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4 Saddle Hunting & Bass Fishing Questions on GoWild

4 Saddle Hunting & Bass Fishing Questions on GoWild
July 31, 2023

Author: Brayden Ware

  1. What are the pros and cons of saddle hunting and which saddle is recommended?
  2. Is this a rub from an early shed buck or something else?
  3. How to catch Albert the bass?
  4. How are others packing their saddle gear?

What are the Pros and Cons of Saddle Hunting and Which Saddle is Recommended?

This is a great saddle hunting question that I see variations of often in GoWild. The answers to this question vary depending on personal experience. However, there are a few answers that most people would agree with.

Pros of Saddle Hunting

  • Saddle Hunting allows for mobility. A saddle setup is typically lighter to pack around than a climber, for example.
  • Increased shot angles. Hunting saddles allow mobile hunters to take shots, assuming there’s a shooting lane, almost 360 degrees around the tree.
  • Better ability to remain undetected in the tree. Saddle hunting allows you to place the tree you climbed in between you and the deer until the last moment.
  • Allows hunters to climb more trees than they otherwise would be able to with other mobile hunting setups.
  • Safety while climbing and hanging in the tree. Read more about the safety of saddle hunting.

Cons and Barriers to Entry of Saddle Hunting

  • It’s a new skill set that requires practice to do safely and efficiently. Just like most things, it takes a few tries to get smooth with it.
  • It’s a brand new style that can be overwhelming at first because it’s likely not something a family member passed down to you (for most folks). The saddle hunting method has been around for a long time but it’s just now becoming something that’s been picked up by the masses.
  • Saddle hunting requires a whole new set of gear that most folks likely don’t already have.

As far as which hunting saddle is recommended, there are so many different options. I actually recently wrote an article titled 5 Great Saddles For 2023 | Saddle Hunting Setup Guide. Feel free to give that a read and see if any of those work for you.

Read More About How To Start Saddle Hunting & The Gear You’ll Need

Is This a Rub From an Early Shed Buck or Something Else?

One reason it might not be a rub is that it's a cedar and cedars will do this on their own. That doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s not a rub for that reason alone. I will say I wouldn’t trust just that rub (or probably not rub) alone. I’d look for other rubs in the area as well as other telltale buck sign to build a more complete story to make plans off of.

Jonah is very confident that it is not a rub. He said, “100 percent absolutely guaranteed not a rub”.

What do you think? Leave your thoughts on the post.

How to Catch Albert the Bass?

Rachel is looking to catch an illusive largemouth bass. This is not an easy task but the GoWild community showed up in the comments and gave her some tips on trying to land ol’ “Albert”. Here are a few of my favorite suggestions from them.

Suggestions for Catching a Stubborn Largemouth Bass

  • Joseph said “Try a bow and arrow” which gave me a good laugh. You can dive into the legality of shooting game fish with an arrow for yourself. Spoiler alert it’s illegal in most places but that made for a funny comment.
  • Tyler recommended trying a scented wacky rigged Berkley General. It’s a good idea to try to get some extra attention by introducing a new element like a scent.
  • Manny and Wade both mentioned going the live bait route. Again, this is another good way to mix it up and give Albert the Bass a different look.

Of course, there are multiple ways to skin this cat. If you have an idea that wasn’t mentioned above be sure to drop a comment on the post to help Rachel out!

Read more about catching stubborn Summertime largemouth bass.

How are Others Packing Their Saddle Gear?

This is another good question to tackle because it’s something that all of us should be asking every now and then. You never know, maybe someone has thought of something you haven’t or maybe a new piece of saddle hunting gear has come out and it’ll save you time or weight off your setup. There were more than a couple good answers on this one but let’s get into it.

James said, “I’m brand new to saddle hunting this year. I think I’m going to go with the Trophyline lumbar pack. I got a used trophy line mission platform, which is huge, and I think that pack be the best option to use. I’m waiting on my latitude sticks, which I think I’ll attach to the bottom of the pack. My only pause is the storage space on that pack.” 

Tom said “I bought the exomountain 3300 pack ,its expensive but worth it. It gives me the ability to put my paltform along with my hunting jacket and bibs all stuffed right into the pack ( this is money on those long walks cutting down on sweating). I strap my sticks on the back of the pack . The top lid i use for all my other stuff( release/light/knife et.) it also has two side pouches for anything else. The entire pack comes off the frame and you can pack out an animal if your really far back or in some nasty hills. Ive had mine for 5 seasons and its still in great shape i highly reccomend it.”

Your saddle hunting pack and the way you pack it is likely going to be different than other folks but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong. It’s important to talk to other mobile hunters, research online, and give different ideas a try as you build out your saddle hunting system. I’ll share one of my personal saddle hunting setups below.

Brayden Ware’s Saddle Hunting Setup:

We'll continue to cover great questions asked in the GoWild community so if you have a question be sure to post it. You never know when we may pick your hunting or fishing question to feature in an article! If you're a GoWild member that has experience around a question that is asked it's always a great thing to help out someone else when they are trying to get better at the pursuits we all love. Stay wild and thanks for reading!

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