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'09 Gear Reviews

Iowabowtech

Iowabowtech

Active Member
Last year, we did a similar thing and I enjoyed reading everyone's thoughts on new equipment they tried this season, good or bad. Not necessarily new equipment on the market, just new things you tried. I got a lot of equipment in '08 and very little this year but I do have one to start things off with and it was kind of a major one as it turns out:


Magnus Snuffer SS broadheads. Previous to this year I was using Slick Trick 100 Mags. I still like that head but I did have a few times where I questioned penetration. I shot 4 deer this year and all were passthroughs so that's an automatic in the plus column. I like the COC design of this head and the fact that it's resharpenable. Took me quite awhile to figure out the best method for a good edge but finally got it done. I'd go with a 10 out of 10 for my only real new product of the year.
 
09 Hoyt Alphamax 32. Great bow. Lighter than the Vectrix I bought new in 07, smoother, quieter and faster. Chronoed 25fps faster than my vectrix did. Forgiving bow that was very fun to target shoot in the yard and 3-D tournaments with, and was deadly in the field. Filled 4 antlerless tags with it.

Hunting Hoist- Awesome tool. Check it out at www.huntinghoist.com Picked this up actually a couple of years ago at the classic, great for pulling your gun or bow up to stand, and even handy for hanging stands, heavy test cord allows you to pull up the weight of hang ons.
 
I didn't buy much either. I love my primos top gun head lamp and my new Cabelas MTO50 goretex whitetail extreme suit. It is extremely warm and quiet. I also bought a set of Irish Setter GunFlint boots that so far seem to be pretty good. They are comfortable and fairly light. I have worn them down to 30 degrees with no issues. Tomorrow morning will be the real test.
 
NAP Bloodrunners

Myself and my son tried the new NAP Bloodrunner broadheads this year with excellent results. Four deer with complete pass throughs on all 4. Two only went 20 yards from the hit, and 2 went no more than 75 yards or so. All with devastating wound channels.
 
I purchased a pair of Sitka 90% lite pants. Spendy for sure, but burr proof, silent, fairly warm, comfortable, zippers on bottom of legs to go over boots and water resistant. Even crossed a small stream and didn't get wet when the water went over my boots. Best hunting pants I have ever owned. Worth the money.
I also bought the old butt out tool. They work slick.
Bushnell Trail cam also is working great.
 
wiseguys25 said:
I purchased a pair of Sitka 90% lite pants. Spendy for sure, but burr proof, silent, fairly warm, comfortable, zippers on bottom of legs to go over boots and water resistant. Even crossed a small stream and didn't get wet when the water went over my boots. Best hunting pants I have ever owned. Worth the money.
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Did you go with the Optifade camo on them? If so, what do you think about it? Looks like they put a lot of effort into the design.
 
OK, gotta admit when I'm wrong. touted Tracer nocks all off season as the cats ass, but for a second year in a row, my whole quiver full of arrows does not light up any longer. Not sure what the deal is, but the tracers sometimes just go off on there own and they must do it while they are sitting in my bowcase for extended periods of time. All 5 in my quiver are now dead. My neighbor had the exact same thing happen. Looks like I will looking for another nock. Yes I know you can "turn them off" but I dont want to deal with the hassle.

So for the record (at least for today:grin:) i will not be buying tracers or lumenok in quantities of more than 1, and hopefully I can find a better alternative.:rolleyes:
 
i will not be buying tracers or lumenok in quantities of more than 1
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Good move there. I bought two tracers. One didn't work out of the package. Took it back and got a replacement. A few weeks later and neither one worked.

Piece of crap in my book.
 
Dang, I forgot the Tracers. That's another thing I tried this year. Had great success but after reading your experiences, I just checked mine for function. Had 4 of them, all of which worked out of the box. 1 of them is not lighting up now. I think I'll use them again but I'm going with the same plan of getting 1 or 2 at a time next go around. Dang.
 
DOR said:
OK, gotta admit when I'm wrong. touted Tracer nocks all off season as the cats ass, but for a second year in a row, my whole quiver full of arrows does not light up any longer. Not sure what the deal is, but the tracers sometimes just go off on there own and they must do it while they are sitting in my bowcase for extended periods of time. All 5 in my quiver are now dead. My neighbor had the exact same thing happen. Looks like I will looking for another nock. Yes I know you can "turn them off" but I dont want to deal with the hassle.

