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The mobile craze

With all the super light stands and sticks and all the info about how being mobile puts you in the game I think certain salient facts are being ignored. If you have a tree at a good pinch in a funnel that rutting bucks have historically used then it behooves you to give it a good two or three consecutive day's hunt with hopes of catching him coming through on his loop. If access is good and the wind is to the deer's liking then why not ? At this spot I hang a comfortable (usually heavier ) stand for a longer sit. I don't need a cam there because the whole idea is to be there same time as the buck rather than drool over a pic. It would be good to check the set from a distance preseason to make sure no tree has fallen across it but ideally there should be no human intrusion until go time. Thought I'd post this because March is a great time to set up for situations like this. I realize if a hunter has three or four spots like this it would take away from mobile time when things heat up and that mobile is fun for some good hunters . But three straight days on stand can be deadly under the right circumstances. I guess it's best to do what you enjoy but remember not to get caught up in crazes and fads when it comes to taking the deer of your life. Has anyone noticed how little tactical info gets posted?

Agreed BD. I'm all mobile now, and when hunting spots like that I fine tune based on wind and situation with each sit, because I'm mobile. But if I was hunting a fixed position set, I'd be doing what you are talking about. It's a great approach!

Will, do what is fun for you ; just don't ignore the obvious.

When there is snow during firearms season I always track. Not because I think my odds are better or worse hunting that way, but because I find it to be the most fun. However while tracking I inevitably find spots that scream to be hunted from a stand. Over the course of a few days to a week the bucks will eventually travel through that spot. Over and over, year to year.

I use my tried and true stands most years... some years some spots are on and some are off... thankfully I generally have enough spots with options. If I need to move I take my climber... probably not up with the times, but that is what works for me.

I love it when I discover a big deer has moved in close to one of my long standing sets . Best possible scenario.

The type of spots you mentioned can be tough to beat, BD. I have a few areas preset, but in most scenarios I still prefer to be mobile. If the sign is showing deer are moving through a particular area I don't want to be tied down to spefic wind directions when a 10-15 yard shift could make a spot huntable with a variety of different winds. That being said, I do think it's important to not be dogmatic in our approach to hunting, optionality is always a plus.

I also agree that I'd love to see more tactical/strategy discussions!

Tracking is the epitome of mobile hunting. After decades of tracking big woods I sorely miss that feeling knowing he's right there in front of me....somewhere. It's never dull.

I think the science isn't quite with you here....IIRR meta analysis show your chances of successful harvest drastically decrease with each subsequent sit on a given stand.

That being said, I'm definitely one who has stands hung in historically productive pinch points. I do try to limit use to only a couple times a year and spaced out, not consecutive days.

Then you're missing out . Some pretty good people agree with me. Open debate is good.

Being mobile is a great way to hunt/ learn a new area. I like mobile hunting to not advertise a spot or wind direction.very much still enjoy presets too

So what do you do in October?

I hunt the same spots each season. Neighborhoods, not big woods, very limited options. Kill multiple deer each year. I have a mobile setup but rarely use it anymore.

BC, I have two sets of Helium Sticks and one old set of metal Gorilla Steps all used for either crooked trees or my past mobile sets. My preference if the tree is straight is the Millenium climbing stick which weighs only 17lbs. My light weight( previously mobile) Millenium M7 stand is now a preset. Things beyond our control must be delt with realistically....... I've thrown away the Speedos and am no longer hunting mobile or tracking. "Devouring time, blunt thou the lion's paws".

I hunt about eight pre hung stands in funnels and regularly used deer runs but have climbing stands to hunt off the cuff hot sign areas. I pick a stand sit based on sighn and wind direction but also rotate sits so as not to burn any stand out.

I have drunk the saddle kool-aid, for sure. I’m not sure it’s done me much good, but has kept me entertained for several years. Worth noting that possibly the most successful hunter in Mass, numbers-wise, known to many on this web-site and subject to quite a bit of scrutiny in years past, exclusively uses ladder stands—and many of them. My guess would be that he reads about “mobile hunting” and just chuckles.

Saddle kool-aid takes the zing out of the "flapper" hot sauce. Wonder what the next fad will be , lol ? Remember the ladders that had jaws that clamped the tree on contact ? Bye, Bye. Oh, let us not forget the overdraw shelfs. Anyone think of anything to add to the divine comedy of bowhunting "inventions" ? It's a hoot. My buddy in Vt. years ago bought a rear view mirror on a goose neck for his tree stand so he wouldn't have to pivot around to check in back of him. Used it once.

Great point BD. I’ve got a favorite location like this that was killer my first couple seasons bow hunting, saw lots of deer on stand. On a bench with a stone wall that has a couple breaks in it about 100 yds between them. Just when I thought I was figuring things out I get out there for the first sit of my 3rd season. Dead tree down blocking one break in the wall. The other break had a big maple down close to it. Totally changed their route and threw a curveball at me that season.

