Saddle Hunting Kit

What a saddle hunting kit is

A saddle hunting kit is a box, or more often a bag, that turns a saddle into a working setup. The table on this page only lists saddles sold as a kit with a platform or other gear, and only when the maker's or the listing's own list of contents says so. A saddle by itself belongs on the hunting saddle page, which covers panel design, fit and the bridge.

Why buy the bundle? Because a saddle alone doesn't get you off the ground. One saddle maker sells starter kits where sticks, platforms, saddles and ropes are all included. Other kits stop at a platform and the ropes. Either way the idea is the same: the parts were picked to work together, and you don't find out in October that your tether is the wrong diameter for your rope bridge.

The table shows each kit's Kit weight, Weight rating, Panel design, Waist fit, whether a platform is included and what else is In the box, all as the maker lists them or, where the maker is silent, as the Amazon listing does (marked as listing values). When neither states a value, you get a dash, not a guess.

What a complete saddle hunting setup needs

Here's the shopping list, whether it comes in one box or five. Field & Stream lists the required pieces as a saddle, climbing aids, a tether and a lineman's rope, with a platform as optional. In practice most hunters add one. One saddle maker calls a platform much more comfortable and user friendly than a ring of steps.

• Saddle: the seat, with its bridge
• Tree tether: holds you to the trunk at height
• Lineman's rope: holds you to the trunk while you climb
• Platform: a small footrest that straps to the tree
• Climbing method: sticks, steps or a single stick moved as you go
• Haul line: raises and lowers your bow and pack
• Pouches: one saddle maker's list includes a dump pouch for the ropes

Field & Stream lists saddle-mounted stash bags as optional. Knee pads show up on one maker's list of parts, and Game & Fish adds a gear strap that goes around the tree to hold your bow and pack. How each piece is used during a sit is in our saddle hunting guide.

What to look at when you compare saddle hunting kits

In the box decides everything else

Start with the In the box column, every time. Makers list the bridge, tether, lineman's belt, sticks and pouches as they ship them. One maker's bare two-panel saddle ships with the saddle, a manual and bridge parts, and points you to its starter kit for the lineman's belt and tether. That's the difference a kit makes.

Here's the thing. "Kit" is not a standard word. One box may hold a full climbing system. The next may be a saddle, a platform and nothing to climb with. Read the list twice. Measure twice, cut once applies to shopping too.

Then go down this checklist and mark what's missing:

1. Tether and lineman's rope
2. Platform, with its strap
3. Sticks or steps, and how many
4. Haul line
5. Pouches or a way to carry the ropes and sticks

Anything not on the list, you buy separately. Budget for it before you count the kit as a deal.

A hunting saddle kit with platform, or without

The Platform included column is a straight yes or no from the maker's contents. It's the most common thing people searching for a "hunting saddle with platform" want to know, and it changes the kit a lot.

Platforms are not one size. One saddle maker sells its main platform in a regular and an XL size and a lighter version alongside it. So if a kit includes a platform, check which size it is and that it suits your boots, especially insulated ones. If you already own a platform you like, a kit without one may be the better buy. Platforms on their own are on the saddle platform page.

Kit weight is the number you'll carry

The Kit weight column is the full system weight, as the maker states it. It's a different number from the saddle alone, and the two don't compare.

What's a heavy kit? One magazine test in 2019 put a complete saddle kit at 14.1 lb, with 7.5 lb more for climbing sticks, against 23.9 lb for a hang-on setup and 24.2 lb for a climber. In Bowhunter's debate, the saddle side put his platform and three sticks at 7.7 lb, about half his old climber. Light is the whole reason to own a saddle, so this column earns its spot.

Count every ounce twice. The kit goes in on your back in the dark, and it comes out on your back after a long sit, usually uphill. (The ridge behind Hemlock Run doesn't get any shorter with practice. I check every November.)

Weight rating applies to the whole system

The Weight rating column is the saddle's rating as the maker or the listing lists it. In a kit, every load-bearing piece has its own limit: the saddle, the ropes, the platform and the sticks. Count the entire load against them: you, clothing, pack, water, bow and the ropes. Then trust the lowest rating in the box.

