SE Whitetail Saddle Hunters?

[WannabeHunter]

Have any southeastern pine plantation hunters converted to saddle hunting? How's it working out?

Mainly considering the switch so some of my hunting "buddies" (club members) don't sit my well thought out and protected stand locations.

 

[Jakeb]

I gave it a shot and it’s just not for me. I went back to my lone wolf assault and sticks. I personally can hunt more trees with my lock on and it’s less moving parts.

 

[cvsetter]

I'm going to try to make the switch this year.got my tethrd mantis just after x-mas,have one evening sit in jan. for about three hours.

 

[dr.mooseknuckles]

^^^^^same.

I think it’s going to be key on hunting public land in hard to access areas. Private land should be the same. Looking forward to trying it out.


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[Deion_Hoehne]

I have heard a lot about this topic and my buddy tried it out this past season. He struggled moving around so I gave it a try and loved it! Will not hunt any other way!


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[T28w]

What exactly is saddle hunting? I’m from the se but not a big deer hunter anymore and never heard of this. I thought it was hunting on horse back but doesn’t sound like

 

[MadDawg]

What exactly is saddle hunting? I’m from the se but not a big deer hunter anymore and never heard of this. I thought it was hunting on horse back but doesn’t sound like

 

[WannabeHunter]

I was really looking at it during bow season. Staying more mobile during that time is important in the area I hunt in SC. Deer will change their patterns quickly as the pre-rut starts kicking in then. I hunt scraps and acorn producing hardwood bottoms. So activity can shift within a few days.

Really like the idea of being able to swivel to put the tree between the deer and myself. Better cover than any camo can give.

 

[MIedge]

I'm 5 weeks into the 6 week lead time on my order of a Tethrd Mantis saddle so I don't personally have any experience with it yet. There has been a lot of times the past couple of years where I have wussed out on humping all my gear a couple miles back on public so I mostly made the jump to the saddle to eliminate that excuse. It's another tool in the toolbox, but I'm pumped to eliminate the stand weight and increase my mobility in the field.

 

[Wirrex]

Ive been doing it for several years now but I’m from WI. Honestly, If you are mainly hunting pines it’s probably not ideal. Just like backpack hunting it takes a while to get your system dialed in and it can be pretty miserable until you do. Once you have it figured out you can’t imagine going back.

 

[Virginian]

I looked into it last year but for me, it seemed that the weight of the climbing sticks and platform with the harness would be about equal to my LW hand climber. Am I missing something? What's the weight of everyone's set up? Are you carrying climbing sticks or is there a better option?

 

[Wirrex]

I looked into it last year but for me, it seemed that the weight of the climbing sticks and platform with the harness would be about equal to my LW hand climber. Am I missing something? What's the weight of everyone's set up? Are you carrying climbing sticks or is there a better option?

My pack weighs 10lbs. I use spurs, bolts, or a single stick/aider to climb. It’s really more about packability and function in the tree for most people. You can hunt a wider variety of trees including heavy leaners. Also, you get to use the trunk of bigger trees as coverage as deer pass by, which is incredible.

 

[Virginian]

My pack weighs 10lbs. I use spurs, bolts, or a single stick/aider to climb. It’s really more about packability and function in the tree for most people. You can hunt a wider variety of trees including heavy leaners. Also, you get to use the trunk of bigger trees as coverage as deer pass by, which is incredible.

That is a light set up. My self-climber weights just over 14.5 Lb. I'm going to have to check out more. I guess you just use linemen climbing spikes?

 

[Wirrex]

That is a light set up. My self-climber weights just over 14.5 Lb. I'm going to have to check out more. I guess you just use linemen climbing spikes?

Majority of the time, yes.