I'll start off by saying I only use the saddle set up in archery on public behind the house and surrounding areas. Private I use my fixed position stands or ground hunt. I'm not a ladder stand guy.
Well I bought all the stuff near end of last yr., started saddle hunting this yr w/the Sirkar 14" one stick, 2ea step aider, Schaefer cam cleat w/a tiny bungee between the cam teeth and that worked great. Since I'm LH the lineman loop is at attached to RH side. Because I use a MR device its deigned as a LH release & your RH strong arm holding the tail. Since I normally shoot off the RH side of the tree I tied stowing the rope on my pack as in the pics but you have a big loop and if I hang it off my right side in a pouch its just added weight on the saddle and some possible interference for the bow..... so I did a hack by rotating the MR 180 and while it worked fine the only issue is with clearance with a glove and you have to beeeee so careful that you don't let go of the lever and hear that SNAP.
So is the rotation of the MR dangerous?
How are you folks storing your repel rope??
I used LW climbing sticks for 20+ yrs on public so folks would not climb in my stands and liked them and as I got older I put a set of muddy 2 sided steps across the top of each so you did not have one knee up and one down when setting up fixed stands.. that was a huge improvement for me. Bottom line I done setting up stands, too much work and hassle, and yes I'll set 2ea for guests to come over but that's it..
Everyone has discussed the wt, speed etc on set up & tear down and I do like the one stick way better mainly for wt. and I find it as quiet if not more so. It very difficult to plan the exact $hit you need every time and I'm always over weight going in. Are ya gonna get cold is a big issue and I want a light set up. So when I was dragging my summit bow stand in with a full pack strapped in between for new spots it just got to be to much, too far to walk, sweating up etc. You all have been there. Saddles are the way to go just 3 sticks or 1 stick and so far the one stick seems for me the best. I just have to figure out a little smoother stick/tree release for max height gain with out straining.
As soon as I got the shirkar I did take a file and hit the teeth corners as they are super sharp and I never had problems with LW sticks slipping, ever and they are more rounded.
Packs, What is your favorite overall pack under 4lbs approx. 1800cu inch that you use exclusively for saddle hunting? I found this awesome little MPI outdoors pack for $15.00 @ flea market that is pretty good for me, but little small when you load up with clothes, gear and the shoulder straps bite as there is zero padding, but till I figure something better to hold the platform this will work. I may end designing my own or look closer @ the new trophy line saddle pack.
Hope you enjoy your season...
