Would you ever climb into your stand at the start of bow season if you did not shoot one practice arrow all year? If not, why would you attempt to film a hunt without practicing with the camera, camera arm and gear first? If something can go wrong, there are two times that it will; when it is pre-dawn and you are trying to be quiet and still in your treestand, or when a “shooter” works into your location. Here are a few tips to help eliminate future problems.
1. Use your gear ahead of time and all squeaks, creaks and malfunctions should be out of the way before the hunt. Remember, cold conditions create issues that were not there in July. Practice, practice, practice.
2. Be sure to get your pack organized with what you need so you can find it by feel. You want to be able to reach slowly and quietly into your pack and retrieve what you need without taking your eyes off of your area. You can guarantee that when you are fumbling around in your pack, that is when a buck is going to appear and he will bust you. If you can keep your eyes on the surrounding area and still reach for your gear, you will be less likely to be seen since you are aware of what is going on around you. Plus, if you do not need a flashlight in pre-dawn settings, you will be less conspicuous.
3. Preload your fresh batteries and tape before heading out. This will save time and noise in the stand. Plus, remove the wrapper from your second tape and label it. This way, when you need it, you are not crinkling plastic wrap in the stand. Most likely your tape #1 will run out with an animal in your area and you will need to be extra stealthy when you change tapes. This will help.
4. CLEAN YOUR LENS! It never fails, no matter how careful you are, your lens will get wet, dusty, smudged, etc. Keep a small bottle of lens cleaning solution and a cloth in your pocket and clean it often.
5. Finally, keep essentials in your pockets. Batteries, lens cloth, tape, etc are good to have at fingertips reach. Your pockets provide for less movement than reaching a hanging pack and are good for many must have items.
Be prepared and have your gear in “stand-ready” condition so your first hunt is as successful as your last hunt of the season.
Till next time…I’m rolling!
Brian
A blog about filming your hunts as well as filming your friends and family's hunts. --- Racking focus is the practice of shifting the attention of a viewer of a film or video by changing the focus of the lens from a subject in the foreground to a subject in the background, or vice verse.
