• The SH Membership has gone live. Only SH Members have access to post in the classifieds. All members can view the classifieds. Starting in 2020 only SH Members will be admitted to the annual hunting contest. Current members will need to follow these steps to upgrade: 1. Click on your username 2. Click on Account upgrades 3. Choose SH Member and purchase.
  • We've been working hard the past few weeks to come up with some big changes to our vendor policies to meet the changing needs of our community. Please see the new vendor rules here: Vendor Access Area Rules

should we even be using saddles or stands lets be honest

Plebe said:
We climb one like that, maybe sketchier. At the apex, Millennium M100u comfort. Used to be pretty manageable. I did one hunt last season in the tree, and I found my grip on the branches was a bit tighter than it had been.

That hunt tipped us off where our target buck was hiding out.
Click to expand...
as a kid i was tought to climb trees to find my barings so i dont need a compas
 
My back injury is why I was researching and stumbled on saddles. I can't be in a stand or on the ground sitting or my back starts locking up. I am relatively new to hunting and started on the ground. It hurt to sit so I end up walking. Was given a climber...liked being elevated but the 1980s boomerang climber was scary and I felt unsafe and after 3 hours my back hurts so I end up walking around. I got a millennium m whatever....the lightweight big seat 1 and made some sticks. I really liked how that opened up opportunity and being more mobile. I could make it maybe 5 hrs before my back pain and I end up walking around. So I hated carrying those things with a passion. Looking on the interwebs I found saddles. Having worked in harness for years on roofs, off the sides of building, and high-rise I knew kinda what I was getting into. I made a platform and got a saddle. I can make it all day but I gotta really want to but I get bored so it doesn't happen often...i end up walking around.The transition from hang on to saddle was easy. The thing I didn't think/see before I got a saddle was how quick and easy I can ground hunt with it. I learned real fast that I really like that. I can be mobile, comfortably ground hunt, and I can climb and hunt if I want to. I've killed the same amount of deer elevated as I have off the ground so the jury still out. I like that I can quickly pop up a tree safely and get lay of the land....if I end up in the middle of planted pines I can climb up real quick and see the trails that are invisible from the ground, get a compass bearing and quickly rappel down and be on my way. Having the ability to be so mobile made me revaluate my other gear (sticks and how I was carrying everything) and I really cut down on the fat....my hunting style has grown and I start all my hunts fresh..not knowing where the day will take me and the saddle is like the swiss army knife. If I end up killing something from the ground or elevated I don't really care but I got the tool to accomplish both with me when I leave the truck....IMO
 
thats what im talkin bout.just incohearently.im a roofer my family has to deal with the fact i might not come home.so what i do on my spare time is already paid for .i do what i do for the same reasons you listed.more likely to fall of a cliff or into a ravien where they wont ever find me.or die at work.than fall from a tree.it seems people who are scared of hights hunt from elivation too.and its a strange combination in my opinion wich means nothin.just conversation
 
Plain and simple.
Adapt to the situation.
Ya Gotta hunt how the terrain allows you to hunt or you will be on the bench and not in the game.
nobody ever likes riding the bench
Splinters in the back side im sure is not pleasant
 
I personally feel more confident being able to hunt from an elevated position. Even if it's only 12-15 feet off the ground. For years I hunted out of an Ol' Man Vision climber, then upgraded to the Alumalite CTS. I still love that treestand, but I don't love carrying it around. I finally decided to convert to saddle hunting (mostly) last season. I feel like it allows me to focus my efforts more on hunting deer, and less on hunting a good tree to climb. In the areas I hunt, if you find a decent tree for a climbing treestand, the deer are usually nowhere close.
 
After saddle Hunting for several years, my current conclusion is this....saddle Hunting is good, but not always perfect. I thought I was solving the sore butt from a hang on issue, but found hip pinch, hip flexor, foot pain, and knee pain from kneeling against the tree were part of saddle hunting FOR ME. After changing saddles twice, I think I solved the hip pinch, but foot pain and minor hip flexor pain, and knee pain still exist.
I have also had many occasions where the tree I wanted to be in just wouldn't work unless I wanted to have my back to where I expected the deer to come from or stand straight with my back to the tree the entire time. I found myself wishing I had a hang on more than once.
Last season, I missed a shot opportunity because I just couldn't get situated as a buck walked from my weak side to my 6 o'clock.
All this considered, I have decided to purchase the Daquisto .5 and use it in conjunction with the saddle. I really think and hope it will be the best of both worlds and most versatile. We will see.
 
Robert loper said:
Plain and simple.
Adapt to the situation.
Ya Gotta hunt how the terrain allows you to hunt or you will be on the bench and not in the game.
nobody ever likes riding the bench
Splinters in the back side im sure is not pleasant
Click to expand...
nothing lets me adapt more than the saddle.i dont call it a game changer.but if i fill tags from it on years where my freinds are eating tag soup .id say it gets me ahead of the game...all ground hunters in oregon few climbers.cant even find someone els who has asaddle. mountain lions out here will cover ground making a 50 mile circle.but occasionaly.pounce down from a tree.and it works.dudes out here are set in there ways.dont like to adapt.saddle hunter map is good evidence
 
tailgunner said:
nothing lets me adapt more than the saddle.i dont call it a game changer.but if i fill tags from it on years where my freinds are eating tag soup .id say it gets me ahead of the game...all ground hunters in oregon few climbers.cant even find someone els who has asaddle. mountain lions out here will cover ground making a 50 mile circle.but occasionaly.pounce down from a tree.and it works.dudes out here are set in there ways.dont like to adapt.saddle hunter map is good evidence
Click to expand...
Use and do what works for you. When it works. Its all a learning experience
 
Country said:
After saddle Hunting for several years, my current conclusion is this....saddle Hunting is good, but not always perfect. I thought I was solving the sore butt from a hang on issue, but found hip pinch, hip flexor, foot pain, and knee pain from kneeling against the tree were part of saddle hunting FOR ME. After changing saddles twice, I think I solved the hip pinch, but foot pain and minor hip flexor pain, and knee pain still exist.
I have also had many occasions where the tree I wanted to be in just wouldn't work unless I wanted to have my back to where I expected the deer to come from or stand straight with my back to the tree the entire time. I found myself wishing I had a hang on more than once.
Last season, I missed a shot opportunity because I just couldn't get situated as a buck walked from my weak side to my 6 o'clock.
All this considered, I have decided to purchase the Daquisto .5 and use it in conjunction with the saddle. I really think and hope it will be the best of both worlds and most versatile. We will see.
Click to expand...
Cant go wrong with that combo.
 
tailgunner said:
my wife stands over my shoulder and trys to correct my spelling.says everone will think yor dumb.i tell her quit trying to change me.......hints the thread wilderess pics..i tell her society needs stupid people too. who els is gunna do the roof
Click to expand...
Smart people?
 
bj139 said:
I never hunted off the ground until 2 years ago. It makes it so much easier when the deer aren't looking for you up a tree.
Click to expand...
me either, ive wanted to tree hunt but always been afraid of heights. I never felt comfortable up on a hang on, like there wasnt enough to hold me there for my comfort level, and climbers were way too heavy to lug around. but the idea of being roped in the entire time, always being under tension, so i dont feel like i could fall, works well for me. i can sit in a saddle at 25 ft just fine
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top