ATA Product Highlights & Recap

Once a year a majority of the brands in the hunting and archery industries gather under one roof to showcase their products. This is an opportunity for bow shops and other outdoor-focused stores to check out the new products and place orders for the upcoming year. The outdoor press and media are also in attendance to cover the show. On this episode of the Hunting Gear Podcast, Dan and Josh Raley recap the recent ATA Show and discuss some of the products and companies that they felt stood out. The guys talk about new trail camera technology, climbing sticks, saddles, and tree stands. While at the show, Dan had the opportunity to shoot all of the flagship bows from the brands that attended the show. If you are a gear junkie, this is the perfect episode for you!

Dan: [00:00:00] HuntStand is the most popular and functional mobile hunting app on the market with a variety of base maps to choose from. Satellite imagery that is updated every month. The ability to check the weather, no property information, and even catalog your trail cam picks. HuntStand even gives you the ability to import pins and location markers from other mobile apps.

Dan: Visit huntstand.com or download wherever you download your apps. Enter discount code SN 20 at checkout for 20% off.

Dan: What's up everybody? Welcome to another episode of the Hunting Gear podcast. And today I am joined with my partner in crime, Josh Rayley. Josh and myself last week went to the Archery Trade Association Show in Indianapolis, and today's conversation revolves around.[00:01:00] Interesting products that we saw while we were there.

Dan: We talk about trail camera technology. We talk about clothing. We talk about e-bikes. We talk about saddles and climbing sticks, and a whole bunch of other different products that we thought were cool and interesting. I also give a breakdown of some of my favorite bows that were there. Not all bow manufacturers attended this year, but I'll tell you this.

Dan: We definitely I went through and I sh I shot all the bows that are there, and I give a recap on that. So today's a really fun episode where we get to talk about the trade show and some of the new products that have been introduced or are about to be introduced now if you're listening to this on the Nine Finger Chronicles feed, thank you very much.

Dan: If you're listening to this on the. Hunting gear feed. Thank you very much. If you're listening to this on the network feed, thank you very much. So wherever you're listening to this, please go to iTunes. Leave a five star review. Let everybody know that the Hunting Gear podcast, the Nine [00:02:00] Finger Chronicles podcast, the Sportsman's Empire podcast network as a whole is amazing.

Dan: And those five star reviews just benefit us and we would really appreciate it. Plus the content is five stars, so win-win. Alright, so before we get into today's episode though, I do want to take an opportunity here to talk a little bit in we talk about tethered in today's episode and some of the new products that they, that they've come out with.

Dan: They have a new saddle. They have saddles hunting accessories. They got climbing sticks, they have new climbing sticks. So everything that you need to know or products that you would need to become a saddle hunter. Tethered offers those. Go check out tethered website, check out all the information and videos and trip tips, tricks and tactics from other serious saddle hunters that's gonna make you a better saddle hunter.

Dan: Next on the list is HuntStand. This is the method that I use. I'm on HuntStand all the time, and [00:03:00] it's anytime I have downtime, instead of scrolling through social media, I will pick up HuntStand, I will open up my hunt areas. I'll change the maps around a little bit. And what I'm doing is I'm being present all year round.

Dan: And when you're present all year round, you can basically test your access routes, test your the wind, what the, what would the what is the wind going to do? If I need to get into this tree, stand on this wind direction, what, how do I access it from this? And, you just you, you look at your past journal entries and what that does is it allows you to forecast deer movement for certain types of year.

Dan: It allows you to just be better prepared when the time comes to actually get out in the woods and you're more, you're just straight up, more efficient. So go check out huntstand.com and all the functionality that hunting app brings. And also be sure to check out the Pro [00:04:00] Whitetail platform that has recently been introduced.

Dan: And if you're a serious whitetail guy, it's a no-brainer to pick up. Huntstand.com, go check it out. And then the next product that I want to talk about is the tcam. If you are, if you're the kind of guy who likes to document your hunts, show your friends, show your kids, show your wife, really anybody what you're seeing while you're in the woods.

Dan: Definitely go check out the new 6.0 version of the tact cam. It's 4k, it has image stabilization, it has an L C D screen. It's easy to use, it's easy to set up on your bow or your gun. And it just allows you to capture memories, man. And that's really what it's all about. And so if you're looking to document your hunts, go check out t the cam tact, the cam's new 6.0.

Dan: Go check it out. It's pretty badass. I'm gonna be using one on my Turkey hunts this year, and so I'm looking forward to using it. And last but not least, we gotta try to give back in any way. So the only thing I'm gonna [00:05:00] say, it's not really a commercial, it's just something that I'm passionate about, and that is 2% for conservation.

Dan: So if you are. Interested in giving back in 2023. And you own a business or as an individual, you want to become 2% for conservation certified. You wanna learn what that's about and what, how that benefits not only the natural resources that we love to conserve, but how it benefits us. You can go check out fish and wildlife.org.

Dan: Alright, so there's that. There's my good deed for the day. There is me getting my my checks right. So I've I've paid the bills I've given back. And now it's time to get into a really interesting conversation about this past ATA show with my man Josh Rayley. Enjoy. Alright, joining me today on the Hunting Gear Podcast is my cohort at this year's ATA show.

Dan: Is cohort a word? What does cohort even mean? I sometimes I use words that I don't even know what they [00:06:00] mean. That's all right. It sounded great. Yeah. It sounded professional. Yeah. Okay. All right. So cohort is that like partner in crime or I dunno, friend or, I don't even know what it means. Do you know?

Josh: Yeah. You don't wanna say companion cuz that might get weird, but .

Dan: Yeah. Hey, we did sleep in the same hotel room, but hey. Different beds. Different beds. That's right. There you go. Different beds. That's right. There we go. So let's see here. ATA show. Okay, that's what we're gonna talk about today. We're gonna recap it.

Dan: How, just like overall, this is the first time you've ever been to the ATA show as a, I guess I would call a passionate hunter as someone who takes this stuff seriously. Maybe you're a little bit of a gear junkie. What were your thoughts on your first ata? Man,

Josh: I thought it was really good.

Josh: I heard a lot of people say, Hey, attendance is down from what it used to be and that kind of thing. And yeah, not quite as many, manufacturers are [00:07:00] here. But man I gotta be honest with you, I don't know that I could have handled a lot more Yeah. With it be in my first show.

Dan: Yeah. Yeah.

Dan: The some of the bigger names in the archery industry, like Matthews Hoy Elite, as far as bow manufacturers are con were concerned. They weren't there. I'm sure there were some other pretty big brands that weren't there as well that didn't show up. But for the most part, you got a, at least you got a taste of what the hunting industry side of things was all about.

Dan: Yeah, absolutely.

Josh: And one of the cool things was getting to see some of the newer kind of up and coming brands. Yes. I would think, especially when it comes to the tree saddles and climbing sticks and a lot of that stuff, you, a lot of brands that weren't even around, Yeah. Four and five

Dan: years ago.

Dan: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And what's cool about that? That it tells me that there's still lifeblood and there's still innovation in this industry. Okay. Usually hunting could be kind like when it comes to marketing, when it comes to [00:08:00] technology, when it comes to things like social media and digital, anything digital, like the hunting industry is just now doing what the rest of the world was doing 10 years ago.

Dan: We're always behind in that manner. But it, what it, what those news companies tell you is that, hey, there's people out there who are truly invested in, in, in this. And as long as there's people like that, this industry will continue to. .

Josh: Yeah, absolutely. And I saw some really cool products, some really cool things, especially for the mobile hunter.

Josh: Yeah. So I'm excited for 23 and to see how I might be able to implement some of this stuff into my current set. Yeah,

Dan: absolutely. All right, so let's, this is the Hunting Gear podcast. Let's talk hunting gear. And really what I wanted to do is I'm gonna kick it off to you and I want you to share, maybe we'll just bounce it back and forth.

Dan: Share a product that you saw for the first time at the show that really got your attention and you thought was pretty cool. Yeah.

