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Western Hunting

rockymountaineer said:
:fearscream: oh no, my plan has been discovered! lol
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I'm sure someone out there is hunting elk with a saddle already but they ain't talkin'. They're trying to keep it to themsleves. I think your plan is safe as along as The Hunting Public or someone like them doesn't kill a giant bull in a saddle don't put it on YouTube.
 
Alright, so I pulled the trigger and ordered the Archon, kinda excited to finally have it on the way! Any good first time advice?
 
I’m too much of a wimp with heights but a ring of steps and single stick method would be extremely light. Not real comfortable for long sits but I’m sure effective for the mountains.
My advice is hide your credit card and practice. Get your climbing method down with storage and equipment attachments. It saves time later.
 
rockymountaineer said:
Alright, so I pulled the trigger and ordered the Archon, kinda excited to finally have it on the way! Any good first time advice?
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When you get it just go out and hang from a tree at ground level and play with it. Adjust it to all different configurations. That includes adjusting the tether height. Good luck! Hope it works out great for ya!
 
Another bit of advice: make sure to have some extra gear available. Ropes, straps, ascenders or whatever. It’s easy to loose some of this gear and too easy to have and fix a problem not to have it. Also have it available not just at the house.
 
Any of the newer saddles would work for you, most would give you the 80% comfort level until you find that one that give 100%. I recommend a 2 panels (RECON) but 1 panel would be easier to just wear all the time if you are not dead set on going up a tree as the final destination. If you're goal is easiest and fastest, I say 3-4 mini sticks or WE steps with aiders is the way to go. Both setups would be around the 4-8 lbs mark and can get you to 20 ft at least. You can easily carry that without even knowing it. There are lots of ways to attach them to a small bag or hydration pack that you wouldn't even notice the extra few lbs compared to a 1 stick setup which would be 2-3 lbs. But no matter what, rappelling down is the easiest/fastest/safest way to get down.

Check out small packs from Eberlestock or 5.11 or others that has molle that you can attach gears to or attach the pack to your main pack but you can also use walking around.
 
Alright so I bought the tether I'm going to be using to do the rappelling and whatnot. Would it be advisable to buy a shorter tether to practice at ground level? just so I don't have to mess with 40 ft of rope when I'm not even off the ground...or is it not a factor?
 
rockymountaineer said:
Alright so I bought the tether I'm going to be using to do the rappelling and whatnot. Would it be advisable to buy a shorter tether to practice at ground level? just so I don't have to mess with 40 ft of rope when I'm not even off the ground...or is it not a factor?
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Practice as close as possible like how you would hunt is a good mindset. Yes, it would be easier to just have a short tether but how are you going to carry that rope around in the field? Some type of pouch or bundle? Might as well do it as you would it in the field. If you are carry that 40 ft in a pouch. I would bundle 30ft of it and leave 10ft out. I use a rollup pouch attached to my saddle. Check out this video, I basically copy 95% of it. One of the most compact and efficient method out there.


This is probably the best and most efficient way IMHO and its the one that I copy. You dont have to do the rappelling aspect if you want to practice at home. You can also simply have any pouch or bundle of rope attached to your saddle or leave it hand to the tree on a hanger. Just leave 8ft to play with.
 
Another question, what sticks do you guys like using? I'm leaning towards the one stick that doublesteps sells, but I'm curious to hear what everyone else has got going? Do you use aiders? if so how many/how long are they? I'm like 5'10'' so is there a certain length for the steps I should get?
 
So many stick options and more keep coming. For length, I’m 5’8” and use the full length beast sticks. They are nice but just a little long with the 20” step. The EOW stick is very interesting as well as the catalyst, if it ever gets released.
 
Man I'd rope climb and buy a set of squirrel steps. Hand ascender and use a versa strap as a gear hanger/ foot tape. Throw rope doubles as your pull up rope. Practice in the dark, it's not easy but it's doable and you have plenty of time to get good at it.

If you single stick I'd take the most minimal single stick you possibly can with a two step aider and use that in conjunction with 2-3 squirrel steps as a platform. I would not pack the bulk of multiple sticks or a platform 4 miles up a mountain I don't like doing it two miles on flat land here.
 
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