August 13, 2024
By Weston Schrank
The one thing I love about saddles is that I always feel at the ready. Everything is easily accessible, and I know each and every action I need to take to hit shooting lanes in 360 degrees. That said, I’m still learning and refining the process, even though I’ve been at it for a few years. So whether you’re a beginner, a seasoned saddle hunter, or a world-champion archer, there’s always something new to learn from others who just might have had a little more “butt time” in the saddle. Following are a few tips from over the years that I feel stand out whenever I educate people on this worthwhile tool.
Shooting A Bow From A Saddle If anyone needs convincing about weighing the pros and cons of shooting out of a saddle with a bow, who better to ask than world-champion archer, Levi Morgan. I had the pleasure of taking a trip to Levi’s farm to film a segment for education — specifically to pick his brain about shooting from a saddle. For reference, this was the summer of 2021, just after Levi’s jaw-dropping season where he took numerous giant bucks from a saddle.
Levi pointed out his initial concerns. “Like many people, I wondered whether I’d be able to shoot out of a saddle and be versatile in the tree,” he said. “The answer is, ‘Yes!’ and, in my opinion, even better than from a lock-on or anything else I’ve hunted out of.” Levi went on to share some more thoughts that are worth remembering.
Hiding & Ideal Positioning When it comes to your “strong side,” the shots come easy… A righty’s strong side is directly to his/her left, and the angles that result from simply twisting or making a slight adjustment on the platform. Setting up for these shots eventually becomes natural — placing your best and most likely encounters and shooting lanes in your 11 o’clock to 7 o’clock positions. Ideally, you want a deer to appear in front of you, and then end up in those positions just mentioned. Since you have the ability to “swing” to the sides of the tree, this positioning still allows you to keep your silhouette mostly behind the tree until the shot.
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Contact Points Levi said that he loves to connect his knee(s) to the tree, even on a strong-side shot. “The saddle locks in your core,” he said. “If I can lock even one knee against the tree, that’s one more contact point to make me way more stable and unbelievably solid.” Levi adds a fourth or even fifth contact point when the shot occurs in this way.
This is one of those “lightbulb” moments for most hunters trying a saddle for the first time. Instead of having just two points of contact, like you would while standing to shoot from a treestand, a saddle gives you a third contact point and provides the stability of sitting. Facing the tree and sinking one knee against the trunk allows your core to lock and your position to remain perfectly stable. I find myself resting on my knees frequently, and in almost all shot situations, I prefer to brace a knee against the tree’s trunk. As a result, I strongly recommend investing in kneepads!
Trust In The Saddle When it comes to shooting under, behind, or around your 6 o’clock position, you’ll want to spend a fair amount of time practicing these shots from your saddle to build confidence before hitting the field and hunting from one.
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Having to make a shot while leaning away from all points of reference and potentially from a height of 20 feet, takes trust. With plenty of practice, this happens, and in my opinion I’ve gained even more confidence shooting from a saddle than I did hunting from smaller hang-ons and climbers.
Experience has taught me that it helps to put a foot on top of the platform’s post or stomp pad, to create that ideal “T-form,” replicating the angle at which I practice. Of course, a 6 o’clock shot can be made possible by simply positioning your body to the right side (3 o’clock) of the platform and tree, placing a knee against the tree, and then twisting to open up for the shot directly behind you. If I can, I usually opt for it.
Wrong Side & In A Pinch This is where practice, customization, and training your instincts come into play. The hardest shot (which isn’t that hard) occurs when trying to shoot out of a saddle at the 2 to 5 o’clock positions. The quickest way to accomplish this shot in a pinch is to simply raise your bow over the saddle’s bridge, and then twist your hips (gliding the bridge out of the way) to open up for the weakside shot. Although most hunters I’ve encountered, including Levi, prefer a second option when time is on their side.
Seatbelt refer to the second option as the “seatbelt method” of shooting a bow from a saddle. When coaching people through their first saddle experience, I’ve found that referencing this action gave them a safe and familiar comparison from which to learn. If a weakside shot presents itself, you can simply tuck your right shoulder under your tether and bridge, turn around on the platform (pointing your feet away from the tree), and wear the bridge like a seatbelt across your chest. This allows you to lean into the bridge — adding contact points and locking-in your core. In 2021, Levi shot two of his biggest bucks from this position.
Guns & Crossbows Now that we have covered the “shots” and positioning of the clock in reference to opportunities, it’s time to cover shooting crossbows and guns out of a saddle. As mentioned earlier, the stability you get when shooting a bow becomes even more important when shooting longer distances with a rifle.
A Tripod At The Ready I recently helped produce another educational video with Jon Lewis from Just Hunt Club. Jon opens the video by describing the number-one benefit of saddles and shooting a gun from them in reference to the same stability Levi noted. In this instance, however, the bridge isn’t an obstacle, but instead serves as a gun rest. While using the bridge as a rest, micro-movements in any direction are stable — with tension and solid feedback making for secure adjustments.
“You’re basically acting as a tripod,” Jon explained. “The saddle and bridge allow you to move up and down and side to side very smoothly with the back tension.” Jon references shooting on your strong side, with the ability to easily use both the tree’s trunk and the bridge as two rests.
Make The Shots Happen If you need to make a shot happen by getting low on your stand or platform, Jon noted, the saddle uniquely “locks yet takes the pressure off your core and allows you to get low in an attempt to get a clear shot.”
This is where the stability benefits of a saddle are clearly different from treestand hunting, as these shots are often the hardest. When it comes to the 1 to 5 o’clock shot scenarios, simply passing the gun over the bridge and resting your forearm and elbow in/on the bridge, still provides a tripod-like shot opportunity. You can also perform the seatbelt method here, but you already have increased your contact points enough to ensure a steadier shot than simply standing up to shoot in a treestand.
Watch The Limbs When it comes to crossbows, many of the same notes and conclusions can be drawn but with one big difference — the limbs! You must consider the limb travel once the shot occurs. This arguably cuts down on the use of the “tree rest,” depending on the tree in an 11 to 1 o’clock “top-shot” scenario. In this case, the saddle bridge becomes even more important, utilizing more of the platform and the saddle’s ability to walk to the side of the tree to provide clearance for the limbs.
Opposite Side Of The Tree While I don’t hunt with a crossbow, Trophyline’s own Jeff Malara is very experienced when it comes to shooting one from a saddle. One helpful tip he offered is hanging the crossbow on the opposite side of the tree as his strong side, contrary to how you might like to hang your bow on the strong side. This allows for a simple drop across the bridge and elbow rest into the tree with limbs free and in the clear.
Practice makes perfect, and perfect doesn’t happen very often when it comes to hunting. Practice at least until you instinctively know when and how to make a shot happen!
For more shooting tips from Levi Morgan, Jon Lewis, and Jeff Malara, check out Trophyline’s® Tree Saddle® Tech Tip Series & How-To Videos on Trophyline.com.
