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Getting picked off

Bonez said:
Yeah I’m either going to have to hang higher or hunt different areas that provide a lot more cover. I hunt a lot of hardwoods with real mature oaks and the only thing with cover are the small saplings that are about 10-12 ft up and the cover is sparse anyway with those trees
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One good thing about the oaks is they are the last to lose their leaves but If your set up in tall ones the leaf cover will probably still be higher than you want to climb. Beech can be good too depending on whats around them. They typically have a lot of beech growth in and around them to help you hide.
 
This is a pretty typical look this time of year for where I hunt. Looks like possible cover, yet the trees I can safely be in don’t have that cover. Trial and error I guess lol
 

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Bonez said:
This is a pretty typical look this time of year for where I hunt. Looks like possible cover, yet the trees I can safely be in don’t have that cover. Trial and error I guess lol
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I hunt KY and WV with long bow 18feet I got busted hunting next to my lock on stand in my saddle for no reason had a doe look up but in my lock on standing killed a 9 pt and have had 3 bucks under me and never bust me.20201003_181726.jpg
 
I think if you are in a lock on at 18ft standing with a long bow you can get away with more then a saddle at 18ft. I think you need to get higher in a saddle that's one reason I stopped saddle hunting now and went to LWScreenshot_20200112-144353_Gallery.jpg
 
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I’ll always be a lock on hunter, Just how I was raised. I like the saddle, people kill deer and large deer out of them all the time. I agree with dan but if people are killing big deer out of a saddle, I can too lol. Just need to figure out ways to make it happen
 
I hunted a week in October with my Recon sling and by the end of the week my back was shot! In my lock on I stand and sit it's a lot better for me.
 
At risk of being excommunicated I agree it is a downside of the saddle. More movement to setup for shots. Key for me is being a little more cognizant of cover. And anticipating where shots are going to be and setting up accordingly. It's when that anticipation is wrong that things can really go haywire. Conceptually that is no different than a conventional stand, but I think it is amplified by the fact that you are hanging from a rope and have to swing around a wide radius vs. just pivoting your feet.

It's the biggest reason I like a larger platform/hybrid setup. I was in an "fat chick" on Saturday, in a tree in a clearcut with just a little branch backcover and no other trees within 50 yards. Hanging from a saddle there I would have had no chance. I stood with my back against the tree the entire 3 hours. Was it comfortable, no, but more so than it would have been standing on a 9 x 12 saddle platform.
 
I keep thinking about picking up a lwcg 0.5. There are some trees where I think a lock on is a better choice, and for back to back marathon sessions it'd be nice to be able to pop a squat for a bit to break up the monotony.

You have dead zones for shooting in both a saddle and a lock on. Areas where a seasoned hunter can force a shot most of the time, but it ain't ideal. Angles where you have to do some finagling and squirming and dancing to get into position, and you need time and presence of mind to make it happen.
 
I seem to not get busted as much in a saddle but that's just me. I don't pick tiny trees so sometimes i wonder if people are just hunting out of too small of a tree. A lot of the trees I hunt out off are close to as wide as my shoulders. One i feel safer in them and 2 i feel like a can stay behind the tree better to get my shot off. A lot has to do with back cover also. You need to pick a tree just like you do when your putting a ladder or hang on. You need back cover to break up your outline. I have had deer look right at me in a saddle and wonder what I was but never blown me up. The buck i killed last year looked right into my soul and I about melted in my saddle but he just kept walking the trail. He was at 5 yards and my 5 o clock when he stopped and looked at me.

Dan talking about string getting in the way and not being able to draw sounds like he didn't play with it long enough (never a good idea). I check when I get into stands to see if can draw. Depending on tether height and tree angle depends on if my string will hit my bridge or tether. Sometime I have to adjust my tether height to avoid it.

No option is better then the other. For me right now its saddle. It has helped my back a ton. By the time the season got over with a hang on my back was killing me but with a saddle my back seems to stay pain free, at least through a year and a half it has.
 
My back is horrible as well. It's a wonder I can play golf , which doesn't seem to trigger it at a high level compared with most made mortals. Being able to recline with the back support is great. Sitting on a chair is killer on ladders/lock ons
 
Nutterbuster said:
I keep thinking about picking up a lwcg 0.5. There are some trees where I think a lock on is a better choice, and for back to back marathon sessions it'd be nice to be able to pop a squat for a bit to break up the monotony.

You have dead zones for shooting in both a saddle and a lock on. Areas where a seasoned hunter can force a shot most of the time, but it ain't ideal. Angles where you have to do some finagling and squirming and dancing to get into position, and you need time and presence of mind to make it happen.
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I’m with you. I’m also thinking about getting one. At the end of the day, I hunt to kill deer and want as many tools in the toolbox as possible. I killed a lot of deer out of my lone wolf climber before switching to a saddle. I’ve also been pretty successful out of the saddle and really enjoy the system. I like options though.
 
I hunt with a long bow and can only shoot 20y max you don't have a lot of options for tree size to get close enough my LW Assault with bat wing lets you get in any tree and my .5 is on order 6 weeks now. Nothing against saddle hunting tryed for a year now. I killed a lot of deer in a lock on .
 
SNIPERBBB said:
My back is horrible as well. It's a wonder I can play golf , which doesn't seem to trigger it at a high level compared with most made mortals. Being able to recline with the back support is great. Sitting on a chair is killer on ladders/lock ons
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My back and neck are bad one reason I tried a saddle and really liked it but I hunted a week in October and couldn't stand up straight my back pain was really bad. And with a rock harnesses and a tether rope with a prusic I can turn around and shoot in back of my stand is really working good and with .5 stand under 7lb and dubblestep sticks I'm happy
 
Interesting, as I feel as though I have a smaller profile in saddle than on a stand.
ive had deer lock into the tree / ground area but haven’t picked me off. Although
shot angles at 20+‘. and when deer sneak in at my 5 o’clock , 6 ( behind) and 7; are challenging for me to move into shot position undetected.
I like the shot positions , provided I can get into position before the target is too close.
also tough on stands...
Back comfort is so much better.
I’d still prefer a stand as a preset option in bad weather or to change up pressure points
 
KYhunter66 said:
I agree with Dan Infalt on this now more than ever View attachment 37261
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That reads like an exaggerated version of reality, from someone who's a very good deer hunter but also not 100% open to considering other methods. a 15 degree shooting window for a saddle vs. a 270 degree one from a loc-on? seems unlikely. It's not like Dan is wrong, but there's a lot of room to mitigate the downsides he cites.
 
15 degree shooting window? I don’t care-I’ll say it. Dan is wrong. I’ve hunted exclusively from saddles for 15 years. I’ve shot deer at all approach angles. It requires some skill. So does keeping proper shooting form from a lock on when the deer is right below you. Big deal.

As far as back pain...could it be because people have different types of ‘bad backs’? Some might have facet arthritis which would be exacerbated by the loc on. Some might have degenerative disc disease, some might have sciatica. The wrong soft saddle could cause issues with these conditions, maybe?
 
Wear Asat camo. I laughed when I saw my buddy wearing it but after years of wearing what ever junk camo or solid colors I could find, I gave it a try and that ugly stuff really works. Deer just loose interest when looking at you, it’s really strange.
 
TO me its basically the same thing as in a treestand except you have a tree to hide behind....been a little easier for me to stay hidden
 
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