New saddle hunter experiences

[sdoyle1]

First year for me saddle hunting. My struggle is finding a tree that I can shoot from. Seems most trees that are in “the spot” have too many branches and small trees in the way for me to shoot to where I expect the deer to come. I feel I spend way too much time trying to pick a tree when I’m trying to be mobile.
The other morning was terrible for me. Went to public land I wanted to hit. There was a truck there with two guys leaving truck. I tried to hurry over to see which direction they were going and figured I’d go the other only to have a third guy get out of the truck. I decided to go elsewhere at that point. I went to a different chunk of public and found a perfect spot with a tree that had some shooting lanes to where I expected them to come. Problem was the tree had some serious twists and turns near the bottom. I one stick climb and this was the worst tree I ever attempted. I got about 10 feet up and almost gave up. Finally climbed to height and got set up. At this point I was a sweaty mess. Didn’t see a deer. Felt a bit frustrated after that morning.
Then yesterday evening decided to hit some public again. It was very warm and I didn’t feel like the long uphill hike up the valley I intended on going to. I ended up walking to the bottom of the next valley and I’d never been there before. There’s a pond and a trout stream at the bottom of this valley so I figured with the warm temps they might filter down the valley for some water. Found an area riddled with trails and one that looked like a cattle trail. Found a suitable tree with some shooting to a couple of the most used trails and began to climb. This tree was probably the second worst tree I’d attempted to climb. From my previous tough climb I’d learned what not to do. I changed a few small things on my climb and it was surprisingly my most efficient and easy climb yet. Got to height and set my platform and got settled in. It was warm and I was in the shade with a slight breeze blowing the perfect direction. The weather was absolutely perfect for being comfortable. Unfortunately with weather like that lots of people want to enjoy outdoor activities. I saw several groups of people riding horses and a couple groups of hikers. There was a squirrel hunter that came through also. None of this helped me with seeing deer and I ended up seeing none. However, this was honestly my most enjoyable sit of the year. I was in a new spot with new scenery. I felt confident in my chances with the sign I saw. The temperature was perfect for comfort although I’d prefer a good bit colder for hunting.

I write all this just as a reminder for everyone to enjoy your time in the woods. We’d all like to see big bucks on every sit but that’s not the reality of it. With the saddle I’m able to get into new areas I’ve never been and explore. I’m seeing new places and things I’ve never seen before. I own my own property and love hunting it but I’m really enjoying all the public land options as have as well with a saddle now. I realize there’s other ways to be a mobile hunter than with a saddle but those options just aren’t for me. Good luck to everyone and enjoy your season.


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[CooterBrown]

I could have typed that same post. This is exactly where I'm at. Thanks for sharing.

 

[neonomad]

You hear most accomplished hunters preaching off-season scouting and prep... your issues will always be there when exploring, but once you’ve done some scouting you’ll accumulate areas that you have a better understanding of and have some better trees identified.

 

[sdoyle1]

You hear most accomplished hunters preaching off-season scouting and prep... your issues will always be there when exploring, but once you’ve done some scouting you’ll accumulate areas that you have a better understanding of and have some better trees identified.

I don’t doubt that at all. There’s so much public in the area that I hunt that I honestly don’t have time to properly scout it all. I live an 1 1/2 away from where I hunt so all summer scouting ends up being weekends only and I’ve got plenty of other things to do on the weekends as well. With that being said I’ve found some great looking areas. Now I just need to find the best tree or two in those areas. This is all new to me as I’ve mostly just hunted ladder stands on private. I am having a blast doing it though.


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[Edhead35]

My first year in a saddle, and if I find the tree I climb it, if I dont, I sit in the saddle at ground level, because a nice chair is attached to me. I am also marking trees that I will run a throwball into on the offseason and setup a paracord loop. I've also ground hunted, and that is the same as scouting just slower. Some days I leave the sticks at home and just bring the saddle, the tether, and a pack.

 

[neonomad]

My first year in a saddle, and if I find the tree I climb it, if I dont, I sit in the saddle at ground level, because a nice chair is attached to me. I am also marking trees that I will run a throwball into on the offseason and setup a paracord loop. I've also ground hunted, and that is the same as scouting just slower. Some days I leave the sticks at home and just bring the saddle, the tether, and a pack.

I’m more mentally flexible toward ground hunting this year... on Tuesday I considered staying on the ground at a spot, but I climbed. The way an encounter went down with a shooter that afternoon, if I had stayed on the ground I very well may have put an arrow in him, but I couldn’t get a shot from the tree.

 

[Loopwing]

My first year in a saddle also. I feel your pain and joy. One thing that has changed my hunting style is watching the THP guys. It also helped when I stopped looking for that perfect tree to climb with 100 shooting lanes. Everyone talks about hunting height. Hunting height is where you stop and set up. My last hunt I was 8 feet off the ground. I had a beech tree to my right that completely cancelled out 180 degrees of my shots. That tree also blocked me from the doe I shot 1 yard from my stand. I only had 2 shooting lanes out to 20 yards that I never used. I have found carrying my platform/stand on my back makes almost ANY tree huntable. I was late getting into the stand a few mornings ago. On the way in I found a fresh rub that I would have missed in the dark. I set up on it and within 20 minutes a spike came by and tore that tree up, he did not die. If I had been lugging my climber I would have never been able to set up on that rub and have that experience, because all the trees were to small.

 

[SILhunter]

In Illinois you can't cut anything on public land so shooting lanes are what they are. I went to one of Dan Infalts scouting classes this spring and we walked out on a wooded point into a cattail swamp and he showed us the tree he sat in and the first thing I asked was how do you get any shots out that tree, he replied you just have to wait for them to get in a spot you can squeeze one in. Thats what I really like about a saddle and climbing sticks, there aren't to many trees I can't get in one way or another.

 

[Loopwing]

In Illinois you can't cut anything on public land so shooting lanes are what they are. I went to one of Dan Infalts scouting classes this spring and we walked out on a wooded point into a cattail swamp and he showed us the tree he sat in and the first thing I asked was how do you get any shots out that tree, he replied you just have to wait for them to get in a spot you can squeeze one in. Thats what I really like about a saddle and climbing sticks, there aren't to many trees I can't get in one way or another.

EXACTLY!!!!!