I am a primarily nocturnal hunter, and attempt to recover every hog shot.
It provides the option of meat for the freezer and photographic proof of my value for the property manager.
Also, from a moral and ethical standpoint, I believe the taking of life is a sacred act, and that no animal should be left wounded if it all possible. I realize opinions vary widely on this, particularly within this forum.
(I also have not yet had the opportunity of shooting 100 hogs in 45 minutes from a helicopter, and immediately acknowledge that I am not going to spend the following 20 hours finding and dispatching them. This makes me either a raging hypocrite or a well-grounded realist; feel free to make that call).
Over the years, I have employed a hodgepodge of nocturnal devices to mark trails and tracking positions, and ways to carry them.
Here’s what I DON’T mess with anymore:
Reflective tacks
Pockets
Punching my harpoons under the fingernails while digging through pockets eventually prompted a re-examination of procedure.
The tracking pack holds various lengths of reflective cord and glow sticks of different lengths and colors. I prefer the sticks with a hook on one end, handy for hanging on branches or a fence.
(I have also found a glow stick to be handy when guiding; sliding one into the back of my belt and my entourage can easily follow me at night regardless of the ambient lighting).
Here’s a truth I discovered after thousands of hours and hundreds of miles bonking around in the middle of the night:
Everything I have ever taken into the field has eventually ended up on the ground with me looking for it in the dark.
EVERYTHING.
(And there is a couple hundred dollars worth of gear still out there…).
So now, virtually every piece of my gear is marked with either reflective tape or cord.
Reflective Cord
The 2” long pieces of reflective tape occasionally catch some full moon light, but it’s been worth it every few weeks when my $40 earphones have succumbed to the call of gravity.
A critical element is the additional headlamp. I wear a standard issue Coast AAA headlamp with white and red bulbs, and it does the job in virtually all situations.
But when I need serious light, with the ability to adjust from flood to spot on a blood trail, I go to the big dog, a rechargeable super bright LED headlamp. (You’ll note that the headlamp itself has reflective cord attached as well).
An interesting feature of this headlamp, indirectly related to tracking, is the flashing strobe. I found it unexpectedly valuable when spotting and stalking over huge cut corn fields in the Rio Grande Valley.
I would spot and go after hogs on foot; my partner would wait in the Mule. Cell phone reception was sketchy, so when I was ready for pickup, I would hang the the headlamp on my tripod facing him in strobe mode.
A simple and straightforward combination of gear in a single pouch: Reflective cord, glow sticks and headlamp.
Any suggestions for additional components?
It provides the option of meat for the freezer and photographic proof of my value for the property manager.
Also, from a moral and ethical standpoint, I believe the taking of life is a sacred act, and that no animal should be left wounded if it all possible. I realize opinions vary widely on this, particularly within this forum.
(I also have not yet had the opportunity of shooting 100 hogs in 45 minutes from a helicopter, and immediately acknowledge that I am not going to spend the following 20 hours finding and dispatching them. This makes me either a raging hypocrite or a well-grounded realist; feel free to make that call).
Over the years, I have employed a hodgepodge of nocturnal devices to mark trails and tracking positions, and ways to carry them.
Here’s what I DON’T mess with anymore:
Reflective tacks
Pockets
Punching my harpoons under the fingernails while digging through pockets eventually prompted a re-examination of procedure.
The tracking pack holds various lengths of reflective cord and glow sticks of different lengths and colors. I prefer the sticks with a hook on one end, handy for hanging on branches or a fence.
(I have also found a glow stick to be handy when guiding; sliding one into the back of my belt and my entourage can easily follow me at night regardless of the ambient lighting).
Here’s a truth I discovered after thousands of hours and hundreds of miles bonking around in the middle of the night:
Everything I have ever taken into the field has eventually ended up on the ground with me looking for it in the dark.
EVERYTHING.
(And there is a couple hundred dollars worth of gear still out there…).
So now, virtually every piece of my gear is marked with either reflective tape or cord.
Reflective Cord
The 2” long pieces of reflective tape occasionally catch some full moon light, but it’s been worth it every few weeks when my $40 earphones have succumbed to the call of gravity.
A critical element is the additional headlamp. I wear a standard issue Coast AAA headlamp with white and red bulbs, and it does the job in virtually all situations.
But when I need serious light, with the ability to adjust from flood to spot on a blood trail, I go to the big dog, a rechargeable super bright LED headlamp. (You’ll note that the headlamp itself has reflective cord attached as well).
An interesting feature of this headlamp, indirectly related to tracking, is the flashing strobe. I found it unexpectedly valuable when spotting and stalking over huge cut corn fields in the Rio Grande Valley.
I would spot and go after hogs on foot; my partner would wait in the Mule. Cell phone reception was sketchy, so when I was ready for pickup, I would hang the the headlamp on my tripod facing him in strobe mode.
A simple and straightforward combination of gear in a single pouch: Reflective cord, glow sticks and headlamp.
Any suggestions for additional components?
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