ridge runner because I had some ideas i ran by Matt and ultimately wanted to try. I still have it, and if I'm going to use a platform, its the most compact setup that I can turn completely around on. Not my favorite, but like the Kestrel, it checks the most boxes for a platform for me. Ring of steps seems to just make the most sense for most saddle hunting.
The biggest thing I've learned is that the differences between gear are very small, once you know what you're doing. If you suck at scouting places to hunt on the internet, suck at finding sign or deer in real time, suck at executing during a hunt, suck at climbing, suck at everything, the differences in gear will seem huge to you at first. But if you're a somewhat experienced hunter, and have most of your "hunting" activities dialed in, the difference in the saddle, or climbing method, or whatever piece of gear, is usually not a material one. If you can get past the marketing, and the parroting, and the look at me stuff, it's all pretty close to the same. With one exception - like I mentioned before - the JX3 Hybrid. You could swap out every other piece of gear for the worst option, and if I've got the Hybrid, I'll be fine, and get it done.
Practice with your gear. Inspect your gear. Buy stuff used, try it out, compare it to other pieces of gear, sell what doesn't work. I honestly think with the classifieds here, you could set aside 1000.00 and buy all used gear, hunt with it, and sell it for 900.00 every season. We're awful lucky that its such a robust market. We're all shaped different, have different preferences, approach things differently. Only time and experience with the gear will reveal the subtle differences. But remember they're subtle. Not many game changers...
