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What were YOU doing in 2004?

L

Longbowwally

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Joined
Jun 25, 2018
Messages
346
Location
Piedmont, NC
Due to the great info and knowledgeable of members here on this forum, as well as the creation of the Predator platform, and Mantis saddle, I'm going to be saddle hunting again. While waiting for my Mantis I was reflecting on my history with the saddle and how I got here.

While new to this site, I am not new to saddle hunting....I bought a tree suit in 2004 - way before saddles were cool lol....I killed 2 deer out of it with my longbow...Let me just say saddles have come a long way since the tree suit...lol...I only used the tree suit one season. I looked back in Tradgang to see what I had posted about it and here is a quote from a post I made in 2007 -
**** "I bought a tree suit about 3 years ago. The first season I killed two deer out of it with my 66" longbow. It works well but you have to learn how to use it and also get comfortable sitting very close to the tree while facing it.
I use the Simmons drill and bolts for going up the tree and use 3 strap on steps on one strap to put my feet on while sitting in the treesuit.
For me, its better to have the trees pre-drilled for the bolts prior to the hunt because drilling steps as you go up the tree to hunt is to much work especially if its hot as I will break a good sweat.
Since I bought a Lone Wolf hand climber I haven't used the treesuit but may use it some this year, especially during December when its hard to hide in a tree with no leaves - the treesuit is just the thing for those situations.
I have sat in the suit about 3 hours max but did not have any problems with comfort.
Good luck with the treesuit and report back to us on how it works for you this season."****

Its interesting to me to go back and see this post. I also bought a Guidosback in 2010. Killed an 8 point with it and a Black Widow recurve - heres the pic of that buck:
8pointbowkill10292010.jpg

I sold the Guidos before the next season as it just didn't quite meet my needs.

Keep in mind there was very little info on saddle hunting back then - and I had to figure out a lot of things on my own. All of you guys who are fairly new to saddle hunting have had your learning curve shortened considerably with all the info supplied by knowledgeable saddle hunters on this forum - I wish I had had this available to me when I started out.

Now it looks like I'm going to be back in the saddle again - this time with the Mantis and a lot more methods of climbing to try, due, for the most part, to the info shared on this site. Thanks guys for letting me reminisce and share with you some of my history with saddle hunting. Hopefully I can be a valuable contributor to this site and look forward to sharing my hunt stories with you.....

I'd love to hear YOUR history and stories also. With hunting season hard upon us, there's nothing like a good story to pump me up this time of year.....
 
I hadn’t even heard of saddles in 2004. I was hunting out of various loc on stands at the time and a big cat by tomcat climber that weighed over thirty pounds. The loc ons were a good preset option for me but I was never comfortable in them. After having the bottom section kick out when leaning for a shot I also ran a ratchet strap around the bottom that just added time and noise to my setup. I usually spent more time standing than sitting and just couldn’t get comfortable. Around 2008 maybe even 2009 I decided to go on an island hunt where pretty much the entire island was available to hunt but it was all walking. I researched lightweight stand options and found this site and trophyline usa. I ordered an ambush and never heard from them. With the power of google I learned that they were having problems and finally found a home number for the owner. A few phone calls later realized they were basically out of business and didn’t have my size so I got a refund. Being a dad at this point and having a bad experience on public land I joined a lease and saddle hunting was forgotten about for close to ten years. I once again gained interest in saddle hunting in 2016. I found @g2outdoors videos on the sit drag. So I modified one and hunted with it a few times in 2016. In 2017 new tribe gave birth to the kestrel. A new minimalist saddle. After many delays it finally arrived just in time for season. Unboxing it I was disappointed in the bulk and weight. The lightest most compact saddle available was bulky and heavy compared to the not one but two sit drags I was using. I used it last season with some success. I was comfortable using more climbing methods with the kestrel than the sit drag. Comfort actually hanging was about the same. I decided this year I would use the sit drag for presets during our sweltering archery season. Then out comes the mantis which I hope will fill my needs and bridge the gap between the kestrel and sit drag. I also finally got that ambush saddle this year. Almost ten years later. I’m kind of glad I didn’t get it when I originally ordered it. I probably wouldn’t have stuck with saddle hunting had that been my only option.
 
I didn't know about saddle hunting in 2004. Back then I was hunting ladder stands and ground blinds. Some pop-up style and some just made with brush. I started trying climbers then but never really liked those. Looking back I wish I had known about saddles a long time ago. I can recall a few hunts where I believe things would have gone much better had I been in a saddle.
 
In 2004 I graduated from college and got married. Never heard of saddle hunting.

In 2009 I found trophyline and my hunting style gradually began to change.

In 2014 I found SaddleHunter.com and that sparked a serious addiction.

In 2015 I began creating ultralight saddles based on the Sitdrag and started prototyping mesh saddles.

In late 2017 Tethrd was born from this forum and the pursuit of the ultimate saddle equipment began.

In 2019 I quit my job, chased hunting seasons all over the country, and inspired thousands of people to get outdoors and fall in love with nature and saddle hunting. (a boy can dream, right?)

Sent from my Galaxy S8.
 
g2outdoors said:
In 2004 I graduated from college and got married. Never heard of saddle hunting.

In 2009 I found trophyline and my hunting style gradually began to change.

In 2014 I found SaddleHunter.com and that sparked a serious addiction.

In 2015 I began creating ultralight saddles based on the Sitdrag and started prototyping mesh saddles.

In late 2017 Tethrd was born from this forum and the pursuit of the ultimate saddle equipment began.

In 2019 I quit my job, chased hunting seasons all over the country, and inspired thousands of people to get outdoors and fall in love with nature and saddle hunting. (a boy can dream, right?)

