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From the Founders

Every year dedicated hunters begin preparing themselves for the next hunting season to come which generally begins the days after the last season has ended. They do this from scouting in the field to preparing their gear.

One of the most difficult and most important areas to improve on only seems to come once or twice a year and that is tracking a downed or wounded animal. This seems to be a skill that is only acquired through experience.  Some of the requirements for tracking consists of a keen eye for blood, animal tracks, broken twigs and patience.  This skill is acquired over time and can’t be bought or can it? Well that is the question we asked ourselves here at North American Surveillance & Technologies, the founders of the BOWBUG RF Game Recovery System. The BOWBUG System consists of a directional handheld antenna, listening device, and a small transmitter that has two barbed daggers on the front. The transmitter attaches directly to the arrow shaft with two high tension rubber bands directly behind the broadhead and weighs about 30 grains. The transmitter turns on and off with the placement and removal of a small magnet, once the magnet is removed and the transmitter is shot the BOWBUG transmitter sends out a pulsating signal every second which can be picked up through the BOWBUG directional antenna and receive. Once the signal is heard all one has to do is simply sweep the antenna in a 360 degree sweep and follow the strongest direction of signal to the game.

So does this mean that the traditional ways of tracking are gone?  Does this mean no more lost game? The answer is NO, the BOWBUG is meant to be a tracking aid to the responsible hunter. When rain has set in and your not willing to push the game, the darkness of night has fallen upon you, when the unfortunate happens with a resulting marginal shot or when all other means has failed and the blood trail is lost, this is when the BOWBUG becomes an asset to the hunter. This device was designed to help aid in the retrieval of mortally wounded animals and not to be the only means of tracking.  In a perfect world you would never have to remove the receiver from the box unfortunately we do not live in that world.  It is exceptional for looking in small thickets that are near impossible to get into or covering large areas where the grass is waist high and visibility is 5 to 10 feet.

So this brings up the question, will this product encourage hunters to take marginal shots? In our opinion, the answer is NO.  This question has been raised a lot over the years with the introduction of most new archery products on the market.  Did the transition from long bow to compound bow encourage marginal shots? Did faster flying arrows encourage marginal shots,?  Did fiber optic sites encourage marginal shots?  Any ethical hunter would answer all of these questions with a NO.  We don’t think any responsible hunter will take a marginal shot with the BOWBUG, we definitely do not encourage it.  The product, as we said, was only designed to aid hunters in the responsible and ethical retrieval of the game.

With all this being said you have to ask yourself, wouldn’t it have been nice to have had a BOWBUG strapped to your arrow when the rain did set in and or that blood trail came to an end?, We here at North American Surveillance & Technologies believe that this piece of equipment would be an attribute to any hunter’s accessories.  Please respect the outdoors and enjoy many successful days in the great outdoors.

                                                 BOWBUG is a mark of North American Surveillance & Technologies