• The SH Membership has gone live. Only SH Members have access to post in the classifieds. All members can view the classifieds. Starting in 2020 only SH Members will be admitted to the annual hunting contest. Current members will need to follow these steps to upgrade: 1. Click on your username 2. Click on Account upgrades 3. Choose SH Member and purchase.
  • We've been working hard the past few weeks to come up with some big changes to our vendor policies to meet the changing needs of our community. Please see the new vendor rules here: Vendor Access Area Rules

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Any thought to getting sponsors? Many forums allow advertising for a fee to cover costs. The amount of money Tethrd, New Tribe, Wild Edge and MANY others made here off members I can’t believe they wouldn’t be willing to pony up SaddleHunter sponsorship support. Only a select group of sponsors would be allowed and only products that are considered the highest quality should given consideration.
 
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For those of you who think this is an unrealistic request on @redsquirrel ’s part consider this. He started this forum as a place to share ideas and interact with people of similar interests. At that point the site was simply his hobby where he interacted with his “friends he’d never met” sharing a common interest.

I remember a post where someone exclaimed “Wow, 3000 members!” and I remember thinking at that time that was remarkable. Well I went back and looked at the date for that and it was August of 2018, just over a year ago. Membership today is over 9000 members. That is some outrageous growth. This growth has taken what was a hobby with friends for redsquirrel to a laborious task of maintenance.

I’m sure he feels the pressure to keep it going, if not for only him but for the membership he’s built. I for one would be severely disappointed to lose contact with my “friends I’ve never met” if he decided that the task of maintaining this site was too much to continue. For that reason alone, I’m willing to contribute to keep this site going.

I think can all agree this forum has been special in its camaraderie, politeness and willingness to share of its members.

On a personal note, I’ve learned more from the members here than I can acknowledge and I’m sure I’m safer from it. Heartfelt Thanks to all of you!
 
It's no SECRET that this is a GAME CHANGER in the right direction! Most of the complainers will not get that statement. I have not been a member on here as long as some others, but long enough to know how much better this site is from any other out there and @redsquirrel and the other UNPAID moderators have done everything possible to keep it that way. If the membership goes down some due to this change, it will not hurt the ongoing content or quality one bit. The only other change I would like to see as much as this one is to eliminate all "when is X shipping" posts.
 
$1.25/month sounds like a deal for education I’ve received about saddle hunting & diy tips.

Plus this group of guys has proven to be quality people that are willing to help out perfect strangers.

Red has devoted much time and (I assume) money to keeping SH going for the benefit of the hunting world.

I’ll gladly pay $15 since it’s worth so much more.




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Really? Its ridiculous to have ads on a forum for non paying members? It's crazy to think that every App on your phone uses this as a blueprint. How many forums have you participated in? It's crazy to think that the one major reason people come back to this site is now being used to make money. Sounds more like a punishment...
Facebook has already become the go to place for saddle info and sales. This will put the last nail in the coffin.

I have been asking Red to this for a while now. Honestly, I am glad he has. I am all about supporting others, ESPECIALLY those who provide a resource as good as this site. This is my number 1 sight. I have developed many virtual friendships here and I love to see what others are doing. If the $15 is a big deal for you, just dont' use the classified or the hunting contest. I would also encourage you to go start your own site, run it for 5 years, foot the bill by yourself the whole time, and then deal with the head ache of this place (only when new "secrets" come out). Personally, I don't want to buy any apparel from here because I want to support them with no strings attached. I don't want a shirt for supporting them.

Also, if the $15 is a huge deal, I sure Red would work out a lay away system for you.
 
Good riddance to anyone who: A - thinks this is profit driven, B - thinks its a bad value proposition for anyone buying and selling in the classifieds, C - thinks anyone cares about facebook, D - is too selfish to have come here and discovered in GREAT detail how to set up and hunt from a saddle, and feel that 15.00 is too high to pay for shortening that learning curve, E - recognizes that it in no way prevents you from being a member of the site and getting said information for FREE, or F - thinks that having misaligned incentives with Saddle Vendors sponsoring the site is a good idea.