Josh: So [00:09:00] when I was heading to the show, one of the products that I wanted to see more than any other was the new climbing sticks from Latitude Outdoors. Have you seen those? I

Dan: did.

Dan: I was a, at the show, I hadn't seen 'em until the show and I was able to hold them in my hand and take a look at 'em. Yeah.

Josh: Yeah. So I talked to those guys probably about a year ago. Okay. When they were first talking about the sticks and they were like, Hey, we can't really say much, but here's what we're working on behind the scenes.

Josh: And so there was a lot of hype. I've been waiting for a long time to see 'em. I'd seen some pictures online. Yeah. And man, they did not disappoint. They're all carbon fiber sticks. I don't know what the step distance is between 'em, but they're super light. They've got a really nice attachment system.

Josh: Yeah. And they definitely lived up to my expectations as far as what I'm wanting out of a climbing stick.

Dan: Yeah. I believe. Didn't they win an award? Did they get like second place or first place in some kind of innovation award or, [00:10:00] I

Josh: don't I want to say I saw one of those little triangle trophy things.

Josh: With a picture of their stuff, but I don't know what they

Dan: won. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, so they won an award. I know they won an award. I'm just not sure what it was for, and I think it was for their climbing sticks. But so for the mobile guy out there, talk, break this product down why do you like it?

Dan: Why do you think it's innovative? All that stuff?

Josh: Yeah. A couple of things. Number one, obviously it's light. That, that's one of the top things that I'm looking for when it comes to climbing sticks. I'm currently using the old school full length, lone Wolff sticks, and they're light enough and there's not been anything on the market as of yet to make me think I need something different.

Josh: I need to go a different direct. These though, whole new material. First of all, they're not made outta metal. They're made of carbon fiber, right? Second, they're all one piece. There are no moving parts. There are no steps that move. There are no bolts, there's nothing, yeah, they're one solid piece of carbon fiber, which you [00:11:00] know, is gonna cut down on any kind of wear and tear or maintenance that you have to do.

Josh: I know with my current sticks, I have to pull 'em out and tighten the bolts every, season or two to make sure that they're not gonna malfunction or loosen up on me too much. The second thing, is obviously because they're carbon fiber, they're so much quieter than any other sticks. Yeah. I grabbed two of 'em and I was like, all right guys, I need to know, can I clang these things together?

Josh: They're like, yeah, go for it. So I did, I started knocking 'em together, worst case scenario in the timber. Yep. And they were pretty quiet and they packed down super, super light. Yeah, tight super.

Dan: Yeah. Yep. Super tight. Yeah. And so as a, as a mobile guy who's does a lot of running, gunning, maybe the public land guy, that is all benefits, right?

Dan: Yep. Did you say, did you see anything on those sticks that you said I would do something different if it was my, if it was my

Josh: business? I, one of the things that I've liked about some other sticks is how they.[00:12:00] Have angled some of the steps away from the tree to give you just a little bit more space between your foot and the tree trunk.

Josh: Yes. I would've liked to see a little bit more there as far as room. . And my second concern, I did have a concern with them being carbon fiber. I figured that they would flex when you stood up on them. Yeah. But I jumped up on 'em and jumped around and had one of the guys there do the same thing and kind of took a little video of it.

Josh: They do not flex at all, so I'm impressed with the strength of the stick and how slow they are, but I would've given just a little bit more foot room. Yeah. For the climb right

Dan: now, there's several other sticks and I'm not gonna say the design is the same or the material is the same, but the about that same size and that same shape Okay.

Dan: That are currently on the market. Man, I, you need. you need, like for me, I'm six foot tall, and so I like you, I like a bigger step with more space. [00:13:00] So like on the lone wolf sticks that the old ones that I have, yes, if you're gonna compare the foot, there's no footsteps on each side.

Dan: On the lone wolf, it's one or the other. And you can make 'em, you can go either way you want, so some people look at that as a negative, I don't care. I can take my four sticks and I can get real high, I can get I wanna say 15 to 20 feet, depending on the tree. If it's a straight up, down tree with no branches and no curves, I can get damn near 18 to 20 feet in the.

Dan: If it's a, a lot of splits or a lot of branches and I have to maybe adjust a little bit more, then I ha then I'll be lower, closer to that 15 mark. But with those steps, those smaller steps, I need five steps to get equal distance. And so when I, when you look at it you can say, oh, that those five sticks or those four sticks they pack down compact, but I actually [00:14:00] need five steps to equal the same distance to as the other ones.

Dan: And so now you're starting to say, Hey, we somon pack a four, but in order to get what I want out of 'em, I would need five. And I'm not sitting here trying. take away from that company. I'm just saying I like getting high and I need a longer stick. And then you start talking, so I asked that question to some of the manufacturers at the show, and they're like, oh, have you ever heard of AERs?

Dan: We do these AERs. And I'm just like an AER isn't a tree step. It's not the same thing. So now you're playing with modifications and accessories and things like that. And I, and at this time I just, I'm not interested in doing that. Maybe that'll change someday, but I don't, I don't look at that and go, Hey, I want to do that.

Dan: Yeah. That's

Josh: one of the big reasons that I still have the full length lone wolf sticks. Yeah. Is because I used an aer, I have used AERs quite a bit. Yeah. And I don't like it, man, like trying to fish for the loop with my foot on the way down, or. The possibility of kicking out because you didn't get [00:15:00] your toe into the tree just right.

Josh: That, to me is a big downside. One of the ways that I found to get around that is to use a long AER on my first stick. That way my first stick is mounted, basically as high as I can reach. Yeah. Off the tree or on the tree. And then the rest of 'em, I don't have to use AERs on the way up, so you can make up for it just a little bit.

Josh: But you're right. If you're not running AERs, those short sticks are going to gonna be a significant bummer, . Yeah. You're packing in five sticks now, potentially. Yeah,

Dan: absolutely. Absolutely. All right. The, and Latitude also makes saddles, right? They do, yeah. Yep. And they, that, that has been around for a while, or, yeah,

Josh: they.

Josh: a couple of years. They've got, I think right now they have the classic and the method two or their primary saddles. They didn't come out with a new saddle this year.

Dan: Yeah, okay. Yeah. And so as far as saddles are concerned man, I went over to tethered and they have a saddle with training wheels on it.

Dan: It, I don't know if you saw that, but it's got the vest it's almost like a [00:16:00] backpack, right? You can wear it around. And for someone like me, dude, I like that idea. I like being able to strap it over your shoulder. I feel like it probably adds a little bit more comfort and weight to your set.

Dan: And I'm really looking forward into messing around with those. On top of that, they also have a carbon fiber stick, and it is also extremely light and some of these sticks. So I went to, I'm gonna name three, the latitude. The company, tethered and Timber Ninja all have these carbon fiber sticks now.

Dan: And dude, they are so crazy light compared to any, anything else that is out there. It blow I don't know it makes me really wanna start messing around with my setup. Yeah, for

Josh: sure. Dude. You think back to the days when you lud in I don't know if you ever used like the muddy pro sticks or anything like that?

Josh: No. They made it super quick to get into a tree, but they were so heavy. I think they were three pounds of stick or something like that. Oh yeah. Yeah. And so you look at, seven, eight years ago we're using three pound climbing sticks. And today [00:17:00] like. The push is to get below a pound or right at a pound.

Josh: Yeah. Which that's a huge weight savings if you're packing in

Dan: three or four sticks. Yeah. And so my, my, for years, my setup was a lone wolf assault and four lone wolf sticks. All right. I didn't do any mods, really anything to 'em. Maybe I would tape up the stick or the riser on the I guess the bracket on the stand, maybe a little tape up front on the stand itself, but usually not.

Dan: And you add those five items together. And yes, I can get into any tree and I can balance my stand, and it's awesome. It is, it's, it is not light compared to what they're like certain companies are offering today. And honestly, I'm just gonna start messing around with saddle hunting more and more, I think.

