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Too Popular?

Hubby11

Hubby11

Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2018
Messages
78
Location
Clifton VA
It might just be my own perception given I am doing a lot of online searches for saddle stuff, but it seems to me that we are on the cusp of an exponential growth in the number of people using saddles for hunting. If that is the case (and I may be wrong), I am curious on your thoughts on the concept of saddles becoming hugely popular, meaning that they will start to be mass produced and pretty soon you will be able to pick up stock models at BPS, Cabelas, D!cks, even Wally World.

How do you feel about that, good, bad or indifferent?
 
In high school I ran around with a bunch of folks that were into indie music. They were the stereotypical insufferable hipster types that basically formed their identities based on what was counter to the mainstream. If you're asking if I feel saddles are becoming too popular in that sense, my solid answer is no! I do get that perception from time to time around these parts. Having been immersed in hipsterism I can sniff it out like a German Shepard destroying Scent Lok's credibility.

I guess I do kinda bemoan the commercialization of it all. I miss the DIY days. Every youtube wannabe is tooting the saddle horn right now, a lot not having hunted from one. The hype machine annoys me, not the popularity alone, but a lot of hyping it up for personal recognition.

I suppose there will be a day probably not too distant when a saddle will be on Amazon. I doubt it reaches a market share where it can be in the cited retailers. Even capturing more of the mobile hunting market, most hunters use presets, where saddles make little sense. I just received a thick Cabelas/BPS hunting catalog for the first time in years. Like 5 pages of treestands, there wan't even anything I would consider a passable mobile stand. Mobile is still a tiny slice of the treestand market and saddles are a tiny slice of that. I think exponential growth is accurate for now but it is not far from leveling off in my estimation.
 
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I think the big retailers are sitting back and watching the trend to see where it goes and once they see how much $$ is being made they will jump on board. Its all about the $$$....I couldnt care one way or another if it hits big or doesnt. Im also new this year to saddle hunting though and maybe not have the best opinion for it.
 
Personally, I think it feels that way based on some of the popular sites we're all drawn too ...Saddlehunter, The Hunting BEAST, THP, other mobile hunting sites etc.

With that said, I believe it's still a relatively small niche. Most guys I know want to go to a pre-set stand (often box or ladder) and look over a food plot or feeder. The thought of carrying gear in and out ...picking new trees each sit ...and not being able to drive a ATV/UTV to w/in 100 yards is foreign to lots of guys that I talk too.

Outside of the sites I mention, when I try and talk 'saddle hunting' I still get more blank stares than agreement.
 
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Small subset of deer hunters are mobile. That % may swing a few points either way, some ebb and flow, if you will. Definitely seems like a spike now, but come January, there will be fire sales on gently used saddles / gear. And the next season, saddle hunters numbers will be up, but not by much.

Cabelas sold Trophyline Tree Saddles in retail outlets before trophyline ceased operations.

It takes way more effort to go mobile. Not just the physical effort to set up and tear down each sit, but also to scout and learn the best places to ambush deer. Why be mobile If one is randomly sitting in a tree. Also, no need to be mobile if one is hunting over bait. And since no need to be mobile, just put a comfortable preset near the bait pile.

I welcome all newcomers. That said, I believe there may be a little irrational exuberance coming from the newcomers.
 
More popular means we'll have more choices in gear....more competition amongst suppliers....lower wait times. All good in my opinion. Nothing stopping people from DIYing their gear or claiming they were OG
 
elk yinzer said:
In high school I ran around with a bunch of folks that were into indie music. They were the stereotypical insufferable hipster types that basically formed their identities based on what was counter to the mainstream. If you're asking if I feel saddles are becoming too popular in that sense, my solid answer is no! I do get that perception from time to time around these parts. Having been immersed in hipsterism I can sniff it out like a German Shepard destroying Scent Lok's credibility.

I guess I do kinda bemoan the commercialization of it all. I miss the DIY days. Every youtube wannabe is tooting the saddle horn right now, a lot not having hunted from one. The hype machine annoys me, not the popularity alone, but a lot of hyping it up for personal recognition.

I suppose there will be a day probably not too distant when a saddle will be on Amazon. I doubt it reaches a market share where it can be in the cited retailers. Even capturing more of the mobile hunting market, most hunters use presets, where saddles make little sense. I just received a thick Cabelas/BPS hunting catalog for the first time in years. Like 5 pages of treestands, there wan't even anything I would consider a passable mobile stand. Mobile is still a tiny slice of the treestand market and saddles are a tiny slice of that. I think exponential growth is accurate for now but it is not far from leveling off in my estimation.
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There is a popular saddle-climbing video on YT now that demonstrates, to me, exactly what you said in your second paragraph. I won’t blow the guy’s spot up anymore, I just can’t watch it without feeling like it’s a 15-minute wankfest to get SH attention to a channel that has posted zero saddle content prior to this.
 
dlist777 said:
More popular means we'll have more choices in gear....more competition amongst suppliers....lower wait times. All good in my opinion. Nothing stopping people from DIYing their gear or claiming they were OG
Click to expand...

