Utah Hunter and Inventor of Blood Warmers, Tyler Higley has noted that recently there has been a new group of hunters who have watched the runaway hit TV show, Duck Dynasty. Unfortunately, some of the show’s fans may have come away with the idea that going out and hunting is easy, simple and safe, when nothing could be further from the truth if you are not an experienced outdoorsman.
Tyler Higley has grown up his whole life hunting, fishing and on a farm. He’s been hunting since he was about eight or nine. With two decades of hunting experience, he grew up learning all the skills he needed to be a safe hunter. He says, “Lately, there have been a lot more duck hunters, a lot more bow hunters. There’s a lot of people I’ve noticed on Facebook going out, buying bows, going duck hunting, starting up their own business making duck calls, elk calls, stuff like that since they’ve been exposed to the hit TV show Duck Dynasty.”
It seems like whenever a new trend comes on the scene, like Duck Dynasty, it creates this new trend. There’s a lot of popularity. “It always seems like you get a lot of guys going out there thinking that just because they’ve watched the show, now they’ve got enough experience that they can just run out there and do it, Higley says, “A bunch of, I guess, ‘city slickers’ you’d call them—weekend warriors. They just jump in a vehicle and head out and think they can go hunting without checking the weather, the area, the terrain, stuff like that.”
He adds, “Hunters need to make sure that you’re prepared. I make sure I got enough clothes, warm weather gear, even survival gear, check the weather. There are a lot of considerations.”
Higley offered to share some hunting tips designed for new hunters who have watched the runaway hit, Duck Dynasty before they end up in a life threatening situation.
First, hunters ought to consider the terrain while they plan a hunt. Make sure you know where you’re going; plan out a good route to go.
Know the area and pick out landmarks. Go spotting, that way you know your area where if things aren’t working out, you can at least get out by compass or using landmarks. Pick some good landmarks that aren’t going to move, that you can see from a distance. Try to take a compass with you. Get compass training if you need it.
Go online and find checklists. There are deer hunting checklists, elk hunting checklists, big hunting preparation guides. You can go online and they’ll actually give you a no-nonsense list. Make sure you have all your stuff. Make sure you can figure out where you’re going. There are topographical maps you can download onto your GPS of the area where you plan to hunt. You can put in your waypoints, where you need to go, where you want to be at certain times.
Make sure you have the right license for what you’re hunting. A lot of licenses now are broken down into certain areas—you’ll have your northern, your northeastern, stuff like that. They are broken down into, a lot of them, counties, even roads. Make sure your license is good for that area. Also you’ve got to make sure you’re going to be within your time or your dates for hunting. Don’t hunt after hours, or before hours.
Check your state’s proclamation; it’s your Division of Wildlife Services. You go on the website and it’ll have the proclamations, or you can go to grocery stores, or sporting goods stores. They’ll have hunting, fishing, big game, small game, upland game, whatever you want, different proclamations. You go through and read it. It’ll tell you where your areas are.
Keep in mind. If it’s private, you don’t have permission to go on it. You can’t just go on it and start hunting. You can get big time trouble; lose your license for a couple of years and get fines. You need written permission with you to get on private land to hunt.
Dress in layers, that way, if it gets too hot, you can take off a little bit here and there. If it gets cold, you can put on a little bit. Make sure you don’t start sweating. If you start sweating, you get in trouble. It’s going to get your clothes wet, and you’ll never be able to dry out.
Always take plenty of water. I mean, if you’re going somewhere where it’s going to be dry, you got to make sure you have water. If you know, there’s springs or something up there, take like a Life Straw. That’s what they call them. It’s just like a little straw. It’s got a filter in it. You just stick it in there and start drinking. I’ve seen some people drink out of some pretty horrendous puddles, and it was kind of nasty, but when you need water, you need water.
In case of hypothermia, you got to have good boots, wools socks. If wool socks get wet, they usually keep your feet warm anyway. It’s just a natural insulation. Be sure to have a good jacket. If you can, gloves. I don’t personally like gloves. I came up with an Invention which I patented called Blood Warmers that helps with your hands. It holds a heat pack. You put it on your wrist and wrap it around your wrist. That way, you keep your hands free to do what you need to do hunting. The heat packs last up to 12 hours.
With all those tips, it should be clearer to Duck Dynasty fans that while hunting is a great sport, it takes preparation and experience to do it safely.
For more information about Tyler Higley visit the Facebook page for Blood Warmers, LLC, or you can go to: http://www.Bloodwarmersllc.com.