brian
10-09-2021, 01:20 PM
Originally I was going to limit myself to directly hunting related topics. But I feel new hunters are particularly vulnerable to the preys of hunting marketing. Or should I say, the idea that you can buy hunting success. So I thought I would share my thoughts on the subject. For many hunters there is a large gap in their skills and their success in the field. This especially applies to new hunters. That gap is where the hunting marketing companies make their money. Hunters will come home from the field frustrated and defeated. I have been there so many times, swearing to give it all up and pursue something easier like nuclear physics... the sound of the blacktail's laughter still haunting me. But the very next night I would be pouring over hunting articles, analyzing maps, and figuring out what I could do differently. Basically itching to get back out in the field and get humiliated all over again. It is in that space that I was most vulnerable to the marketers who will swear that I needed product X to be successful. It is an illusion that a person can spend their way into being a good hunter. I will qualify everything I write here with my held fast opinion. The number one product you need to hunt effectively is skill and knowledge, which you can't buy as gizmos off of store shelves. You will earn your skills by having mentors that can teach you, by reading articles/books, and spending plenty of time in the field. I don't want to sound boastful, but every year now I cut my blacktail tags (knock on wood). I do it within 30 yards without practising scent control, without wearing camo, and without using any commercial products. All I buy at the beginning of the year is tags and ammo. I am not a master or an expert, I am a simple hunter that is happy to put meat in the freezer. Honestly, sometimes I can't tell you how I do it, its just about being in the right place at the right time. Experience, insight, instinct, and a bit of luck will put you in the right place. Spending a whole lot of time in the wrong place will help teach you where not to be. These are all very important lessons to learn. So next time you read an article about how need a scent blocked ghillie suit to effectively hunt deer, read it with a skeptical eye. Glean all the information you can from every source you can about the biology, habits, and habitats of the animals your are hunting. Then spend as much time as you can in the field. Hope it helps.