From carbon suits, now silver suits and clothes, to packaged deer poop, and urine, not to mention estrus secretions, (YUCK) I mean who has the job of harvesting this stuff...... and my personal favorite the "camo soap" from laundry detergent to foot powder, shampoo, wipes, everything you can imagine is now "Scent free" to help us kill game. I have to hand it to the companies, Primos, Mossy Oak, Hunters Specialities, TINKS, etc, they really know how to saturate a market.
But none of this replaces good woodsmanship. Nothing will replace effective scouting, hunting the wind, being still, etc. You can't buy woodsman ship at Wal-Mart or Cabela's, it's not available at Bass Pro Shops, it is only found in time spent in the woods. I am afraid as we try and bring in more people, young people into the sport, we are bringing in gadget junkies who know nothing about how to hunt, who can't tell the difference between a rub and a scrape, who wander through the woods never noticing a white oak from a red oak. We are building crutches for them to use when they don't have success, "I needed the new Realtree AP in green and I forgot to spray with scentlok before i left," - Fact of the matter is, woodsmanship is learned, passed down from generation to generation, and as we give it up for the next gimmick we are teaching our children the same thing. We are teaching them how to find excuses instead of learning opportunities. - We have lost the thrill of the hunt, and replaced it with harvest records.
Just two days ago, our archery season opened, and I went out at 12:30 to have an afternoon hunt, I sat in a natural ground blind i made weeks earlier in a good funnel area between bedding and feeding areas, - spotting some feeding does in the distance i began a stalk to close the distance for my longbow - it was one of the most exciting hunts I've ever had. I had the opportunity to draw on a doe twice, never loosed the arrow, but my heart was pumping, I was excited, I had placed myself directly in her path. years of failed attempts, years of poorly placed stands, not noticing wind currents, just hanging a stand where i can see the most area, a lot of time in the field translates to effective hunting. - I have a lot to learn, a lot, but after falling victim myself to some of these gimmicks that are being touted as the secret to hunting success, I have reverted to the old tried and true, the simple.
So as I recover from the addiction to the hunting industry, I warmly embrace the hunting life, the tradition, the sportsman's way, I welcome the failures and the successes no matter how small. I welcome the learning curve and could care less on how steep it is. I am certain much of it will come back. Much of it was not forgotten, just relegated to the old and not effective anymore. But it will return, scout 80% of the time and hunt 20% - learn what the woods are telling you, if you pay attention, the woods will tell you everything you need to know about your area, and you can set yourself in a perfect position. Sit still, hunt the wind; be flexible, mobile, adjust in the middle of your game if you have to - if this isn't working, do something else.
Remembering above all else that Hunting is a privilege it is about being there, it's about participating in the out of doors, respecting what it teaches you about your quarry and yourself. It is a discipline that few master, but many enjoy, lets bring the enjoyment back into our beloved sport rid ourselves from all of the gimmicks and just enjoy our Times well Spent.
