by Bob Warden
It’s hard to believe we have gone through another hunting season and made it through the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays without gaining too much weight (yeah, right). Now we start a new year.
I hope your season went well, or at least better than ours. It seemed like a tough hunting year for a lot of folks out there. I talked with lots of people who are wondering where all the bucks got to. I know we didn’t see many good-sized bucks during the daylight hours, but we had some dandies on the trail cam at night. I only hope they made it through the season. I’m not sure about the reason for the night-time-only pics; it may have something to do with the warm weather and the rut activity that only seemed to pick up right at dark and only for a few days.
But, anyway, another year is over and we start to think about and plan for 2016 events and hunts. Where to move stands, and if we need to move stands, do we put in more food plots and take care of existing food plots? Seems like hunting is getting to be a year-round adventure and lots of work! But that makes it all the more rewarding when we see all our hard work pan out, with better turkey production and a healthier deer herd.
Also, I would like you to start thinking about the upcoming outdoor shows, which ones to attend, what new products to check out, and which ones to try out. The ATA show is already over in Kentucky and the Shot Show in Vegas just ended. The Great American Outdoor Show in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, is getting ready to open on February 6-14, 2016. So, get your walking shoes on and head to Harrisburg; I hear it’s going to be better then last year!
On the new product front, I see Bear and Browning are getting into the crossbow craze . I guess they see how sales of crossbows have caught or passed sales of compounds. Rage, Muzzy, and Ramcat (to name a few), have new designs in their broadheads coming out for 2016. Moultrie is also coming out with a field modem to adapt to your trail cams, to send pics to your phone through the Verizon mobile network. They also have a new 10 MP camera coming out for under $100. Spypoint trail cams is causing a big stir by unveiling a camera with 0.007 second trigger speed that has solar panels to power it, with a battery backup system. I always wonder what trail cam manufacturers are going to do next. Seems like they get faster trigger speeds, higher megapixals, and smaller camera bodies.
On the clothing front, I have been watching a company that seems to be trying to compete with Under Armor. They have two divisions: HUK gear (for fishing) and NOMAD gear (for hunting). I have purchased some of both, and it looks and seems well made—pricing is a little cheaper than Under Armor. One thing I did buy this year for hunting season was heated vests and gloves. They run on 7-volt lithium batteries and last up to six hours, depending on what level you run them on. They are not cheap, but I am tired of getting cold on the stand. Now, this year was not that cold for a good test, but they did seem to work as advertised. Maybe next year will be colder and more of a test.
As a side note, if any of you older folks remember The Fishin’ Hole with Jerry McKinnis (I grew up watching that show). Well, anyway, he just wrote a book, which is now available on Amazon. Its titled, Bass Fishing, Brown Dogs & Curveballs. I just finished it; it’s a good read with lots of interesting stories of his life before, during, and after The Fishin Hole.
Well, just a few thoughts and ideas for all of you for the new year. You can check out what’s going on in the industry, on the show front, on the product front, and on the personal front, by visiting the sites at theoutdoorwire.com and archerywire.com. It is new information every weekday from the outdoor wire, and new information once a week from the archery wire.
As always, be safe in the outdoors and be a good ambassador for our sport! Hang in there…turkey season is right around the corner.
