Elk Hunting Gear Essentials – Radios

Transcript

Introduction

Hi!  I’m Jimmie Norris with ElkHuntersGuide.com  This is the third video in a series, where I share with you what I consider to be my elk hunting gear essentials, and the stories behind what made me decide those are the most important items for me.  

Back Story

When I first started archery hunting my wife used to go hunting with me.  She didn’t actually hunt, she mostly just stayed in camp and enjoyed being out in the woods.  Well, I got the bright idea that I could cover more country if I would my wife drop me off, and then I would hunt to a specified location, and she could pick me up there.  That would’ve been fine, except as we all know, things rarely go as planned.  So she would drop me off, and I would hunt and end up somewhere other than where we had agreed to be.  I wouldn’t be walking the roads and she would be driving the roads until she finally found me.  

Early Technology

The next year I decided that we needed some form of communication.  Now, this was before the days of cell phones or two way radios.  But, CB radios, citizen band radios were a popular thing in those days.  I happened to find a hand held citizen band radio that I could carry with me.  So I bought this, and I bought a used unit to go in my truck.  That way, whenever I finish my hunt I could call my wife and tell her where I was, and she’d come pick me up.  That worked great until one day, I had headed out of camp, and was on top of this wide open hill.  A thunderstorm started to roll in.  I realized that I was going to get soaked before I could make it all the way back to camp.  So I decided to call my wife and have her come pick me up. I extended the antenna to call my wife.  Just about the time I got the antenna up and keyed the mic, a lightning bolt crashed nearby. It scared the you-know-what out of me! I realized that I was actually carrying around a really great lightning rod.  My wife came and picked me up, and I did get soaked.  But after that I didn’t use my CB radio very much.  I also started hunting with some guys who really didn’t want to carry around something like this, so we didn’t use radios for several years. 

Modern Technology

Then they started coming out with inexpensive two way radios that were small enough to carry in your pocket or in your pack.  You know, honestly, these work greatm and that’s why they are a part of my elk hunting gear essentials list.  Now some people complain about the range of these things.  You know they’re advertised for up to 20 or 30 miles, something like that.  And yet, they won’t go half a mile if there is a mountain between the two people who are trying to talk.  So you gotta understand their limitations, but they are pretty cool.  My buddies and I use them to keep track of each other, and call for help if we get something down.  I’ll be honest with you, these things have saved me many, many miles and many hours of precious hunting time, just by being able to communicate with my hunting partners. 

Cell Phones?

You say, “Jimmie, why don’t you just use your cell phone?”  The reality is, in most of elk country, it’s far enough from cell towers that you don’t have any cell service.  Or if you do, it’s very very limited. These two way radios come in really handy.  I won’t go hunting without them. 

What About You?

What about you?  What do you use to communicate with your hunting buddies?  Smoke signals?  Radios?  Cell phones?  Or do you just make a plan and hope it works out? Do you agree with me?  Are two way radios the thing to use?  Whatever it is, tell me what you think.  Scroll down to the bottom and give me some feedback.  I really do appreciate it.  If you haven’t seen my other videos on elk hunting gear essentials, go to my Youtube channel, or my website at elkhuntersguide.com and check it out.  There’s lots of good hunting tips and information there along with the first 2 videos in this series.  And until next time, shoot straight.