Saddle hunting question…

[TradHunter]

I use a mystery ranch pop up 28. I only use three 20” inch hawk helium and strap those to the sides and platform fits perfectly in the meat shelf. It is low profile up in a tree and and can easily carry out quartered out deer if needed. Have no issues with this.

[LeanMachine]

Not sure if you are hunting public or private but I have gone to using a treehopper drill and bolts. Drill is like $60.I bought 50 bolts for like $20-30 online. Why I went to this for a climbing system is size and weight. I carry the drill and 6-8 bolts in a tiny fanny pack and I think it is sub 2 lbs.

The down side is it takes slightly longer to get up a tree the first time than it does with sticks. The up side is you can come down and pull your set WAY faster. And if you hunt the tree again, obviously you can leave the bolts in, but even if you pull them, the holes are already drilled for next time. Going up the first time it tends to take me about 1 minute per bolt, total time, if the tree isn't too wonky.

Another perk of the drill is i also bolt on my platform. I just weld up my own steel platforms. I think they are 3 lbs. I just added a 1/4" rod loop that hooks over the top of a lag bolt. I pre tap the hole with the drill and then run the lag bolt in with a wrench. I thought i would have to suck the platform down by tightening the bolt but not the case. I just leave the bolt out about 3/8" and platform goes on and off nice and easy. Very stable. Kind of tripods off the bolt and both sides of the teeth. I always hated fiddling with straps.

You could also drill a ring of holes and use bolts as a ring of steps and skip the platform. They make little paddle things that slide over the bolts to make them more comfortable to stand on.

[MnM]

I use wild edge steps. Lots of different ways to go up and down ( three foot intervals or aiders).

[Low Fence]

Drill ain’t an option the primary function of this is public land. Beside that I’m hunting bedding area 90% of the time. I ain’t got time to one stick and take core samples. I need yo a tree as fast and quiet as I can

18-24’ platform height is where I always seem to land. There’s got to be a way, I just ain’t come up with it yet. Lol

I’ve tried most all ways up a tree imaginable. The original lone wolf sticks are still the most simple and functional I’ve used. The “mini” versions of stick I’ve used don’t compare and save no weight when you add additional sticks. Unless you add aidders naders alligator and mashed potatoes to complicate things… then your back to weight of full length stick

I’m thinking of a way to convert the sticks into the pack and strap platform to it so I have nothing to hang or store once hunting

[LeanMachine]

I assume you have looked at live edge steps? Very packable. I used them for a season. Just too fiddly for my taste.

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[Low Fence]

Yes. Too much unnecessary “stuff”

[Arrowsmith]

Life's to short to drive yourself crazy over hunting gear.[emoji1]

1. Just sell the dang saddle gear and go back to your Lone Wolf. You know it works and you like it.

2. Get you a Predator pack or Predator XL pack whichever fits your particular platform. Carry your bow in one hand and your sticks in the other hand or sticks strapped over your shoulder.

Compact as it gets.

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[Death from Above]

I just strap my sticks to the platform and carry them in by hand. On long walks I have a padded strap that I can use.

I have never like the weight of the platform and sticks on my back.

I am running 4 API's and a trophyline Mission.

There are some guys 3D printing some neat gatchets to help out with stacking sticks and pack ability.

I can post links if you need them?

[Low Fence]

Lol option 1. Will happen looonnngggg before 2. Lol

I’m just finding it super odd as crazy popular as these systems are and all the “YouTubers” with 9,000,000 videos on how to tie a rope around a tree and saddle company’s fighting for the next customer that there ain’t a better “system”
….. I’m working on it

[Low Fence]

I just strap my sticks to the platform and carry them in by hand. On long walks I have a padded strap that I can use.

I have never like the weight of the platform and sticks on my back.

I am running 4 API's and a trophyline Mission.

There are some guys 3D printing some neat gatchets to help out with stacking sticks and pack ability.

I can post links if you need them?

Love to see them!

[txbowman12]

3 hawk climbing sticks and aiders get me to 20 ft pretty easy. Amsteel aiders are easy to make and don't seem complicated to me at least. Lightest weight method to gain height. 4 gets me closer to 30, but I usually just put the 4th next to the 3rd one and use that as a platform. I'm hunting out of a jx3 hybrid so I am mostly hunting sitting down so a platform is not really necessary for me other than to walk a tree. Overall setup is a little heavier, but carries easier with less parts, so ends up washing out imo.

[lovemylegacy]

Not sure if this helps. I have a few stands that produce every year, so at those stands I have climbing sticks that stay on the tree, all I carry in is my platform, 4lbs and it lays inside my Badlands backpack.

I have transportable sticks that weigh less than 1lb ea., so that's 8lbs total with the platform, everything straps to my back pack.

[Randy Madden]

Are you able to put sticks on the side of pack and they stay put? Or move around?

My platform goes in the slot and strap the sticks to the outside. There is an extra strap provided in the cays 2.0. With the 2 on the pack and the extra strap they don’t move around much but could be better. That’s one reason I’m trying the one stick. Eliminates 2 of the sticks and the Platform. So it straps down nice and tight.

I’ve always used a pack of some sort as I go in pretty deep and do long hunts most of the time and take everything I need. I’ve got bad knees and I’m not walking in and out several times when I kill something.

[IkemanTX]

Drill ain’t an option the primary function of this is public land. Beside that I’m hunting bedding area 90% of the time. I ain’t got time to one stick and take core samples. I need yo a tree as fast and quiet as I can

18-24’ platform height is where I always seem to land. There’s got to be a way, I just ain’t come up with it yet. Lol

I’ve tried most all ways up a tree imaginable. The original lone wolf sticks are still the most simple and functional I’ve used. The “mini” versions of stick I’ve used don’t compare and save no weight when you add additional sticks. Unless you add aidders naders alligator and mashed potatoes to complicate things… then your back to weight of full length stick

I’m thinking of a way to convert the sticks into the pack and strap platform to it so I have nothing to hang or store once hunting

Modified Hawk Helium sticks have been my go to when I can’t use bolts. I hunt almost exclusively public land as well, and had many biologists and/or wardens tell me they could care less about the bolts. They’re usually not timber grounds, though.

I cut my helium’s down to 21”. I’m hunting with a full size backcountry elk hunting pack this year so I can pack out like a western hunt. I won’t be dragging out whole again. My last 2 bucks were over a mile back through multiple steep ravines. I’ve been saddle hunting since the early days when we were all sewing saddles out of sit-drags. I chased the whole ultralight and ultra compact thing to its end point, and decided that my comfort spot puts me intentionally adding weight back into my setup.

I use a saddle because I find it much more comfortable than a stand, so even at the same weight/bulk I would consider the saddle superior for my uses.


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[MadHatter]

I don't do any of this saddle stuff, but have spent yrs climbing structure & rope as a profession.
What about just setting a rope and climbing the rope?
I'm assuming these trees have limbs and we're not talking about a pine trunk.
Maybe I'm missing something so forgive my ignorance, but it seems like it might pack easier & possibly be lighter.