Dan: And see, because every person I talk to, there's. I would say that one out of every 10 person who's tried saddle hunting doesn't like it. The other nine[00:18:00] love it. So yeah, I'm gonna, and these are some people that I respect, like well-respected individuals, so I'm gonna be messing around with that a little bit more.

Dan: So yeah. Anything else you want to mention about latitude?

Josh: Nothing there. I will double down on the tethered saddle though, man. Yeah. That was my I had obviously seen a video going into apa, looking forward to getting in that thing, but thinking, ah, it might be a little heavy, but it was incredible.

Josh: Yeah. The comfort level was unlike any other saddle that I've been in. Yeah. The pockets that are sewn onto it is a huge upgrade from those old dump pouch kind of pockets that you use for. For a saddle. Yeah. Love that thing. Yeah,

Dan: absolutely. Okay, I'm gonna, I'm gonna share one. So Moultrie trail cameras, right?

Dan: And they have a cell camera. And so have you ever had an issue where maybe it's a cell camera, maybe it's another camera? This technology that I'm gonna talk about is in their cell cameras. And it goes through their app that [00:19:00] you can, you can check your pictures on and things like that.

Dan: But a piece of grass or a limb in the top of the screen just takes pictures kills the battery. You don't know it. You wish you had a way to go out there and cut the limb down or pull the grass out and, prevent that from happening. So I was talking to one of the people over at Moultrie and in the app.

Dan: their screen is basically checkerboarded, right? And so when something comes into one of the zones of the of the screen, that is what, and there's motion in that is what is, that's what triggers the picture to take. Okay? So if you're noticing that on one of your cell cams, you can go into the camera now and you can deactivate certain zones in, on that screen to prevent that triggering from happening.

Dan: So if there's a branch that's coming down and blowing in the wind, you can [00:20:00] deactivate the zones that branch is in, or if there's a piece of grass, you can deactivate it. And that is, that will prevent you from batter like wasting batteries and using data for pictures that don't matter. And so there's a whole bunch of like ways that I, dude, I just think that is so cool that.

Dan: Because cuz I don't know how many times you've ever checked a trail camera. Or you've, maybe I don't, do you run cell cams at all?

Josh: I do. I run a mix of both. So cell cams and standard sd. Yeah,

Dan: same here. And so the I'm in, you're in Georgia now and maybe you have a trail camera up in Wisconsin that's just going crazy and you're like, oh my God, I wish I could stop this.

Dan: Or I could just quick pop out and do it. But you're at the mercy at that point of the setup and there's nothing you can do about it unless you're gonna travel from Georgia to Wisconsin to, change that. And so I thought that was, I don't know, from a technology and innovation [00:21:00] standpoint, I think that, in my opinion, that was some of the coolest technology that I saw in the in the, in that room.

Josh: Yeah, man, that's a huge step forward. Yeah, I had. So last spring I put out trail cameras for turkeys. Yeah. And I let them sit for too long and the grass started to grow up along the field edge. Yep. I had over 9,000 pictures of grass. Yeah. Yep. To sort through. So that would've been, that, that would've been absolutely huge for that.

Josh: Now when are those

Dan: launching? I think they're available, man. What did they say? Either in March or now? Or in March. Okay. I think so soon. Yeah. So soon, like if not already available, they're gonna be available soon. Yeah.

Josh: Awesome. Yeah, dude, that's huge, man.

Dan: Yeah. So another hot topic, and I'm just gonna keep this on tr the trail camera, is there was a company, and I forget, maybe it was Multry, but I don't think, I'm not sure if it was Multry or not.[00:22:00]

Dan: It might have been Browning. I can't remember. And I don't wanna say for sure, but now live streaming through a trail camera is here. . Yeah. Okay, I saw that. And so now we have the ability to go to your phone, select what trail camera you want, and say, I wanna see what's maybe on this food plotter coming down this trailer in this timber right now.

Dan: And I think you can hear what's going on and you can see what's going on. And so now there's this debate, right? Is live feed or cell cameras or things like that. Is that fair? Chase? And man, I've never had a scenario happen yet with my cell cams where a deer showed up. I rattled that deer came in and I shot it.

Dan: Or I was sitting in my truck trying to figure out where to go. A [00:23:00] cell cam sent me a picture and I made a decision, like an instant decision based off that I haven't. even been put in that scenario yet. And most of the time it's because the cell cams that I do have out are over an hour away from my home.

Dan: So the reaction time with that said, I know guys who have gotten the a trail camera pick of a deer while in the stand. They rattled the deer came in and they shot it, or they, they saw a deer in their timber. They said, oh, he's in, he's there now. So they went into a stand the direction he was traveling and luckily that deer came by.

Dan: And so now the topic of fair chase is coming into play. And it is this, and I honestly don't know if I've formulated a view on it yet. Like I'm still thinking about it. And so what are what's your thoughts on that kind of technology in comparing that to fair chase? Yeah,

Josh: man, that's, , [00:24:00] it's so muddy because anytime technology is involved in anything, ethics always lags behind tech. Because these things come out and they're put on the market Before we've really thought through okay, should this be a thing or not? Yeah. So with these, personally, I know the way that I will use a camera like that, so I'm inclined to say, let me have one of my food plot.

Josh: Yeah. It'd be cool to pull it up on the evenings I'm not hunting or whatever. Yeah. Because food plot's an hour or two away. It's not like I'm gonna bust it out there because a deer walked out at four 30 in the afternoon. . But I can see where they will be used, and they most definitely will be used in some unethical manners.

Josh: Yeah. So I do think that it begins to take away the fair chase aspect. Yeah. Now how do we regulate that? Yeah. As far as, being able to allow them for folks I just wanna show my kids some deer. Yeah. No. Or whatever. Yeah. I don't know what the right answer is. I see

Dan: the term fair chase to [00:25:00] me, even starts to get muddy because a 300, let's just say 300, maybe even 200 yard rifle shot, that deer has no idea.

Dan: There's a predator there. That deer has no idea that there's, even at 200 yards, if the wind was blowing right to the deer, there's still a chance that you're still getting away with it because the scent has, dissipated. So the term what, what does fair chase actually mean? And from a gun hunting standpoint, or using a crossbow or things were that every, everything that hunt, like even camo, right?

Dan: Is camo fair? Chase it? It's supposed to it's supposed to. If we're gonna maybe play devil's advocate here is camo. fair chase, because what it's doing is it's deceiving the deer's eyes and, is certain sense, a you one could argue that, oh my God, this deer thinks that we're tricking it, right?

Dan: So [00:26:00] we're not just walking into the woods, we're not setting up and then hoping a d our tree stands fair chase because we're getting above them and they have no natural predators above them. Like all these crazy, like one could almost argue any one of those scenarios are not fair chase. And actually I think Friday I'm gonna be talking with a a couple people, maybe one, or I'm gonna do a two-part series on this live feeding and cell cams and other products that may be unethical and or not necessarily unethical, but that really walk the razor's edge when it comes to fair chase.

Dan: Keep an eye out for that. But, the, it's a hot topic right now. Yeah.

Josh: And I think there's been some kind of effort in the past to make it illegal to hunt a location where a cell camera is, if you've gotten intelligence from there within a certain amount of time. Yeah.

Dan: But how is that regulated?

Dan: You can't, some guy goes okay, [00:27:00] if it's within a one hour period or a one, a 24 hour period, all a guy has to do is say yeah, I was there 24 hours later. He could have been there 18 hours later or one hour later. Nobody's gonna shoot a giant buck and then tell the truth and say, Hey, I got a cell cam pick of this deer, this day.

Dan: And then, do you really think that the department of Natural Resources is gonna say, okay, let's spend money to investigate this or not. Yeah. And ugh, it just gets, it's get, it's gonna get a lot weirder in my opinion, before it gets and really why are people using cell cams to locate big antler deer and this is just my opinion and have a better chance of killing them, right?

