Hunting Upgrades

As we enter into the holiday season, many of us may have outdoor related guns and gear on our wish lists. Over the years, my sons have offered extremely accurate lists to avoid any possible miss. No one wants Santa to go through the time and effort to deliver the wrong size, color or type of anything.

I have been mostly a bowhunter over the last 20 years and spent some time thinking back on the equipment that I started with and where I’m at now. My first bow was given to me by a friend. It was used for a few years by him, was a compound bow and featured wooden laminated limbs and a sight with painted pins. My arrows were aluminum and the vanes were feathered. My accuracy was horrible and thankfully no arrows were released at any animal over those introductory years.

I progressed into buying a used High Country compound bow that featured “hatchet cams” that resembled tomahawks. My gosh, was that thing loud when I released an arrow! However, I shot my first deer with it, a small spike that came in on the ridge I was hunting and directly under my stand. It crashed downhill off that ridge near a pond. I was so excited with this being my first and still have a great picture and the small spike rack from it.

As darkness approached, I dressed it out quickly as coyotes began to howl nearby. The memory still burns deep in my mind. I actually use the photo and the rack during my Hunter Education classes to drive home that any animal taken with a “string and a stick” is a trophy.

Over the years, I would upgrade my bow with a new one after selling my old one. I believe it’s a great philosophy and one that my sons also use. I still enjoy bowhunting and use a very high quality bow, carbon arrows and very high quality broadheads. After knocking my wrist strap release on my metal stand over the years, I upgraded to a back tension release. I’ve scared enough deer away with the other.

I use a three-pin fiber-optic sight and carry a great set of binoculars and rangefinder. I love this setup and have been very successful with it.

So, what does the future hold for hunters? A few years back, a website offered “hunting by keyboard,” where a person could pay a fee, log in on their computer and see a video camera image of the animal. They could line up crosshairs in the sight picture and take the shot to kill the animal. For an added fee, they would send you a DVD of your “hunt.”

Thankfully, I believe that most of these sites are gone.

What does new technology hold for hunters? Hopefully, we will retain the ability to scout food and water sources, rubs, scrapes, bedding areas, travel corridors and patterns. Learn how the moon can affect deer behaviors. Learn how to field-dress a deer and skin it out and quarter it. Don’t lose sight that although the goal may be to successfully and ethically harvest a deer, enjoy the sunrises and sunsets and all that comes in between when you spend time in God’s creation.