Gobbler Getters

Tools Of The Trade—Good Stuff For Good Times In The Outdoors

           Welcome back to another installment of “Tools of the Trade.” I know everyone’s getting excited about upcoming turkey seasons, even if you’re still buried in snow (gotta have something to look forward to). Here are some top picks that you might miss in the mainstream pubs.
          As always, there’s a full disclaimer at the bottom of this page, but here’s the short list of rules for “Tools Of The Trade:”  

1. If I think it looks neato-keen, I’ll start the review with “Looks Neato-Keen.”
2. If I actually use it, I’ll tell it like it is, good or bad, and I’ll start the review “Hands-On Tested.”
3. If someone sends me something to test, I’ll tell you they did so, and you’ll still get an honest review. I’ll begin these with “They Sent It To Me.”
4. If you try something I review, put a comment on the post and tell me about how it worked (or didn’t) for you. Seriously. Do this.

Here we go!

Hunt Comfort Fat Boy Hunting Cushion
They Sent It to Me/Hands-On Tested—There are enough things out there in the turkey woods to make an outing less than enjoyable. There’re shifting temperatures that range from teeth-chattering to why-did-I-put-on-all-these-layers?, gnats, ticks, snakes, and no-seeums that hover, slither, and bite, wet grass, cranky birds, other hunters—sheesh!—and there’s never a comfortable place to sit. At least I didn’t think so until I got to use the Fat boy Hunting Cushion from Hunt Comfort a season ago. I was on an ill-fated industry hunt that, as these things go, had corporate sponsors, one of which was Hunt Comfort. As badly as that hunt went, the Hunt Comfort cushion saved my butt—literally. This super-thick cushion is a combination of dual-density foam and proprietary, medical-grade pressure-relief gel, and I have to tell you, they got it right. It totally helped minimize all that shifting around I tend to do when one tush cheek or the other goes to sleep, it sure as heck was better than sitting on the ground with sticks, thorns, and other sharp things jabbing me, and because it’s relatively lightweight and has it’s own carry strap, it wasn’t any more or less difficult to carry in and out of the field than any of the other nine-zillion pieces of gear I tote out to a setup. It was the perfect solution to the drop-down seat attached to every vest I own and which never work as well as they should.

Quaker Boy Vest-A-Blind
Looks Neato-Keen—As I’ve mentioned before, I’m kind of a nut for vests (“The Seasons Between The Seasons”). Fly-fishing vests, sporting clays vests, upland bird vests, and, yes, turkey vests. I love ’em all. I was searching to see what new innovations had come across those vests intended for gobbler hunting, and the Vest-A-Blind from Quaker Boy really caught my eye. The pockets look well-situated, and there seem to be enough both of them and in enough sizes. Of course it has a built-in game bag, and what should be a mandatory orange safety flag, but it’s the self-packing portable blind that really tripped my trigger. Get to your set-up point, pull out the rag-leaf blind, and slip it over your head. Voila! You look like a bush! The only thing that didn’t look adequate on this vest was the drop-down seat cushion. It looked minimal in the photos, but you be the judge, and if you go with the Hunt Comfort cushion I recommended, you won’t need it anyway. Check out the on-line demo on the Quaker Boy website.

Avery Fast-Break Ground Blind
Looks Neato-Keen—I love using a ground blind. It’s not that I have an allergy to trees and treestands or anything like that, but I just kind of have a thing for being on the same level as the game I’m after. Mostly, though, I like that they hide movement, a good thing when you need to swing a gun into a new position or draw back a string when the birds are looking right atcha. The Fast-Break Ground Blind from Avery looks like it would be a tremendous asset to a turkey hunter in habitat that’s bursting with fresh spring greenery. The super-lightweight blind is fashioned of aluminum poles and shock-cords, so it sets up in a pinch and is ultra-transportable, perfect for those mornings when you need to shift to Plan B (or C, or D) and stay on the move. With a pattern of Mossy Oak Shadow Leaf, this blind should find practical use in deep woods lush with new ground growth, as well as field edges thick with fresh grasses. 

          Full disclaimer regarding items appearing in “Tools of the Trade:” Reviews here will have little or nothing to do with advertising support. I’m through with the scratch-my-back-and-I’ll-scratch-yours approach that has manhandled the gear reviews in every hunting/fishing magazine you’ve ever read. That’s how it works in most of mainstream media. In other words, when an advertiser comes in, the writers on staff say nice things about their products—they have to, it’s their job. It used to be mine, too, when I was a staff writer, that’s how I know this. But since I’m on my own dime here, I think it’s time for a change, one that says a little truth goes a long way toward telling the difference between the good, the bad, and the ugly stuff out there. And with as much as it all costs these days, wouldn’t you rather have it that way

You might also want to read:

Predators Beware
Tools of the Trade, September 2010 No. 1
Tools of the Trade, January 2010, No. 6