solo_archer
Member
- Joined
- Jul 25, 2019
- Messages
- 95
When I first started looking into saddle hunting, one benefit that I kept seeing come up was using the tree to hide your body and movements from deer.
Being a newbie, I had never hunted from a tree before getting my saddle so while I understood the concept in theory, I didn’t have the firsthand experience to fully understand how important this was. That was until last Friday.
I had my first saddle hunt and it was really great. I learned a lot from that first hunt and I’ll be sure to share that in other posts, but for now, I wanted to focus on this because I thought it would be helpful for people considering making the transition from a treestand or for newbies to deer hunting in general.
I also made some screenshots and shot some videos from a first-person point-of-view, which I think will help give context to what people can expect in the field. I apologize in advance that they came out vertical (I’m kicking myself for doing that), and may not be award-winning quality, I hope to get better with time.
Getting a Baseline on Saddle Shooting Lanes
So G2 Outdoors has this awesome video that goes over the different kind of shots you can make from a saddle and if you haven’t seen it yet, I’d highly recommend checking it out as it gives you a clear idea on the kinds of shooting lanes you’ll have once you’re up in a tree:
There’s a great visual he has on there which I’ve screenshotted below:
https://share.getcloudapp.com/kpudbNLz - all credit goes to G2 Outdoors
Understanding these shooting lanes is important because it will help you decide where you end up placing your platform in relation to where you expect the deer to come from and the kind of shot you want to set yourself up to take. I’ll be referring to these shooting lanes in clock terms below.
As a right-handed shooter, I place my platform so that my first ideal position is shooting a deer that comes in from about my 11 - 12 o’clock and starts working its way into my strong side 7 - 11 o’clock.
This also puts me in a place to see a deer coming in from about my 2 o’clock that could work its way into my second ideal position, my 10 - 12 o’clock. My least ideal lane is anything from 2 o’clock onwards, but if the deer stays in my 12 - 2, then that is a possible shot depending on the circumstances.
Here’s a screenshot for reference:
https://share.getcloudapp.com/04ukqNWv
Hiding Your Body and Movement
So when I went out in the field, as explained above, I set up expecting to see the deer come in from 11 - 12 o’clock and work its way into my strong side.
Here’s where I got to see firsthand, how I could use the tree to hide my body and movement. If I did see a deer coming from that direction, then I could very slowly move my body to the right and have the tree obscure me completely. I could then just poke out my head to see where the deer was going. Unfortunately, I saw no deer that day, so let’s just use our imagination that a big ol’ buck is coming in from my 11 - 12 o’clock:
https://share.getcloudapp.com/Z4uzkqgP - screenshot
https://share.getcloudapp.com/BluE5Ygl - video (no audio)
Next, it also allowed me to use the tree to hide the movement of me reaching for the bow. After moving my body to the right, I could reach out and grab my bow and have the tree block the majority of the movement. Here’s a video showing what I mean:
https://share.getcloudapp.com/L1uYJNY1 - no audio
If a deer came in from my 2 o’clock, then I could move my body to the left to have the tree hide me and still grab the bow, blocking the majority of the movement. Screenshot and video below:
https://share.getcloudapp.com/bLupRgmy
https://share.getcloudapp.com/xQuvLnYn - no audio
---------------
I hope this helps someone get a better handle on one of the awesome benefits a saddle offers and thanks to all the knowledge y’all share on here. Happy hunting!
Being a newbie, I had never hunted from a tree before getting my saddle so while I understood the concept in theory, I didn’t have the firsthand experience to fully understand how important this was. That was until last Friday.
I had my first saddle hunt and it was really great. I learned a lot from that first hunt and I’ll be sure to share that in other posts, but for now, I wanted to focus on this because I thought it would be helpful for people considering making the transition from a treestand or for newbies to deer hunting in general.
I also made some screenshots and shot some videos from a first-person point-of-view, which I think will help give context to what people can expect in the field. I apologize in advance that they came out vertical (I’m kicking myself for doing that), and may not be award-winning quality, I hope to get better with time.
Getting a Baseline on Saddle Shooting Lanes
So G2 Outdoors has this awesome video that goes over the different kind of shots you can make from a saddle and if you haven’t seen it yet, I’d highly recommend checking it out as it gives you a clear idea on the kinds of shooting lanes you’ll have once you’re up in a tree:
There’s a great visual he has on there which I’ve screenshotted below:
https://share.getcloudapp.com/kpudbNLz - all credit goes to G2 Outdoors
Understanding these shooting lanes is important because it will help you decide where you end up placing your platform in relation to where you expect the deer to come from and the kind of shot you want to set yourself up to take. I’ll be referring to these shooting lanes in clock terms below.
As a right-handed shooter, I place my platform so that my first ideal position is shooting a deer that comes in from about my 11 - 12 o’clock and starts working its way into my strong side 7 - 11 o’clock.
This also puts me in a place to see a deer coming in from about my 2 o’clock that could work its way into my second ideal position, my 10 - 12 o’clock. My least ideal lane is anything from 2 o’clock onwards, but if the deer stays in my 12 - 2, then that is a possible shot depending on the circumstances.
Here’s a screenshot for reference:
https://share.getcloudapp.com/04ukqNWv
Hiding Your Body and Movement
So when I went out in the field, as explained above, I set up expecting to see the deer come in from 11 - 12 o’clock and work its way into my strong side.
Here’s where I got to see firsthand, how I could use the tree to hide my body and movement. If I did see a deer coming from that direction, then I could very slowly move my body to the right and have the tree obscure me completely. I could then just poke out my head to see where the deer was going. Unfortunately, I saw no deer that day, so let’s just use our imagination that a big ol’ buck is coming in from my 11 - 12 o’clock:
https://share.getcloudapp.com/Z4uzkqgP - screenshot
https://share.getcloudapp.com/BluE5Ygl - video (no audio)
Next, it also allowed me to use the tree to hide the movement of me reaching for the bow. After moving my body to the right, I could reach out and grab my bow and have the tree block the majority of the movement. Here’s a video showing what I mean:
https://share.getcloudapp.com/L1uYJNY1 - no audio
If a deer came in from my 2 o’clock, then I could move my body to the left to have the tree hide me and still grab the bow, blocking the majority of the movement. Screenshot and video below:
https://share.getcloudapp.com/bLupRgmy
https://share.getcloudapp.com/xQuvLnYn - no audio
---------------
I hope this helps someone get a better handle on one of the awesome benefits a saddle offers and thanks to all the knowledge y’all share on here. Happy hunting!
