The SAS and stick feel are selected on before take off (the stick feel usually during pre-start checks), there are 4 switches that all need to be selected to the UP/ON position, the left had one is the SAS master and the other 3 are the pitch roll and yaw actuators.
For take off, the stick feel release button is depressed on the cyclic and released once in the steady hover.
The SAS and stick feel are used throughout the flight envelope, the SAS gives rate damping and the stick feel allows the pilot to trim to an attitude and release the cyclic (if needed) but it is not an attitude hold.