Setting up to for a hunt in an ESS

*With an ESS or any saddle, there is no reason to have pouches attached on your saddle to store ropes or anything in. Backpacks are designed to carry extra items, including your ropes. Having pouches dangle and freely swing below your saddle during a hunt is another potential way of getting picked. I have NEVER even considered using a pouch and neither has any of the long-time saddle users I know that have been successful in tough to hunt areas where deer look in trees for hunters.

I always wear my backpack while ascending and descending prepared trees and store my tree tether in it. Once up the tree and on my ring of steps I hang my pack about 120 degrees to my right and then take out the tree tether and hook it up. When I remove the lineman rope it goes in the pack. On DIY freelance hunts where I go in cold and pick a tree and prep and hunt it, I prepare the tree first while using my lineman safety rope and then go back down and tie off my bow and put on my pack and go back up for the hunt.

Setting up

1. Assuming your saddle is on per the putting on instructions, and around your waist, at the base of the tree hook the carabiner on the loop end of your lineman rope to one of the lineman loops. Slide the other carabiner to the end of the rope. Wrap the lineman rope around the tree and hook that carabiner to the lineman loop on the other side of the saddle. Slide the carabiner along the rope until you can comfortably lean back and be supported by the lineman rope and be in an upright position for climbing.
2. You now have both hands free for climbing, placing sticks, steps or to climb up an already prepared tree. As you climb, every couple steps you will need to hold onto a step or the tree and pull yourself slightly forward to relieve the tension on the lineman rope and then move the lineman rope up the backside of the tree far enough to continue placing sticks or steps or to climb. As you climb you may have to adjust the working length of the lineman rope to accommodate the changing diameter of the tree.
3. Continue up the tree until you have placed your ring of steps or platform. If using a platform, I STRONGLY recommend placing a few steps on the backside of the tree (at the same level as the platform) so you can easily move around it for shot opportunities and so the tree can be used to hide behind.
4. While standing on the steps or platform in the position you want to hunt from and with the lineman rope supporting you, remove and hang up your pack. Take the tree tether rope from your pack and slide the prussic knot/carabiner along it until it is near the knotted end of the rope. While still in a standing position, at forehead level wrap the looped end of the tether rope around the tree and grab it with your other hand and hold the loop end in front of you while sliding your other hand back along the rope. While holding the looped end in front of you, slip the other end of the tether rope through the loop and slide everything (with prussic knot/carabiner) through the loop until it is completely through and dangling below the loop.
5. Using both hands, slide the tether rope up or down the tree (back and front of tree) until the loop end is at about eye height and then hold the loop end against the tree and pull down on the dangling end of the tether rope until it tightens to the tree. Let go and with both hands free, slide the carabiner up the rope until it is about 16 inches from the tree and then hook the carabiner to the saddles bridge strap.
6. Lean back into the saddle and adjust the carabiner along the tree tether rope until your weight is being somewhat equally supported by the lineman and tree tether ropes. Now loosen the tension of the lineman rope only by sliding the prussic knot/carabiner. At this point the tree tether is supporting your weight and while the lineman rope is still attached, it is loose.
7. Loosen the ESS waist belt several inches and with one hand, grab the tree and pull yourself slightly forward to relieve the tension on the tree tether. While still holding the tree, reach behind you with your free hand and grab the bottom of both overlapped panels and pull them both down under your butt and once under your butt, grab the top of the outer panel only (the panel the lineman loops are on) and pull it up so the top of the outer panel is at about waist level and the inner panel remains under your butt. At this point you now have about a 14-inch depth a seat to sit in or lean back into with the tree tether supporting you. You can also re-tighten the waist belt or leave it loose and it will need to be loose whenever you adjust the outer panel for seat depth.
8. Lastly, disconnect the lineman rope and put it in your pack. You are now 100% supported by the tree tether rope and can adjust its working length until you are in whatever position is most comfortable to you. At any time during a hunt, you can now either grab the tree or grab the tree tether rope anyplace between where it is connected to the tree and the carabiner to slightly lift your weight for any seat panel or tether length adjustments. Now kill something!!!!

*While this process may seem like it would take some time because I spelled it out in detail, once standing on your ring of steps or platform with the lineman rope supporting you, the accumulative amount of time it should take to hook up the tree tether, hook the carabiner to the bridge strap, adjust the saddle panels to your desired seat depth, and to dis-attach the lineman rope should take less than a minute.

Descending the tree

1. To descend the tree after a hunt, reattach the lineman rope around the tree and to the lineman loops and adjust it to the tree diameter, grab and slide the outer panel down over the inner panel so that they are evenly overlapped and then pull both overlapped panels up above your waist and tighten the waist belt. At this point the ESS should be on in a similar manner to how it was on when climbing the tree.
2. Adjust the lineman rope until it and the tree tether are equally supporting your weight and then with both hands free, remove the tree tether.
3. Adjust the lineman rope as needed for the trees diameter and descend the tree using both hands. Once on the ground remove the lineman rope and recover your kill!