Eric Childs, 30
Location: Tennessee
Gear: Phantom Elite, Predator Platform, Skeletor Climbing Sicks
It was a crisp fall morning in East Tennessee, and I was gearing up for my most anticipated hunt of the season. The pre-rut phase had just begun, and I was determined to take a buck before their patterns became randomized from chasing does. I was equipped with my Tethrd saddle, Tethrd predator platform and Tethrd Skeletor sticks. My plan was to go in just after daylight, read the sign, then hang and hunt.
I set out into the woods around 9:00 am, filled with excitement and anticipation. With my light weight set-up it was easy to move efficiently through the terrain as I scouted my way in. I knew I had to move slowly and pay close attention to the sign to determine where I needed to be to have success. As I came across a couple scrapes under a beech tree limb I noticed that they had recently been cleared out. As I stood there and looked around for more scrapes, I spotted several softball size trees with shredded rubs. These were at the head of a drainage ditch all in a line just 40 yards from the scrape. I checked my wind direction and set up just below the scrapes. Predicting the buck would come down that rub line and hit the scrapes again. I got to the base of the oak tree I picked and started unpacking my gear quietly. After taking a few seconds to place my bottom stick on the tree, I clipped on my lineman's belt and moved on up the tree perfectly positioning every stick with ease. Within 5 minutes I had my sticks up, platform in, gear unpacked, and was ready to shoot…
A few slow hours go by and the stillness of the woods was only interrupted by the occasional rustle of leaves from a few squirrels. Finally at 12:30 I heard a stick break behind me and heard footsteps coming through the leaves.. as I turned to look I spotted a deer.. unfortunately it wasn’t the big guy that had made those big rubs. It was just a small basket rack 5 pointer. Nothing I wanted to shoot at the time but it definitely got me more excited for what else might be moving..
As time faded on and the day light started to pass I began to wonder if the buck that had made those big rubs was gonna show himself or not. Thankfully I was comfortable in my set-up and was committed to sitting until dark, boom or bust! With only an hour left of daylight I catch movement of something on the edge of the thicket straight in line with the rubs I saw while walking in. As I pulled up my binos the first thing I noticed was a big ole rack. As I watched the buck stand there making yet another big rub I quickly realized he was the dominant buck marking up this area. I grabbed my gun and placed it against the tree in front of me that my tethrd was attached to. No clear shot! I had to sit and watch this deer rub a tree for nearly 4 minutes. After just a minute of watching him I pulled out my phone to snap a quick video of him doing it just to look back on later. As I placed my phone back in my saddle pouch I just watched him through my scope waiting on him to present a clear vital shot. He finally finished up with the tree he was rubbing and took a few steps.. his last few steps! I squeezed off a perfect heart shot at 40 yards on my biggest buck to date!! He tried running back to the thicket but only made it 20 yards! Excited was an understatement!! I was on cloud 9! I was able to take my tethrd gear and hang a set right on the sign I found and kill my biggest buck ever, a 148” East Tennessee 12 pointer!! I’m a firm believer in the fact that a lot of outdoor industry items are gimmicks, but a good saddle set-up is by far no gimmick! It has changed the way I hunt and brought me a new self confidence along with a new level of success!! Thank you guys for great products and for actually listening to what the hunters that use your products have to say about them!
