Saddle hunting brands marketing with “minimalistic” or “shaving ounces”.

[Hangin' and Huntin' Hemp]

I am headed into my 2nd season of saddle hunting and seem to notice the constant marketing of these terms. I understand the need for being light but at what point do you enter the realm of diminishing returns? I am of the mind of always being prepared and tend to tote more than I need. All of this came to mind with the marketing email I got about the Lattitude Flyer pack. I understand they have a market for it but are we headed towards the evolution of the sport with brands tying some amsteel together and calling it the “lightest and strongest” pack ever? So I would like to ask the following:

1. How far do you typically pack in?
2. How concerned are you with the weight of your kit packed in?
3. If you do kill, what is your plan on getting your kill out with one of these minimalistic packs?

 

[Jrogue]

Been saddle hunting for quite some time. I have hiked in miles and walked in 30 yards. It all depends on the hunt that day. It's all marketing. Buy what u like, hunt how u like. That's what is great about this sport. It's customizable for the individual.

 

[raisins]

I am a weight weenie within reason

I pick a light backpack that still has good support and adequate size (Mystery Ranch Scree). I pick a platform that is big enough but still a light one (Hunt Arsenal Elite). I pick a climbing method that safely gets me to height relatively quickly and flexibly (12 Bullman Origin steps with amsteel attachment). I do not cut weight on my saddle and ropes because those are my life support and the saddle is my comfort (Woods Deluxe saddle with 3 cobra buckles and a 9 mm dynamic rope). On the big ticket items is where you really save weight. Other than that, I only carry in the stuff that I use regularly. Where possible, I shave a little weight. I don't carry more water than I need. I carry a relatively light headlamp. My limb saw and pruner are the lightest I could find after research. My organization sacks in the pack are mesh and ultralight. I carry an ultralight single stack 9mm (Kahr CM9).

Without extra layers, food, and the survival gear I take when going deep/cold/all day, my total weight with pack is 20 lbs or less. That's the weight where I hardly feel it and feel like I can walk all day. Once I get to around 30 lbs, then I start feeling it and take breaks walking up hills.

As far as getting the deer out, time means less to me than my joints/health/pack weight. I never pack a deer out with my bow and other gear. I drop it off at the truck, get my hauler frame pack with kill kit, walk back in, and then quarter or debone it out. If it is a large deer and I quarter it and take the head, then I make 2 trips. I am turning 50 and live in rugged terrain. I'll work until sunrise before I'll risk a ruptured disc or a torn ACL from falling with 100 lbs on my back.

 

[bigmike23]

It's not about weight as much as how it packs. For example, the way my treestyx pack on my Fas pack doesn't allow any snagging.

Back when I had my beast sticks I run them horizontally. This caused rage inducing snag factor in mountain Laurel.

 

[raisins]

It's not about weight as much as how it packs. For example, the way my treestyx pack on my Fas pack doesn't allow any snagging.

Back when I had my beast sticks I run them horizontally. This caused rage inducing snag factor in mountain Laurel.

Also the position of the weight on your back. I shouldn't put the platform on the very outside because of leverage, but it makes it so convenient to remove while climbing with the pack on. I can at least get my climbing method right over my waist belt on the inside of the pack. Internal frames tend to be lighter but also the weight is often closer to the body.

 

[MattMan81]

Saving weight to walk in further does you no good if you fall climbing and can't walk out. Or you can't stay still because your uncomfortable and get busted.
Its not a directionally proportional equation.
Lighter weight doesn't equal killing bigger deer.

 

[NMSbowhunter]

1. How far do you typically pack in?
2. How concerned are you with the weight of your kit packed in?
3. If you do kill, what is your plan on getting your kill out with one of these minimalistic packs?

Anywhere from right off the road to miles back crossing creeks and sloughs. It just depends. That said, I want a standardized load out so I don't have to worry about forgetting something. My standard kit weighs about 10 to 11 pounds. It is also "soft". There are no rigid sticks or anything else to contend with.

My go to set up is a 2 panel sling style saddle. I 2TC almost every hunt. A set of knee pads, a ring of steps comprised of 7 aluminum Pioneer steps on an OCB from Eastern Woods Outdoors, a strap gear hanger from HME, and a bow pull up rope. All that fits in a Scentlok backpack and weighs about 10 pounds. In the cargo pocket of the pack will be a kill kit consisting of a gallon ziploc bag with a couple of pillow cases folded flat, a couple of kitchen trash bags, a pair of nitrile gloves and a Case Trapper knife. With that I can quarter and bone out a deer and bring it out in the pillow cases if need be. If I am close to the truck (a few hundred yards), I will just go back, drop off the hunt pack and bow and grab an Army surplus Alice pack that contains a kill kit and use that. I also keep a couple of small Steamlights in the pack too and a compass.

