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Wear it in?

Wear it in all archery season till rifle. Rifle I tend to walk all day to till I find hot sign then climb. Pouches on all season long. To each their own
 
I almost always wear the saddle in, but get this......Throw all your gear on and walk around the block with your saddle on first. Half way take off your saddle and throw it on your pack. You decide which is better for you don't listen to a bunch of guys that don't know your body and stuff.
 
I wear mine while walking in/out with two full dump pouches attached. 100% of that weight is carried on my hips instead of my aching back.
 
When I had a tethrd, i wore it in but nothing on it - no ropes or sys hauler bags. I had a little pouch attached for my bow release but that was it. I almost always had preset trees with a safety lines like youd get for a ladder stand and would just tether to that. Id tie off my sticks and bow to that line and use it to lift everything up. I didnt use a platform. If I didnt preset id still use the longer safety tether and carry in my pack. Risk with safety line vs linemans is the slack but i always kept three points of contact.
 
I pack it in, tried wearing it in and didn't like it. I have a 5.11 day pack with a predator platform, Nalgene, and my gen1 tactisaddle with a drayad drey on the back. Clip tether and linemans to molle on backpack, have tethered roll up on molle for rappel rope and figure 8, also shock cord on molle for extra clothes.

But I hunt deep and a ton of thorns. Ymmv.

Sent from my SM-G990U1 using Tapatalk
 
I wear mine in with a pouch and a roll, and I wear a lumbar pack. Last year I had some problems with a Tethrd Phantom sagging on me, but I got an Aerohunter this year and that thing fits a lot better. No sagging at all.

Everything climbing related I keep on me in pouches. If I need extra loops or devices while climbing up or down the tree I don't want to be digging around my pack.
 
AJHS said:
Hi folks - Just wondering whether the general wisdom is to wear the saddle in {distance of 1 mile or less} or to carry it? My pack is kind of heavy as it is...carrying 4 skeletors, 1 mission platform, kill bag {flashlight, knives, game bags}, 1.5. liter water, pruning shears and folding saw and Ozonics in an Eberlestock X2 bag. Not sure of exact weight but got to be close to 30 lbs. My saddle (Phanton XL), lineman's rope and tether are also north of five pounds, maybe closer to 10. - Going to hunt this early season with that set up, but thinking in the future of downsizing from Mission to LWCG the fix and getting comfortable enough with aiders to downsize from 4 sticks to 3. One sticking definately not an option for this year.

If I wear in the saddle, it is less weight on my bag, I am just wondering whether it is comfortable enough to walk in a mile without chafing or anything.

What is your experience?
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Not to sound condescending or like some douche lol but,i like to share what ive tried and used over three decades of trial and error.
I see alot of new hunters taking so much unnecessary gear in to the stand I just dont get it.
It looks like they are on a elk or mule deer hunt out in the rockies lol.
May i ask why are you carrying all that extra gear?
Are you walking a long long ways? Or short distances?
You can cut alot of weight by just by leaving most things back at truck.
Use 3 sticks.
get ahold of me i have rope aiders you can try.
now Considering areas i hunt can be alot different than where i hunt but, really this time of year i use two sticks max just because i only climb to cover no more no less. It usually super thick this time if year.
I also most of the time setup in trees that only give me one or two shots.
Realize this most hunting scenarios dont have 360 degrees of shooting ability,
like some of these saddle companies claim
You listed a few things i would definitely leave at the truck.
Game bags, make a kill bag up with all you need.
High luminescent light, knife, gloves, a small pack of disinfectant wipe's
Keep that in the truck
Take one light especially if you have a phone That has a flashlight.
(I mean take phone and 1 flashlight lol)
Leave either the saw or pruning shears at truck.
Try to find very compact saw or shears.
Amazon is great for this stuff lol.
Honestly no offense but to me, hunt the wind and sell the ozonics machine.
I've tried and owned all those gimmicks the hunting market has.
They work but you will never beat a deers nose 100%.
I mean hunt and use anything that gives you confidence and comfort but, I feel scent products or machines are a marketing gimmick.
Try a few hunts without anything but what you absolutely need.
light, phone , release, compass
Wear your saddle in. It gets to be non noticeable and put a couple pouches on it
I use suspenders which help a ton.
i have and use the lone wolf fix platform and absolutely love it.
worth every cent.
good luck and become a minimalist
 
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I put it on at the truck including leg straps. I think no matter the saddle or buckle after walking a mile or 2 u might have to cinch up the waistbelt a time or 2 and a leg strap might come undid....
 
