ricky racer
Well-Known Member
Last February I lost one of my best friends and hunting partner. We’d hunted together since the mid 70’s. I knew this hunting season would be different and the hunting trips that Gene and I used to take were not to ever happen again.
Just by chance this summer, I stopped at a garage sale and found a Trophyline Tree Saddle, new in the package for sale. I couldn’t pass it up for the price. The more I got to thinking about trying the saddle the more anxious I was to try it out. This was something new that might help me as I enter a season of transition. It added a spark to the off season and I spent a lot of time researching this style of hunting. There are quite a few new members to this site recently that have a lot of questions so I thought I’d make this post chronicling my transition from fixed or climbing stand hunting to the saddle.
First, a little bit about me. It seems that most of the guys on the site are younger and probably more fit than me. I’m 61 yrs. old, 6’ tall and weigh about 240 lbs. I’m a former motorcycle racer and beat my body up pretty good back in the day. Now I’ve got a matching set of hip replacements, the newest being installed this past March. So yeah, I’m a fat old man.
I’m not totally new to the concept of saddle hunting having purchased and used an Anderson Tree Sling back in the early 80’s and a Treesuit probably 10-15 years ago. I never came to terms with the Treesuit and hoped that the saddle would be a better fit. I had Ameristeps strap-on steps to use as a platform.
Most all of my hunting is done from pre-sets on private land near my home. I’ve used the Ameristep strap-on steps but don’t really care for them. Even with a ratchet strap tightening the steps tightly on the tree they still move around more than I feel comfortable and the fact that they are plastic and I’m a big guy, I lack a lot of confidence in them. I made some steps of my own, http://saddlehunter.com/community/index.php?threads/ricky-racers-cheap-and-dirty-platform.1673/ & http://saddlehunter.com/community/i...y-racers-cheap-dirty-platform-revisited.1959/ that I really like and once “set” are solid as a rock. In my opinion, they are a much better option for me than the Ameristep steps.
After my first few sits I was almost ready to post the saddle on Ebay or the classifieds here. I’m a sitter, not a stander/leaner. Years ago, I always stood while on stand but now that I’m older I need to sit most of the time and I found the saddle uncomfortable. Even with knee pads my knees got sore and it seemed I had to constantly move to find a more comfortable position. The next issue I found was shooting to the off side. Sure, you can walk all around the tree but you can’t get away with that when a deer is close by. On a fixed stand, I can pivot my feet and turn to shoot to the opposite side with minimal, detectable movement.
To alleviate the knee issue, I came up with a standoff that I call my kickstand. http://saddlehunter.com/community/index.php?threads/tl-saddle-kickstand.2294/ It relieved the pressure from my knees and made the saddle as comfortable as a Lazy Boy. It may not be a fix for everybody, but it kept my saddle out of the classifieds. I also tried using a rope tether instead of the Trophyline tether strap that came with the saddle and found I liked the rope tether better.
It seems that the rage here on this site is lightweight tree stands to use as a platform instead of a series of steps place around the tree. Most are made from Lone Wolf or XOP seats with a challenge to see who can make the lightest platform. I was reluctant to use a tree stand in conjunction with my saddle because it just seemed to go against the grain of using a saddle. It seemed to me that the purpose of saddle was to replace the fixed stand, not add to it.
Anyway, I thought I’d give it a shot. I’ve got several tree stands that I made years ago with a 1 foot square platform that seemed like a perfect fit for this use. I installed the tree stand in conjunction with the existing step platform that was already in the tree. Well, I liked it. I find it more comfortable to sit with my feet on the step platform. However, I found that if I step down onto the tree stand and slide the prussic knot down the tether, lengthening it, I could pivot around on the stand and shoot off to the off side!! I really like that.
Using the saddle requires a learning curve and a good deal of time to learn to adapt to it but now I must say, I really like the saddle and will likely continue to hunt from it for many more years to come. Thank you to all of the help, advice and support you’ve given me as I made this transition. 2017 should be a great year and now that I’ve got a good deal of the learning curve out of the way, I can’t wait for next season!!
