Is the Predator right for my goals?

[MilkweedMania]

Wow! Thanks for all of this feedback! I'm now leaning (as a newbie) to just going with the Predator and hunting for a season to see if deer seeing me is an issue. I am switching from a lonewolf and have certainly been spotted more than once, wishing I could have slipped behind the tree quietly. I hunt in very thick cover, so the deer can't see me until they are within 30 yards or so. The problem is that when I'm hunting a doe group bedding area waiting for Mr. Big Boy to come by, I don't actually want to kill them or let em' know I'm there. My spots are bullet proof from the standpoint of the wind and my tree access, but dang those does if they didn't figure out a way to spot me once they got in range (and I was concrete frozen) with a fair amount of tree cover behind me.

So there would be this 10 minute stare down with each doe looking at me suspiciously, not being able to smell me, moving on, then another doe coming through, etc. until they got so frustrated they would just lightly blow and leave the area. It's a small property and I can't have them moving over 300 yards or I'm out of the game. It's a delicate game to play but I enjoy the cat and mouse of it.

A step on either side of the Predator also sounds like something I could get good at with some practice.

Thanks again.

 

[Allegheny Tom]

Very true. I also tend to hunt pretty small trees so that is a factor as well. Bigger trees, yes a step is very helpful. I used only the platform this year and took shots at every position so for ME I just don't worry about it. I have a bit of practice tho

The added step isn't about shooting 360.
I can shoot 360 from a Predator without a step all day long while practicing from a tree in my yard when the SPEED of my movement has no consequences.

When I 1st started practicing shooting and moving with a saddle, I tried to make it as realistic as possible. I would really try to be "COMPLETELY in the moment", to the point I felt my heart beat increase.
REALISTIC PRACTICE just reconfirmed to me what I already knew from real life hunting experiences...that we often need to move molasses slow. Guys that are saying you can't get away with moving around the tree are simply moving too fast. Slow movement requires control and I have a lot more control if I have an extra step beside the platform.

Some of the most satisfying hunts were when I never drew my bow. Having deer bedded 12 yards away, facing me for hours, and not get busted because they never saw my ultra slow movements are quite rewarding.

Damn right you can move around the tree in the presence of deer. Ya just gotta be really, really, REALLY slow. A step added to my Predator not only helps me to move slow, the step helps me to do it quieter and with less effort. Having bedded deer in my lap for hours is exhausting. Being able to move slowly and under total control is a requirement.

I don't care how agile a guy can move off of the platform...he can do it better WITH a step than without a step.

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[bigjoe]

You can "kick off" the side of the platform and push yourself pretty much all the way around the tree without an extra step. I do it all the time with no issues.

Yeah but are a ninja

 

[boyne bowhunter]

Wow! Thanks for all of this feedback! I'm now leaning (as a newbie) to just going with the Predator and hunting for a season to see if deer seeing me is an issue. I am switching from a lonewolf and have certainly been spotted more than once, wishing I could have slipped behind the tree quietly. I hunt in very thick cover, so the deer can't see me until they are within 30 yards or so. The problem is that when I'm hunting a doe group bedding area waiting for Mr. Big Boy to come by, I don't actually want to kill them or let em' know I'm there. My spots are bullet proof from the standpoint of the wind and my tree access, but dang those does if they didn't figure out a way to spot me once they got in range (and I was concrete frozen) with a fair amount of tree cover behind me.

So there would be this 10 minute stare down with each doe looking at me suspiciously, not being able to smell me, moving on, then another doe coming through, etc. until they got so frustrated they would just lightly blow and leave the area. It's a small property and I can't have them moving over 300 yards or I'm out of the game. It's a delicate game to play but I enjoy the cat and mouse of it.

A step on either side of the Predator also sounds like something I could get good at with some practice.

Thanks again.

I think at this point, in a lot of areas, the deer have learned to look for the familiar shape of a hunter in a treestand. In the saddle you cast a different outline which they may not be as used to and may find less alarming.

 

[Kurt]

On smaller diameter trees, you can move fully around the tree and maintain foot contact with the sides of the platform. On larger trees you are correct but you can install an additional step or two on the backside of the tree for ease of movement.

I've yet to understand the circumstance where playing peek-a-boo with a deer by hiding behind a tree is more beneficial than the large amount of movement you make doing so, but I guess that's just my personal experience.

I called a 7pt up a hill this year. He came in straight up the hill and was jacked up. Because he was coming up the hill I'm sure he would have picked me off if I was on the same side of the tree he was coming from. As my platform was set he came in on my 9 o'clock. I was able to move around the tree and disappear on the opposite side of the tree. When he came past I hit him at 11 yds out. Getting on the other side of the tree helped me for sure. I use a predator platform. No way I could have gone all the way around the tree. I just ordered a ROS, and I'll see if that helps me move around the tree better. There is also the option of putting some steps at 3 and 9 off the platform to help me get to the backside of the tree.

 

[MilkweedMania]

I called a 7pt up a hill this year. He came in straight up the hill and was jacked up. Because he was coming up the hill I'm sure he would have picked me off if I was on the same side of the tree he was coming from. As my platform was set he came in on my 9 o'clock. I was able to move around the tree and disappear on the opposite side of the tree. When he came past I hit him at 11 yds out. Getting on the other side of the tree helped me for sure. I use a predator platform. No way I could have gone all the way around the tree. I just ordered a ROS, and I'll see if that helps me move around the tree better. There is also the option of putting some steps at 3 and 9 off the platform to help me get to the backside of the tree.

You pretty much described the type of scenario I've dealt with before. There is a spot I hunt about 150 yards from a heavy thicket. The bucks come out of that thicket, run 75 yards or so across a crp field, and connect to the entrance of the thicket I'm at the end of. On a W wind, I'm blowing into an empty mown CRP field, away from any deer that are in my strip of timber. But the bucks coming 75 yards at a diagonal from the first mentioned thicket are cruising from the SE, thinking that they are adequately scent checking for danger, but their entrance is upwind of my tree. It's a great opportunity for me to change positions because I could have deer come from any direction, but the ones coming across that CRP give me lots of time to hide if I'm alert.

 

[Kurt]

I have to say, I do love my predator platform. I think just the platform will do what I need to do 95% of the time, but I also want to be prepared for the other 5%. As Allegheny Tom said it's not about shooting 360, I can do that, it's about being able to move 360. I used to hunt a maximum of 20 feet, I think with this system I'll shoot for 25-30 if possible. That will allow me to get away with more.

 

[noxninja]

I can step out on either side of the tree as well as spin around to either backside with the predator


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