Best Places to Buy Saddle Hunting Gear (and It’s Not Direct from the Manufacturer)
Despite the meteoric rise in popularity of saddle hunting, buying gear isn’t as simple as walking into your local Bass Pro or Academy Sports. Most saddle hunters buy their equipment directly from the manufacturer. And while there’s nothing wrong with that, there are times when it pays to shop elsewhere.
In this article, we look at a few reputable sources for saddle hunting gear where you can often save on shipping, and possibly find things in stock that are on backorder from the manufacturer.
So if you’re in the market for new gear this fall, be sure to check out these retailers before you spend your hard-earned money. You can thank us later!
GoWild
You may know GoWild as a social media community for outdoor enthusiasts. And it is! But it’s also a large ecommerce shop with a wide variety of hunting supplies — including saddle hunting gear.
What we like about GoWild:
- Decent saddle hunting inventory
- Free shipping on orders over $50
- Generous 60 day return policy
GoWild offers products from Hawk, Tethrd, Latitude, Trophyline, and even Timber Ninja. Saddle hunting products include saddles, platforms, climbing sticks, plenty of accessories, and packs.
The large ecommerce store offers competitive prices, as well as free shipping on orders over $50. And let’s face it, you’re not going to order any saddle hunting gear for under $50 anyways!
GoWild has a bonus points reward program for users of its app. You can earn points by posting content on GoWild, making purchases on GoWild and referring friends to download GoWild with your share link.
Content that can earn points includes but is not limited to posting Trophies, Time Logs, Regular Posts (more points for gear tagged!), adding your first Gear Setup, and Gear Reviews. There are also challenges that appear on Members profiles from time to time for additional Rewards points.
GoWild has a very generous return policy as well. If you’re not satisfied with your GoWild Direct purchase, you can return it for a replacement or refund within 60 days of purchase.
Black Ovis
From the same company that brought you the Camofire.com flash deal website, comes giant hunting ecommerce site Black Ovis.
What we like about Black Ovis:
- Huge inventory of hunting gear
- Free domestic shipping on orders over $50
- 30-day return policy
Black Ovis has a huge inventory of hunting gear, and carries Tethrd, Trophyline and Hawk saddle hunting gear. While they may only carry three brands, they have a great selection of gear from each.
Black Ovis provides fast shipping, often going out the same day. Ground shipping is free on domestic orders over $50, which means it will arrive via FedEx or USPS.
While their return policy is not quite as generous as GoWild, they still offer a 30-day window to send your items back.
You can save 10% off your first order with them if you sign up to receive their SMS text messages.
Amazon
Chances are you already have an Amazon account. In fact, you’ve probably bought some hunting gear from there at some point. What you may not know is that more and more saddle gear manufacturers are offering their gear for sale there.
Hawk and XOP offer a variety of gear there, including saddles, platforms, and climbing sticks. Latitude and Tethrd both offer a limited supply of accessories.
You’ll also start to find quite a few Chinese knockoff saddles that look uncannily similar to the Tethrd Phantom. However, I DO NOT recommend trusting your life to a Chinese knockoff. There’s too much on the line, and a saddle or rope failure could have disastrous results.
Shipping is typically free for Amazon Prime members, and I’ve never had an issue returning items to Amazon for refund or replacement.
Saddle Manufacturers
The most common source of saddle hunting gear comes from the manufacturers themselves. Most of these companies started as direct-to-consumer, and are just now expanding into retail locations like Amazon and other online and brick-and-mortar retailers.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with buying direct from the manufacturer. It’s just that the manufacturer is often the first to sell out of product, and the last to offer any type of discount.
If you do decide to buy direct, here’s a look at the shipping and return policies for some of the major saddle manufacturers.
Tethrd
According to their website, Tethrd usually ships in-stock items within three to five business days. Backordered items can vary, so you’ll have to refer to the specific product page for lead time.
Sample Shipping Cost
Tethrd Phantom Kit
- $9.69 USPS Ground Advantage
- $20.63 UPS Ground
- $92.22 UPS Next Day Air
They ship everything via UPS and USPS, and offer multiple options when checking out. Most orders take between two to seven days to arrive at their destination.