Let's say 1000 members pony up and pay for the PRIVILIGE of MAKING MONEY or SAVING MONEY in the classifieds, and to enter a FUN contest with FRIENDS. I'd be willing to bet that money is peanuts compared to what Red has spent in time building and running this place.

I'll gladly cover the 15.00 for any member who has CONTRIBUTED POSITIVE VALUE to the site, and can't afford the fee. PM me and we can discuss. For all the rest of you complaining - you really need to do a reassessment of your situation. Nothing is owed to you.

I am kinda upset about your post.. I have no idea why you stopped at F. I love your posts and was looking forward to going all the way to Z.
 
I think there’s a good contingent of folks that wouldn’t benefit from the paid version & should continue to contribute & gain knowledge from the FREE portion of the site. If you just read a lot & don’t post & don’t care to buy or sell then don’t get fired up just keep doing what you’re doing the forum won’t be any different for you. I won’t try to convince you otherwise. I will mention a few things that I feel add value....... about 2 years ago I was curious & jumped in full force ( by that I mean I waited in line for my saddle like everybody else) during that time I read & asked too many questions & wondered when my stuff would arrive. I modded sticks & tinkered with other climbing methods. But what struck me was my methods were safer & more deliberate, not all on my own of course there were hundreds of others on a similar path. We ALL benefit from the discussion & challenging thought, most definitely from the camaraderie of fellow saddlers!! I’m sure there were plenty of good old days before I found this group & I’m sure it will continue to grow. It’s a great time to be a saddle hunter!!!!!! I wont shame you or guilt you for $15, we can all make an argument for that but it’s your decision ..... I will guarantee that most here have had to explain a package or two on the doorstep ( bet it cost more than $15 & didn’t add as much value as this place). I’m happy to support our community, it’s really that simple!
 
I think there’s a good contingent of folks that wouldn’t benefit from the paid version & should continue to contribute & gain knowledge from the FREE portion of the site. If you just read a lot & don’t post & don’t care to buy or sell then don’t get fired up just keep doing what you’re doing the forum won’t be any different for you. I won’t try to convince you otherwise. I will mention a few things that I feel add value....... about 2 years ago I was curious & jumped in full force ( by that I mean I waited in line for my saddle like everybody else) during that time I read & asked too many questions & wondered when my stuff would arrive. I modded sticks & tinkered with other climbing methods. But what struck me was my methods were safer & more deliberate, not all on my own of course there were hundreds of others on a similar path. We ALL benefit from the discussion & challenging thought, most definitely from the camaraderie of fellow saddlers!! I’m sure there were plenty of good old days before I found this group & I’m sure it will continue to grow. It’s a great time to be a saddle hunter!!!!!! I wont shame you or guilt you for $15, we can all make an argument for that but it’s your decision ..... I will guarantee that most here have had to explain a package or two on the doorstep ( bet it cost more than $15 & didn’t add as much value as this place). I’m happy to support our community, it’s really that simple!
Haha! Funny you say that about the package on the door. As you were typing That response I was talking to my wife about the $15 change. She agreed that it would only be an improvement to the site and has granted approval for my membership!
 
The beginning of this year there was an article in one of the bow hunting magazines I read and they had article about saddle hunting. I thought what a great idea. I had never heard about it before. They also had this website as a place to go for info. I read the threads for awhile and then joined. With what I read I knew I wad going to try this. A wealth of knowledge here. $15 is a drop in the bucket for the amount of info and help you can get here. I have no idea the costs that @redsquirrel had spent so far. I'm sure it isn't pocket change. So of surprised it took this long.
 
This happened on Tradgang a few years ago. I called it a money grab and was kicked off and banned. There were other factors that happened previously on that site that led to that. I do not see that here. I do not see those who run and moderate here looking for people to send them stuff. I do not see how there will be a huge influx of money heading anyone’s way at $15 a year by people who want to sell a few things or join in on a corny internet hunt. I don’t see a reason to join so I won’t be paying but I don’t see anything wrong going on here. I read everything up to this post hoping to read and explanation from the owner....yes people this forum has an owner and if he wants to charge money to be on it he can...he really owes no explanation if he chooses not to offer one.

I understand why some are upset. I understand why some are not. There are other places to get info but this is the best for this small niche in the hunting community.
 
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