I was going to try to make it up for a weekend of hunting, but unfortunately my workload has fallen behind schedule. I am using Saturday to get caught back up. I hate it when work gets in the way of hunting...I work hard so I can hunt hard. This last week I have left my home at 5am, work, and return home around 7pm. I am bouncing between two construction jobsites, The good news, one will finish today. As Dori said, "Just keep swimming."
Finally a decent buck on camera. The shift has started. I don’t get too worried about lack of buck pictures in August. September is when they start showing up on some of my properties. I’d shoot this guy all day with the recurve.
This weekend was successful. I got another hang-on stand up, blind moved and brushed in, tripod set up. All stand have been cleared for shooting lanes. Only one more stand that I want to put up, but opted to set a camera up and get some intel before committing to a tree. I am more satisfied and confident than ever with placement of stands and blinds. Going into this season feeling very prepared. Now I just need to sell foot pictures and dirty underwear to the perverts to fund the fuel to get back and forth to the farm. Six hour drive round trip in the truck gets to be pricey.
Got up on the saddle to practice shooting on Monday. I’ve hunted out of one since 2019 I think. But every summer I make sure to get back up in it and shoot because it just requires a little practice to get used to it. Shot pretty well actually. Got does mostly on trail cam. Definitely hoping to get my daughter a shot very early on.
I keep hearing about this 19 year repeat moon cycle causing a bifurcated rut (two rut seasons). In 2005 there were two peak ruts - late october and again around Thanksgiving. I was not hunting in 2005 and still in high school. Any veterans have thoughts, experience, and perspective on this? I need to drop PTO and this prediction has me scratching my head a bit. A couple of article below discussing this. https://www.onxmaps.com/hunt/blog/2024-rut-predictions https://www.eveningtribune.com/stor...ct-deer-hunting-this-fall-season/72387501007/
For everyone starting their season tomorrow (9/14), break a leg! I am heading to the mountains to start my Colorado deer, elk, and beer season. I look forward to hearing your hunting details. Have fun! Be careful.
Happy Friday y'all!! My final free weekend before the opener! I'll be fine tuning all my gear and washing stuff, and shooting some bolts. I'll be in the saddle again this year using my modified open shot hand climber for my platform and climbing method. After giving it some thought, I might make it out next Friday afternoon as opposed to Friday morning. Either way, I'm looking forward to some tree therapy and really want to kill something!
Good luck Joe. Hey, as far as saddle hunting goes, I bought a product that's new to the game this year that I think is the greatest invention to saddle hunting since the saddle. It's a self climbing platform for saddle hunting. It's called the Panther quick climb platform. It completely eliminates the need for climbing sticks and lock solid to the tree. It was invented by a group of guys that live in the same town I live in. I can't wait to use mine Sent from my SM-N975U1 using Tapatalk
That's a really cool product. Not a saddle hunter, but can certainly understand the gain of no longer needing sticks. Only issue I see is the same issue with standard climber stands. Tree needs to be perfectly straight and have no branches. Otherwise it looks like you're having to take the platform off of the tree and maneuver around branches... Update us on its performance as you use it.
That would be my concern too. I moved away from a climber because of 1) the weight and 2) having to find the perfect tree. For a while I used an old set of my wife’s grandpas tree spurs. He was a lineman and had an old set. Those were sweet. I could get up a tree super fast. But I quickly realized they were a little sketchy on certain trees. And a couple times I had a gaff out on the way down. I always had a lineman’s belt attached but that will definitely scare you to death. I eventually got a lightweight set of lonewolf sticks and that gets the job done. Strap them on my backpack and wear my saddle in. Travis - SE Ohio Shedding Light Outdoors Matthew 5:16
I also uses Lone Wolf stands and sticks. I actually cut my standard sticks down to 18 inches for my mobile set up. It didn't cut much weight out, but ounces mean something. On top of that, the profile is smaller. Can't beat the versatility of sticks, hang-on, and saddle.
To address some of your concerns; the stand only weighs 6lbs and is very compact. Size-wise I'd say it compares to the mission platform. As for going around limbs it is very easy. You just sit off to the side in the saddle and move the the stand above the limb. It's easier than one sticking when you sit off to the side and move the stick up the tree. The attachment to the tree is similar to the lone wolf belt but actually adjusts much easier. Once you reach height it has a center post that attaches like any other saddle platform and locks the platform down solid. It will take any side pressure you throw at it and not move. And lastly I would recommend rappelling out of the tree when you are ready to get down. It is super easy. Just for reference I will be 70yrs old in about 3 months and I have absolutely no problems doing any of this. Here's a few pics. Sent from my SM-N975U1 using Tapatalk
I have no experience saddle hunting. I figured you would have to sit to the side and get around the branch. If it is not a big deal then it sounds like a great product. I'll be interested to hear your experience with it this season.
That’s pretty slick man. How much does he sell them for? Seems like a cool option for getting up the tree and not having the weight of sticks AND a platform Travis - SE Ohio Shedding Light Outdoors Matthew 5:16
They are $400 which sounds and is expensive. But when you consider that you're only buying one item, it's less than you'd pay for a quality platform and sticks Sent from my SM-T500 using Tapatalk
Fair point. Lightweight sticks and a solid platform are not cheap. Cool. I think that’s what I like about saddle hunting. There’s a lot of different methods and ways to skin the same cat. Just gotta find what works best for you. Travis - SE Ohio Shedding Light Outdoors Matthew 5:16