Great point about gear and competition. I never would have thought I would see the day trophyline would come back in business. And multiple suppliers of platforms. It’s all good for us as consumers.
 
elk yinzer said:
In high school I ran around with a bunch of folks that were into indie music. They were the stereotypical insufferable hipster types that basically formed their identities based on what was counter to the mainstream. If you're asking if I feel saddles are becoming too popular in that sense, my solid answer is no! I do get that perception from time to time around these parts. Having been immersed in hipsterism I can sniff it out like a German Shepard destroying Scent Lok's credibility.

I guess I do kinda bemoan the commercialization of it all. I miss the DIY days. Every youtube wannabe is tooting the saddle horn right now, a lot not having hunted from one. The hype machine annoys me, not the popularity alone, but a lot of hyping it up for personal recognition.

I suppose there will be a day probably not too distant when a saddle will be on Amazon. I doubt it reaches a market share where it can be in the cited retailers. Even capturing more of the mobile hunting market, most hunters use presets, where saddles make little sense. I just received a thick Cabelas/BPS hunting catalog for the first time in years. Like 5 pages of treestands, there wan't even anything I would consider a passable mobile stand. Mobile is still a tiny slice of the treestand market and saddles are a tiny slice of that. I think exponential growth is accurate for now but it is not far from leveling off in my estimation.
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I can't like this post enough. Also love the last part of the last sentence of paragraph 1. Additionally, ALOT of hunters who say they want to be mobile don't really understand what a grind that can be. For many hunters, they try the "mobile" style and decide it really isn't their cup of tea.
 
I'm afraid the popularity will lead to a lot of possible injuries.

I think saddle hunting is a very physical and athletic activity. I see alot of people on Facebook posting about their saddles that they just got...and alot of them don't look like they have an easy time putting one foot in front of the other, let alone trying to climb a tree.

Just one time forgetting to clip on your lineman's belt before unhooking your tether, and you're effed.

Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk
 
I never liked the harness that hooked in the back, never made sense to me to have something on that would smack your face into the tree in a fall and could not get back where your were, The rch is much better choice and the saddle is a better choice than the other two. For that they should be around for a while even for pre set hunters, just for the safty aspect. Platforms, they will get bigger.
 
The saddle hunting grind is hard work. Most people can’t hack it. I think the converts will be the newly introduced hunters looking at saddles vs climbers. New hunters are more safety conscious, and will weigh a harness vs a saddle. Gun hunters will pick climbers for the rest, bow hunters will like the mobility within the tree that the saddle provides.
 
With all the look at me, I got a saddle, I can go 2 miles deep, I’m soo cool post and YouTube reviews and how to’s from people that never made a hunting season from one yet make me embarrassed to be a saddle hunter.

After this season a lot of them will shut up, lots will get hurt, and lots will bad mouth saddles.
 
IMO, the mobile grind in increasing levels of “grind”
Climber
Saddle and sticks
Hang on and sticks

I really think that the saddle and hang on give more flexibility than climber (wrt limbs). Saddle setup is about 10 to 12 lbs lighter than hang on, give or take (lone wolf alpha II VERSUS 4 lb platform).

To me, using a saddle is like going mobile with ability to get around limbs with less weight to hump than with a hang on.

But the mobile grind is there, regardless of which of the 3 options are chosen. If being mobile were easy, we would already have seen an influx of mobile hunters.

There will be a spike from non-mobile to saddle, but the majority will exit the mobile game due to extra effort expended and also no huge jump in kills due to first time mobility. A lot more goes into being a successful mobile hunter than gear to get up and stay up in a tree. Gear isn’t magically going to produce big bucks within shooting range, it is just going to allow one to put themselves in the place to get up and stay up in a tree. Picking that place requires skill, experience and knowledge, none of which can be purchased with gear.

There may be some shift from mobile (climber or hang on) to saddle, but that won’t substantially change existing saddle hunters experience out in the field. Those mobile hunters are already mobile.

The only thing that bothers me about the influx is that there are new people, without even a season or hunt under their belt, sharing their take on best saddle gear, use, etc. Their zeal and exuberance far exceeds their knowledge and experience. And it bothers me when they recommend safety related gear, e.g., ropeman, without real knowledge of the constraints and repercussions of the tool and it’s use.
 
It won't become more mainstream until the concept is pushed by well known hunting personalities on hunting channels. Then they will be picked as sponsored shooters to push the product they sell. I think saddle hunting requires more thought and effort so I don't see the masses coming over in droves.
 
cedar paul said:
It won't become more mainstream until the concept is pushed by well known hunting personalities on hunting channels. Then they will be picked as sponsored shooters to push the product they sell. I think saddle hunting requires more thought and effort so I don't see the masses coming over in droves.
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You mean like having saddle hunts on high fence ranches over farm raised deer?
 
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