Dan: Yep. Simply cuz nobody would give a shit if a dose showed up on cell cam. , if Deere didn't have antlers, would cell cams even be a big thing? . No. Yeah, sir. Not at all. Yeah, so it all comes back to this big antler stuff, and I don't wanna get into it, but[00:28:00] yeah, my bigger,

Josh: my biggest concern with these livestream cameras, whatever comes of them is I can see those as fuel for the fire that is eliminating the uses of trail cameras in general for some states.

Josh: Yeah. So places that are outlawing, all trail cameras. This gives a freaking really good reason to opponents of trail cameras to say, ah, see, we told you yeah you gotta ban 'em all because this is where it's going. Exactly. And I can buying into that argument, like

Dan: you said, certain states are already doing it.

Dan: Certain states have already banned trail cameras. That's right. And in season. And so there's a, there's an entire industry out there that's gonna fight it. And usually what it comes down to is money. And whatever. Anyway, like I said, I'm gonna talk about this later. All right. Let's let's jump forward and go to another product or company that kind of stood out for you.

Dan: Yeah.

Josh: Did you see the new Xop P Climber?

Dan: The Xop P Climber? [00:29:00] Yes. And I'm gonna be completely honest. I looked at it, I saw it, and I walked right. And I did not, it did not really catch my attention enough to stop and take a look at it. But I stopped, I looked at it, I said, it's something that I'll never use, and I just kept walking.

Dan: Yeah.

Josh: So being in Iowa. Yeah. Have you ever been a climber

Dan: guy? No. And I'll tell you this, why I've never been a climber guy. I take that back. I got a climber one of my first years, and so it's perfect for trees that are straight up and down. But when you start to realize that you need to hunt a specific location and not a specific tree, right?

Dan: I need a certain tree to get this up in it. That just limits you to where you need to go. And so for me, climbers after I realize that I've, I have not used a climber since then.

Josh: Yeah. . So if I was only hunting in Wisconsin, yeah. A [00:30:00] climber would never cross my mind. But because I'm also hunting in Georgia and in Alabama where straight telephone pole, pine trees are the norm.

Josh: They're, yeah. They're, they're the norm. I think this climber could be a little bit of a game changer for the public land guy that's used to carrying around his 30 pound summit climber. Yeah. Yeah. It's really light, it's really compact. I don't know about comfort level because, when you're at the show, you don't have any way of really gauging long-term comfort.

Josh: But man, it's, it is the lightest and most compact tree stand, or I'm sorry, climber stand climbing stand that I've ever seen. It's a significant step forward. Yeah.

Dan: Yeah. Maybe if you're a climber if you're one of those guys who likes to climb, go check those out. But for me like for me personally,

Dan: I, I just, I don't, I'm not interested in it, in, in stuff like that. Yeah. Is it a good product? Probably. You can't put a shit product on the market these days without people tearing it apart. So if you are looking for a [00:31:00] climber, it might be something to look into.

Josh: Yeah. And I've gotta say this too, Dan, you're you're a lot bigger than I thought you were

Dan: I hope that's not I hope that's not saying, dude, you're fat.

Josh: No. It is not fat at all. . But you're a bigger, you're a larger man in person than I thought you were. And at five seven, I think that climber would be awesome. . At Dan's stature, I would say a climber. This climber in part. Probably not for you.

Josh: I can't imagine adding another five inches to my height and being like, yeah, this is gonna be a great fit. Yeah,

Dan: yeah, you're right. That, and even like I, in the past I, like I said, I've used the Lone wolf assaults and that is a smaller platform. It's not the smallest of, I think Custom Gear makes a real small one and there's some other like I think Moultrie makes a, hang on.

Dan: That's, I think the m like something light, the Moultrie light. Long story short, it's one of those real small platform designed to be micro. [00:32:00] Okay. And so for me, the assault is about as small as it can possibly get, and. and feel comfortable in it. My boots are still hanging off the edge of the platform every time I sit down.

Dan: Now when I stand up, oh yeah, I have to bring my feet back a little bit, it's better than what the alpha was. And that was just this big monstrosity that I used in certain scenarios. But as of right now, man, it just and that's why I'm gonna start playing around with the saddle hunting game, yeah. Yeah. Other than that though yeah, I can definitely see where that product could work in certain scenarios for certain groups of people. Yeah,

Josh: For sure. So what other things caught your attention? Like what was maybe the big one for the show that you were like this, yeah.

Josh: This, here's the thing. Yeah.

Dan: The technology with Multry was one of 'em. The next thing I, that caught my attention, and the cool thing about this is an Iowa company. There is a a camo [00:33:00] clothing company, and it's the name of it, oh geez, what is it? Code of Silence. Did you see that?

Dan: Yeah. Okay. I did. Yeah. So Code of Silence is a brand new camo company, and they are, like I said, based out of Iowa, a lot of fleece. But what's cool is they have Marino implemented in some of their garments as well. And so the camo pattern is not real tree, not saying that real tree is.

Dan: You take camo, however you want to take it, but for me, I'll just be honest. When I used to wear Sitka I felt that the Sitka what was the name of that? Do you know the name of the camo pattern that Sitka calls what they use? Oh, no, I don't. Yeah. Anyway, it was really light and blue and white, and I was, I'll be honest, I was getting picked off when I was wearing it.

Dan: Yeah. In the tree. Yeah. And so on. And so usually I would wear their[00:34:00] sub alpine pattern in the tree. And I just felt like I was getting picked off less until, I messed around with some first light, whatever. As far as a camel pattern is concerned. But then eventually I started going to solid colors, and I felt like I was hidden more in solid colors up in the tree.

Dan: Than I was wearing some kind of elaborate ca camel pattern. And so what's cool about this coat of silence is it, there is a little bit of a pattern there, but when you first glance at it, it just seems like it is a solid color. It's a solid color. It's darker than, it has a little bit of light, but it's a darker browner focused camo.

Dan: And it just really caught my eye as, as far as what I would really like, if I was gonna build a camel pattern in a clothing company. This, there are pieces in here that I would definitely choose. They have some Marino base layers. They [00:35:00] have and some mid-weight stuff. They have a lot of big fleece type stuff.

Dan: Downside of fleece is cockers beggar's lice, right? Yeah. So walking into the timber on a running gun. I may not may not like wanna wear it, but pack it in and then when you get to the tree, you can throw it on. So there's that, but just the design of it, where the pockets were, the zippers the bibs that they had, the pants that they had.

Dan: It just, number one, it looked comfortable. It felt comfortable on the skin. There's some other camel or other companies similar to what they're doing that are out there that I've worn before. And you can put on the product and you can instantly start itching from it. And I, yeah, and it sucked, dude.

Dan: And so imagine sitting four hours and just being irritated by the base layer that you're wearing, right? Oh my God. Yeah. , but that this code of [00:36:00] silence gear did not have that did not have that. And I'm actually I talked with the owner. He's from Iowa here, and he's gonna hop on the podcast at some point to talk about the company.

Dan: But that was a product that I could definitely see myself wearing. And I'm not I'm in a pretty happy place right now with my gear. Like I wear Dickies. or the actual, the pants that I actually wear are called arbor wear. It's like a denim focused pant. I can put my base layers underneath of it.

Dan: It's like a jean, right? And match that with my boots, and if it gets real cold, then I can put my boot covers over top of it or my, my bibs over top of it. But when I'm walking in through all the nastiness, the thorns the beggars lice, it just doesn't seem to stick to the denim type harder fabric.

Dan: And so a lot of companies are, they're like let me [00:37:00] see. What's another example? What's another ex Oh mystery Ranch came out with a new backpack that was all this like fleece and fabric My mind instantly goes to, it's just gonna pick up all the shit that I don't want it to pick up.

Dan: Okay. Yep. And I treat my I treat my equipment pretty harsh throughout the year, but and everybody goes it's quiet, right? Oh yeah, that's great. It's quiet. But who is making so much damn noise that it's gonna scare deer away like that? What are you doing in the tree that's gonna warrant that product?

