Explain a Complete Tree Saddle Setup?

[7raptor]

I’m a western hunter (CA and Colorado) and I hunt deer and elk. I’m very interested in tree saddles, as I have the opportunity to hunt on some private ranches, but the stands are setup for old rifle hunters and don’t work well for archery.

Was watching the boys on UnGuided Outdoors smash deer on YouTube and ended up looking at Trophyline saddles...what’s involved in a complete tree saddle setup and what should the safest possible setup cost?

thanks,

Ash

 

[Billy Goat]

No idea on cost anymore. I had a trophyline probably 15 years ago, still have it as well as the lone wolf asassin or whatever it is. Have some friends that used the Anderson years ago. Overall I prefer a stand.

Pretty simple, you need a harness of some sort, possibly a platform, and a way to get up a tree. Can get by without a platform by using a branch and a step or climbing stick. Kneepads are helpful too.

Just saw a setup listed in the classifieds.


Saddlehunter will have all kinds of info for you.

 

[GunsAreFun]

Never used a saddle, but based on what I’ve seen, you may be able to use those rifle stands if they are in a good spot for archery.

You could stand on the seat as your platform and be sitting above it in your saddle.

 

[cmankingsley]

Saddle, lineman’s belt, tree tether, 3 carabiners, climbing sticks, platform. $500 + depending what sticks and platform you buy.


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[Greenmachine_1]

It runs the spectrum. If you would do a saddle, platform, sticks, plus your ropes (lineman's rope and tree saddle rope), you'll be into the setup for $500 easy. To do a tree stand, harness, sticks, and lineman's rope, you'll probably cost about the same depending on how mobile you plan on being.

What are your concerns as related to safety or why choose a saddle over a stand. It's difficult to give a good answer without understanding your situation.

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[DWinVA]

Take a look at Cruzr Saddles. You’ll need a tree tether, lineman’s belt, a few carabiners and someway to get up the tree. As far as cost, it’s a lot like backpack hunting gear....less weight & more mobile is more expensive. Good luck.

God Bless.

 

[peterk123]

Some of us are using a rock climbing harness and a sitdrag or homemade sitrag (which is what I have). A sitdrag is just a basic sling. You can even dump the rock harness but it is nice to have from a safety standpoint. I also spliced my own ropes. I'm into the entire system, including climbing method, for under $250. That includes a couple of mechanical devices for my lineman and tether. Getting rid of them and using a prussic would eliminate $70.

 

[7raptor]

It runs the spectrum. If you would do a saddle, platform, sticks, plus your ropes (lineman's rope and tree saddle rope), you'll be into the setup for $500 easy. To do a tree stand, harness, sticks, and lineman's rope, you'll probably cost about the same depending on how mobile you plan on being.

What are your concerns as related to safety or why choose a saddle over a stand. It's difficult to give a good answer without understanding your situation.

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I'd like to be able to set up anywhere I want on the ranches I visit so I can hunt solo as much as my time allows...and I'm focused on spending money on safety first, safest/easiest climbing method, etc.

 

[JimGa]

Go to Saddlehunter.com and begin reading. Thus was my first year using one. There is a learning curve but I feel it's worth it. Research and then you will need to try things out for yourself. Its another tool to have. There's situations its the best option and others where its not. Don't look at it as all or nothing.

 

[TravisIN]

I’m just throwing out there that I was a huge skeptic of saddles. Now it’s all I hunt from. Take the time to adjust, like anything, and I think you’ll find they have so many benefits they are worth it.


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[xFREDx]

The best saddle i have found for comfort is the Cruzr XC and the Trophyline mission platform, but I am 6'7" 225#

 

[Brendan]

To keep it as simple as possible: Start with a setup that you'd use for a hang-on and sticks that you carry in with you (e.g. Lone Wolf Alpha Hang On and Hawk Helium Sticks). Get rid of the hang on and your existing harness. Add a saddle / tree climbing / rock climbing harness, and potentially a small platform or ring of steps. That's it (Assuming that you have/use both a tether and a linesman's belt - both are required)

Pretty much everything else is the same at its most basic level. People just love to turn it into a hobby of its own. I know plenty of people that spend all their time talking about how much of a saddle hunter they are and all their different climbing methods who never kill anything

 

[Trumpkin The Dwarf]

To keep it as simple as possible: Start with a setup that you'd use for a hang-on and sticks that you carry in with you (e.g. Lone Wolf Alpha Hang On and Hawk Helium Sticks). Get rid of the hang on and your existing harness. Add a saddle / tree climbing / rock climbing harness, and potentially a small platform or ring of steps. That's it (Assuming that you have/use both a tether and a linesman's belt - both are required)

Pretty much everything else is the same at its most basic level. People just love to turn it into a hobby of its own. I know plenty of people that spend all their time talking about how much of a saddle hunter they are and all their different climbing methods who never kill anything

I agree with this. In fact, don't even get rid of your hang on to start. Just swap your harness for a saddle and tether. In a nutshell you need:
1. climbing sticks/steps
2. linemans belt
3. saddle and tether or sit drag, rock climbing harness, and tether
4. a platform to stand on. that platform can be super minimal, or a full blown tree stand.

 

[johnw91]

I definitely would recommend spending some time on saddlerhunter.com Also I think the trophyline saddles is the most uncomfortable and poorly built saddle out there. Highly recommend Aerohunter. Tethrd phantom is good too, but nothing beats Aerohunter saddles IMO. Predator platform is the best and there are a variety of sticks that will work. 8mm oplux rope and a kong duck.

