Contributors to this thread:
Any good hacks (tricks) to replace a specific item with something cheaper or an item for another purpose you use bow hunting, backpacking, blood trailing, etc? I’ll start- I use Weber charcoal starters instead of Wetfire. Similar product, 1/2 price.
Those fiberglass rods with reflective tape for marking curbs when it snows. $1.50-2 each. I take 3 when blood trailing at night to mark last blood. Even in wide open or tall grass it helps to get lined out.
I use mountaineering boots as hunting boots don’t think they are any cheaper tho. Also use drab colored hiking pants to hunt in they are definitely cheaper.
We did it like this, we did it like that, we did it with a Wiffle ball bat! SOOOOO... LOL... I might get poofed!
Leaves and grass instead of toilet paper.
Oops. Too soon? :)
2x on vasoline for fire starting. Get dental paste instead of a pair of pliers to take care of a bad tooth (see the Duke) that could ruin your hunt.
Snow works great for washing your hands after cutting up a critter.
Snow probably works better than cnelk’s solution but I always make sure to have plenty of the necessary paper along and a package of wet wipes...
Old pillow cases work great for game bags.
Reflective bread ties are a good tracking aid or trail marker at night. Easy to keep some in your pack or pocket.
Camp dry silicone spray on feathers will keep them from flattening out in the rain as bad as untreated.
Not hacks but a couple things that my grandfather did that could come in handy. If your pack animal gets a bad cut (or you) and can't stop the bleeding try spiderwebs. Another thing that I saw him do was pour kerosene in a snakebit ( in the eye by a rattlesnake) dog's eye to save the dog. I am putting a disclaimer on this one as the dog lived but lost the eye.
Dryer lint & candle wax melted into a cardboard egg container great fire starters.
I use carbon arrow cutoffs to wrap a few kinds of tape around (Electric, duct, sports) as a little tape dispenser. Shove a few zip ties in there, keep it in possibles bag.
Well, let’s see....
Using no sights saves close to $100; shooting off the shelf saves at least $50; not needing a rangefinder probably saves a couple hundred; figuring out where the critters are without trail cams saves about $100/pop; hunting from the ground instead of up a tree must be several hundred (unless you set out a dozen or more as some do; not using bait, feeders, food plots, fertilizers and farming equipment must run into the tens of thousands, and hunting public instead of buying a private patch o’ heaven could run into hundreds of thousands...
So I guess shooting a used bow to save $500 or $600 hardly registers....
LOL
And here I thought this post was a spin off of the Gregg Ritz post based on the title of this post. Lol!!! TODDY
Milkweed pods, a small thread hanging off of your bow limb to detect wind direction and air currents.
“... a small thread hanging off of your bow limb to detect wind direction and air currents.”
Much better than thread is unwaxed dental floss - just work it over to get it down to the very fine filaments.
Nice thing about a 62”-64” bow is that you can easily check to see what the wind is doing 10 feet off the ground or out away from the tree that you’re backed up to, since wind always eddies around the trunk. Or if you’re up a tree, you can reach down closer to ground level to see if you’re in a different layer of air than the critters are....
If your camping or going to a camp take a half dozen nails. There's never enough hooks to hang things and there's always that guy that hog's them all.
Puff ball mushrooms when “ripe” can squeezed for wind indicating as well.
1. Double high air beds make sleeping almost as comfortable as home. 2. Take a car or lawn mower battery and keep in your tent to charge cell phones and other stuff. 3. Learn to tie your shoes counterclockwise so you don't have to double knot and yet they never come untied.
If I cant find a roll of toilet paper to buy soon, Im might have to gather up some of them there corn cobbs. That's going to suck....
A piece of peep sight tubing tied in a loop like a big rubber band and stretched across the arrow holders on your quiver to keep the arrows from getting knocked loose while packing your bow.
An ATV cargo net to hold your day pack and extra clothes on your tree stand while you're packing it in and out.
I stripped down and adapted an ILBE surplus backpack to a Kifaru duplex frame saving a few hundred dollars and still functioning very well.
I put a watch on my riser. That way I dont have to move my arm to see what time it is. Works good for 20 min calling setups
Easy cnelk, electronics attached to your bow are illegal in CO. ;-)
I never call when I'm posted over a waterhole/wallow,
Neither do I. Pic was for watch on riser reference
Just the same; you’d better go analog so you don’t blow your shot at a P&Y entry.... or get yourself arrested!!
LOL
Get immodium in your pack to conserve TP and to not ruin your hunt if a dinner doesn't go through the system properly.
Use handy wipes to bathe first then wipe... If you are dazed and confused waking up you shouldn't try this.
If you or anyone you know is tossing out an old artificial Christmas tree,the bendable wire limbs are great for brushing in your treestand. Bob
Forgot my bugle in the truck so cut the bottom of my Gatorade bottle out and called in a bull for my brother. He killed it and after we had I quartered up, we heard another bull bugle above us. I cut the windpipe out of the bull he just killed and bugled through it and my brother said it sounded amazing. I also got an immediate response from the bull up the hill. Headed up the hill, and ran into the cows but didn't get a shot at the bull. So in a pinch, a windpipe will do......or a Gatorade bottle.
I have a plastic milk crate upside down in the garage with a piece of 1 1/2” foam square under it. Drop in arrows 5-6 each hole depending on which bow or persons arrows. Like an arrow dispenser. Between the family and my 4 or 5 bows there’s a lot of different arrows.