Dan: Whether it's an article of clothing man, this year I shot my deer and I was wearing a puffy jacket, a, a navy blue puffy jacket from Eddie Bauer, and it was, it makes noise in the tree. Yeah. It makes noise when you move around in it, but it's not so much noise where it's like this giant [00:38:00] signal for deer to throw their tails up and run away in fear I don't know what pe like it's just a marketing scheme.

Dan: Like you, if you're gonna be a good hunter, you gotta sit down, be quiet, and not move. It's pretty simple. And if you do those things, you can wear just about anything, right? And even in high pressured states like Michigan or Pennsylvania. But what I will say is if you're even smart about it and you put your tree stand or your saddle, where you can use the tree as a blind, and it just masks any additional movement.

Dan: So anyway, the whole point of that rant is that a lot of companies are going to, Hey, it's quieter, but is it more durable? I want, I will, I would select a, like a pack and a a pack and a a clothing to be more durable. And le I don't if it's a little louder, Now if it's like a bag of Pringles[00:39:00] a bag of chips yeah, that was making so much noise, then maybe there'd be an issue.

Dan: But I have yet to, I have yet to hear a product that is so loud that it just scares deer away. So it's a cool thing to think about. And and so anyway, this code of silence, I just really like, dude, I think I'm gonna pick up some of their Marino. Like they have a, some of their base now, it's not a hundred percent Marino, it's like a blend, but it has Marino in it.

Dan: And so I think I'm actually gonna pick up some of their gear. Man, it, it looks pretty sweet. Yeah,

Josh: it looked really good. I went by and felt it and all that. The the only thing that kind of scared me away was like you said, yeah the soft feel of the outside. It's oh my gosh, that's gonna, That's gonna be a nightmare.

Josh: Yeah. And I saw that mystery ranched backpack and I was like, yeah, that would, I would be throwing that away after one hunt. Yeah, exactly. No, wouldn't wanna pull all the crap

Dan: out of it. So while we're on the topic though, I'm gonna slide into Mystery Ranch because [00:40:00] I have their I have their current whitetail line feedback and or their their, it's called the Tree House.

Dan: It's the backpack they have. Yep. And it's a badass man. It is. Not only is it durable, it's the same one that they have currently, but the new version of it has some really cool some really cool things like updates to it, like the fleece, take what you want out of that. It's quieter, maybe it's gonna pick up some more stuff.

Dan: It being on my back probably would help the fact that it's not gonna pick up so much stuff, but, , if you're dragging it through somewhere, you're setting it down and just, it's gonna collect stuff throughout, throughout the year. But they've done some upgrades, so they introduced this past year, a whole new line of whitetail packs.

Dan: And man, they're pretty sweet. I'm not gonna lie. They're a really cool they're durable. I [00:41:00] have the Metcalf pack that I use on my Western hunts, dude. I beat the shit out of that thing and sliding it down the, on the ground, trying to, leaning up against it, using it at a, as a glassing, pack all that stuff.

Dan: And the, another cool thing that they have is on some of their packs it has the ability to pop up. , it's almost like one of those traveling suitcases. The frame pops up and you, there's a screw on it. So you can actually screw your spotting scope or your binoculars to the pack and use it as a tripod while you're glassing.

Dan: And I thought that, dude, I thought that was sick, man. I thought that was awesome,

Josh: dude. Yeah I haven't seen any of those now. I saw their booth. I didn't go by there. Like I said, I just saw the one pack, but man, backpacks are one of those things that just, I don't know. I've never been able to justify sinking money into it, but I'm always frustrated with what I've got.

Dan: Yeah. You know what I mean? Yep, absolutely. And so when I [00:42:00] got the, when I got the mystery ranch tree house, there's some things I like about it. There's some things I don't like about it or things that I would change, but it overall, man, like I don't think there's anything out there really. Tethered has a backpack that like, they have a whole system now. And so that one's pretty cool. It may for me, it may need to just be a little bit bigger, like I said, because I pack in all of my overalls and my heavy coat when it gets warm. And I, it's just something I'm always tweaking.

Dan: I'm always looking for the most efficient way to transport all of the stuff I need for a hunt to the tree. And it might be one of those scenarios where now that I'm gonna be hunting out of a saddle more means I'm gonna have be able to carry more, some of something else, adjust the way I, pack my overalls or the way that I pack my my boot covers and my heavy coat.

Dan: So when I get to the tree I can adjust that. But yeah, so there's that. [00:43:00]

Josh: Yeah. Did you see any of the. Like more modular pack systems while you were there?

Dan: Other than what I, they showed me from tethered and what they showed me from mystery Ranch. I walked by bog, I walked by man what was the other brand that was there?

Dan: There's another backpack brand, or it was a brand that had backpacks. Anyway, I walked by no Badlands had some backpacks that looked pretty cool. But, outside of that, nothing, nothing really caught my attention.

Josh: Yeah. Yeah. I saw elevation had some packs with Molly on the outside with these little extra pouches that you could add or take off depending on what you want to have.

Josh: Yeah. And I really like that moving forward, for things like my either my camera or my. Rangefinder, that kind of stuff that maybe I don't want to just drop down into my pack. I wanted to have a devoted pouch for it. Yeah. Having the ability to strap that to the [00:44:00] outside I think it's gonna be pretty big.

Dan: Yeah, for sure. For sure. All right. Next product. Anything else on your end that you that you were excited about or that you liked?

Josh: Dude, that huge bike with two front wheels. . .

Dan: That's that's taking the e-bike to the next level. That thing is, yeah, that's Mon dude. There was another electrical machine there.

Dan: It looked like astronauts would use it on the moon. It yeah. It was like a platform that you stand on and then you're holding onto it like a scooter, but it was four wheels. And that thing looked huge too. But what company made that two wheel. , man, I

Josh: wish I could remember. Yeah, I don't know. I, they said it technically qualifies as an electric moped though.

Josh: Okay. I think you're automatically ruled out of public land with it. Of a lot of public

Dan: land with it. Yeah. Yeah. Dude I don't [00:45:00] see the, I What's the benefit of having two front wheels? Yeah. They stability, they talk,

Josh: they, they talked about the stability that, that gets you and the ruggedness of the terrain that you can cover.

Josh: With two wheels, you're able to move a little bit slower and so you can get over some worse stuff. Yeah. But honestly, how rugged is it gonna be when you're on private ground? I don't know.

Dan: Yeah. I don't like at, there's only so far you can take a truck right? Then there's only a, so far you can take a four wheeler, but I don't see a vehicle like that double wheel bike.

Dan: If it's. , like I don't see where that would replace something. Cuz it's electric, right? It is. Yeah. So I don't see where that would replace a dirt bike or a four-wheeler or a an atv because yes, it's narrower. It has, just imagine a bicycle with two [00:46:00] front wheels, like two bigger fat tire front wheels.

Dan: That's what this is. And yes, it might be able to get down some more narrow trails, but I just don't see it, it replacing what's already out there or maybe functioning better than a single front wheel. E. No.

Josh: I don't either man. And in fact, the one e-bike that really caught my attention was the one that breaks down in half that like full.

Josh: Oh yeah.

Dan: We talked with that guy. Me and you talked with that guy that one day. Yeah, I ho Hoag Hodak. Was that it?

Josh: I think Hoag was the they've got the mock scrape

Dan: stuff. Oh yeah. Anyway, I know what you're talking about. It can fold in half. And when I went to go purchase e-bike, an e-bike, I actually looked at that one.

Dan: But the wheel base and the power of that bike just didn't really match up with the quiet cat that I ended up going with. Yeah. And so the, when I went to South Dakota this [00:47:00] year with my e-bike, I was able to, I was able to get it in the back of my truck, but on the way back I had to I just hung my tire out the side of it.

Dan: out the back end of the truck. This thing basically goes down, compacts down to the size of a big cooler. Now would that have worked on my whitetail spot? Absolutely. It would've worked at my whitetail spot, but I don't know if it necessarily would've worked in the South Dakota environment that I just don't think it was big enough to and powerful enough to do that.

Dan: So I don't know.