 

[Cbigbear]

Distance varies, as well as access method. It could be hike, bike, boat or a combination.

I’m shooting for as minimal & compact as possible. But it also has to be efficient, which results in less noise, movement, physical efffort.

My setups usually revolve around a frame, but I do have some ultra light systems. I’ll grab the ultra light if the main goal is scouting. If I kill I’ll have to make multiple trips.

 

[mschultz373]

Principles:
I. Go as far as necessary to be in the game, on the deer, and set up advantageously.
II. Pack as little as necessary to successfully set up, kill and harvest your quarry.
III. 2 is 1 and 1 is none; always have a backup (within reason - obviously don’t need two bows, two quivers, etc)

 

[dhoff545]

I am headed into my 2nd season of saddle hunting and seem to notice the constant marketing of these terms. I understand the need for being light but at what point do you enter the realm of diminishing returns? I am of the mind of always being prepared and tend to tote more than I need. All of this came to mind with the marketing email I got about the Lattitude Flyer pack. I understand they have a market for it but are we headed towards the evolution of the sport with brands tying some amsteel together and calling it the “lightest and strongest” pack ever? So I would like to ask the following:

1. How far do you typically pack in?
2. How concerned are you with the weight of your kit packed in?
3. If you do kill, what is your plan on getting your kill out with one of these minimalistic packs?

Diminishing returns is a question only you can answer and it's mostly based on your opportunity cost. We are nowhere near the backpacking levels of minimalist gear.

I've ran fanny packs and pushed pack weight under 10 lbs, I can do that with my current setup as well if i want to 2TC up and down in a dryad. What I have settled on is 12-15lb pack weights in a frame pack. This allows me to bring plenty of stuff and have the capacity to pack out comfortably without hauling around too much stuff all the time. I try not to carry too much clutter and keep the actual gear I'm packing on the minimal side. Noise is also a concern. I like a frame pack because everything goes in the pack, bow goes on my back and I can navigate 2 hands free off trail. Try that with a minimalist pack, alot of guys running a fanny are carrying in a bow and sticks and have both hands full.

1. Less than 1 mile off logging roads, up to 2 miles off parking access.
2. Very concerned. I like to have a total pack weight including water and extra clothes under 15 lbs not including weapon.
3. I use a lightweight frame pack, I can make 2 trips or I can bone out into a garbage bag pack liner.

 

[sureshotscott]

A Duluth pack is a canvas (bag) pack used in canoeing because it conforms to the shape of the boat. Mine usually started around 80 lbs with food and gear for a week. Hiked it on Isle Royale from Lake Ritchie to Mosky Basin, just over 2 miles. I know, cool story bro.

These threads are kind of amusing.

 

[Crcusmonky]

A Duluth pack is a canvas pack used in canoeing because it conforms to the shape of the boat. Mine usually started around 80 lbs with food and gear for a week. Hiked it on Isle Royale from Lake Ritchie to Mosky Basin, just over 2 miles. I know, cool story bro.

These threads are kind of amusing.

Did something similar in the Lake Superior provincial park in Ontario. Similar pack and they are not designed to keep the load next to the body. Lots of fun though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[BeauWPS]

I’ll go as far as needed. Could be a mile, mile and a quarter. Could be short distances.

Weight is important to me and lighter is better but how the weight is distributed makes an impact. I’m not fancy. I carry 4 sticks a platform and a sharp knife. I try not to carry anything not essential to killing or navigating back to the truck.

I remind myself of the climbing stand days and that usually is enough to quell my complaining. I have walked a mile back to the truck to grab a deer cart then a mile back in and the final mile back out. That’s 4 miles total for those playing at home.

I did see Clay Newcomb skin all 4 deer legs making a circular incision below the dew claw, vertically up the leg to the joint. He pulled the hide back, cut the leg at the joint then tied the front leg hide to the opposite rear leg hide on both sides. Formed an X like backpack straps. It was gutted and he threw that deer on like a backpack. Piqued my interest.

Kill the deer first. Worry about getting him out later. A trusted hunting buddy is a much needed resource.

 

[Lowg08]

I can at times go 100 yards but realistically it’s more of the 2-3 mile range. I don’t know that I’m a weight weenie. I used to be but now I just make sure my gear makes sense and I can stand to sit all day comfortably. My clothing layers as the season progresses and no overlap. Just add a layer as the season gets colder. Tried a bunch of gear over the years and it’s not the lightest but it’s the most comfortable. I used to pack my deer out but I’m over that mess. We have two game carts and 3 teenagers. I pretty sure my BIL and myself only drug one deer last year or helped taking turns pulling the cart on that same deer.