Ropes and rope size

Ropes are the part of a kit people look at least and use most. Game & Fish describes the lineman's rope as running from one D ring on the saddle around the tree to the other, and the tether as wrapping the tree and fastening to the bridge, both with a carabiner and a prusik knot. A mechanical rope grab can replace the prusik for one-handed adjustment. Rope sizes vary by system; the saddle side of Bowhunter's debate ran two 8mm ropes.

If a kit ships with its ropes, they were chosen to go with that saddle and its bridge, which is a point in its favor. Swapping in different ropes later is a question for the maker's manual, not for guesswork.

Sticks and the height they really give you

If the kit includes sticks, the In the box column will say how many. How high they get you depends on the stick, not the count. In Bowhunter's debate, one writer said three light sticks reach 18 feet up a hardwood, but he sometimes needs four on curved cottonwoods, and he warns against being "under-sticked." A stick maker's guide adds that wider step spacing means fewer sticks to carry but more demanding climbing.

So the questions are simple. How high do you want to hunt, and do the sticks in this kit get you there? If the kit doesn't include sticks, you'll pick them on the climbing sticks for saddle hunting page.

Panel design and waist fit still matter

A kit is still a saddle first. The Panel design and Waist fit columns are the same fields as on the saddle page, and the same advice holds: pick the panel design that suits how long you sit, and size from the maker's chart over the clothes you'll wear. A great kit with a saddle that doesn't fit is just a nice bag of rope.

Kit or build your own

On paper a kit is simpler. In practice, it depends on what's already in your truck.

Buy a kit if:

• this is your first saddle season
• you own none of the pieces
• you want ropes and hardware that match out of the box

Build your own if:

• you already own sticks or a platform you trust
• you need a bigger platform for big boots
• you want more sticks, or fewer, than the kit carries

There's no wrong answer. There's only the one where you get to the tree and find the tether is still on the kitchen table. I've watched that happen at Hemlock Run, and the walk back to the cabin is long enough to think about it.

Setting up a new kit before the season

A new kit is a set of pieces you haven't learned yet. Field & Stream suggests starting in the backyard about a foot off the ground.

A first-month routine:

1. Unpack it and check every piece against the maker's list of contents.
2. Read the manual for each piece, not just the saddle's.
3. Adjust the saddle, bridge and tether at ground level.
4. Hang the platform and the first stick low, and practice the climb and the rope transfer.
5. Pack it the way you'll carry it, then walk it around the property.
6. Weigh the packed kit, so you know what you're really hauling.

Packing is half the game. Whatever you use to carry the sticks and platform, it should hold still and stay quiet. Game & Fish suggests a haul rope at least 5 feet longer than your highest climbing height, with a carabiner tied on for the bow. A kit that clanks on the walk in is a dinner bell.

Care, storage and what not to leave in the woods

Bring it all home. The Tree Stand Safety Awareness Foundation's checklist says tree stands, saddle platforms and climbing aids aren't designed to be left in the woods from season to season. Inspect everything before each use: one saddle maker says to check life-support gear for cuts, tears and heavy abrasion before every hunt. Florida's wildlife agency says to replace straps and hardware with manufacturer-approved parts.

Store ropes out of the sun and away from anything sharp. Keep the kit together, in its bag, so it goes out the door complete. (My logbook has a line for "tether?" now. It's there because of a man I won't name, who sleeps in the bunk by the stove.)

Saddle kit safety

Stay connected to the tree from the moment your feet leave the ground until you are back down. Use every piece the way its maker designed it, inspect all of it before each hunt, and retire anything cut, worn or damaged. Use a haul line for your bow and pack so your hands stay free while you climb. Rules on saddles, stands and climbing gear vary by state and by property, so check your state wildlife agency.

Who should skip a saddle hunting kit

• You already own a saddle, platform and sticks that work together
• You hunt from a stand or a blind and plan to keep doing it
• You want a specific platform or stick count the kit doesn't offer
• You won't practice the setup before season

If that's you, buy the one piece you're missing and keep the rest. The kit's a good deal only when you'd have bought every piece in it anyway.