Both my sons pushing me to go saddle but i have not yet taken the plunge. I don't get to mobile until my hot spots don't produce. Then scout out new hot spots and move. Last year went Mobil twice after a real slow start and it worked well 9pt and 10 pt. Out of climbers. one only 200 from my stand on a hot rub, the other off a Hugh scrape. Both came in on grunts, one with scent one not. Both on excellent wind direction. Every year the wind directions seem to shift a bit, new stands, hunters or development in an area can cool it off quick, get down scout around and you see what's going on. Move if necessary. I have found that deer will move out just out of reach so the climber allows me to get closer to his travel lanes. 4 of my presets had other hunters in areas which i believe change level of sighting, one was 30 yrds away ! Nothin like a preset though, in and out. The climber, I bring in prior, ditch it then come back and hunt it at 5 am or 1pm. You don't want to be to Mobil too soon. I've shot a lot of deer out of the same stand doe locations. If it cools off, I locate new does, make a plan, make a set and come back when its hot. Gun season its a lot different, being aggressive and moving a lot does not usually equal more deer. Very few hunters can successfully shoot deer on the move in woods with no snow. It does happen from time to time but you have to be a very good shot with the gun. Have great vision and hearing . You may only get a second before he's gone. If alone ill gun hut stands , if with a few guys we do mini pushes. They seem to work well once the deer have been shot at and are skidish.

Josh why not cut it up and open that up again ????

BD... the deer view mirror was a riot! Finally I now have heard of someone actually buying one! LOL I like my ladders and lock-ons... i'll stick to those w/ my occasional climber...

Big D. I bought a hand mirror at CVS for like 6 bucks. Used once. Just not the same as eyeballs. However works good check in for ticks in the nethers

BD...the old String timer....basically a tripwire you'd put across a trail that would tell you what time 'something' went down the trail.

I do agree the over the last 2-3 years the saddle thing has definitely 'fad'-exploded. however its nothing new and has proven effective 'for some'. personally I started saddling hunting 10 years ago. I still use a couple of hang ons in the presets I mentioned earlier, but I use them with my saddle. I sold all my old Dick's Field & Stream 'ladders' a few years ago as they were just taking up space. even with my hang ons I still prefer to rope climb into them. always tied in, before my feet leave the ground. and no more effort than climbing a ladder.

I am mobile within set locations . I do my post season scouting find spots to focus on and then in season I hunt fresh sign within those spots I picked in the off season

I knew a guy who hunted out of a saddle around late 1990's or early 2000's. It's not as new as some would believe. He loved it although his set up was crude by today's standards. I think he wore lumber jack spikes lashed to his boots. He shot deer and loved hunting that way; he was ahead of his time for sure.

A long time ago, I remember seeing a window sticker in a truck of a guy shooting out of a saddle—although at the time I didn’t know what it was called. This might have been more than 30 years ago. Is this plausible?

easily plausible Jeb...the old Anderson Tree Sling was manufactured in the early 1980s. the Trophyline tree saddle was invented in the late 1960s.

Here is a question that hit's me reading this... Has mobile hunting "exploded" because of it's effectiveness, or because hunters may have less time to hunt/scout. When I used lots of pre set fixed stands, and for a while with the climber, I'd scout like mad, really dial in, then set many stands so when one was not hot, the other would be.

I believe I'm more successful mobile, but it does coincide with less time to scout and hunt. So I'm hunting areas I know are generally good, and moving until I'm on the hottest sign in an area for each sit. Over simplified, but pretty much how I hunt now.

Makes me ponder whether mobility came first, or if more of us are mobile because it fits our lives better...

Will, you shot deer last fall with limited time to hunt . Case closed.

I believe it has exploded because of: -Shrinking huntable land means fewer places for quality fixed stands -free Internet/social media/pod cast being able to spread good ideas faster versus sportmens clubs and magazines. - innovation in materials make the argument stronger and stronger every year.

I used to hunt w/ some linemen in the early 2000s that would hunt out their own "saddle" at the time... i always found it fascinating...

yes to both Will and Noob. limited time, limited access to huntable land....also...desire to not have ISHT stolen on Public.

with ever increasing 'hunter' density on ever decreasing land, stuff finds a way to grow legs. (the quotes on hunter are intentional.)

No one knows were I hunt unless they can find the preset camo paracord, AND know what its there for.

Lunker, I think it would probably be a bad idea to bring a chain saw into conservation land haha. I’m happy with adjusting and trying to figure them out.

Josh....I'm sure some of these guys would use agent orange if they thought they could get away with it.

