Hunting Gear and Products

I can't believe it took as long as it did, but SPOT came to the rescue, a couple years ago in fact. Now becoming hugely popular, the rugged SPOT Satellite Personal Tracker is a must-have for anyone and everyone who ventures into remote places or participates in high-risk activities. Whether you're a hunter, angler, backpacker, paddler, snowmobiler, or even a globetrotter - this little unit is a keeper.

The hunting/sporting optics market in the 21st century is highly competitive. New manufacturers and brands seem to crop up regularly and even established companies with long histories are continually updating their product line. In this competitive marketplace it's easy to get lost in the variety of products out there. Keeping this in mind we were a little skeptical when we were approached by Vanguard of Whitmore Lake Michigan to take a look at their flagship Spirit 10x42 binoculars. In a crowded optics marketplace, why bother with yet another manufacturer? It turns out the Spirit line of binoculars is worth your consideration.

Nikon has been in the optics market for a long time, and is best known for their camera and non-hunting optics business. However over the last decade, Nikon has been progressively making a push into the hunting and sporting optics market. Today, Nikon manufactures a variety of binoculars, spotting scopes, rangefinders, and rifle scopes specifically for the hunting market. Chances are good that you or a hunter you know has tried out one of Nikon's products. For this review we are going to take a look at the Monarch series of rifle scopes.

When Double Bull Archery introduced their T5 blind in 2002, I cringed at the $500 price tag but eventually bit the bullet and shelled out the money to purchase one. Most blinds on the market at the time were noisy, shiny and cheaply made. The T5 seemed to take a different approach and answered the desires of hunters willing to pay for a quality product that would perform well. Since then, I have put my T5 through a variety of punishing hunting situations and weather conditions that would have left most blinds in a heap of shredded material and bent rods but the T5 still looks almost as good as the day I got it and has performed flawlessly.

The technology of monitoring game trails has progressed rapidly since man first decided he needed to know what time his prey walked down a specific path. The 35 mm versions have all but disappeared with the explosion of the digital age and manufacturers have been scampering to get a piece of the market ever since. Cuddeback has always been a leader in the digital market and their new Capture model trail camera proves that they are continuing to produce quality products.

Let's face it - today's hunters carry more "stuff." From binoculars to spotting scopes, rangefinders to GPSs, extra clothes, food and drink, and calls for every occasion. In order to keep all this gear organized and still easily accessible, every hunter needs a good backpack. While some of us can get everything we need into just a small daypack, others of us need something with a little more storage room. If you're like me and fit into the latter category, then you may want to give Fieldline's Glenwood Canyon internal frame backpack a look.