Sent from my Galaxy S8.
Click to expand...
In 2019 Tethrd hired me as their Safety and Quality Manager due to my years of experience in hazardous industries including work at elevated heights.

Yes Sir, we can dream
 
Man i wish i was hunting in 2004 :tearsofjoy: Probably wouldve kept me out of trouble. I didnt start hunting until 2012 and that was ground n pound until 2013 when i bought a summit climber. Found the hunting beast that winter and got the assault 2 with 4 LW sticks. Found this site spring 2017 and picked up the sitdrag/rc saddle with a ernies platform.

Anyways, my first buck or any deer for that matter came from a WMA in the mountains of Virginia. It was early October when I hiked 2.5 miles back in the mountains with my camping gear, xbow, and ghullie suit. The first day i went out scouting and found a patch of mountain laurel that had been rubbed and snapped off everywhere with a scrape by it. It was on a small bluff that had acorns dropping. Sat it that evening and nothing showed.

The next morning i started making my way up a ravine and about halfway up i heard something on the flat. Didnt know what it was so i cocked my xbow and loaded a bolt. Started belly crawling until i reached the crest of the ravine and the flat, peaked over and saw a deer, looked closer and saw it was a buck. My heart was pounding and andrenaline was goin off the hook. I waited until he put his head down to eat an acorn, thats when i got up on my knees, raised my xbow and pulled the trigger. I remember how loud the sound of the bolt hitting him was. Never heard any sound like that before. He swung around and took off, he didnt make it far, bedded down in the ravine opposite of me.

He was a basket racked 8 pointer and I couldnt have been happier. I gutted him and quartered him the best i could. Spent the rest of the day leap frogging meat bags 2.5 mountains miles to the parking area.

That night i was exahusted but felt accomplished. The next morning, legs feeling like wet noodles, went back in to get my gear. During that walk I knew I had found something to occupy my time, little did i know it would turn into an obsession.
 
Makes me sick that up until about 2-3 years ago I had not even really heard of a saddle. I do remember seeing one hunting video about two guys hunting velvet bucks out of bosun seats back in the mid to late 90's. Back in 2004 my life changed as I married The Boss Hen! Little did she know at that time what she was in for! First saddle I started with was the Guido. Ordered it and drove to his shop to pick it up and talk to him. I remember him referring to it as "the tree stand" all the while I am thinking in my head..."this is crazy...this is not a tree stand!" Killed a few deer out of the Guido before moving to the Sit Drag. I remember looking at the video of the Sit Drag being demoed and I kept saying....this is perfect!! Killed a few deer out of the sit drag and that is when I found this site and it was all over at that point. I found others that had my sickness and had been suffering from it for many years. From there I met The Preacher and have not looked back since!
 
Jonny consider yourself fortunate to be fresh out of teenager phase :) You could say I'm a late bloomer. In 2004 I was 37 and had just started hunting 2 years prior - still hunting from the ground with a gun. For the first 8 YEARS, I only got to hunt 1-2 days a year at a relatives property 6 hours away, as I had no other land to hunt and the idea of going out on public with the orange army wasn't very comforting. Some years I did not hunt at all. I bought a used bow around 2008, but when you hunt once or twice a year at best, it took me a long time to just be mediocre. I got a little more serious when I finally got a lease an hour from my house in 2012 (it took me 5 years to find a lease in NC), but it was lock ons and a climber. Upgraded to a Matthews that year too. Started using the climber more as I realized I needed to not always be in the same spot and needed to be more flexible. Little by little I just kept trying to figure out how to get better and John E on W2H led me here last summer. Next thing you know I'm telling my wife how much money this saddle investment would save me - HAHAHAHA :tearsofjoy::tearsofjoy::tearsofjoy: Got my kestrel in late Oct last year and killed first deer from it last Dec during gun season. Goal this year is to get a buck with the bow using all this crap I have bought over the past 14 months.
 
IkemanTX said:
Now that’s just wrong right there... hahaha
You are even making me feel old with that comment, and I’m in my early 30’s


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Well I’m 22 now if that makes you feel better.

And in 2016 I realized climbers suck in 95% of the area I hunt, and in 2017, I found out lock ons and sticks are more mobile but just as heavy.

So here I am in 2018. Nobody come out with new stuff because between college, a girlfriend, and g2 I’m broke :tearsofjoy:
 
I was hunting with a 10lb cabelas lockon and ameristep strap on steps and had no idea how far ahead of the curve I was. I think I paid 4.99 each for them. I've bought a pile since, but I'm pretty sure I lost all but 4-5 of the original ones. I'm pretty sure if I spent a few hours in the block of woods I hunted back then I could find them grown into the side of a tree... A saddle didn't even exist in my tiny little hunting world at that point.
 
In 2004, I had just graduated from Purdue. Hunting of any game had not yet became a hobby. Thankfully I have found great enjoyment in bow hunting and climbing trees with technical gear in the pursuit of tasty creatures. Man time flies when you’re having fun!
 
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I think I was in 7th grade and, if I remember correctly, that was the year I killed my first doe! Shot it with a .270 from a wooden platform my dad built in a sycamore tree on our farm.
 
Jonny said:
Well I’m 22 now if that makes you feel better.

And in 2016 I realized climbers suck in 95% of the area I hunt, and in 2017, I found out lock ons and sticks are more mobile but just as heavy.

So here I am in 2018. Nobody come out with new stuff because between college, a girlfriend, and g2 I’m broke :tearsofjoy:
Click to expand...
Get rid of the girlfriend and you will have more money than you know what to do with. Think with your broadhead....not the other one. 15 years from now you'll thank me:tearsofjoy::tearsofjoy:
 
Good to see so many fellow young guys on here! And the guys with established careers think saddle hunting is making them broke....
 
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