- Joined
- Dec 4, 2018
- Messages
- 186
Hello All from Grand Rapids, MI. Just joined the site but I’ve been lurking and reading up on saddle hunting here for awhile and decided to jump in ordering a mantis in early November.
I’ve grown up around whitetail hunting but actually never took the plunge until this fall. In the past I’ve spent the little free time I had between athletics, school, and now work steelhead fishing during the fall. Strictly hunting public land and went five sits without seeing a deer in October, our early archery season runs from 10/1-11/15. After continued research I made the decision to dive in deep into some remote swamps on that 6th sit and have been consistently seeing white tailed animals since. During my 7th sit on the morning of November 8th the stars aligned and I took my first deer ever and it was a dandy. A nice 3.5yr old 8pt that dressed out at 167lbs, shot at 25yds with my compound. It took me 4.5hrs to drag it out with my tree stand on my back the whole way.
I’ve been working to become as light and as mobile of a hunter ever since, lugging a treestand that deep into a swamp is no fun at all! I’ve rigged up a sit drag with my rock harness for our late archery season, 12/1-12-31 (until my Mantis shows up) and have loved the mobility even in the cold weather that requires hauling in additional layers in my pack. I already can’t wait for offseason scouting and a full season in a real saddle.
I’ve grown up around whitetail hunting but actually never took the plunge until this fall. In the past I’ve spent the little free time I had between athletics, school, and now work steelhead fishing during the fall. Strictly hunting public land and went five sits without seeing a deer in October, our early archery season runs from 10/1-11/15. After continued research I made the decision to dive in deep into some remote swamps on that 6th sit and have been consistently seeing white tailed animals since. During my 7th sit on the morning of November 8th the stars aligned and I took my first deer ever and it was a dandy. A nice 3.5yr old 8pt that dressed out at 167lbs, shot at 25yds with my compound. It took me 4.5hrs to drag it out with my tree stand on my back the whole way.
I’ve been working to become as light and as mobile of a hunter ever since, lugging a treestand that deep into a swamp is no fun at all! I’ve rigged up a sit drag with my rock harness for our late archery season, 12/1-12-31 (until my Mantis shows up) and have loved the mobility even in the cold weather that requires hauling in additional layers in my pack. I already can’t wait for offseason scouting and a full season in a real saddle.
