Joined the Saddle Nation

Nice! I've read good things on the XC. You will have to update us on how you like it. I ran a Tethrd mantis a few years ago now and sold it not long after I bought it. The benefit of being so lightweight and compact was great and I had no issues with accuracy shooting out of it, but I just could not get over the fact I had the tree in my line of vision and having to swing/turn my head to see behind me with no tree as cover made me feel very vulnerable to being picked off.

Saddle hunting has become one of my favorite ways to hunt. You can hang on trees you could never use a climber on and rotate to get shot angles you can't get any other way. And my whole setup is lighter than even my lone wolf hand climber. One word of advice is to practice your setup 2-3 times before the season. Once you have your routine down, it's cake.

I'm getting with Ohiostrutter to get it figured out. The ropes are not making sense to me yet but I haven't tried to put it on a tree. First few times will be right off the ground. My plan is to use it pretty much every time I practice this summer. Living on three acres with a ton of trees gives me the opportunity to try it out on all sorts and sizes of trees.

Skip the sticks and go with rope methods.

You do get some awkwardness sometimes when you're on a leaning tree but it's the safest way to climb. Most saddle injuries occur on sticks.

That makes sense.