Josh: Yeah, your tires are a good bit shorter on that thing as well. Yeah. But I hunt mostly out of an suv. Yeah. And having the ability to throw that in the back rather than have the big bike rack on the back of my vehicle hanging off. Yeah. That, that to me was the allure.

Josh: And then also I, the i, the e-bike that I used this past summer a good bit was somewhere in the 95 [00:48:00] pound range or something like that. Yeah. Which, Is fine, but man, when you're trying to lift that thing chest high to get it onto the rack on the back of your vehicle, absolutely. 95 pounds heavy for a five foot seven dude who's, trying to get that thing up to my chin, basically.

Josh: Yeah.

Dan: And that one weighed 25 pounds less at 70. At 70 pounds, I believe it was total weight. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. Something like that. Yeah. So I, I was easily able to pick it up and, I could, I would've definitely been able to pick it up and put it in on a tailgate Yep. And slide it back into the car.

Dan: So yeah, that's, that was a and that brand is not, I don't think it started in the hunting industry. I think it was outside of the hunting industry, and then someone brought it in as a skew for hunters or, outdoorsmen. So that's why that was at the show. I'm trying to think like outside of. , the vibe, obviously thi this year was everybody introduced a saddle.

Dan: [00:49:00] Most companies introduced a saddle. There was a lot of saddle. That was the big, thing that I would say. Anything else before I get into some final thoughts here on your end of any products?

Josh: Yeah. One, one thing I'm really intrigued by, I think it was called Hang Em High, it's it's a trail camera mounting system Yeah.

Josh: That allows you to mount trail cameras up high over your head, and those are really cool. You can screw your camera mount into the tree and then just pop your camera right on there. They're really easy to use. They look like they wouldn't be, but they really are. I've got to do it a couple times, but they've got a system now that's public land legal and

Dan: Oh, so it straps to

Josh: the tree.

Josh: It, so essentially it's. , it's this metal bracket that you would reach up and hang it on a branch. Okay. And when you screw the, when you use your hand drill to, to get, or your drill to get it clamped down, it clamps onto the branch of a tree,

Dan: almost like a plumbing, o on when you, or in vehicles, you put the [00:50:00] tube, like the male end over a female end, and then you slide that clamp over top of it, and then you use a screwdriver to tighten it.

Dan: And it has the cutouts in the strip and Yep. The screw tightens around. Yeah. I, yeah. Yeah. They use it plumbing too. Yeah. It's

Josh: Like a, it's like a giant claw. Yeah. But that thing's legit. So when I walked by that booth several times and I was just like, this is irrelevant for me as primarily a public land hunter.

Josh: Yeah. But then I saw the bracket that they had and I was like, okay let's check this out. And I think that's a good option for. Getting your trail cameras up off the ground because on public land I've had a lot of trail cameras messed with, I have yet to have one messed with that.

Josh: I had up high though. Yeah. Everyone that I've had up high has been safe. Yeah.

Dan: Yeah, that's a great point. Absolutely. Great point. They've been around for a while or that Yeah, that technology's been around for at least five years, six years or something like that. And when I saw it at the first ATA show that the first ATA show that they were at, I think the company may have been [00:51:00] bought and sold a couple times since then.

Dan: I'm not a hundred percent sure. But yeah, really just really cool. I'm walking through all of the I'm walking through the visually right now. I'm walking through the rest of the show and I'm trying to think if there's any other products outside of bows that really. I don't know. That caught my attention, and I don't necessarily think anything else did other than what we've already talked about.

Dan: My favorite arrow company never goes to those shows. My my bro, the broadheads that I used, they were there, got to talk with them. BoTech was there. I shot their carbon bow. It was a decent bow. But before we get into that I'll, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, because you didn't shoot any bows while you were there, correct?

Dan: No, I didn't. Okay. All right. Any other products you wanna talk about before? We get into the bow side of things?

Josh: Yeah. Last one. And this is because I'm a Turkey hunter and I know Dan , you probably are not [00:52:00] gonna give a rip about Turkey hunting. So newcomb hunting blinds. Okay.

Dan: You see those newcomb and that they're a, they look like a tp.

Josh: Yeah, they look like a tpee. Yes. And when I first saw 'em, I was like, that looks really, I don't know, man. It's small. It doesn't look like it would be very effective. But I went over and I checked them out, understood the placement of these blinds. And if you've got a second person, how you handle that with another blind.

Josh: And I like 'em a lot, man. Yeah, I really do. They pop up easy, they fold up easy, and I think they're gonna be just the right amount of concealment for, dragging around a blind in the Turkey woods because you don't need the full concealment of a, totally surrounding blind with a roof on it to be good and useful for Turkey hunting.

Josh: Yeah. And that's what I had been looking for when I first saw it. I was like, ah, it doesn't do everything my other blind does. But I think it's, after doing it, after sitting behind it and having my hands on one, I think I think I'm gonna grab one for this

Dan: spring. Okay. All right.

Dan: That's cool. Cuz [00:53:00] how compact do they get?

Josh: do they, so basically as compact as a smaller than a Coke can around and they fold, those sticks fold down in half. So I think they're like two feet long. Okay. Or something like that. It gets very

Dan: small. Is it pop up where you can just open it up and it pops up?

Josh: Not totally, but there's, so I, the sticks break down in half and I think they got the little bungee cord in there. Yeah. And then you've got the middle stick that you just put into one receiver. And when you put it into that receiver, it basically is popped up at that point. It's up in less than.

Josh: 15, 30 seconds. Gotcha.

Dan: Okay. Cool, cool. Yeah, man, I'm always interested in stuff that will not let the turkeys see my kids moving when I'm going into the , going into the woods. So Yeah I saw that. I, they may have, I think they may have won an award too. I think I've seen, I saw, but the only issue I saw with that blind was the window for the blind [00:54:00] seemed if you're sitting down on the ground, the window for that blind just seemed too high to use.

Dan: So you would need a chair or something else to bring in with you. And so it's not necessary. It's, it doesn't, in my opinion, match the running gun style if you're gonna sit with your back to the tree blind that you would need or some type of concealment, because you still need to bring a, a. You still need to bring a chair in with you or some kind of chair to, to use that window funk properly.

Dan: But there might be something else I'm missing there too. Yeah,

Josh: so they, they've got the two different sizes. So one is made for a chair and then one is made for sitting on the ground and it's a lot lower. Yeah. And you can open those bottoms up because it's just the two pieces, the two panels yeah.

Josh: You can open that up more and get that brings that brings that window down

Dan: a little bit lower. Okay. Cool. Cool. All right. That's a, yeah, that's an interesting product. Anything else? [00:55:00] That's it, man. All right. Okay. So like I said, Hoyt was not there. Matthews was not there. Pri not prime. Elite was not there.

Dan: And then there, I'm sure there was some other bows manufacturers that were not there. And . I went around on the last day and I shot, come to think, someone mentioned Athens and I must have walked by their booth cuz I didn't s I didn't shoot, I don't think I shot their bows.

Dan: I, I shot obsession, I shot Martin, I shot pse, I shot Prime, I shot BoTech and Gearhead. So six, six bows, six flagship bows. Okay, so you didn't shoot the bear? Oh, yep. I shot bear too. Yes. Okay. I shot the bear. Okay, so I just, I don't know these, this is such an objective, right? Is that [00:56:00] the right word?

Dan: Objective opinion on BS because Objective Yeah. Subjective. Yes, because you could shoot. the same bow at a different brace, height, or no, excuse me, at a different draw length and have a completely different experience than what I might have. Yep. And I ask for the flagship bow, and usually the flagship bows come in two different axle to axles.

Dan: And it's usually like a 30 these days it's a 28 or a 30 somewhere in there. And then a 32 to a 34 if not longer, depending on how many axle to axles they decide to go with. And so I would like I went and I shot what I would usually like to shoot. So I usually I've. In axle to axles in the past that are 30 and under.