I think the mobile craze is a direct result of Tethrd being the best damn advertisers of any hunting company in recent history. People have been hunting mobile since stone spears were being thrown through giant ice age animals and saddles have been used by hardcore hunters for decades. They leveraged social media in a way that other companies had not and made mobile and saddle hunting "cool". All of the other saddle companies that have come out the last few years were able to do so because tethrd forged the path for them in the hunting market place. It might be a fad, and if it is, there will still be a bunch of us using saddles after the fad is over.

Some of "these guys" what guys are you referring to ? Your fellow bowsiters ? That ain't kool at all.

I’d have to say mobile hunting was made big by Andre and Dan the hunting beast before tetherd was ever even a pipe dream .

Hunts, interesting observation

Hickstick, agent orange hyperbole ?

Wilga, it was, but their shaky old camera footage, bowsite like website, and inability to connect with younger hunters could never have taken the craze to the heights it has achieved in the last 5-6 years. This isn't a plug for tethrd btw, I don't own a single piece of their gear.

Well yea but if the internet was then what it is now it would be a different story

My "mentors" in mobile did it on the ground first then with summit climbers. We hunted mostly the same Z6 areas with some 5 sprinkled in, and almost every year they were shooting 3.5-4.5-5.5 YO bucks, and I was shooting 1.5-2.5YO's. One is a brother from another mother, and I kept looking at what he was doing, and thinking it just didnt jive with what I'd learned. But eventually even a slow adopter like me gets the hint. I started to do the same with the climber, and that was a big positive shift, and the saddle has just made it easier. So those guys (and others) were doing it at least 10 years before Tetherd... But that point I think is true. Between THP and Tethrd and Dan Infalt, there is more "marketing" in hunters faces than probably ever, that you can move around to get on deer, and that getting married to a spot is not the only option.

So I came full circle there while reading this thread - thanks HFSC. Initially I was thinking there were guys doing it on the down low so to speak, or that we just were not hearing of. But clearly there were people doing it all over the country, different habitats etc... And then as the internet became increasingly ubiquitous (youtube, constant marketing, etc), so to did the idea of mobile hunting. Hadnt thought of it like that. Great point HFSC!

I think the videos of Dan Infalt’s eyeball and his boots have contributed enormously.

Sorry Lunk & BD ..it was an uncalled for shot below the belt. LOL. I apologize.

I can't remember exact who I had the debate with, but I was recalling a discussion of "pruning shooting lanes" on public and someone posted a pic of a lane that was clear-cut in a like a 100' arc. That's what I was referring to.

I'm sure everybody knows cutting on public is illegal. That being said when I said just cut the obstruction out of the flow it was not clear it was public until after the fact. I would say nobody on this site would break such a law. I would go further and say the guys on here are the cream of the crop when it comes to doing things right. Thankfully I don't hunt public.

I always hunted mobile. Even when I dragged a climber with me. Today I'm super mobile I guess. Bang out six miles or so, hunting every step.

This fall I was hiking through heavy timber going to meet my son in law to carry his bear out. I'm talking dense forest, steep pitch, elevation and deadfall everywhere. But here is the kicker. Game trails that looked like they were plowed. Mule deer shit the size of elk shit. Gotta be Mobile to hunt it. Heck, I plan to bring a bivy and a tarp so I can be super duper mobile this fall. Yup, staying out a couple of days.

In all seriousness though, when it comes to Mass you have to be super mobile. The last few years I would scout and mark the other stands and use the data to figure out where the deer would go to avoid them. Why? The average hunter is lazy, smokes and is sloppy. I would be close on my first sit. But many times they were just out of reach. Next time I would adjust and be successful. The saddle made it much easier.

The mobile CRAZED, er, I mean craze, LOL

I’ve never tried the saddle hunting i would like to learn how someday. I mostly hunt prefixed stands and have had pretty good success these are pictures of last bow season kills

I’ve never tried the saddle hunting i would like to learn how someday. I mostly hunt prefixed stands and have had pretty good success these are pictures of last bow season kills

The two doe pictures are the same deer that was a double send.

Big fan of mobile style hunting. It has taken my game to another level. I bet someday mass will make it carry in and carry out on public due to all the trashed stands left in the woods

My grandson in college in Ky. Lucked out with permission in a honey hole. Is also a student-athlete ; cooks venison in dorm. Proud as hell of him. While not strictly mobile , he sometimes uses his mobile set up.

Ewade I would love to know what fraction of ladder stands that get moved into the woods, get moved out—ever. I bet it is no better than 50%.

Based on all the ladders I've found in the woods Jeb - I bet you are correct.

I've actually found literal aluminum ladders - the ones you would use to paint your house - up against a tree with a little platform on the tree. Always cracks me up to see those.

A couple weeks ago I found an old hang on that had up so long the tree had grown enough to break that straps, but had already engulfed part of the stand. So despite the straps blowing in the breeze, the stand still hung in the tree.

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