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 Webster’s Dictionary defines “bad” as “inadequate or unfit.” However in the slang language that is tossed around today, the word “BAD’ doesn’t necessarily mean bad. The hip definition of “BAD” means, just the opposite, such as “awesome, cool or even amazing.” I think we all have a little of both in us, at times we are awful at what we are attempting to do, making us ‘bad,’ other times our confidence is high and we are in the game, we are BAD!Are you a bad bowhunter? Not sure of the answer, then let your thoughts drift back to last fall’s archery season. Which form of bad were you?” Which version of bad will you be this year?” Does the following scenario sound like what you experienced last year? Opening morning of archery season was fast approaching, you scouted all summer long, battled the heat, and the humidity, plus you logged dozens of miles scouting out deer activity around your favorite hunting grounds. In the days prior, you carefully separated your camo clothing to begin your annual laundry ritual. You reflected on the near misses, blown opportunities and flat out screw ups that you made the previous season. This year you vowed, would be different, you are determined to be the BADDEST bowhunter in the woods. You grabbed your Scent–Be-Gone, Scent-Vanish, and Scent-No-More garments, along with your scent-tite bags, sprays, special soaps and dryer sheets and headed to the laundry room for a full day of preparation for hunting season? Did a smile cross your face as you thought back to the hours you put into practicing with your bow. Did you put in the time it takes to be BAD with your bow? Before the alarm sounded, you were out of bed, showered, de-scented and dressed in your scent free “travel” clothes in record setting speeds? If only you could get ready for work that fast. As you drove in the darkness to your hunting spot, you were confident that you took every step necessary to get in and out of the woods scent free and undetected. Did you stand in the dark beside your truck, naked as a newborn, slipping into your freshly laundered scent free hunting clothes? You were in a state of euphoria as you hightailed it down the dirt road on your ATV, while the smell and sound from the gas guzzling engine pierced the darkness.  Was the wind perfect, still and quiet? As you began to relax and prepare for the morning hunt, the vibrations from the 4-wheeler slowly began to leave your body, then, if you were like me, you smelled it, the fumes, the gas, the oil, the toxic traces that your 4-wheeler left behind. All over your clothing, your hands, your hair and your gear. During that moment, I realized and perhaps you will too, that regardless of all my preparation, scouting and laundry skills, I made the “baddest” mistaken I could have made. I left a toxic scent trail of fumes behind; I never put the puzzle together that most ATV’s are not designed with a hunter in mind, especially a bowhunter. I speak from experience; I have been there and done all of the above. Plus, I have been to my share of hunting camps, where the outfitters load the hunters up in ATV or trucks and haul you to your stand. Unless you plan on completely undressing and changing into freshly de-scented clothing at the trailhead, you will carry odor into your stand. A ton of fumes, plus the mind-blowing decimals of noise produced by an ATV, equals an unpleasant hunting experience. The smell and toxic fumes of a gas engine have absolutely no benefit, to the hunter, the game and certainly to the environment, this might be the only thing Al Gore and I will ever agree upon. However, there is good news for those still hoping to become a BAD bowhunter. There is a vehicle that will get you in and out of your hunting grounds, best of all “they won’t hear you coming.” I was very skeptical at first, I simply did not think it was possible to be totally silent and scent free, using an ATV.
To give you an idea of the silence, the first day hunting on a Bad Boy Buggy, I traveled in the darkness of early morning to my turkey blind. I heard the distant howling of coyotes on a ridge several miles away. I also heard gobblers still on the roost as the buggy made its’ way down the dirt road. This happened day after day, evening after evening on a recent Texas hunt I attended. The final moment that convinced me that these buggies are the BADDEST form of recreational transportation on the market was when my guide Clint hit the brakes a we were traveling down a path. He grinned and asked me if I heard a sound. Only a faint vibrating, it sounded like grasshoppers wings vibrating, a very quiet buzzing. Clint backed the buggy up, and pointed to the large rattler that was slowly inching his way to safety. The big diamondback was about ten feet from the buggy. The buggy was so quiet that Clint heard the sounds of this shy rattler as we traveled down the path. The snake was preparing to make an exit, it was obvious that the snake didn’t feel threatened by the quiet buggy, unlike a noisy ATV. In fact, I would have never heard the gobblers, coyotes or the diamondback if we had used other types of ATV’s. I wonder how many things we hunters miss while we ride our ATV’s in the woods, how many animals hear us coming long before we ever spot them.
Like most hunters, I spend my hard earned money for the best scent free products, clothing and equipment that money can buy. It seems silly to not follow thru on the last leg of getting into the stand totally undetected. I am ditching my ATV’s and putting a Bad Boy Buggy on the wish list this year, as I continue on my quest to be a BAD bowhunter. Don’t take my word for it, visit Bad Boy Buggies web site today at |
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