 

[PoorMansWrangler]

1. Typically 1-3 miles. Sometimes may be a few hundred yards, depends but typically between 1-3
2. No concern at all. If you can’t walk with 25 pounds on your back, then you have bigger things to worry about in my opinion. I would rather have gear that is comfortable, reliable, and I have confidence in.
3. I have a frame pack I use to carry one out. Cheap garbage bags and quarter it out

 

[Alaska at Heart]

I have multiple approaches to ascending and descending, which directly effects the pack I use. However, each setup contains my 'necessities'...flashlight, headlamp, platform attachment, tags, knife, kill kit, RF, chemical handwarmer packs, etc. Since I am not typically hunting miles from my vehicle, after shooting a deer I wait and assess my next steps. Sometimes that is backing out and returning and other times it is getting right on the blood trail. Once I've made recovery, then tagged and field dressed the deer, I take my bow and saddle gear back to the vehicle to lessen bulk and bring back the lightweight sled that lives there all season, for getting it out of the woods solo. That is my basic mode of operation...

If hunting private, I often have either preset sticks or paracord to quickly setup my mainline to ascend via JRB footloop.. Once at height, I reach back and take my platform from the rear saddle clip and secure it to the tree. In those instances, my CGM Vice Carrier works really well, is compact and pretty lightweight. I added a pair of quick release nylon straos for attaching a jacket or vest to the outside, plus having my coiled mainline easily in reach. One of the aspects of a bigger pack is the profile off the side of the tree or leaving it at the bottom, so you don't have immediate access to the contents. If I am on bigger public tracts, I sometimes use my MR Treehouse 20 pack to bring in four Tethrd One Sticks and a platform on the outside. Other times I forego a pack and hunt presets from my LWCG Ambush that has quick release buckle shoulder straps and a small pouch with necessities.

Finally, the saddle itself. Some like a 'no frills' saddle and seriously dislike side pouches. I've tried that, but then everything that would go into a pouch or two is now in your pockets or in your pack...which is often more difficult to access. I have a Cruzr horizontal dual zipper pouch on my left hip that always contains the linemans, a William carabiner for rappelling and a couple handwarmers. If using preset sticks, I bring a short tether in the main pouch along with the linemans and a mainline, I bring a JRB DIY Garda footloop. On my right hip I have a smaller collapeable molle pouch that holds my bow holder strap and fittings, folding saw inside and bow reel, spare mini-flashlight, S-biner and spare carabiner on the molle outside. In the view of some, I am far from minimalist...but I only bring what I know I am going to use on a successful hunt. I don't haul in food or water on short duration hunts of a few hours, because that isn't why I'm there.

 

[7mmremmag]

It's not about weight as much as how it packs. For example, the way my treestyx pack on my Fas pack doesn't allow any snagging.

Back when I had my beast sticks I run them horizontally. This caused rage inducing snag factor in mountain Laurel.

Agreed, and maybe it's a northern PA thing. I hunt a lot of regrown clearcuts/timber cutting. I hate stuff sticking out or limiting movement, I run a 12" single stick with a EWO LP on top more for the packability than the weight. I wrap my looped tether to my stick with shock cord and fasten it to my pack. I barely know its there. I would rather climb one more set (takes me one minute) than carry multiple sticks or a longer stick or more climbing gear and a platform.

 

[raisins]

I can at times go 100 yards but realistically it’s more of the 2-3 mile range. I don’t know that I’m a weight weenie. I used to be but now I just make sure my gear makes sense and I can stand to sit all day comfortably. My clothing layers as the season progresses and no overlap. Just add a layer as the season gets colder. Tried a bunch of gear over the years and it’s not the lightest but it’s the most comfortable. I used to pack my deer out but I’m over that mess. We have two game carts and 3 teenagers. I pretty sure my BIL and myself only drug one deer last year or helped taking turns pulling the cart on that same deer.

One way I think cuts weight on layers (and bulk) is to pack in your mid-layers (down), not outer layers (except for my lower layer) and use boot blankets.

I think that high loft goose down is still the warmest thing by weight and packability. In the cold, if I wear in an appropriate outer jacket/bibs and base layer, minus my down mid-layers, then I'm usually in the range where I don't overheat while walking.

In my pack, I use a waterproof compression stuff sack from Seat to Summit. I'll pack in a mid weight, puffy vest and jacket from Eddie Bauer that's like 800 loft and with the down treated with water repellent. For my lower, I put in that same compression sack a pair of full zip Kuiu down pants. I also carry in boot blankets in my water bottle pocket but with an attachment so I can't lose them. Those down layers in that sack compress down to a little bigger than a football and go right in the pack.

