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Leaning trees

elk yinzer

elk yinzer

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2017
Messages
2,940
Location
State College, PA
Until the antigravity devices ship, I struggle with leaning trees. Gravity is a bitch.

I use a platform and set up on the high side of the lean. I find having a stick/step 180 from my platform helps, but the movement is ridiculous to use a step on the backside. That 11-2 shot becomes dumb to even attempt. A few times I dang near dropped my bow because my feet slipped a bit. Certainly smaller trees its easier.

360 shoooting is a big selling point of saddles, but even as an athletic 30 year old, it aint cakewalk. Strategies for dealing with leaning trees? Do you just give up 360 shooting on leaners?
 
Anti-gravity would be nice but yes, I usually hunt the high side. More pressure on your feet thought. On the low side, your stuck there. I haven’t yet hunted from a platform but I would set my steps so that I could control the “swing”. Closer together and maybe none at the back or 12 o’clock so I can control my movements better and get all the shots off. A deer moving from 11 to 2 o’clock will give you trouble when set up for an initial shot on left with bow in hand. Moving back to the right may be impossible without grabbing the tree for a little help or toe hooking a step on the right for leverage. If you can hunt an adjacent straight tree go for it if it’s an option. Sometimes you may have to give up a little coverage if it’s the only tree available.


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I have hunted the bottom of leaners. You’re stuck but you’re in the tree you want.
 
Some trees can’t be sat regardless of hunting style.... some trees have limited shooting angles regardless of hunting style...
After several years of saddle hunting, I have learned that you can’t force a tree that doesn’t want to work.

I know that sounds opposite of the saddle hunting selling points... but the saddle already got me in so many more trees than my lone wolf that I don’t feel bad admitting it won’t fit 0.25% of the trees in the woods..


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I always hunt the low side of a leaner but given the option I set up in another tree. I choose the low side because I feel like I can angle myself to get a shot around the tree if necessary most of the time. If a deer comes in on my 6 I can’t run around the tree and have to just sit still and wait for an opportunity much like sitting in a traditional stand but I figure that is better then possibly having one of those crazy of balance swings to the bottom that is all but guaranteed to catch the deers attention.
 
I was just practicing this yesterday. I found that setting up my tether with the girth hitch on the high side, but me hanging on the low side seemed to work best so far. I am able to hunt almost 270 degrees of the tree from the low side, and if I really had to I could pull my way back up to the high side. With the girth on the high side, the tether was not trying to pull me off the high side. Tree can't be too big though. I am also finding that my favorite diameter overall is 8 inches.
 
You can do it, but you definitely lose some versatility. The tree is huntable, but it might not be comfortable. I avoid big leaners.

Sent from my Galaxy S8.
 
I will hunt a leaner in a place I am familiar with because I can be a little more certain of where the deer will come from.It doesn’t bother me to have to give up a shot That’s just hunting.For me 360 shooting isn’t the best part of saddle hunting It’s the packability and the ability to hunt trees other guys can’t.Hunting public land down here good straight trees with no limbs means you may have company.
 
Another reason to have multiple tools in the toolbox. If I have a bad leaner in the primo spot, and it's cool enough, I take the guido's web. I've hunted trees where my tether was almost straight up and down. I could only shoot from 7-11, but could just spin around in any direction and be lined up. It was like those funky deer stands where your seat is suspended from above and spins 360. Let me tell ya it gets the adrenaline going when you spin around feet dangling in the web.
 
It depends are you hunting mobile or not. Everything is harder when mobile and you have to make sacrifices. Heavy heaters aren’t the easiest but I don’t think any tree is un-huntable if you are willing to set it up prior. It may not be easy but where there is a will there is a way.
 
I agree!
Buckhole75 said:
I will hunt a leaner in a place I am familiar with because I can be a little more certain of where the deer will come from.It doesn’t bother me to have to give up a shot That’s just hunting.For me 360 shooting isn’t the best part of saddle hunting It’s the packability and the ability to hunt trees other guys can’t.Hunting public land down here good straight trees with no limbs means you may have company.
Click to expand...
 
Almost every tree I hunt leans to some degree. I don’t have my platform yet but it seems like that would be more comfortable than the stepps. I did ok in one pretty foot leaner last year. I setup on the high side and ran the tether height just below chin high. Wouldn’t do an all day sit in one but sometimes you find a bad tree in a perfect spot.
 
I normally will hunt the low side with a little longer tree tether. This allows me to pull myself up quietly and get to the high side for a shot if necessary.
 
I’m usually on the low side as well, I don’t like fighting that gravity thing on the high side :)


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I tend to avoid leaners. If I know I'm going to hunt a leaner I tend to lean toward using my lone wolf.
 
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