If you’re not satisfied with your order, Tethrd has a 30-day return policy to start a claim. After the 30 day window, it is at the company’s discretion. Once you’ve made your claim, you’ll have 14 days to ship the order back to Tethrd.
Tethrd will cover shipping costs to return warranty and defect issues, but you pay shipping to return items you’ve changed your mind on.
Latitude
Latitude does not offer shipping speed information on their website. They do offer standard shipping as well expedited (1-2 day) shipping. The expedited shipping comes at a premium ($59/50 for a Method 2 saddle kit to my address in Georgia).
Sample Shipping Cost
Method 2 Kit
- $12.65 standard
- $59.50 expedited
For all online orders, Latitude offers a 30-day, satisfaction guaranteed return policy, effective upon receipt of your item. Tracking information will be used to determine the date with which the item was received for eligibility.
To be eligible for a full refund, your item must be in the same condition that you received it, showing no signs of excessive wear and tear or damage and must include any tags shipped with the item.
Customers are responsible for the cost of return shipping, tracking information, and lost or stolen return shipments.
CRUZR
CRUZR prides itself in shipping orders quickly. Most in stock items ship out within the same or next business day, unless otherwise specified.
For backordered merchandise, the order will ship out when the backordered merchandise becomes available, usually within the indicated lead time.
If only a portion of your order is backordered, the in-stock merchandise may ship sooner, with the remaining items shipping separately once they become available for shipping.
CRUZR offers free shipping on orders over $300.
Sample Shipping Cost
CRUZR Archon Saddle Kit
- Free (on orders over $300)
- Flat Rate $14.00
As far as returns, if you’re not completely satisfied with your purchase for any reason, you can return it to CRUZR for a full refund or exchange within 30 days of the purchase date. The item(s) must be in new/unused condition with all original tags and labels attached.
Trophyline
Trophyline is another popular saddle manufacturer. While I couldn’t find anything on their website about shipping times, some of the reviews indicate they do a good job getting items out the door quickly.
At the time I write this, they are offering free shipping on all items. I don’t know if they always do that, or if it’s a temporary promotion, but I tested it with a Venatic saddle kit, and it indeed showed up in my cart as free shipping.
Sample Shipping Cost
Trophyline Venatic Saddle Kit
- Free
Trophyline’s return policy is the same as the other manufacturers discussed on here: You may return or exchange any Trophyline product for any reason within 30 days of the purchase date.
Trophyline does cover shipping on domestic order returns, which is nice.
TX5 Custom Gear
TX5 is a little different from the other manufacturers on our list, because they offer customization on all their hunting saddles. Because of that, there is a 4-6 week lead time on most saddles.
Accessories may ship quicker, and TX5 is good about giving you a lead time estimate on all orders.
TX5 offers a variety of shipping options, though none of them are free. Here’s what I came up with for my sample order of a Lonestar 2.0 saddle:
Sample Shipping Cost
Lonestar 2.0 Saddle
- USPS Priority $13.81
- UPS Ground 18.34
- USPS First Class $30.00
- USPS Priority Mail Express $49.50
- UPS 3 Day Select $51.36
- UPS 2nd Day Air $63.84
- UPS Next Day Air $148.71
TX5 has a 15 day return policy on new/unused products from date of delivery. After the 15 day window it is at the company’s discretion to accept a return/exchange.
The customer is responsible for all shipping costs when returning/exchanging products. The company says it’s the customers responsibility to notify them when returns/exchanges have been shipped and to provide them with tracking information.
Returned/Exchanged items must be in new/unused condition or the customer may be subject to a 15% restocking fee.
Final Thoughts
As the popularity of saddle hunting continues to rise, I have to believe gear will become much more readily available. At some point, you’ll probably be able to walk into your local Bass Pro or Cabela’s and try on all the latest saddles.
Until then, you’ll just have to make due with the few companies out there offering saddle hunting gear. Fortunately there are a few great options beyond just buying direct from the manufacturer.
These alternatives often offer discounted prices, free shipping, and generous return policies, so don’t be afraid to give them a try!