Allegheny Tom said:
Minimalist here. 99% presets, and I would never consider carrying in my Recon. When I get to my tree, I want to be up and prepared asap.
For the life of me, I cannot fathom why guys want to goof around with gear at the bottom of the tree.
Deer often come to the sound of my approach to the tree. Why on earth would I want to waste time putting on my saddle?
Another reason for wearing it in...I know that everything is in order. I have my stuff, it's on my body, and I'm ready to go.
Packing it in also requires a larger pack and the possibility that I forgot something or a strap is twisted, etc.
Nobody is gonna convince me that it's better to pack it in. Wear it.
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Well, when I hike in I sweat. On public thats a long hard walk. So much so that I sweat through lightweight wool base layers and t. Why would I want to then hunt in a bunch of sweaty hunting clothes when it's 20deg or below?

I change in the woods.

There is really no lost time if you have a system in place.

For those close to bedding hunts, just plan it out. Change after the majority hike but before you arrive at your destination. Take a break to cool off in between. Make the change with terrain and wind in your favor.

Not trying to convince you, just responding to your incredulity with what I consider a logical order of operations for me and my hunting conditions.

I don't quite understand either how packing it in equates to potentially forgetting something. Or necessarily needing a larger pack.
 
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For 8 years I have always wore my saddle in, and I am always uncomfortable with either the leg straps or it pulling down from the weight of my pouches. I tried suspenders last year and it was better but with a bino strap and pack it seemed like I had too many straps to deal with on my shoulders. This year I started packing my saddle in because I got a much better pack Kifaru Stryker XL so the weight is not an issue, and I love it so much more comfortable. I have had two hunts one 1 1/2 mile walk in and the other just a short 300 yards, and on each one I packed the saddle in. I don't mind spending an extra minute on the ground putting the pack on since usually It usually it takes me a while to select the tree.
 
I'll carry alot of things before I even consider carrying 40' of rope....lol.

Always wear mine unless I'm just using a battle belt and Drey. Sometimes I'll carry it cause I have room and it's small.

Otherwise, I'm not trying to spend too much time at the base of my tree. This is the spot many guys screw up.
 
Robert loper said:
You can cut alot of weight by just by leaving most things back at truck.
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Thanks for the thoughtful post. I guess the main issue with leaving everything back at the truck is that when a hun is successul, that is a lot of time to leave the kill unsupervised...like, kill deer {and find it}, hike back to truck to leave sticks and platform and bow etc, get kill bag etc, get back to deer. All that could easily add an hour to the post mortem time till the deer gets eviscerated and starts cooling. That can be a lot on a hot day, no?
 
I put mine on right after my pants and wear it in the car.with both tether holsters full and my seatbelt on, so i hit the ground runnin ,and hit the tree climbing with my bow.dont everyone?
 
Plebe said:
Well, when I hike in I sweat. On public thats a long hard walk. So much so that I sweat through lightweight wool base layers and t. Why would I want to then hunt in a bunch of sweaty hunting clothes when it's 20deg or below?

I change in the woods.

There is really no lost time if you have a system in place.

For those close to bedding hunts, just plan it out. Change after the majority hike but before you arrive at your destination. Take a break to cool off in between. Make the change with terrain and wind in your favor.

Not trying to convince you, just responding to your incredulity with what I consider a logical order of operations for me and my hunting conditions.

I don't quite understand either how packing it in equates to potentially forgetting something. Or necessarily needing a larger pack.
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2x in the winter I walk in with my wool base layers and some light shorts. My layers and saddle go on at the tree. I have found I don’t get cold, and don’t have to wear as much clothing to stay warm this way. The sweat kills ya when comes to getting cold. This isnt saddle specific but something I have learned on here and in practice after several years of being cold.

My Saddle goes folded over my platform or one stick to help with packing and keeping noise down. I only have one piece of metal on it so when I fold my saddle it’s not gonna make any noise. I also canoe, boat, or bike to all my spots so that’s an additional reason for me to wait to fool with it at the tree.

Not to belittle what others have said, I have had deer come by while I’m changing and they have caught me with my “pant down” so to speak, but that’s usually mornings where I’m late to the woods anyway and it’s sunrise before I’m up.

I think you should just vary it depending on where you are hunting. If you’re just getting out of the truck and walking a short distance, wearing it in may be the right move.

On short hunts I’ll have my one stick in my left hand, bow in my right and wear my saddle with tethers on my hips. That allows me to get to a close spot fast and get up the tree quick.
 
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Newbie to Saddle hunting but I will add another vote for wearing it in. I wouldn't want to take the time and fiddle with putting it on in the dark or forgetting it in the truck.
 
jcassell207 said:
So couldn't you use the ropeman as climbing the tree, that way if you introduce slack it doesn't "come free" causing that slack?
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Use your linemans rope as you climb and its no different than using multiple sticks. with your linemans rope attached, move your tether up....also to contribute to the thread...wear it in
 
I wear my saddle in too. No issues and actually forget I'm wearing it until I start to set up.

The only reason I can think to pack a saddle in is when the temperatures are cold and you will be layering up after your cool down. Here in SW Va. that just doesn't happen until the late season.
 
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