Dan: And I am, I just have found that 32 roughly is my sweet [00:57:00] spot. So 31, 32 I think I've even shot a 34, which was okay. A 33 in the past as well, but 32 I feel is my sweet spot. And a lot of companies this year offered an axle to axle that was 32. So first I shot the obsession and I shot the Martin.

Dan: They're owned by the same company now. And so those, as I would say a second tier manufacturers, they were a really good bow. Yeah, they were good. Yes, there was some noticeable hand shock in, in there. It didn't feel as tight. The draw lengths were, or the draw cycles were not great.

Dan: but Okay. And so I felt hey I have no problem telling some, like I could definitely side in that bow and kill a deer with it. Easy. Nice. Yep. Then I went over to Bear and I shot Bears. And some people would look at Bear and go, Hey, bear, bear is a top [00:58:00] tier company. I've shot bears in the past that were really awesome bows.

Dan: This one, however I shot, let me see, let me pull up. I have pictures of what I shot and I can tell you exactly. Where is it? Here it is. Gallery. Okay, so the Martin M T X is the one I shot and that one some hand. You put a sight on it, you put a rest on it, and you get it tuned to your liking.

Dan: I'm sure a lot of that would, maybe it would go away. The next one I shot from Obsession. It had a name, but it, I took a picture of it and it didn't have the name on the bow, so I don't know what the actual n new their new bow was. And then the Bear, I believe it was called the Execute 32 inch bow Echo 32 Echo E Execute.

Dan: That's what I shot. Dude. I like I feel, and this is just me, bear's been [00:59:00] around a lot, enough to where I feel like that bow should have been better, man. And I'm, I am not a bow expert, but I look at a company like Bear who has been around for a very long time, and when your bow is similar to a a Martin or an obsession, I don't know if that brings Martin in obsession up or if that brings bear down.

Dan: You know what I mean? Yeah. So those three bows were so similar in feel that they I'm just gonna lump 'em all in one category as Okay. Yeah. Okay. Yeah so then I went over to my buddy Skip. He is now the sole owner of Gearhead Archery. And if you have never seen a gearhead, they do not look like anyth any other bow on the market.

Dan: I shot their 30 inch, I think that's the, they have longer axle to axles, but the 30 inch is like their flagship bow. [01:00:00] It's the same design. It's it's all based off of center. Everything is center. And so it has dual risers. It's just a unique design. So if you're listening to this, you wanna know what a gearhead looks like?

Dan: Go Google Gearhead archery.

Josh: Don't they have all the way down to an 18 or something crazy axle to Axle? I think it's

Dan: 14. Yeah. It's crazy. It's, yeah. It's a very sh Yeah, it could have been. Yeah, I think it's 18. You're right. And yes, and so they have it, it's all based off of very short axle to axle.

Dan: And the design is cool. The design is cool because there is no hock in these bows. The all of wow, all of the inefficient inefficiency, in my opinion, is absorbed in the dual riser. Okay. Oh, yeah. In the limbs. So it's really, but in my opinion, it lacks and I know the word I'm about to use is hard to define when talking about compound bows, but, [01:01:00] I feel like there's just a little bit lack of power there.

Dan: Yeah. Okay. Okay. I have killed deer in 2017. I killed my buck in two dos with a gearhead bow, and it shoots, it it again, it comes down to it comes down to a tuning proper arrow. Proper broadhead in practice. I'll say this, in my opinion, I will put that gearhead above the other three bows that we've already talked about.

Dan: Oh, no kidding. Okay. If you were gonna rank 'em, I would put that gearhead bow above bear. I'd put it above Martin and I would put it above obsession. , it's just not a traditional looking compound bow. So a lot of people look at it and go, eh, it's a gimmick, but it's not a Yeah. I'm telling you right now, it's not a gimmick.

Dan: It just lacks a little bit of power. And so I, I feel like if there's a little bit of innovation that goes into this [01:02:00] bow and they really mess around with it a little bit, they're gonna have, and I think a lot of it has to do with their cams. If they get in a more aggressive cam system, they're gonna be able to start, competing with some of the big boys in the industry anyway.

Josh: Yeah. Do you think they're using their current cams because of that zero shock factor that they've got? Trying to hang

Dan: onto to that? Potentially, but I think their design is so good that the more aggressive cams would allow that, or a cams or maybe a smaller brace height, would allow for a , would allow it to absorb, continue to absorb that energy.

Dan: And so still keeping the hand shock at bay. Yeah.

Josh: What's the brace height on the one you shot? A 30? No the axle. Axle. Oh, brace height.

Dan: Oh, geez. That's a great question. I don't know. I think it's like a seven. Okay. Something like that. It's right around there. Okay. Okay. So then we come to [01:03:00] the next three bows, and I'm gonna come, I'm gonna lump them into another category which I'm gonna call elite Again, I'm repeating myself.

Dan: No, Matthews were there. No Hoyts were there. No, elites were there. Okay. Okay. I shot the the bot tech the new carbon one, and it's. . Like originally when Hoyt came out with I think Hoyt came out with one of the first carbon bows. Dude, I felt like I was shooting a metal pole. Like it would just, there was so much vibration in it, I didn't like it.

Dan: And I, that kind of turned me off on carbon. So I finally picked up this bow and this new bow from, or the new carbon from BoTech, and I shot it. It is it's good. I w I'm gonna rank it up a above the gear head. Okay. It's a really good bow. Now, the [01:04:00] other bows that are not carbon, that they have, the one I shot the solution this past year, the last two years actually.

Dan: Amazing, amazing bow, no hock when properly tuned, dude that it's been one of my favorite bows on. That I've ever hunted with. There's just something I really like BoTech bows. Okay. And so I'm gonna put that up there as well. There was very little compared to the bear, the martin, the obsession.

Dan: There's little to no hock, but there's a, there was a little bit with it being a carbon bow and the term everybody uses, the term everybody uses is dead in the hand. It was dead in the hand ish. Okay. So there was just a little bit there. But the other bows that I shot from them did not, they were perfect.

Dan: As far as hand shot, I love Botox. Draw cycle. I shot the 32 axle to axle. Again, that's in my wheelhouse of something that I would actually buy and use. All right. So Botec [01:05:00] like not a fan of the carbon, but the other risers that they have money loved them. Okay, nice. Nice. The next two. were prime and elite.

Dan: And so back in the day when I was shooting oh, excuse me, prime and pse, excuse me. So PSE and dude, man, I'm telling you what, one company that I, I have really, like I used to hate their bows, was pse. Yeah. I just, they, and they were built for speed. They were built for power short brace Heights. They just wanted to blow everybody out of the water.

Dan: PSE man has made some really big strides and they are putting out bows now that are just, in my opinion, just real. They're the top of the top. And so last year when I. Or no, two years ago when I shot all these bows determining what bow I wanted to go with for, to get for the upcoming [01:06:00] season.

Dan: And I ultimately went with Botec because of the draw cycle. And in that, in my top three that year we're Matthews PSE and bot tech. And I'm telling you right now, man, p like PSE is just in my, for my taste is just a little bit away from improving their draw cycle. And the only reason it's a rougher draw cycle is because it's a shorter brace height.

Dan: And so there's a ton of pull at some point in that draw cycle. And I think you have the ability to adjust it on their cam now of whether you want it all up front or if you want it at maybe the tail end of the draw cycle. But Nice. Yeah. So the smoothness of that is there. And but dude, when I let the arrow go, zero hand shock on that bow.

Dan: Zero hand shock on that bow. And dude, it is, it was money. I'm not gonna lie. It was it was a really good bow. And what did I take a [01:07:00] picture of it? I think I did. You know what, I did not take a picture of that PSE that I had. Anyway, I forget the name. It's their new flagship bow. It's badass.

Dan: Shot it at 32 inches. And then, so my favorite bow of all time, it, two of them. It's, it really the top bows I've ever shot were right off the bat. It was my Botec tribute in 2000 and, seven or eight or something like that. I bought a brand new obsession bot tech. I love that bow. And then I bounced around through some elites and some some other companies.

