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Saddle saturation?

I’m in eastern Kentucky, which is to say I’m surrounded by good ol boys that all hunt, but I can count on one hand the number of guys I know that saddle hunt. A few people have heard of it but they don’t live and breathe hunting. It’s just a thing they’ve always done. I think the people that attempt and stick with saddle hunting are the guys that are thinking about bow hunting most of the year. The majority of the hunting community are probably like my local demographic. They dust off the 30-06 and hunt a few weekends a year. I don’t think saddle companies or climbing stand companies for that matter are getting much of their money.
 
kyler1945 said:
I introduced no less than a dozen folks in my close huntjng circle to saddle huntjng. Three of them tried soft saddles the rest laughed. All tried the JX3 hybrid eventually, and 7-8 of them use it almost exclusively when elevated. Only one of that group still uses a soft saddle.

For what it’s worth, I’m one of two members of this gang that aren’t classified as obese.
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I did the same and my buddies all looked at me like I had three heads. I converted a couple of guys that I just happened to meet down at the public woods. They’ve stuck with it and we weren’t friends at the time, but we are now.

I often wonder about the obesity thing. I would’t think saddles would appeal, but I see a lot to guys on FB forums inquiring about big boy saddles, with some pushing really big numbers. I’ve also seen some big boys that were overweight, but could still hold their own pretty good. I have my own struggles, but this isn’t one of them so I don’t have any unique insight on this topic.
 
farmlegend said:
There’s something to that larger body thing.

God willing, 2023 will mark my 20th season of hunting more-or-less exclusively from a saddle. I’ve noticed that of the hardcore saddlehunters I’ve known, those who hunt a primarily from a saddle and have done so for a number of years, I can't think of more than a couple that go more than 160 or so. Guys like Eberhart come to mind.

I'm sure we're close to the saturation point, insofar as there are now a number of competing products and the potential customer population is either static or in decline. I am gratified that in the last few years, the little guys(Wood, CGM, Overwatch, TX5) have really been kicking ass in producing excellent products, and I hope they're able to continue to do so.
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Not to be argumentative, but this will be my 9th year in a saddle, exclusively for the last 7 years, and I'm a busy hunter averaging north of eighty 3-4 hour sits per year. I'm hardly anyone's image of fit. In fact I'm a self described OFG (old fat guy). Anyone who's been to a Michigan saddle hunter get together can back me up on that. :tearsofjoy:

In that time I've been anywhere from 225-260 lbs. I'll be the first advocate to say you don't need to be a gym rat to hunt out of a saddle. I found saddles almost, not quite, but almost as comfortable as my climbers and the benefits I find (quiet walking in and climb, hiding behind tree, less lower back issues, etc.) outweigh the very slight decrease in comfort. I also find the climbing process to be much less strenuous than using my climber. My message to fellow OFG's is just give it a fair shake and you'll be pleasantly surprised.
 
Jammintree said:
Speaking of a saturated market, AeroHunter has left the scene. While there are any numbers of reasons behind the why, it certainly speaks to market condition when one of the founding companies, who was beloved by so many goes away.
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On the flip side- was it the fact they simply were pushed out due to all the quality products?? For years they were one of the only companies, but innovation didn’t seem to be their thing.


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Nchunter1989 said:
On the flip side- was it the fact they simply were pushed out due to all the quality products?? For years they were one of the only companies, but innovation didn’t seem to be their thing.


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I respectfully disagree with that last statement. Nearly every true innovative advancement in saddles was made by aerohunter. The actual swing style with two bridge loops - that was brought to you first by aerohunter, waist belt and leg straps that can be open instead of step thru - aerohunter, rope bridge - aerohunter, a truly adjustable bridge - aerohunter, saddles with a pleat - aerohunter, adjustment straps to keep your top and bottom panels together - aerohunter. Choices of different materials and camo patterns- aerohunter. Those little adjuster straps to help with cupping and pressure that were popular on saddles before the bridge was girth hitched - you guessed it aerohunter.

The only advancements that weren’t them first was use of magnets for panel or gear bags, use of a rope for a belt (which they don’t do because of the safety risk of a rope for waist belt), they didn’t bring us use of amsteel or technora (probably also due to perceived safety risks, and they weren’t the first to girth hitch the bridge loops. But they innovated and completely changed the saddle game. I think they just got away from listening to what hunters really wanted the last few years. Otherwise they were at the forefront of this industry and had they been patent happy like some companies, you wouldn’t have 85% of the saddles or even saddle companies that you have now.
 
Nchunter1989 said:
On the flip side- was it the fact they simply were pushed out due to all the quality products?? For years they were one of the only companies, but innovation didn’t seem to be their thing.
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It simply sounded like the folks of AH were ready to retire.

But, imo, what started to cost them some sales was limited marketing and as well as moving away from their original blueprint.

Still amongst the finest saddles ever made, imo.
 
Plebe said:
It simply sounded like the folks of AH were ready to retire.

But, imo, what started to cost them some sales was limited marketing and as well as moving away from their original blueprint.

Still amongst the finest saddles ever made, imo.
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I'm still not over them closing up. I was looking at the Revolution saddle, but thought I'd wait for others to get it and hear their feedback first. I wish they would have announced they were closing up shop. I would have definitely bought one.

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Aerohunter was without a doubt the most innovative saddle company out there, and you could make a good argument their quality was unmatched. I really wish they would have listened to customer feedback more and less to designers/, but they were still innovating until the end. I wanted to buy them when I found out they were closing. When I spoke to the owner, she wasn't even close to interested in selling. That told me the business was doing just fine and they had a more than adequate nest egg or they had already worked something out with another buyer/investor.
 
deertrout said:
Aerohunter was without a doubt the most innovative saddle company out there, and you could make a good argument their quality was unmatched. I really wish they would have listened to customer feedback more and less to designers/, but they were still innovating until the end. I wanted to buy them when I found out they were closing. When I spoke to the owner, she wasn't even close to interested in selling. That told me the business was doing just fine and they had a more than adequate nest egg or they had already worked something out with another buyer/investor.
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If I am not mistaken, Casey the lead designer, was wanting to continue making harnesses for recreational climbers and possibly hunters as well. I haven’t seen or heard nothing about it since though.
 
Aerohunter is probably the biggest reason saddle hunting hung on until Tethrd took it mainstream. Aerohunter kept it alive for years before that. They were making saddles when nobody else was. The flex was probably the most innovative thing to ever happen to saddles. Heck even the old evo was ahead of its time. It was the main influence in my transformer saddle. The single panel I make now is just an updated version of a flex. Their sewing was the benchmark that I tried to reach too. Every saddle I made for years got laid down next to a kestrel to see if I could beat their stitching quality. I think they were just ready to hang it up and the last couple years you saw less input from hunters in their designs.
 
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