Saddle up?

[4rcgoat]

I love spot and stalk archery hunting,after the archery elk season is over I start hunting whitetail from the ground which is extremely challenging. This year I would like to take a different approach and get up off the ground. I have never hunted from a stand but have seriously considered it this year,however,I am interested in the tree saddle setup that seems to be the bid craze lately. My question is should I familiarize myself with a stand setup first or just leap straight into the saddle? I have some trees in my yard that I can learn the basics but would love to hear from some of you that may have experience in both methods. Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[Bcaulder]

Dont waste your your time with a stand, if you in moderately good shape, go to the saddle. Easier to pack in, set up, break down and move around. More shot options.


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[weekender7]

Bcaulder gives good advice. What ever you do, do it safely and be connected with a safety line at all times while off the ground.

 

[Tartan]

I’ve been using a saddle for a couple of years now.

I do a lot of impromptu set ups. I’m still trying to put all the puzzle pieces together on a couple of parcels of public land near me.

My total saddle set up including climbing method is 10lbs. I also carry a small tripod field chair in my pack.

I will scout my way in and set up on the ground or in a tree, whatever makes the most sense. Could be a 1/4 mile in or 2.

Wouldn’t want to try and do that with a climber or lock on. The saddle just works for me and my style of hunting.

I love the saddle. Honestly for me the hardest part was figuring out a climbing method that worked well on the shorter scraggly trees we often have here. There are a lot of areas where I hunt you couldn’t get anything else set up without some major preseason pruning.

I settled on SRT, but in other terrain with straighter trees I have a set of wild edge steps I can use with an aider.

If you’re a run n gun type guy I would just jump straight to the saddle.