Pathfinder
Member
So I finally dove into the saddle hunting game after researching for almost 2yrs. One of my biggest issues however was not being able to 1st in person see or try different gear to see just what I would possibly want as there are so many different options. We don’t have any mobile hunter get togethers like they do closer to the middle parts of the country. I get it we are known for being “Big Woods Buck Trackers” and I truly enjoy that type of hunting and with my gun it’s my primary form of hunting, but I do enjoy bow hunting a bunch so this will be a great option I believe. I only waited this long cuz it’s quite a commitment $$$ wise so tried to be as informed as possible watching hours of YouTube videos and reviews, but it would have been nice to be able to try a viriety of different saddles. I hemmed and hawed over single panel, two panel or even a JX3. My Original thoughts were a basic rock climbing saddle as I have one already that I used while guiding hunting in IA to hang stands with. I also did tree work for 8yrs back in mid to late 90’s so I have arborist saddle too. These however don’t fit the hunting bill. I have a summit climber too which is like a lounge chair in a tree however fully loaded for hunting with extra cloths late season weighs 45lbs and is impossible to walk through cover in our thick woods quitely!!! Ive had countless lock on stand to which have worked but are still loud and heavy to get into the woods. I’ve considered seriously one sticking and now also possibly a hybrid lock-on saddle combo setup. I luv the idea of a LWCG .5 as it’s so light and small framed but really wanted to try a saddle. I’ve made a choice of gear to start that I hope will work for my purpose. I bought a Trophyline bundle w/4 double step mini’s and a Wingman Platform for my base climbing method and platform. I settled on a Custom Gear Modifications Cobra saddle and made custom linesmen belt and tether w/parts ordered from Eastern Woods Outdoors. I’ve made a few climbs with my setup to test things out and think there’s great potential for it to be what I am looking for. However I was really close to doing Hang n Hunt setup with a cheap amazon tree harness and a Lone Wolf Custom Gear .5 stand. Only cuz it’s more what I’m used to as the saddle feels a little awkward at 1st. Using a .5 and harness would be more like having a huge saddle platform with a semi comfortable saddle to sit back in once seat on stand got to be a little uncomfortable. This is where I believe I could have made an even more informed decision had there been a mobile hunters get together like they just had in PA. That being said the offer is extended to people in the northeast if your curious and wanna look at hold and possibly try a setup we might be able to set a time and place to do so. If there’s anyone else who has some saddle gear and wanna try out some different stuff that would be great too. I think there’s a lot of potential for guys up here in the big woods to use saddles and or ultra light compact setups to get miles back in and kill some big bucks where they’ve been hindered in past by big heavy cumbersome stands!!!