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Hunting with your kids from the saddle.

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My 11 year old daughter in the saddle I made for her.


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Loopwing said:
Watching. My 6 yo daughter wants to do a couple afternoon hunts this year in the pop up blind. Probably going to be rifle season Lots of snacks, and kid sized electric earmuffs.
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That’s my idea for my 6 year old this year. He wants to saddle hunt but that might be a task for next year.
 
Will the rock climbing harness be comfortable enough to sit in for a few hours? That's the only reason I was thinking use the tree stand harness with the sit drag. But if the rock harness is comfortable enough I won't worry about it.
As for going up the tree. I like the idea of the full harness for fall protection on a life line. Is that easy to do tied to the center or bridge of a harness? Or will she trip over it .
 
MattMan81 said:
Will the rock climbing harness be comfortable enough to sit in for a few hours? That's the only reason I was thinking use the tree stand harness with the sit drag. But if the rock harness is comfortable enough I won't worry about it.
As for going up the tree. I like the idea of the full harness for fall protection on a life line. Is that easy to do tied to the center or bridge of a harness? Or will she trip over it .
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Could you also do a fleece saddle instead of sit drag?
 
flinginairos said:
My son is 11 and started hunting from a saddle this past season. I sat right beside him in the same tree just set up 90 degrees to his weak side and it worked out perfect. In this video I was set at the same level as him just off the backside of the tree. The biggest issue is climbing so I would recommend preset ladder sticks with a lifeline at first.



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That’s absolutely AWESOME
 
I'm not sure how you'd attach the full body harness to the tree and be about to really use the sit-drag bridge since the strap connects at the rear. A rock climbing harness has the connection point in the front at the waist.

My rock climbing harness was comfortable enough but my hunts are typically less than 4 or 5 hours. The sit-drag carried the weight and there was an inch or two of slack so the climbing harness didn't really hold any weight. It's just there in case things go terribly wrong. Did that make sense? Kinda hard to explain.
 
Bdwilliams said:
I'm not sure how you'd attach the full body harness to the tree and be about to really use the sit-drag bridge since the strap connects at the rear. A rock climbing harness has the connection point in the front at the waist.

My rock climbing harness was comfortable enough but my hunts are typically less than 4 or 5 hours. The sit-drag carried the weight and there was an inch or two of slack so the climbing harness didn't really hold any weight. It's just there in case things go terribly wrong. Did that make sense? Kinda hard to explain.
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Kinda. Harness is tied off up high over her head. So if she falls it will stop her. Sit drag is used as the seat. She's not hunting. So she doesn't need full range. Might get her a video camera. She wants to film stuff. Nature and maybe me killing something if we are lucky.
I guess for 24 clams from Dano I can give it a shot. Worse case I might use it late season or gun season. If it dosent I'll get her a rock climbing harness.
 
If the tree stand harness has linesman loops your good just put the linesman in the carabiner with the sitdrag bridge.


See you in a tree, Ricky
 
Try it out and see if the stand harness works for you guys. If not, think about a rock climbing harness. It's nice having the rope in front versus behind you and even for stand hunting, I'd use my rock climbing harness now. I kinda agree with others that a diy fleece saddle may be worth a shot. Assuming you have some fabric laying around it's basically free. Good luck and have fun with her in the stand this season. I have 6 and 4 year old boys so I've got a few years before they're up a tree.
 
weekender21 said:
Any luck finding a kids size saddle? I bought a size Medium Mantis hoping it would work for my now 10 year old daughter, no dice. My phantom arrives tomorrow, maybe I’ll have better luck with that one.


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Let us know about the Phantom fit. I have 3 daughters coming up. Thanks, Nathan
 
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Just finished this kids size one. Still have to put on buckles and bridge.
 
Funny how times have changed. Reading this thread with all of the discussion of child safety, which is a good thing, has me thinking back to when I was 7 and dad was running me a tree 20 plus feet without any semblance of safety gear on a Baker treestand. Good on yall for getting them kiddos in the woods and with safe gear.
 
BTaylor said:
Funny how times have changed. Reading this thread with all of the discussion of child safety, which is a good thing, has me thinking back to when I was 7 and dad was running me a tree 20 plus feet without any semblance of safety gear on a Baker treestand. Good on yall for getting them kiddos in the woods and with safe gear.
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I know, right! I remember the first time I bow hunted. I was about 12 or 13 years old, about 15’ up a tree, in probably the smallest lock on ever made with what felt like the smallest platform ever made. No safety harness at all. I remember setting there thinking I can’t even stand up without swaying, let alone draw a bow back. Then add “buck fever” that I would have gotten even if a fawn would have walked by... I’m thankful I didn’t see a deer that evening lol.

But I used a fleece and RC harness my first year. I have a mantis bow but my 5 year old loves to sit in the fleece saddle. I put him about 4’ up a tree in it now on my Lone wolf hand climber as a platform for him to shoot his bow out of and he absolutely loves it! The fleece is really comfortable for him so I’ll probably just get him a RC harness that fits along with the fleece for comfort when he starts. But I’m still a couple years away from getting him up a tree to hunt so by then who knows what will he out with the way saddle hunting has blown up. I’d say by then a legit youth saddle will be produced or someone here will be making them and selling.


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BTaylor said:
Funny how times have changed. Reading this thread with all of the discussion of child safety, which is a good thing, has me thinking back to when I was 7 and dad was running me a tree 20 plus feet without any semblance of safety gear on a Baker treestand. Good on yall for getting them kiddos in the woods and with safe gear.
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Yeah my first year I was 25 feet up in a hollowed it coon tree. Screw in steps to get up there. I was afraid to even move.

The other stand my dad put me was about 6.5 feet of the ground. No steps and I had to do a pull up to get into the stand.

My son had a ladder stand and a rope from base up to stand for safety. This year I'm thinking of putting him in a saddle if he feels up to it.

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I remember some of the first harnesses that came with a stand only had shoulder straps. It didn't go around your legs. Not sure what that was about.
 
MattMan81 said:
I remember some of the first harnesses that came with a stand only had shoulder straps. It didn't go around your legs. Not sure what that was about.
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The ones before that were just a waist belt. You were supposed to put it on under your am pits.

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