Whats Your perfect hunting Saddle?

[R Severe]

Tell me what you think is the perfect hunting saddle for your country.

Tree type-- roper , slick fork. or the undercut swells like the Ellensburg or formfitter.
Riggin type and such.
Most are probably like me and ride what they use on other jobs, but what would you use if you had strictly a hunting saddle?

[TUCO]

I realy like my mclelen(spelling)? ol army style saddle. it fits me great....only problem with it is it didnt fit any of my horses backs. to narrow of a tree for my fat back horses

[Mt Goat]

[houndsnmules]

I've built several circa 1890 style saddles (for mules) I use them for hunting and find them quite comfortable

[R Severe]

Getting a few, just curious as to what folks are riding in different parts.
I ride a Norton Roper most all the time, mainly for the work that gets done.
For a huntin saddle I'm still trying to figure out if I like the true Hamley Wade or the Hamley Ellensburg the best.

[Arkansas Frog]

Cook Saddle

[Spencer]

[Mike Leonard]

[highcounrtyblu]

[R Severe]

Now we're gettint to the nuts & bolts, thanks all.
Mike, the Lieuallen family lives bout 15 miles from me. Thet tree is a good one for lots of reasons. I think Paul Leiuallen was the one who came up with the tree, or maybe his father.

I'm looking at trees that have a shorter bar to keep the bars outtta the kidnys. I like the added security of the Ellensburg/ Assn. tree, but in real steep ground the Wade won't sore your thighs on those long downhill rides. You can get the security with the buck roll's & they are soft.

Both these trees are real comfortable for long rides and I'm kinda torn between the two. Two things make me lean a little toward the Wade, the horn is lower to the horses withers for roping, & it can be made much lighter than most saddles due to the wood horn.

Mike, my dad & I worked a lot with trippers on the early Olin Young ropers. That tree has a good bar in it. The word I got is that it was designed from the Buster Welch cutter. The Buster Welch cutter came from a old busted bronc saddle that Buster liked ( so the story goes)
They do have the same lenght bar and same shape as the Assn tree.

Thanks guys.

[Mike Leonard]

[R Severe]

[highcounrtyblu]

[DesertDweller]

Yuppers, can't be nothing but a wade......

[R Severe]

Lots of different stories floating around on the history of the Wade tree. Most of the guys that know for sure are gone so no way of proving who did what.
Walt Youngman was the treemaker at Hamley & company who built those first trees and made the patterns of the saddle that was brought into him. I have those original patterns. My dad learned his trade from Walt in the treeshop and my uncle learned the leather end in the Hamley saddleshop.

I've heard all the stories about how the wade came into being but the owners name of the original Old Mex saddle that Tom & Bill Dorance liked so well has slipped thru.
Dale Harwood at Trails End Saddle shop used to get trees from dad for around 12 years, Ray Hunts first wade saddle has one of dads tree in it.

When Dad couldn't keep up with the demand Dale came over and learned to build trees himself, good ones I might add. Rays second wade, the one with the tooling to the inside has one of Dales trees in it.

I credit the Dorrence's with making the Wade as well known as it is today.
They are the ones who took the saddles into the high desert and the cowboys there got a look at them and realized the value they had for thier kind of riding. Wallowa Co. in Oregon had lots of Hamley Wades in it as well as lots of Wades from our shop well before 1950. The nature of the work in that country fit the wade to a tee.
I'll post a couple pics of the country the guys used these trees in. The pictures where not to far as the crow flies from Dorrance Cabin. A bit further as the horse walks.
The Imnaha river canyon above town.

Saddle Creek, just down from freezeout saddle, one of the main trail's into Hell's Canyon

I'll get back tonight and explain some of the things in the wade tree that makes it so great for this country and now other spots folks still wear out horse shoes.