So for the record (at least for today:grin:) i will not be buying tracers or lumenok in quantities of more than 1, and hopefully I can find a better alternative.:rolleyes:
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1 of the 4 that I bought is still working. What a croc! I remember bragging them up too...now I'm eating crow.
 
Only thing really new that I tried this year were Rage broadheads, and my review is top notch :way:

Really not a fair review though, because I shot 2 deer with them, and both were hit just about perfectly and I think any major brand broadhead would have made short work of each deer given the same placement. But the placement is the point...these things fly as true to a field point as any head I've ever spun on an arrow, and that's why I'll probably keep shelling out nearly $15 a piece to use them. And by the way, it really does look like "throwing an axe through an animal" :grin:

NWBuck
 
i bought the bass pro expedition fleece this year and i really like it, the coat is long, comfortable, quiet and most of all, cheap!
 
I had the tracers a year ago and they were crap.. The magnet worked on one of them - they were a pain. The burnt coyotes worked a heck of a lot better on one of my buddies setups.

This year the only new thing I bought for my deer hunting was the dream season treestand pattern scentblocker suit. Got a real good deal from Boyd :way:! I liked how it was burr proof and quality fabric but it didn't cut the wind like the camo I had before so I had wore some polarfeece stuff underneath and it did pretty well. I also thought the treestand pattern was a little too bright when sitting in most trees. As I got picked off more this year than any other and was usually 20-23 ft high. It never cost me any hunts as it was just little bucks but it still was very unusual.
 
I used Muzzy Phantoms this season and am very pleased with the results. They have 2 1/8" of total cutting width. They are a very well made, stout head that is easy to resharpen. They're not your typical 4 blade COC where the bleeders are designed to break away on bone. The bleeders on the Phantoms are as thick as the main blades of other modular type heads. Built tough, wicked wounds! After running them through a few whitetails, I have a new favorite broadhead.


I also used a Muddy Safegaurd harness this season. By far the best harness I've ever used. Fit so nice I forgot I was wearing it. Easy to put on and the tether is situated high enough that I could wear a jacket/sweater over top of it. Definitely one of the best pieces of hunting equipement I own.
 
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I tried the rage 3 blades this year, and I love em. I have killed 5 doe's with them so far, and all were good shots exept one. The rage did so much damage, that the deer only went 75 yards, with a liver/gut shot and fell over dead. I am sold on them.
 
My Alphamax 32 worked great this year - other than that, I didn't buy any new stuff. And I agree with one of the posts above....the Huntin' Hoist is probably the best hunting-related product I've ever bought. I clip it to my pack and it works perfectly!
 
I bought a CVA Accura in October for a trip to Nebraska last week. Initially sited it in with Powerbelts and missed three good bucks during the early muzzy season. The misses I blame on bullet drop and miss judging range. Spent a bunch of money on bullets and time at the range and settled on the TC 250 grain spire point. Bang flopped a doe during the thanksgiving season at 100yds and felt confident for Ne. I shot a nice 3x3 muley head on at 60 yds and a doe at 100. I love the Accura, it breaks down and cleans easy and the trigger is smooth and light. My only issue was finding a bullet that shot well and loaded easy after the gun was fouled. The TC does both.
 
Bought a heater body suit. Didn't get much cold weather to try it out in but It definitely made those all day sits a breeze when I used it. A little tougher to stand up and ready for a shot in, but well worth it for the comfort provided.

Also bought a couple of scout guards. The Camera is very small which makes it easy to conceal from deer and thieves alike. I love the video mode and the battery life is great. I don't care much for black and white pictures and the daytime pic quality is average in my opinion. I hate having to deal with the remotes.
 
Iowabowtech said:
Did you go with the Optifade camo on them? If so, what do you think about it? Looks like they put a lot of effort into the design.
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I got some of the Sitka gear in Optifade this year- jet stream jacket and celsius vest- love the jackets and the camo.
 
Great post!
I had similar results with the tracer nocks....One worked on a doe I shot in October, and one didn't on a buck I killed in November.

I purchased my first safety harness this year and went with the muddy. I don't have any prior experience with harnesses but I'm super happy with the ease and comfort of the muddy.

I also picked up a pair of 2000 gram cabelas rubber boots. They were cheap (50$ on sale)so I wasn't expecting much....Best 50 bucks I've spent in a long time. My feet never got cold and they are super comfortable.
 
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