Dan: I've never had a Matthews I wasn't a huge fan of Matthews. But then I picked up some primes and the Prime Logic was a badass, a absolutely badass bow. I loved what that bow felt like at Full Draw. Absolutely loved it. I believe it had limb stops on it, and so I, I just loved it. [01:08:00] And then I went to the CT three, which is a 33.

Dan: I think it was a, yeah, a 33 inch axle to axle. That bow was awesome. And then this new prime that the RevX or the Reve, R E V E X, dude, that bow again, just like PSE was like dead in the hand. You, it felt, I felt confident holding it. And so I didn't know how that boat, like how that company was gonna go away, cuz their bread and butter was this dual cam system.

Dan: Two cams up top. Yep. Two cams on the bottom. And now they went away from that. And now they're a single cambo again with some pretty cool technology that I would say you should go, you should go check out. But man, again, a really good bow. And the top three walking out of that show, of the ones that I shot, top three were Prime PSE and and definitely bot tech.

Dan: Okay. [01:09:00] I just, I lean towards bot tech a little bit more because at full, like the draw cycle. And so just a huge fan like my favorite walking out of there was probably bot tech, but I would without hesitation feel comfortable going into a PSE or a Prime. Nice. Yeah. Nice. Yeah. But I, again, and I, and just to follow, just to end it.

Dan: Yeah. The bows all I could feel comfortable. There was no garbage, there was no nothing garbage there, right? Yeah. There wasn't a, cuz in the past I've drawn back on some bows, let one arrow go and then just said, no, I don't wanna shoot another arrow out of it. I shot multiple arrows out of all of 'em.

Dan: There was nothing there that was garbage, but. I'll tell you this, I, I would, I could feel confident grabbing any one of those bows, putting a side on it, putting a rest on it, and [01:10:00] going and killing a deer. No, no issues at all with any of those. But the top three were what I just mentioned.

Josh: Nice. So even the lower tier bows, you would, you'd give a passing grade?

Dan: Yes. Yeah, I would recommend, and I think most of those are at a lower price point than some of the high, like the bigger ones, like a PSE or a or the prime or the bot tech. I think those bows were a little bit more expensive. So I, if you're price conscious, then those other bows a hundred percent confident I could tune those and work, work up something and feel confident with practice shooting, shooting that.

Dan: Yeah. I,

Josh: I took a long look at the Bears and I wanted to get by and shoot some of those, I didn't get a chance to, they have one that is in, like that 4 99 price range, which I currently shoot a maps, so they are not in the 4 99 price range. But the idea of keeping that barrier to entry low for guys Yeah.

Josh: To [01:11:00] get, a decent bow. Yeah. I was really hoping to get my hands on one so that I could say, Hey man, these things are, yeah. Great. 4 99, they may not be, one of the top tier, lines or whatever. Yeah. But they're a great shooter, but unfortunately I just didn't make it by there.

Josh: Yeah. Did you didn't shoot any of their other ones

Dan: for bear? No. I just for time's sake, I went with just the flagship Bose. Yep. Yeah. Yep.

Josh: Dude, it's crazy how fast time flies when you're at the show. Oh, yeah,

Dan: yeah. Like you get there, it's, and then it's lunch. . Yeah. And then you have one meeting and then it's time to go.

Dan: And yeah. Yeah. So that, that was my talk on the bow side of things. I was while I was talking, also thinking about anything else there that really caught my attention. And the only other product that I wanna bring up is Code Blue Sense. Okay. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And so it was, it's a very unique product.

Dan: [01:12:00] They are able to, and I don't know these they must be caged deer or proc, like I, I don't know how this works with wild game laws. I'm actually gonna have someone from Code Blue come up and discuss all that on this podcast. But they have one tarsal gland. in a package. It's an actual deer tarsal gland in a package.

Dan: And only one deer one bucks urine in that package. So it's not like a mix of a whole bunch of different urines. It's one, one tarsal gland and one buck on one specific, in one package. And so that intrigues me from just a a quality control standpoint of sense and urines. And so when you can take deer are so good at a, using their nose to identify things that I feel like if you were going to use a scent, a [01:13:00] one-on-one type product, like that would, I don't know, take say what you want about scents and how they're used would perform better than a synthetic or some kind of blend.

Dan: It has to.

Josh: Yeah. I mean it would have to in my mind. Yeah. So yeah, dude, couple that couple that tarsal gland with the old sense Slinger.

Dan: Oh, . I forgot about the sense Slinger. Dude, that was money. That, okay. So let everybody know what is the sense Slinger. Yeah.

Josh: So the sense slinger was this little, like slingshot, but it's not even a real slingshot.

Josh: It fits over your fingers so that your hand becomes the slingshot. Yeah. Basically. And you put these little bubbles or packets of scent into the slingshot and you sling it over to where you want the scent to be so that you don't have to walk over there to it. Yeah. And. Yeah, man. And then the name's what got me, the sense slinger.

Josh: Yeah. So whoever came

Dan: up with [01:14:00] that, put your index finger in your thumb up in the air that the sensing has like a piece of weather or some fake, some kind of material Yep. That slides over those. There's a rubber band in the middle of it. Yep. Just like when you were in high school flinging stuff at your friend's or at school, you put the scent on a rock or whatever it is.

Dan: What is it? Do they come with the

Josh: little, I think there's these little like balls, almost like paintball things.

Dan: Yeah. That you sh and you just fling 'em out there in, in the woods. Into the woods or into the CRP or wherever it is, the field and.

Dan: whatever. , it could be the new acorn,

Josh: cruncher gland. I wanna sling a tarsal gland this year. , yeah.

Dan: Yeah. Except when it backfires and smashes you in the face and you then you, your beard is full of buck urine all day long. That would suck. .

Josh: It especially suck if it

Dan: worked.

Dan: Exactly. . Yeah. And here you are going, man. How'd you kill this buck? [01:15:00] Dude, you'll never guess. I used the scent slinger. Yeah. And the scent slinger kills him dead every time. Every single time. Every single time. All right. Josh, any final thoughts on the products in the ATA at the ATA show this year?

Dan: Yeah,

Josh: man, last thing, it wasn't a product thing that stood out to me. There's this guy there who gave a talk on conservation .

Dan: Oh yeah. Righting

Josh: company involvement in conservation. And man, I thought it was really good. So you brands, you folks that work for companies, if you're. , you need to be thinking more about conservation.

Josh: And I know a guy named Dan that might be able to help you out with that.

Dan: Yeah. So to elaborate on that, I gave a speech at the archery trade show Media Summit. And so here, the, here what I gotta kick out of was I went last and I was under the assumption that you're always supposed to save the best for last.

Dan: And so there's guys like Trent Marsh who's been in the game for a while doing a variety of different things. And then will Brantley Outdoor Rider, very good at what he does. These two guys are very good at what they do from marketing and riding and content creation and things like that.

Dan: And then there's me just basically a southern Iowa hillbilly who who, who got up there. And I think, what did I say? I said I said, I don't know why I'm going last. This is like Led Zeppelin opening up for Nickelback and. Yeah, so and so just like a really good band and then a really shitty one.

Dan: Anyway. Yeah. I ended up given a speech on basically local conservation and the premise was, if you want to actually participate locally and you want to the benefits of participating at local, city, county, state level conservation efforts is you can not only participate.

Dan: And maybe even dictate what those conservation efforts [01:17:00] are, but you will actually be the beneficiary of those. And so you're, you will be able to go enjoy that piece of public land that has had some kind of conservation work done on it or, clean trails or pick up trash or whatever the or see ducks come back into a wetland that had some restructuring, it, it was that was the whole point of it.

Dan: And then, companies, how it benefits companies is if you are a company and you're saying, Hey, we really want to give back, why not give back to something that's right outside, outside your front door? You become the hero in your community. You are able to benefit from that. And then the customers that are close and in your town see that and go, oh my, this, these people actually care.

Dan: And I don't know. I just saw it as a win-win. And when they asked me to do it, I jumped on the opportunity.