Binoculars
Check out our detailed guide:
Binoculars consist of two parallel optical tubes, enabling you to observe faraway objects using both eyes. This is a more natural way of viewing things compared to using a telescope or spotting scope. Viewing faraway objects with both eyes open also ensures maintenance of your depth of field for an immersive experience that lets you take in the scene in 3D. The horizontal and vertical orientation of the view is corrected by the prism, which delivers a natural appearance. Taking away the prism would result in a backward and upside down image.
Binoculars come in two designs, with one style being streamlined and the other having a heavier and chunkier configuration. The difference between the two builds depends on the prism type used. Roof prism binoculars have the glass elements aligned with one another, giving a more tand compact build that offers easier handling. On the other hand, the glass elements of porro prism binoculars are offset from each other, thus delivering greater depth of field along with a wider field of view compared to roof prism units. The shortened length is obtained with the folding of the light path, so the objectives are spread farther apart.
GPS
Interested in getting one but don’t know where to start?
In hunting, you sometimes head into unfamiliar territory, especially when you do your hunting in the woods. A GPS can provide some form of protection should conditions become less than ideal. Hunting in bad weather can reduce visibility, with trails potentially getting washed out and poorly marked ones getting even worse. Rain, fog or snow can render the trail impossible to find so you could get hopelessly lost. A GPS delivers location-based information that will be impossible for your eyes to obtain on their own. GPS devices are used by hunters to mark the location of tree stands, trailheads or their target game. Hunting GPS units offer a sense of security and safety to any activity in the wilderness. Some models even come with advanced features that let you hunt specific waypoints, keep you off private property using boundary alerts, make use of satellite imagery and hunting calendars as well as preloaded maps, among others.
Rangefinder
Choosing a Rangefinder was never easier:
Best Hunting Rangefinder Reviews for 2020 – Top for Bow & Rifle Hunting
Compact, accurate and affordable, rangefinders can operate in two different operating modes namely, first priority and second priority modes. For hunting, the second priority in rangefinders enable them to ignore the first object in their line of view when you are in a hunting blind or screened by leaves, branches or trees. They read the most distant object, such as your target game. On the other hand, first priority mode units range just the first object in their line of sight while ignoring the more distant, making them suitable for golfing.
Laser rangefinders come with a reticle or crosshair or other kind of aiming point when looking into the unit. Many models utilize LCD displays appearing as black lines superimposed over the target being ranged, which can prove to be difficult to view in poor lighting or against a dark background. It is recommended to choose a rangefinder equipped with a backlit LCD screen for optimal viewing, along with easy operation and a compact and lightweight build.
Hunting Knife
You can’t go anywhere without a proper hunting knife, can you?
A quality hunting knife offers extreme usefulness that even your hunting crossbow or rifle can’t match. It enables you to skin your trophy catch, splinter firewood or cut limbs from your tree stand. A hunting knife can have either a fixed or a folding blade. Folding blade knives easily collapse to a compact frame, giving them another name as pocket knives. Their blade folds into the handle, eliminating the need for a sheath. They lock when open, effectively preventing accidental closing and potential injury to you.
Fixed blade knives offer heft and size that enable you to have control during heavy-duty cutting and slashing tasks. The absence of folding joints ensure strength and toughness to handle any cutting job. You can also choose from skinner, clip-point or drop-point blades. Hunting knives are made of different varieties of steel. Choose from hard steel and soft steel knives/ You will want the knife to have reliable corrosion resistance so choose the type of steel that can deliver this element. Knife handles can be made of wood, stacked leather, antler or bone, as well as micarta, rubber and kraton polymers.
Trail Camera
Monitoring your prey is a simple task:
The task of preseason scouting has been revolutionized with the introduction of trail cameras. Hunters as well as wildlife watchers can get precise information about the kinds of game animals that frequent a specific area and the feeding and travel habits of those creatures. Good quality trail cameras help you get information on the gender, number, size and trophy quality of the game animals in your property and will even snap photos of those animals at specific times as they come into the camera range.
The more advanced models even provide time stamps for monitoring, as well as the trail camera location, the levels of humidity, temperature, barometric pressure and moon phase during the moment of image capture. Make sure the trail camera you get comes with superior detection circuit that allows it to detect activity quite well. With dependable battery life, you won’t have to keep visiting the unit to replace the batteries. You want good photo and image quality, easy programming and use.
Flashlight
You can’t shoot what you can’t see:
Hunters can make the most of a tactical flashlight as much as a police officer, military serviceman, fireman or camper. More often, you will not know you need tactical flashlight until it is too late. Tactical or military flashlights are manufactured with much higher quality standards and better materials compared to standard flashlights. Many models are made of aircraft-quality aluminum. They are also designed to be shockproof for worry-free mounting to weapons, with some level of waterproofing. Although small and short, they are quite durable.
Generally extremely bright, a tactical flashlight gives you the advantage of being able to see so that you can optimize every situation. They offer a certain level of brightness that you can use to your advantage as well, especially for self-defense. The most common bulb they have is LED, but some models use xenon or incandescent bulbs, which are rare and therefore can be found with greater difficulty.
Tree Stand
Watching from above:
A tree stand is an enclosed or open platform that hunters use to elevate them and help deliver a vantage point when waiting for the target game animal. It is securely attached to a tree. A similar device, the tripod stand, doesn’t technically qualify as a tree stand because of its freestanding configuration.
Tree stands vary in design and type. A climbing tree stand comprises two parts: the standing platform at the bottom and the seat at the top. Not all seats feature a back. Typically connected by a strap, the two parts will not fall away together to trap the hunter if the bottom slips off the tree while climbing.
A ladder stand features a ladder that lets you climb up to the platform and reach the seat. The seat and platform connect to the tree, with the ladder located on the front of the platform for access. The size and non-portability of the ladder stand makes it a stationary type, with good level of stability thanks to the support from the ground and the connection to the tree. Hanging stands are similar to ladder stands except for the ladder part. Also stationary, a hanging stand connects to the tree at a desired height via cables or chains. Hanging stands can be accessed using ladders or sections of ladders attached to the tree, which are called climbing sticks. The stand can also be accessed using screw-in steps in the tree.
Ground Blind
The ground blind is typically a square-shaped hut-like tent comprising springy rods that hold the structure up so you can get a hidden position inside while hunting. It keeps you beyond the sight and detection of your prey while enabling you to get up close and personal to the game animal. For a ground blind to be set up properly, there has to be a largely flat and unobstructed ground area on which to install it. The setup should be easy and quick so as not to alert the game animal to your presence. The camouflage factor should equate to what you can get from an observation tower. The camouflage factor should be high even when the animal gets really close. It is best to augment this element by using scent eliminators or animal musk, even game animal urine. A blind can be a stationary unit or a transportable one. It allows you to move around inside while staying undetected by your target.
