By Brenda Valentine
First Lady of Hunting®
September, 2008

It happens this time every year, so I've come to accept it as normal: that antsy anticipation of the upcoming hunting season that starts off mild and builds in intensity with the passing of each Dog Day of summer. One balm I've found that will temporarily soothe the pain is shopping. I scour catalogs and attend trade shows and hunting events in search of any new product or gadget that will magically insure me a successful season, or at least guarantee a safe and fun time afield. With a few decades of hunting experience to my credit, I've become harder to impress due to too many unkept promises of sure success. However, I am still amazed by the technology and unbridled creativity of those in the outdoor industry that keep coming up with cool ideas. Here are just a few of the things that have really caught my eye and eased the must-get-outdoors itch until hunting season is officially open.

The subdued pink camo gives the new Parker bow feminine appeal yet it is still practical for hunting situations.

Parker Pink SideKick Bow

At first glance, some will think the Parker Pink SideKick is just a cute girlie bow for backyard shooting. Wrong! This is a gutsy, state-of-the-art, parallel limb, mega-adjustable bow that can easily be sized to fit the smallest archer up to a full-grown bowhunter. The subdued pink camo is just right to give it a feminine feel but not so much that it wouldn't be appropriate for hunting. In fact, the one I brought home was quickly claimed by my bowhunting daughter who may have lost it just as quickly to her daughter. Every gal in the Valentine family is trying to lay claim to the Pink SideKick because it is so much fun to shoot and it looks 'way cool'. This bow has all of the high-end quality features and lifetime warranty that Parker is known for, plus the famous "Grow up with Parker" plan that can't be beat for anyone buying a bow for a growing youth.

The Pink SideKick XP is the hands down favorite among the gals in the Valentine clan.

Tink's Power Scrape Deer Scent

Mock scrapes are certainly nothing new to most seasoned deer hunters. However, Tink's, one of the oldest names in deer scents, has a new product called Power Scrape.

After listening to an educational seminar by Terry Rohm, Tink's Director of Sales and Marketing, I was convinced enough to add a couple of 16-ounce spray bottles of Power Scrape to my 2008 must-have list. The thing that sold me about Tink's Power Scrape is that it will stay fresh indefinitely on the shelf or behind the seat of my pick-up. According to Terry, a mock scrape should be started a couple of weeks before the season near your stand site. Power Scrape should be mixed with the dirt and also sprayed on leaves and trees all around the site. The urine smell will be reactivated whenever it rains, or a new application can be added weekly or whenever you are in the area. I don't know what's in Power Scrape that makes whitetail bucks go nuts over it, but the guys at Tink's had deer pawing and scraping last year during February in Michigan, long after the rut was over.

Read all of Brenda's Field Notes