As soon as I'm at height, I take my outer jacket off and put the down vest and jacket on under it. The down pants go over my bibs and my saddle too (all you see is my bridge sticking out). The boot blankets allow you to wear lighter boots which cuts down on unsprung weight and really helps (a pound on your feet is something like 10 or 20 in your pack...army studied it).

It's it's windy I stick a cheap silnylon rain coat that packs to nothing (amazon) in the stuff sack and put that on between down and outer jacket. I'll also sometimes bring an additional heavy weight base layer in the pack. Even if just cold, that thin rain coat really adds warmth like wrapping your house insulation in Tyvek.

The concerns about down getting wet on day hunts have never hurt me. If it is the kind of torrential downpour where you can't manage to get down from a waterproof stuff sack to under your rain jacket, then either it's too rainy for me to hunt OR it is warm enough that I don't need the down. If I need the down, it's cold enough that it would usually be snowing, if anything. However, we've all been in what I consider the most miserable weather possible....34 F and raining. When that happens, I just stage everything and do my transfer fast. The down has never gotten wet enough to make a difference.

 

[nomads-11]

1. How far do you typically pack in?
2. How concerned are you with the weight of your kit packed in?
3. If you do kill, what is your plan on getting your kill out with one of these minimalistic packs?

1. Depends. Most of the time I'll be 50-150yards off the road/access point. Have had pretty good success, even if it's not far off the main drag. I've gone further - 1-5 miles. Depth and terrain drives how it's done though. Walk in for the close stuff. Further usually means I'll pile any weight on a game cart (which lives in the truck during the season) I got from Cabelas years ago and walk in. Use the cart to haul everything (inc. deer) out. If it allows it, I've hooked the game cart to my bike, like a trailer, and biked in quite a ways (mile +). And, if conditions are right, I've used my tandem kayak, put the cart on it, etc., and paddled in.

2. Yeah, weight is a concern. Still working on my "kit" to lighten it up. That said, under most circumstances, I'm still going to carry the elements of the 10c's of survival - fire, water purification, etc. But much of that still doubles as useful gear for hunting. As someone mentioned, I think a decent range for the backpack is 20lb or less. I'm getting pretty close to that even with a couple liters of water for longer sits. I think what has helped is moving to SRT/DSRT (no sticks), dropping a pound or two with a new Arsenal platform and switching to a somewhat lighter backpack from the one I was using.

3. For most distances, it's the cart by itself, or used as a trailer on a bike....or use the kayak, and paddle back.

As an aside, I've found that the hand cart, if you can find a good one weight wise, folding, with study wheels, is WAY under-rated. I bought mine years ago as an after thought and didn't use it (except to move stuff around the house). Tried it out on a morning hunt in case I got lucky, on a fairly deep hunt, back when I was using a self-climber. On the cart was the climber, backpack and bow, all balanced as best as possible. I was amazed how it made things so much easier.....didn't even break a sweat doing it. If I would have carried all that in I guarantee you I would've been sweating quite a bit on that hunt. From then on that cart "added depth/distance" to hunts that I considered doing.

 

[Alaska at Heart]

Agreed, and maybe it's a northern PA thing. I hunt a lot of regrown clearcuts/timber cutting. I hate stuff sticking out or limiting movement, I run a 12" single stick with a EWO LP on top more for the packability than the weight. I wrap my looped tether to my stick with shock cord and fasten it to my pack. I barely know its there. I would rather climb one more set (takes me one minute) than carry multiple sticks or a longer stick or more climbing gear and a platform.

When I am hauling in sticks for a single hunt, I use my MR Treehouse 20 pack and arrange them vertically...two per side. That way there is nothing projecting beyond my body width to catch on brush. But I definitely understand the frustration of having horizontal sticks that seem to attract brush contact.

I built a DIY one-stick rig in the spring of 2025, using a 20" Beast Gear stick with a small BAT platform on top and Harken cam cleat. I've used it for several test climbs, but at least for me, it is more strenuous with a two step aider and bumping up the mainline each 'cycle' than using a throw ball to set a paracord and hauling up the mailine. The Garda foot loop and throw ball kit are smaller than even a one-stick and less work overall. Plus envisioning an entire hunt on that tiny platform is nothing that really interests me. I did make a ROS and tried that, which adds secondary or alternate footing. but is more weight/bulk to bring along and hook up. So far, nothing beats the footloop ascending process for effort, weight and convenience.