If you’re like us (which we know many of you are) there is nothing more exhilarating that the feeling you get when you’re on a hunt. Nothing that tops the soft pine needles crunching beneath your feet, breathing in that crisp morning air, listening to the dulcet tones of a bugle as the sun comes up, and that perfect pause before you exhale and the bowstring snaps; letting your arrow fly free. To us, hunting is getting in touch with nature and providing. However, with this amazing sport also comes a load of responsibility. To us, being a bow hunter isn’t just being someone that enjoys going on hunts, it’s taking on the mantle of teaching the next generation what a hunter is. To us, a bow hunter is someone who understands the part they play in animal conservation, who hunts responsibly, respectfully, and ethically. It is for that reason that we created the Pro-Tracker recovery system; and why we continue to advocate for its use on any hunting trip no matter the skill level of the hunter.

One of the key reasons we created our Pro-Tracker recovery system is because of the ethics of hunting. As hunters, we feel you are required to do everything within your power to find any animal that you hit. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen. In the article, Bow Wounding Losses THE BIG MYTH, David Samuel states, “It is disquieting to know that we probably wound one deer for every animal harvested ¹.” Samuel believes this is due to the difficulty level in bow hunting vs. gun hunting due to how much more difficult bow hunting can be. In another article, Hit or Miss, by Glenn Hegeland he recalls hearing a hunter brag, “he hit four tonight,” only to then hear him mumble that he wasn’t able to find any of them ².

According to Adrian Benke, “Archery wounding is the most denied problem in bow hunting and most ignored problem in wildlife science ³.” The main reason is the sheer skill required for the sport. In a study done by Glen Boydson and Horace Gore, they found that in order to guarantee success a hunter needed to be within 30 yards of a deer, make the shot completely undetected, and hit vital areas. Now, many of you will likely think, “Well I’m an experienced hunter, I can do that.” Truth be told, you probably can, however that study also found that experience hunters wounded more animals that novices. This is because while novices missed the animals entirely, experienced hunters had more hits and could release more shots in a short amount of time ⁴.

As a whole, the image that these quotes and facts generate is not one that we feel represents us as hunters, or our beliefs as hunters. Most of us believe more along the lines of Dwight Schuh who in his article, A Call for Accuracy, states, ”There is nothing honorable about hitting and losing an animal; it just means you screwed up ⁵.” This is why we feel that all hunters should include our Pro-Tracker recovery system in their hunting arsenal. If you get that perfect shot, or if that blood trail is going strong, then use those skills you spent years honing. However, if nature or life gets in the way and you lose your animal, let our recovery system help you to make sure you can recover it and take it home. Let the Pro-Tracker, ultimate recovery system help you to be an ethical hunter!

Sources:

1. Samuel, David. “Bow Wounding Losses THE BIG MYTH.” Bowhunter Magazine
2. Hegeland, Glenn.” Hit or Miss.” Archery World. March/April 1998
3. Benke, Adrian. The Bowhunting Hunting Alternative. 1989.
4. Boydson, Glen; Horace, Gore. Various Wildlife Studies in Texas. 1972-1985.
5. Schuh, David. “A Call for Accuracy.” Bowhunter Magazine. Big Issue 1989.

As hunters our primary goal every time we go out is to hunt and recover our animal; not only because that is the point of the hunt, but because know that there is no feeling worse than knowing you injured, or killed, an animal and that after exhaustive searching it is nowhere to be found because of issues beyond your control; like no blood trail, rain, or the blood trail just quitting. Unfortunately, that exact thing happened to one of our owners and spurred him to create the Pro-tracker recovery system. We know many of you agree that this is an issue, and we hope that this will never happen to you, but this is still an issue worth reviewing. So, let’s take a deeper look, shall we?

