Hunting Sense

Wouldn’t it be so much easier to shoot your line out into the water than having to cast it? Well, that is exactly what you can do with the Rocket Fishing Rod, pictured above. Now you can fish almost exactly like you hunt!

I saw a commercial for it while watching fishing shows with my oldest son over the weekend. While I definitely don’t see it being something for the entire family, I do see the benefit of it for the primary target user…the kids. In fact, being so close to Christmas, and knowing the kids want some fishing gear under the tree, I’m seriously considering this for all three of them.

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Most modern hunters deny that their embrace of technology has eroded sportsmanship and hunting skills. Curiously, they still see themselves as old-fashioned woodsmen, intimate with their prey and with the outdoors.

But I have the strong suspicion that if one were to ask a high-tech hunter if he had the slightest notion how to track and stalk a whitetail buck, he would slink away in embarrassment.

I read the above statements in an article I found this morning. Nothing like reading others opinions to get the old brain to working, is there? It definitely got me to thinking about how true this is.

Hunting, in it’s simplest form, is something that requires nothing more than skill and a basic understanding of your prey to be successful. In today’s world, it is quickly becoming something that requires a lot of equipment and very little skill. If anything, all that is required is a little bit of luck.

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Hunters in general tend to be an innovative bunch of people. We are constantly either trying, or coming up with, new tactics, ideas, or items to help us in our pursuit of the animals we hunt. To continue being successful, we have to constantly adapt to our game and the particular circumstances of a certain hunting condition.

So, quite often, we find ourselves not only using new products that hit the market, but often times we fabricate what we need ourselves. These could range from hunting blinds to our own scents, and numerous things in-between. I know because I’ve been there and done that myself.

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As hunters, we put a lot of trust into our tree stands. We trust that the manufacturer has built them right, that they are strong and sturdy, and that they will hold our weight for countless hours while we sit in them waiting on on the game of our choice to walk by. All of this without worrying about it failing and us coming crashing to the ground.

All tree stands come with a recommended weight limit and I’m sure that most of us pay careful attention to it when choosing which stand we buy. But how often do we take into consideration not only our weight, but the weight of us and all of our gear? And by gear, I’m talking clothes, boots, weapon, and anything else we carry with us into the stand. I know I’ve never really considered it before, but I normally go for the heaviest weight limit rated stand just because it makes me feel safer in general.

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I’ve never had the opportunity to try one yet, but the concept of Cabela’s E-Z Hang Treestand is one I like. It offers a good alternative to the hunter who wants better portability for relocating than a traditional strap-on stand offers but doesn’t want a climbing stand. The innovation enabling this ease of relocating the stand comes in the form of a chain on bracket that you simply attach to the tree then slide the stand into the channels.

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Hunters have long known about and taken advantage of topographic maps and aerial photos. They can be invaluable tools for preliminary scouting of possible stand locations. Finding them for the right area and/or waiting for them to arrive once you had was the hard part. That’s not the case anymore.

With advances in technology and the Internet, hunters now have these tools available at their fingertips. With just a few keystrokes, you can have access to nearly every topographic map in the U.S. and aerial photos to go along with them if available. Who says that the net is all bad?

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One of the more exciting unveilings at the SHOT Show I wrote about yesterday is Smith & Wesson’s aggresive return to manufacturing shotguns.

When it comes to pistols, the S&W name holds quite a bit of esteem among gun owners. The number of people owning one is a high one no doubt, but the number owning a S&W shotgun isn’t. After a brief foray into shotguns during the mid 70’s and early 80’s, they quit manufacturing them and the guns aren’t very prolific.

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If you’re wondering what kind of new sporting products you’ll find on store shelves this year, ESPN is your inside source for the next four days with coverage of the SHOT (Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade) Show in Orlando.

I have to admit; I’m sometimes a sucker for the latest and greatest technology for hunting. Whether or not it actually helps or improves my chances and my experience outdoors is often questionable though. Often times I find simplicity is still the best bet, but it’s still fun to see what’s new.

This event is specifically geared toward industry pros and media to showcase and unveil companies’ new products. Referred to as “the world’s largest toy store” for the hunter or shooter by National Shooting Sports Foundation spokesman Steve Wagner, the show offers 653,000 square feet of exhibits from nearly 1,900 companies. It includes everything from new scents, lights, stealth apparel, and cold-weather clothing to the latest firearms.

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‘Shoot deer first with a gun, not a camera’ says Larry Wood of the Tennessean.com. What he is referring to is the use of trail cams and he has a very unique view on them.

Larry likens their use to ’swiping a deer’s bus schedule, then waiting for it at the bus stop.’ He also says, ‘They represent yet another step down the slippery slope of technology that blurs the definition and defies the spirit of hunting.’ Huh?

I don’t know about you other hunters out there, but I don’t see the trail camera as something that takes away from hunting or the spirit of it. Hunters spend a lot of time out in the field scouting and watching for deer, but there’s no way they can be out there constantly. A trail cam is just another way to extend your scouting, by no means does it improve your odds or take the challenge out of the hunt.

I have no problem with the traditionalist way of thinking about hunting, but if they don’t want to use a new gadget, at least provide a better argument against it.

How do you use trail cams? How do they affect your hunting?

views, traditional, new technology, trail cams, video, hunting, deer