Saddle hunting comfort accessories can truly give you an edge while hunting from a saddle. Let me ask you a question. Have you ever sat for an entire day from a saddle in the middle of the rut while your back is on fire from pain? I know I have. Saddle hunting comfort accessories will provide relief and a frustration free experience while you are in the woods.

Before we explore the best saddle hunting comfort accessories, here are some questions you should ask yourself to determine what you want.

• Do you want to pull off all day sits during the rut with the aid of certain accessories?
• Do you experience lower back pain regardless of what you do?
• Does your saddle tend to sag while walking through the woods with it on?
• Do you experience hip pinch?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, read on.

For saddle hunting comfort accessories, you have 3 pieces of gear that can improve the comfort of your saddle hunting journey.

• (Back pain) - Back band
• (Saddle creeps down while walking) - Saddle Suspenders
• (Hip pinch) - Losing weight and a bridge spreader

We will talk about the 3 saddle hunting comfort accessories that can fix annoying issues you may have experienced in the past while hunting. Also, we will briefly touch on the importance of losing weight and how it helps with overall comfort as well.

For some, back pain can be an issue while hunting from a saddle. Thats were saddle hunting comfort accessories come into play, especially the back band. A back band is an individual panel that can be stored away and used at any given moment while saddle hunting. Typically, they are used with a single panel saddle or a pleated saddle. The nice thing about the back band, is that it is completely independent from the saddle itself and can be adjusted with no limitations. You can run it under your legs, lower back, upper back, or even balled up and used as a mini pillow to lay your head against ( I've done this more times than I would like to admit ). Throw the back band anywhere you want to alleviate pressure from, and it will help you out. The best part, you can roll it up and store it away in a pouch or your pack if it's not in use. It takes up almost no space, weighs next to nothing, and is an incredible piece of gear to distribute your weight throughout your body evenly.

Advantages of running a back band in your arsenal.

• Can be stored in a pouch or a pack without taking up any space or adding extra weight to your setup.
• Can be adjusted to anywhere on your body because it is a complete independent panel, separate from your saddle.
• Distributes your weight evenly and alleviates hot spots and pinch points.

Saddle hunting comfort accessories aren't always supposed to alleviate physical discomfort. The saddle suspenders are what you want when you feel your saddle creeping down while you walk or want the weight evenly distributed to make it more comfortable. Tree saddle suspenders are typically attached to 4 points on your saddle and worn over your shoulders to make sure your saddle never creeps down. This is super helpful especially if you walk into your hunting spot with your saddle on.

Another major benefit is that tree saddle suspenders will evenly distribute the weight of your saddle to make it more of a comfortable fit. If you one stick saddle hunt, you'll know what I'm talking about. When you one stick saddle hunt, you'll carry your rappel rope (Typically 30-40 feet of rope) with your belay device on your right side of the saddle. With the weight of all the rope and rappel device, it will throw off your saddle naturally to the right side. With suspenders, you can adjust to have the right side of the suspenders to carry that extra load, so it doesn't feel like you are carrying a 10-pound dumbbell on your side. In return, this will naturally even out the feel of your entire setup and make it that more comfortable when traversing.

Lastly, saddle hunting comfort accessories can actually provide more safety than you would originally think. When I would climb trees without saddle suspenders, sometimes my saddle would creep down and throw me off when I was to sit back down into the saddle up in a tree. Having suspenders eliminates this issue completely. They completely lock in your saddle at the height you want your saddle to sit, and that is it. Even when I was to take a piss out of the tree, Ill unbuckle my belt on my saddle to alleviate myself knowing my saddle is going nowhere. (DO NOT DO THIS)

Advantages of wearing saddle suspenders on your hunting saddle.

• It will prevent your tree saddle from creeping down or sagging while walking to your hunting spot.
• Evenly distributes the weight of your entire hunting saddle setup for more comfort.
• Your saddle will be locked in position while climbing a tree and will prevent anything going bad.

Getting In Shape

How does getting in shape apply to comfortability with a hunting saddle? Let me rewind 2 years ago for you.

Roughly 2 years ago I was at my peak weight I've ever been in my entire life. It was actually so depressing, I never weighed myself after 270 pounds. I was around 300 pounds easily while saddle hunting. Being overweight takes a toll on your body and especially when you are already using a device that really isn't natural for the body to sit in for hours on end. Although I was relatively comfortable with our BullThreat Saddle, I was still pretty uncomfortable near the hips and gut. A lot of people refer this as hip pinch. No matter what I did, I could not get 100% comfortable.

So, a year of being absolutely miserable and always out of breath from just walking, I said fuck it and let's change. Last year I started to really take serious of what I ate and started to lift weights. The biggest factor for me was my diet, as I have been a chronic binge eater my entire life. Dialing in my eating habits and sticking to a daily fitness regime, I have been able to shed off 100+ pounds.

With losing that amount of fat and finally being physically fit, the difference of comfortability to me is a night and day difference. I don't get hip pinch anymore, and I'm actually comfortable in a saddle with no accessories. No lower back pain, no more hip pinch (my fat rolls were the culprit), no hot spots, etc.

Make it a priority to get into shape so you can avoid these issues while saddle hunting. Saddle hunting comfort accessories can only do so much if you are out of shape.

Bridge Spreader

A bridge spreader does exactly as it sounds. It spreads the bridge on a tree saddle to widen the angle of the bridge. This helps alleviate pressure and possible pain you may experience. Having one of these saddle hunting comfort accessories, could help you a ton with getting rid of hip pinch. The only down fall, is that it is typically metal, takes up a decent amount of space, makes noise when trying to connect to it. Nothing too major to worry about, just something to keep in mind. I've heard they are worth their weight in gold, so give one a try to really eliminate any hip pinch.

Advantages of getting into shape.

• Helps with comfort in a saddle
• Less hip and gut pinch due to a lower body fat percentage
• Overall, a much better feeling in a tree saddle while in shape rather than being overweight.

Advantages of a bridge spreader.

• Opens up the bridge to alleviate any hip pinch.
• It can be packed away relatively easily.
• Less fatigue equals longer hunts.

Utilizing saddle hunting comfort accessories can help you out a ton when it comes to alleviating hot spots, annoyance, and hip pinch. But remember, saddle hunting comfort accessories can do only so much if you are out of shape.

Taking control of your diet, getting physical activity in everyday, combined with saddle hunting comfort accessories, you are guaranteed to be comfortable while saddle hunting.