What Have Been Hunting’s Greatest Advancements?
In the January/February 2013 edition of Nebraskaland, I will have a piece discussing hunting’s equipment advances. For example, camouflage clothing of my youth was far simpler than the 1,001 designs I can find today. Also, Thermacell and Mojo decoys are new, yet the pump and lever action shotguns are not.
So, as Nebraska hunters, what “new” innovations have changed the way you spend time afield and why?
Diaphragm turkey calls! When I got my first it was a narrow little piece of U-shaped metal with a latex reed stretched between. It was an instrument of torture. Now I can buy dozens of different calls and they are comfortable in my mouth and easy to use. And once you master a diaphragm call, well, I believe it offers a lot of advantages over other types of calls, you can make ANY sound a turkey makes on it, and it sounds darned good. We pretty much hunt turkeys the same way we always have, but that call is a lot nicer than it used to be.
Bauer,
That’s interesting because some early inventions are of course crude. But refinement of a product is a really good point to be made as well.
Range finders. A great aid to both rifle and bow hunters. No more guessing distances, and if you know your weapon, resulting in less misses. A great conservation tool reducing wounded or crippled game.