Okay, this article isn’t going to win me any brownie points with potential sponsors but, here goes…
Let me start by saying I’m a minimalist when it comes to hunting. This is born from the fact that I hunt public lands and subsequently do a lot of hiking to get away from the crowds. A few extra ounces in my pack or around my neck can feel like a few hundred pounds after a 2-mile hike through the woods. It took me a couple of seasons before I took a hard look at my gear bag and culled out everything that wasn’t absolutely necessary. Hunting products run the gamut from essential tools to the ridiculous. I mean what do you really need to hunt effectively? People have been highly proficient for thousands of years with nothing more than a hand made bow, flinging a stick with a sharp rock tied to it. If you’re like me and you work for a living, spending hard-earned money on useless crap is not an option. As you probably already know, I only hunt whitetails & turkeys with a bow on public land, so your mileage may vary depending on your hunting scenario but the principles are the same.
CAMO
I only buy outerwear. Do you really need camo boxers? Take a look in any catalog and you’ll quickly notice the markup of any item that has a camo pattern on it. Is it cool to have a camo pattern on everything you own? Absolutely. Do I need it? Well, not really.
FOOTWEAR
This is where I don’t mind spending a little money. Nothing is worse than having wet, cold or sore feet. Usually you get what you pay for when it comes to hunting boots. Oh, and a little tip, break them in long before the season starts.
BOW
Here’s where I’m going to be controversial. It doesn’t really matter what brand you shoot or what sights, rest or stabilizer you use. Like most guys I used to be a snob about this until a friend of mine who wanted to start bow hunting went down to Wally World and bought his first bow. When he asked me what I thought of it (not wanting to discourage him) I said, “You should be able to kill deer with it.” Within a couple of months he had that thing tuned and was shooting 3” groups at 35 yards. And guess what, he did kill deer with it. Two of them that first season. Sure, some bows are built better than others. They have better features, are more technically advanced, are faster, quieter and will impress more of your friends (isn’t that what its all about). The bottom line is shoot the best you can afford and look for durability and quality.
OPTICS
I probably should’ve started with this category because it illustrates my point better than all my other gear. I own an expensive pair of binoculars and they look great collecting dust on the shelf at home. I never take them into the woods. After lugging them around for two years, I finally realized I never took them out of my backpack. Now I’m not saying you don’t need binoculars. In most cases they’re an absolute necessity. I’m saying that in the places where I hunt, they just aren’t necessary and I never used them so why carry them into the woods?
SCENTS
As with most hunters, I’ve done a lot of experimentation with different attractants, looking for that magic formula that brings giant deer running in just like the ad I saw on TV. So far I haven’t found it. Deer live and die by their sense of smell so I’ve learned to be very careful when and how I use scents. I mainly only use doe-in-estrous during rutting activity and I’ve found only a few brands that I actually have confidence in using. Everything else I leave alone. This comes from years of trial and (a lot of) error. To me it is more important to have as minimal impact as possible as to my presence in the woods. Which brings me to my next topic…
CALLS
Grunt tubes, doe bleats, rattling bags, I don’t use them. In my area where the doe to buck ratio is about 20:1 and there is little to no competition for breeding, calls are just not effective. Why sit in a tree and broadcast to every living thing within shouting distance that I’m here? I do however have one call that I use. It’s a bleat that I make with my voice. Believe it or not it works better than anything I’ve tried but, I only call to deer I can see and only if they’re moving away from me. Of course this tactic doesn’t apply everywhere. If the deer in your area are responsive to calling, by all means do it! For me though, its one less thing I have to carry.
ON A BUDGET?
Hunting equipment can be very expensive especially if you’re starting from scratch. Here are a few tips to keep a little jingle in your pocket. Buy second hand. Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last ten years you know ebay is a great source for deals on hunting gear (not to mention everything else). I’ve bought and sold tons of equipment on there. Think about the coolest bow that was out two or even three years ago. Is it junk now because of this year’s models? Of course not but too many people believe they can’t live without the latest and greatest so they’ll sell that three year old bow at a huge discount to help offset the cost of a new one. And the best part is a lot of them are fully accessorized. Treestands are another good example. A good treestand will last you for years. You can usually get those for half price on ebay. Timing is also a good way to save money. Go to your local pro shop right after hunting season. Most stores are having big sales at this time of year. When I first got back into hunting I needed to buy everything. My first season I got by on borrowed gear. After the season was over I went to a post-season sale at the local pro shop. I got everything I needed, a new bow, treestand, camo, boots, the works. I got everything at 40% off and I put it on layaway so I only had to put 10% down and had 6 months to pay it off with no interest.
DON’T BUY THE HYPE
I could go on for hours about this stuff but the moral to the story is the animals we pursue are wild beasts with a mind of their own. There is no magic bullet to guarantee success in the field. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking ‘If I only had this gadget or was shooting those arrows.’ The best piece of equipment you can have is knowledge and experience. Strategize and use that lump of cauliflower sloshing around between your ears. Study the animals you hunt. Learn everything you can about them. You’ll gain a greater appreciation for them and your success rate will grow exponentially.