School me on saddle hunting

[isItFallYet]

Ive saddle hunted a few years. I went back to a lock on and still use a saddle to climb and setup. my lock on is only a little heavier than the saddle platform and i am more comfortable. if i find a tree i want to hunt but its not going to be a good lock on stand placement i still use the stand as a platform and saddle hunt

What lock on stand?

 

[loganwayne]

What lock on stand?

lonewolf custom gear .75. by the time i upgraded to this stand and sticks i was right at the same weight as my platform and old sticks

 

[Bigterp]

5th year in a saddle. Most covered the highlights already. Great concealment if your dialed in & comfortable & can stay still. Might need to try a few before you find the best fit. Adjustments to bridge length & tether height make a big difference in feel. Get with someone near you & it will shorten the learn curve dramatically. Btw it’s not difficult or complicated, just seems so initially.

 

[TL616]

It’s good, lightweight. Biggest thing for me was learning to trust equipment at height. Without that, you lose the convenience of the saddle.

 

[LeadFarmer910]

I tried it last year, by the time I had everything I needed I had spent almost $1k and it felt like I was unpacking a suitcase when I got to the tree I was going to climb, I had sticks over here, ropes over there just felt like I brought the entire contents of my back seat with me. I also never could get as high as I wanted to even with aiders, it just made my tree look like a Christmas tree with all of the stuff hanging from it. I know it is popular right now and there are probably a ton of folks going to tell me I was doing it wrong but at the end of the day I ended up going back to my lone wolf climber. I will say it was nice to not have to worry about cutting limbs out of the way but to only save a few pounds it was not worth it.

 

[Footindave]

One year in on saddle hunting after primarily hunting from a climber the last 30 yrs. biggest complaint would be sitting still for me, and the speed of set up, compared to a climber.
But I will say it’s worth having one as another tool in the tool box.

 

[JCMCUBIC]

The biggest pro you will experience from a climber is tree selection. You can get a saddle in almost any tree thats strong enough to hold you. A hang on will also open up more options for you but not quite as much as a saddle.

Pros: tree selection, lightweight, compact, very safe (if done properly), comfortable, behind tree, can shoot in almost any direction, can be more quiet setting up

Cons: IT IS VERY HARD TO SIT STILL IN A SADDLE. I find myself constantly shifting my weight and gradually swaying around (not as much for comfort, just of boredom mainly). Another potential con is safety if not done properly (same case for any stand), but I honestly think it is safer than any treestand if you follow proper procedures.

I have been hunting almost exclusively out of a saddle for 3 years. I sat in a hang on for the first time in a while last year and realized how much more still i sit in a hang on than in my saddle. I may switch back to a hang on for this reason, which is unfortunate because I much prefer all other aspects of the saddle. But at the end of the day, if you cant sit still, you probably wont see as many deer.


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Something I started doing this year, mainly when I'm planning to hunt a spot all day, is using a Millennim M-7 with my saddle. It gives me the option of sitting or raising the seat and facing the tree in the saddle while using the stand as a platform. It's a bit more weight and bulk to carry in, but on an all day sit it's been worth it for me.

Back to saddle hunting in general, I started a few years back and have tried a few methods of climbing. I never use sticks anymore. I use a 6 step Big Wall Ladder (https://www.rockandsnow.com/21330/Yates-6-Step-Big-Wall-Ladder/) on a simple safety rope with prussic. Climb it, raise my tether, sit in saddle, raise the ladder, and climb it again. Reverse when climbing down. There's some tricks to it like using the off foot to hook the tree when raising the saddle tether, keeping the ladder tether about 6' below and slightly to the side of the saddle tether so it doesn't get pinched, etc....in the end, it's a lot lighter and compact to carry in than a step/aider or multiple steps. No limit on how high you want to climb. I have an extra safety line/tether on my saddle for working around limbs.

Almost every place I hunt it mt side. I love the saddle for the weight savings and less bulk. I'll still use lockon's in some places where they're up all season but for a new place or occasional place I really like the saddle.

 

[Rich M]

Not sure if anyone else put it this way:

You hang from the tree by your ass and need to swing around to shoot the deer.

I dont even like climbing sticks. Saddle hunting is specialized and if you do it right, very effective.

 

[Yabo71]

I've tried several of the big players equipment. I settled on a TX5 Lonestar mesh saddle. Several all day sits and very comfortable. You can get in just about any tree.

 

[HuumanCreed]

Very easy to test out if you like a saddle. Take a large bath towel and some rope, make yourself a small hammock. Tie into a tree at ground level and try sitting/leaning for a little bit to see if you like the cupping feeling instead of having a harder seat. Saddle are basically the evolution of the sit drag that guys been using for decades.

I recommend looking into the Drey Dryad Hammock saddle, it is one of the most comfortable concept.

 

[natey57]

I started using a saddle this past year. We have numerous tree stands set up on our property, a saddle allows me to take the kids out with me. I set up the saddle behind them in the same tree and let them sit in the stand with a harness on.
At some point, I’ll probably get a saddle for them also…

 

[Jbow387]

how does everyone stay comfy in the saddle? its sweet for public but man sometimes i miss the climber

I have a latitude saddle that splits in half, getting support lower on your leg and higher on your back, it was a game changer. My hang on stand gets very little use now.
If i plan on sitting all day, I’ll throw a pad on the tree to rest my knees on

 

[Jeremy_D]

Saddle hunted for 3 years. Liked everything about it except I didnt sit still, I couldnt hanfle my knees in the tree and it can be some what as struggle to twist around a bunch of ropes for a shot.