 

[Herbie03]

Been using a trophyline for several years now. I like it for comfort and mobility. It's light enough to hike in to find just about anyplace to hunt. It won't eliminate scouting, but you can set up quickly when an opportunity shows itself. I only hunt archery and have taken many whitetails (and missed a few) with it. Practice is essential to know how to aim. Spend a lot of time in different trees to get a feel for shooting around the tree and to properly bend at the waist. Kneepads are a must imo. I think hunting with a rifle would be even better as it's easier to aim from the setup. I tried my recurve this year and missed one and got one. The length of the bow makes shooting much more challenging.

 

[Beendare]

I've gone through the evolution of the saddle thing, my take;

What you will find is the small and thin guys tend to like them more than larger or older guys. I'm in the latter category; 6'4" 240 and 63 in pretty good shape though thick.

After having a commercial saddle that was very uncomfortable, I made a custom saddle [pretty easy to sew if you have a heavy duty machine] and its better but still gets uncomfortable if hanging for a few hours.

The solution becomes having a platform of sorts to stand on to alleviate hip pinch...but then you start getting up to the total weight of sticks and a light weight hang on system.

Climbing systems; I tried the rope system with a throw line, the triangular steps and ended up with Hawk sticks as my preference.

I do like my saddle for long 2+ mile pack ins with long climbs in the mountains where its a PITA to haul in a stand. My saddle and sticks makes for a compact fairly light weight setup....without a platform. I can usually setup with branches or alternate way of taking the weight off my saddle for a short time.

Otherwise, on shorter packs of a mile or so....I find a LW hang on and sticks is better, YMMV.

edit; my saddle, you can see from the stitching- a bit of a mess- Ive ripped them out multiple times to adjust the exact fit. It feels great for an hour- then these old bones start getting grumpy-grin.

 

[Daltonleach]

I’m a western hunter (CA and Colorado) and I hunt deer and elk. I’m very interested in tree saddles, as I have the opportunity to hunt on some private ranches, but the stands are setup for old rifle hunters and don’t work well for archery.

Was watching the boys on UnGuided Outdoors smash deer on YouTube and ended up looking at Trophyline saddles...what’s involved in a complete tree saddle setup and what should the safest possible setup cost?

thanks,

Ash

A very minimal setup that I use that’s ultra light, is just an Anderson tree sling and a Lone Wolf seat for a lone wolf climbing stand, the little one. Use the seat as your platform, tie off your tether to the tree fairly short with two half hitches (on the Anderson the tether is built in), then slide the loop up until the tether is tight, then just lift the platform with your legs just like a traditional climber. I recommend also having a lineman’s belt (which is as simple as attaching a piece of rope with carabiners to both sides of your saddle), so when you get the the top of the tree you can strap on the belt to readjust your tether to hunt height so you are always attached to the tree or if you get to a limb that you need to untie and retie to get around. If you get or make a lineman’s belt with some slack and an adjustable prussick, you can climb with that instead of your tether.

 

[Grocerystorehater]

A saddle setup is more mobile than a tree stand simply because it's much smaller and it's not a big rigid object. But if you use a big platform then you negate the mobility a lot. Your climbing system will be the most variable component to your setup. There are sticks, steps, rope techniques, and they can all be modified. I had Wild Edge steps and did not like them because they loosened up on thick bark trees. SRT (single rope technique) is cool but it requit lots of special gear. Always have a backup way to get down a tree if some equipment fails or you drop it out of the tree. All in all, your setup is probably pretty comparable to a high end tree in cost and weight.

I have an Aero Kite which was discontinued last year I think. It was discontinued and then Aero came out with a comfier saddle which as good reviews.

Get on the saddle facebook pages too. Lots of people give reviews on there so you can see what saddles have failure problems - Tethrd has some adjustment balls on a saddle and those seem to fail more than other saddles. Predator platforms were cracking last year too.

LEARN YOUR KNOTS!!!!! Know the knots before you get off the ground.

 

[WRM]

I definitely would recommend spending some time on saddlerhunter.com Also I think the trophyline saddles is the most uncomfortable and poorly built saddle out there. Highly recommend Aerohunter. Tethrd phantom is good too, but nothing beats Aerohunter saddles IMO. Predator platform is the best and there are a variety of sticks that will work. 8mm oplux rope and a kong duck.

Do get on the website. Can't speak to trophyline, but I agree with rest. I used New Tribe (now Aerohunter) back when it was just a camo arborist saddle, basically. Switched to Tethrd, but went back to Aerohunter when the new mesh flex saddles came out--Cadillac, IMO. Hunting saddles have come a long way, baby. Just got the XL Predator platform.

I use a system from my arborist work that let's me set a ring for the season in trees then pull a climbing line thru it on hunt day. Then I "walk up" the rope with a foot and knee ascender. Rappel on descent. You aren't going to want to dive into the deep end of the pool right off, though. Just pick an ascent system you are comfortable with.

It will change your stand hunting for the better.

 

[HuumanCreed]

saddlehunter.com is your main source, the guys over there are pretty nice and the moderators do a good job at keeping things focus on topic.

But you can switch to a saddle with anything you already have to hunt elevated. My first year I used a saddle with my climber. Or you can use your hang-on setup and just stand on the seat as the 'platform'.

But if you are looking for list of item components.

saddle (commerical, DIY, Rock Climbing Harness)
tether (what you use to connect to tree)
feet resting method (platform, ring of steps, screw in steps)
climbing method (SRT, climber, stick, steps)