Slingin' a few from the saddle, what have you learned?

[dbeaver]

Was in my saddle for the third time, shooting from it for the first time. Was super exciting and I was cracking up at how much fun it was make the necessary adjustments.  A lot more to pay attention to while going through the shot cycle. 

Any saddle hunters out there with some learned experience. I'd love to hear what setups, tricks, or hacks you thought would go well but didn't  or what worked well and got you onto animals.  Interested to hear from saddle hunters about being in the saddle, don't care for a discussion on other methods.

[buckeyebowhunter]

I have been hunting from a CRUZR saddle for the last 3 seasons. I find the saddle to actually be easier to shoot from than a traditional stand. My anchors are much more solid. The downfall for me is the comfortability on all day sits. I know a lot of guys that say they're better than a stand as far as comfortability is concerned, but this was not the case for me. I am good for about 3 hours max and I am very fidgity most of the time.

That being said, I love the saddle for public land hunting, almost nothing to carry except climbing sticks.

The biggest thing for me is having cover on my weak side, and then making the shot once the deer is past the cover and does not know I am there. So for example, having cover on my right hand side, and then allowing the deer to pass from right to left past my tree and then taking the shot.

Without cover on the side that you expect the deer to approach they will pick you out with ease. You pretty much stick out like a sore thumb in a saddle. The guys that say you can use the tree as cover are correct to a certain extent but this only applies if the tree is rather large and covers your body.

Best of luck!

[KAZ]

Just some basics from me. Doing the practice you’re doing will be very helpful. Finding proper structural alignment amongst all the varied positions you can put yourself in is important for accuracy. If you feel your torso contorted, you naturally will affect your shot. The closer the animal, the more you can power through and make it happen, but it will increasingly affect your longer range accuracy. I personally tend to stand a little more erect than your picture to ease the swivel and closeness to the tree with some weight connection to the platform. It minimizes the profile hanging off the tree too. If I’m wrapping around strong side to closer to 11o’clock shots, I try to get as much wrap around with body first then execute shot. Straight 7-10oclock for righty is easy, once I get to 6iclock towards weak, I like to stand vertical with the tether over right shoulder and a little slack to lean and cant for 6-3oclock and it works great, same concept for 3-1 but a little more effort. For comfort I switch positions all around from lean to stand to sit and straddle, but the other thing that’s helpful is an independent back panel to move from under you to lower back to under arms…. I sit all day as needed.

[dbeaver]

Thanks guys, i see how being closer to the tree helps with a little of what both you you mentioned.  Kaz nice tips for the weak side shots, sort of like your back is to the tree standing, tucking one shoulder under the tether?

[KAZ]

Exactly… For a righty, the tether is over your right shoulder / chest. You need a little slack in tether to lean and angle down. The other thing is don’t forget you have full freedom to raise and lower that tether to do what you need too for the shot even if it involves standing on your last stick… I have used the saddle with cheap ladder stands and moved all around from seat to stand to top ladder rail or other limb on tree…

[KAZ]

If you have too, it can be under your right arm for more rotation.

[Bowhunter57]

This will be my 3rd season of hunting from my Cruzr XC tree saddle. I like the ability to hunt from any tree, instead of hunting for a tree that has no limbs for my Summit Viper climbing tree stand.
I've tried nearly all of the climbing methods and settled on using 3 climbing sticks with a single aider at the bottom of each stick. I did away with a daypack, due to all the "stuff" I kept putting in it and next thing I know I'm hauling enough provisions for a 3 day hike. I carry necessary items in a small gear bag that has a carry sling, which makes for easy transporting and it has enough space.
Also, a lot of the tree saddle companies charge a premium for the accessories that go with a saddle. I've found plenty of climbing rated and quality accessories from Amazon and R.E.I., for a fraction of the cost. Dump pouches are $23 for a pair off of Amazon and are high quality and in a variety of camo colors.

I'm looking forward to this season, as I'll be going back to using my recurve.

[dbeaver]

That's a good looking setup, probably a good idea to drop the day bag if it's just a hike from the truck.  And for some farther things good to remember to stay practical.

[German Dog]

This is my second year in a saddle, all though took me about 3 years of watching videos to convince myself to buy one.
 I have a Woods Tree Saddle with the expandable panel.
I absolutely love the saddle. I use my good old Lonewolf sticks that are modified to a double step and then i use a ring of steps made by Bulman for the top rather than a platform.

First thing i notice with your picture is i like to be more upright than how your setting. not sure it makes a difference its just how i like to hang.
I feel like its a much more comfortable shooting position rather than standing on a regular treestand and bending to shoot.
I also like how i can hunt most any tree rather than hunt for a tree to use my lonewolf climber or my lonewolf hang on.

A couple of my issues really wasnt the shooting but just gear organization for the climb up. I like to do one climb only.  The other thing i found was i needed a longer bow hanger to get the bow out from the tree so my quiver doesn't rub on the tree. I tried using a non bow quiver but found that to be a pain cause then it was one more thing to pull up the tree and one more thing to hang out of the way.
The other issue i found was i needed an arrow holder on the bow. In a regular stand i just held onto my bow and finger on the arrow. So i just picked up a Big Jim arrow holder and its is awesome!

[Bowhunter57]

German Dog,
I purchased one of these gear hangers and ordered their extended bow hanger with it. The hangers are rubber coated, the cinch belt is easy to attach to the tree and I don't have to take off my quiver.

[German Dog]

Thanks Bowhunter57. That looks like a good idea.!