Looking back over the past couple of decades, those of us that hunt, fish and enjoy the outdoor lifestyle have seen many new products come on the market. I can name a few items that have made my outdoor activities much more productive and fun. I can also recall some new ‘gizmos’ that I tried once that wound up way in the back of my storage building. As an old hook and bullet writer, I have been asked on many occasions to give these products a try and then introduce them to my readers/listeners/viewers. Some of the items I found very useful and I gladly shared my experiences with them, others well, not so much. These are the ones that wound up in the back of my building!
I recall the UPS man delivering a package that contained a section of rope attached to a metal hook. It came with an instruction sheet and it was to be used when hunting from a tree stand. When an item was accidentally dropped, the rope was lowered and the idea was to dangle the hook above the item and, hopefully ‘hook’ the item and pull it back up. This would avoid climbing down and spooking game. During my one and only test, I intentionally left my binocular with strap on the ground, climbed into the stand and spent the next ten minutes trying to hook the binocular strap without success. I wound up cutting the hook off and using the cord to lift my bow and gear up to the stand.
The see-through pop-up ground blinds that hit the market a few years ago quickly gained popularity with hunters, and I currently own three such blinds. In the past couple years, I have had much success hunting from them. The blinds set up in a couple minutes and once inside, provide close to 225-degree visibility from the front and both sides. From these blinds, it’s possible to spot game from all sides except the enclosed section in the very back but game cannot see through the screen like material. I shot a mature buck last season from one of these blinds at 20 yards, he walked as close as ten yards and never detected me. I still remember how surprised I was to see a mature white tail calmly walking that close to me. I could see every move he made but he had no idea a human was anywhere nearby.
Forward Facing Sonar is a relatively new invention that has swept the fishing world by storm. Guides and tournament anglers alike are using it and for good reason-it allows them to see underwater and position bait almost in the fish’s mouth. I’m not knocking this cutting-edge technology but it’s not for me. I detest looking at a screen, especially during bright sunshine and picking my bait out of all the images that appear and then positioning the bait just above the fishes mouth. It’s not the idea of actually locating the fish that bothers me, it’s looking at that dang screen! I actually like the idea of someone else spotting the fish and simply telling me how deep to fish. But then, I’m not a ‘gamer’ like my grandsons, I’m old school and like to actually keep my eyes on what’s going on around me while on the water. I can see why the younger generation of anglers enjoy this technology, but I also wonder if they might be missing out on learning out some of the basics of finding fish and then catching them.
I have always loved cooking outdoors and have used wood fires smokers for years to crank out some great tasting barbeque. Several years ago, I began using my Smoking Tex electric smoker and nowadays only occasionally fire up my old wood burner when it comes time for a barbeque dinner. I learned the electric smoker produces smoked meat that is just as tasty- maybe tastier because the amount of smoke and heat can easily be adjusted. It’s nice to add wood to the wood box that slides over the heating element, set the thermostat and let the meat slow cook for hours. I often let large cuts of game meat slow smoke the entire night while I’m sleeping. I used to have to stay awake to feed wood to that old wood burner. Out of nostalgia, I will probably continue to occasionally fire up my old stick burner but for day-to-day outdoor cooking, give me my electric smoker!
I’ve gone through a steep learning curve when it comes to shotgun chokes. Back in the day, there were three primary chokes, full, modified and improved cylinder. There are very tight chokes designed for hunting turkey available today that shoot a tight, four inch pattern at 25 yards. I remember getting one of these super tight chokes for an eastern turkey hunt in some very heavy cover up in Oklahoma several years ago. On two occasions I had longbeards almost in my lap, at 15 to 20 yards, I aimed at their head/neck and missed both. I am still shocked over this. I mean, who is going to miss TWICE at almost point-blank range with a 12-gauge shotgun? I made the mistake of not patterning that choke before the hunt and was shocked when I checked the pattern after missing the gobblers. Since then, I have reverted to using my old standard full choke and haven’t missed a bird since!
There’s so much hype these days about what is the best caliber for deer rifles, especially on YouTube or the internet. So much that it even caused some of us old times to rethink using that trusty ’06, .243 or .270 that’s served us well for decades. It’s fun to experiment with some of the new calibers, thus the popularity of the 6.5 Creedmoor a few years ago. But spend much time on social media these days and the so called ‘experts’ will try to convince you that Creedmoor is a pea shooter not suited for deer size game. Don’t get caught up in the hype-inside 200 yards any rifle caliber from .243 on up makes a find deer rifle providing one learns to be a proficient rifleman and understands where to put the bullet and this includes the Creedmoor- I’ve tested the caliber in the field and found it compares closely with the .243, a caliber I’ve been hunting with for many years.
Contact outdoors writer Luke Clayton through his website www.catfishradio.org. Catfish radio can be heard on KOXE 101.3 every Saturday at 9 am following Lone Star Trail Outdoors with Nathan Smith at 8 am. You can also listen to “Catfish Radio with Luke Clayton and Friends” just about everywhere podcasts are found.