Just by chance this summer, I stopped at a garage sale and found a Trophyline Tree Saddle, new in the package for sale. I couldn’t pass it up for the price. The more I got to thinking about trying the saddle the more anxious I was to try it out. This was something new that might help me as I enter a season of transition. It added a spark to the off season and I spent a lot of time researching this style of hunting. There are quite a few new members to this site recently that have a lot of questions so I thought I’d make this post chronicling my transition from fixed or climbing stand hunting to the saddle.
First, a little bit about me. It seems that most of the guys on the site are younger and probably more fit than me. I’m 61 yrs. old, 6’ tall and weigh about 240 lbs. I’m a former motorcycle racer and beat my body up pretty good back in the day. Now I’ve got a matching set of hip replacements, the newest being installed this past March. So yeah, I’m a fat old man.
I’m not totally new to the concept of saddle hunting having purchased and used an Anderson Tree Sling back in the early 80’s and a Treesuit probably 10-15 years ago. I never came to terms with the Treesuit and hoped that the saddle would be a better fit. I had Ameristeps strap-on steps to use as a platform.
Most all of my hunting is done from pre-sets on private land near my home. I’ve used the Ameristep strap-on steps but don’t really care for them. Even with a ratchet strap tightening the steps tightly on the tree they still move around more than I feel comfortable and the fact that they are plastic and I’m a big guy, I lack a lot of confidence in them. I made some steps of my own, http://saddlehunter.com/community/index.php?threads/ricky-racers-cheap-and-dirty-platform.1673/ & http://saddlehunter.com/community/i...y-racers-cheap-dirty-platform-revisited.1959/ that I really like and once “set” are solid as a rock. In my opinion, they are a much better option for me than the Ameristep steps.
After my first few sits I was almost ready to post the saddle on Ebay or the classifieds here. I’m a sitter, not a stander/leaner. Years ago, I always stood while on stand but now that I’m older I need to sit most of the time and I found the saddle uncomfortable. Even with knee pads my knees got sore and it seemed I had to constantly move to find a more comfortable position. The next issue I found was shooting to the off side. Sure, you can walk all around the tree but you can’t get away with that when a deer is close by. On a fixed stand, I can pivot my feet and turn to shoot to the opposite side with minimal, detectable movement.
To alleviate the knee issue, I came up with a standoff that I call my kickstand. http://saddlehunter.com/community/index.php?threads/tl-saddle-kickstand.2294/ It relieved the pressure from my knees and made the saddle as comfortable as a Lazy Boy. It may not be a fix for everybody, but it kept my saddle out of the classifieds. I also tried using a rope tether instead of the Trophyline tether strap that came with the saddle and found I liked the rope tether better.
It seems that the rage here on this site is lightweight tree stands to use as a platform instead of a series of steps place around the tree. Most are made from Lone Wolf or XOP seats with a challenge to see who can make the lightest platform. I was reluctant to use a tree stand in conjunction with my saddle because it just seemed to go against the grain of using a saddle. It seemed to me that the purpose of saddle was to replace the fixed stand, not add to it.
Anyway, I thought I’d give it a shot. I’ve got several tree stands that I made years ago with a 1 foot square platform that seemed like a perfect fit for this use. I installed the tree stand in conjunction with the existing step platform that was already in the tree. Well, I liked it. I find it more comfortable to sit with my feet on the step platform. However, I found that if I step down onto the tree stand and slide the prussic knot down the tether, lengthening it, I could pivot around on the stand and shoot off to the off side!! I really like that.
Using the saddle requires a learning curve and a good deal of time to learn to adapt to it but now I must say, I really like the saddle and will likely continue to hunt from it for many more years to come. Thank you to all of the help, advice and support you’ve given me as I made this transition. 2017 should be a great year and now that I’ve got a good deal of the learning curve out of the way, I can’t wait for next season!!
