Hunting is a traditional sport. Not only is there traditional lore and “ceremony but family traditions passed from generation to generation. So why would a bow hunter turn to the technology used in heat-seeking missiles? “ Because it works!” said Frank Panasuk of Hamburg, who recently used a heat-sensing “Game Finder” to find a deer he’s shot earlier in the day. I saw this Bonner Industries device, sold for around for $300, two years ago at an outdoor writer’s conference. I filed the press kit under “expensive gimmicks.” It looks a bit like a flashlight with a series of light-emitting diodes on top, and the PR guy demonstrating it at a reception showed how to wave the wand back and forth and read the lights: the more LEDs that illuminate the stronger the heat signal.

A downed deer, I was told, will radiate more heat than its surroundings for at least 24 hours and the colder the weather, the better the heat signal will be. “ I thought it was a gimmick, too” said Panasuk, a former Hamburg detective. “I used a compound bow but I also used to hunt with a flintlock, so you know I don’t like all this electronic stuff. But I’d hit that deer solidly, and knew she was down. There was one blood splash 15 yards from where I hit her, then nothing!” Panasuk did what all deer hunters do, he marked his starting point and began circling the woods from the last sign of blood, hoping to find the deer. After tracing ever-widening circles for hours, he remembered that Todd Plough, a neighbor near his Southern Tier hunting camp, had a Game Finder so he called him and the tow began tracking in the falling light.

“We had about 15 minutes of daylight left so we went to the starting point and Todd began waving this thing and getting stronger signals off to his left. We followed it, and it kept indicating left so we kept following. “ Now this won’t pinpoint a downed animal, Panasuk said, “It’s more like a compass that points north so you can orient yourself. But we kept following a stronger signal and, just as dark fell, we found the deer, just 200 yards from where she’d been shot”

Panasuk, a 30 year veteran of the deer woods, said he has lost game and seen others fail to recover deer especially during bow season when the foliage remains thick. “If every group of deer hunting buddies pooled their resources, no one would loosed a deer again.” He said.

Michael Levy - The Buffalo News.

Dear Jerry

A friend of made a poor shot on a deer just at sunset. The shot was high, far back and not a pass through. I didn’t think that we had much of a chance of finding it. We waited for two hours before looking. The field has tall golden rod weeds and deer trails are going in every direction. We found one speck of blood under an apple tree and that was it! We looked for about and hour without finding any more blood. We decided to try the Game Finder. I scanned the area and followed the giant signal. We came across another speck about 100 yards away. The Game Finder then directed me up a hill, which was not the direction that we though the deer would travel. We looked up the hill and there he was. Total distance of about 150 yards. I don’t believe that we would have found this deer without the Game Finder.

Blaine Richardson – Freeport, ME

I had shot this deer next to a marsh area that had very high reeds all around it. Early in the morning I heard this deer coming through the woods as he stopped to rub a tree. I got a good shot at about 50 yards with buck shot and he jumped and ran right for the reeds. I gave him a few minutes to lie down. When I went to the reeds. I found a dozen or more trails going all directions and all had fresh tracks. I went back to my stand and got my Game Finder. 10 Minutes later I had my eyes on the best harvest that I have ever had. Thanks

I also used it one night to find someone hiding behind the bushes outside my house. The Game Finder let me know there was someone where they did not belong.

Calvin I. Liles - Smyrna, DE

The Herald outdoors writer with the assistance of a few hunting friends has been seriously investigating Bonner Technologies’ GF-Pro Game Finder. Research has indicated that every hunting camp and waterfowl hunters shouldn't be without Game Finder.

Testing a field during the early goose season and the first week of waterfowl hunting in Ohio’s Northern Zone has proven the Game Tracker to be worth it’s price. Serious waterfowl hunters spending more dollars to practically guarantee the retrieval of downed waterfowl dropping into the maze of swamp grass, cattails, and coontail.

When there is a great difference in temperatures of the animals’ body and it’s surrounding, the Game Finder is quick to detect the animal. Large or small. The Game Finder is equally as effective in total darkness as it is in daylight. Another advantage seen for using the Game Finder to probe through the darkened woods as the archer attempts to locate the deer by following it’s expected trail. In 65 degree weather, low humidity and winds not exceeding 10 miles per hour, deer hunters will discover the range in open terrain between 600 and 700 yards. In wooded areas and wildlife, the range is 300 to 350 yards.

Ed Moody
E-J Moody Associates
Outdoor Writing and Photography
Louisville, Ohio

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