• Even though deer loss was first presented as a serious issue via controlled studies performed in 1989, we are still experiencing at 18% wounding rate per 104 bowhunters.
• In a normal hunting season it is estimated that 908 white tail deer are hit, but only 746 are actually recovered. That means that there are approximately 162 lost, injured, or killed animals that are never recovered (1).
• In further studies it was found that most hunts they experienced had a 50% wounding rate; meaning only half of the hunters performed a kill shot on the first try.
• Of the animal’s injured by hunters in that controlled study, 14% of those lost, injured, or killed animals were never recovered.
• Furthermore, that controlled study found only 4% of these injured deer actually died from their wounds annually, which means 96% of these injured deer were left to suffer through life with a potentially debilitating injury (2).
• If you look at studies, such as this one by the Oklahoma Fish and Wildlife Agency, you’ll find that in their research they have found that 50% of the deer that were shot were never recovered, which to us is entirely unacceptable.
Upon further reading you’ll find that in this study there was a wounding loss of 14%. That means that 14% of those deer that were failed to be recovered sustained fatal injuries and one of those deer managed to survive with these injuries for 5-7 days before finally perishing. We as hunters owe it to these animals to ensure they suffer as little as possible, which means we need to recover them in a timely manner.
• In similar studies it was found that for every 8 deer shot and killed, an average of 9 were wounded (3)

We don’t know about you, but we find those statistics incredibly upsetting. Which is why we feel like our Pro-Tracker recovery system is such an important part of a bowhunters arsenal. Our system will allow you to hunt and track as you always have, and to enjoy taking advantage of the knowledge and skill those require, but when something goes awry our system will be there to help you make sure you recover your animals. Let our system help make sure you can hunt with confidence, and add our Pro-Tracker recovery system to your hunting equipment today!

1. Ditchkoff, Stephen S., Edgar R. Welch Jr., Robert L. Lochmiller, Ronald E. Masters, William R. Starry, William C. Dinkines. 1998. Wounding of White-tailed Deer with Traditional Archery Equipment. Proc. Annu. Conf. Southeast. Assoc. Fish and Wildl. Agencies 52:244-248. Website: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ronald_Masters/publication/237609363_Wounding_Rates_of_Whitetailed_Deer_with_Traditional_Archery_Equipment/links/54c63cdf0cf256ed5a9d4dfe.pd
2. Pedersen, Andy M., Seth Berry, Jeffrey C. Bossart. 2008. Wounding Rates of White –tailed Deer with Modern Archery Equipment. Proc. Annu. Conf. Southeast. Assoc. Fish and Wildl. Agencies 62:31–34
3. Adrian, Benke. The Bowhunting Alternative. 1989.

It’s April, and here in Idaho that means it’s time for spring turkey season and we can’t wait to get us some great looking toms! However, one key to getting that perfect trophy tom is taking time to pinpoint prime locations where those extra special toms are likely to be found. Taking the time prior to your hunt to scope out great roosting spots is definitely one of the most important preparations you can make to ensure a successful hunt. We also recommend having several potential roosting spots already chosen before your hunt so that if one of them turns out to be a dud, you have other options. This is also important because turkeys love to rotate roosts, so the more options the better. There is nothing more frustrating that having a poor hunt due to lack of preparation. So, in order to help you have a successful turkey hunt, here are some of our top tips to use when picking out potential roosting locations:

1. First off, you want to understand the bird in general. For the most part, you’ll likely have the best hunting near the first and last hours of the day (provided these fit within your legal hunting periods), and you should also remember that turkeys don’t like to roost near the crest of hills. Therefore, look for spots around ½ to 2/3rds of the way up a hill. Turkeys also love the sun, but hate the wind so look for hills, hogbacks, side-hills etc.

2. Understand where you’re hunting! If your terrain is flatter, look for meadows or tree clearings. If your terrain is hilly, check out knolls, if your terrain is more southern based look at areas near water with nice tree coverage.

3. Turkeys love to roost in big, old trees. Particularly on longer, larger branches. However, it should be noted that if no old growth trees are nearby, they will not turn up their beaks at a younger, skinny tree. Just look for branches that seem like they would make an easy perch. If you need help locating a potential golden turkey spot, make sure to check the base of your trees for evidence that it has been roosted in previously (like feathers, droppings, etc).

4. Look for areas with a good amount of food for the birds as well; remember turkeys are just like people and make sure to camp out near good feeding grounds!

Now that you know some awesome tips for helping you find your bird, the last key to success is making sure you are properly equipped. Make sure to bring outerwear suitable for the weather you’re hunting in, as well as potential rain or snow depending on where you live. Also make sure to bring snacks and lots of water. Turkey hunting is a game in patience, so you want to make sure you’re all set to hunker down for potentially hours. Last but not least, you want to make sure to bring your fully charged Pro-Tracker, ultimate tracking and recovery system. Turkeys are known to be wiley and smart, and you don’t want to risk finding your perfect bird due to a poor shot that allowed it to take flight. Even injured, a turkey can be speedy and an escape artist, so it’s important to have your Pro-Tracker system on hand to help you find your bird if your shot goes awry. Happy hunting everyone!

