By Glen Wunderlich
Charter Member Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA)
In a lifelong hunting career, one important lesson I’ve learned came the afternoon of November 17, 1986. My hunting partner, Fast Frank, and I had had enough of the hunting competition of the Lower Peninsula and made the arduous venture to Iron County in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula for a more isolated experience to hunt deer.
However, at the start of the third day, we made plans to leave this new area we had been hunting, because the first two days presented no opportunities; we were to meet at our vehicle at noon, if things hadn’t improved. Separately, we marched off in the morning darkness and hours had passed when some shots rang out. I met my partner back at the vehicle. Sure enough, Frank connected on a young buck. Excitedly, we arrived on-scene to haul his prize out.
Frank explained that a group of deer were hiding in a blowdown near the trail he was walking, when they scattered. His first shot was aimed at a good buck, but the moving shot caused Frank to strike a tree; he took a young spike buck on a follow up opportunity. But, Frank was determined to show me the exact location, where the secretive animals were hunkered down.
This was my “Ah ha” moment! For a couple of days, I had been walking and looking along these trails thinking the area was a bit desolate. In fact, we both were thinking the same thing, when we made plans to go somewhere – anywhere – else. We had been looking but not seeing. Simple as that.
We took care of the downed whitetail and I headed back out to familiar territory – the same trails on which I had wandered for three days. This time, however, I was convinced to be smarter, so I began viewing distant objects and searching for details with a binocular far ahead.
With six inches of snow and more falling by the minute, I was in search of fresh tracks. My plan was to get on any track and look ahead with the binocular I had heretofore neglected. The new strategy paid off when a record-book bruiser was taken with a 130-yard heart-shot from my Winchester .30-30, as it followed a doe, oblivious to my intent.
Today, I never head afield without my handy Lockdown Deployment System chest harness – a necessary tool. The covered harness protects the glass from the elements and is ready instantly, while a firearm can be kept over one’s shoulder. Without a similar harness, folks tend to leave binoculars home because they become cumbersome. It doesn’t have to be that way.
Oh, you conveniently use your firearm’s scope? Let’s talk about that.
If a person uses the firearm’s scope to identify objects or movement, it stands to reason there is some question relative to what the naked eye has revealed. What if that movement turns out to be another human being? That firearm was just pointed directly at another person! What if you were that person? Think Golden Rule here. Unexpectedly, the bad habit can turn into a violation of a most important rule of gun safety: Never point a firearm at something you didn’t intend to shoot.
Binoculars are the smartest answer to seeing the unseen and can change one’s perspective for the better.