Ah, Saint Patrick’s day…the day full of frivolity, poor dress choices, and unappetizingly colored beers; and oddly enough one of our favorite smaller holidays. Why, you ask? Well, first off as hunters we fully support anything that revolves around the color green, especially when it gives us an excuse to have an office camo day. Secondly, we love it because it gives us the chance to enjoy some brews (preferably NOT the green kind), good laughs with people we love, and has a tendency to spur fantastic discussions about how this holiday marks just around a month until we get to kick-off turkey hunting season. We’ve also found that some of the best ways to enjoy a tasty adult-style St. Paddy’s Day is to have an awesome dinner complete with interesting beer and wild game recipe pairings. Not only does this help clear out the freezer to make way for this year’s game, but it gives you the opportunity to elevate your dinner with ease. So this month, we present to you some of our favorite wild-game and beer pairings. Salut!

1. Duck. We love us some duck! It’s tender, delicious, and pretty versatile overall. You can batter it and fry it, you can roast it; the limits of duck know no bounds. We have found though that duck tends to pair best with a little bit sweeter of a beer that has more of a fruit or citrus base. Fortunately, sweeter beers abound! We have found that some of our favorites include pairing a nice Kriek Lambic (like this one from Lindeman’s), a Doppelbock (we love Celebrate by Ayinger), or a Trappist ale (we recommend Trappist by Rochefort 8, or a lovely Chimay Cinq Cents). If those are a little too fancy or hard to find (because let’s be honest, sometimes your options are limited), any sweeter stout or Baltic porter will definitely go great!

2. Venison or Elk. Venison can be a bit trickier to pair, as it often has a bit more of a gamey flavor to it. Lots of people love and embrace the gamey flavor, while others prefer to mask it as best they can. We personally love the venison for what it is: nature-made deliciousness. Since venison tends to have a bit more of a bold flavor, we love to pair it either with a simple wheat if you’re doing burgers (like a Miller High Life, O’Dells Easy Street, or New Belgium’s Sunshine Wheat), or a nice Brooklyn Brown ale like Lost Coast’s Downtown Brown. The caramel undertones in addition to the malty quality pairs amazingly with the venison and does a great job of complimenting it by highlighting all the wonderful flavors, and masking any potential overly gamey flavors.

3. Wild Hog. Now, we have to say that one of our favorite things to pair with any type of pig (wild or not) is apples. We can’t say exactly why since we aren’t chefs, but there is something about that sweetness that just takes pork to a whole new level. So, of course, one of our favorite beer pairings is one with apples. Now, we know many of you will give us a judgmental brow for this one, but we insist you try it before you judge. We personally love the way Angry Orchard pairs with wild hog; particularly their Green Apple. The reason we prefer the green apple as opposed to the regular, is we’ve found that on occasion the regular Angry Orchard can be just a tad too sweet, where as the Green Apple gives a nice tartness that balances the flavors just right. If, however, you simply cannot bring yourself to drink Angry Orchard, Dubbels also pair quite nicely with hog, as do most Belgian Strong Ales or Stouts.

4. Turkey. With spring hunting season just around the corner, we couldn’t leave out one of our favorite birds! Luckily, turkey pairs great with quite a few beers allowing you a variety if you so choose. Some of our favorite beers to accompany a nice wild turkey are a good IPA (we recommend Julius by Tree House Brewing Co, Orange Starfish by the Aslin Beer Co, or Yellow Rose by the Lone Pint Brewery), a Saison like Hennepin, or a nice amber ale (we adore Levity by O’Dells Brewing Co). If we were you, we’d just make lots of delicious wild turkey in as many ways as possible and just explore the possibilities!

We hope you all enjoy our pairing recommendations, and hope that if you try them, you let us know what you thought (or even send a picture, we love pictures)! We also believe that any day is a special enough occasion for an awesome dinner party with some delicious beverages. We wish you all a safe and happy St. Paddy’s day and hope that you all stay safe. May your dinner clear you freezer, and your Pro-Tracker, Ultimate Tracking and recovery system help you to successfully fill it anew this year!