Finding game is the first tangible step in any hunt. The methods we use to find game dictate how many animals we find and with each additional animal located, the greater the likelihood that we will find the one that we want to hang our tag on. For the majority of Western hunts, glassing is the foremost method of game finding. Even if you plan on sitting water, still-hunting, or tracking you must first know that there are animals in an area and glassing is a great starting point for any of these methods. Glassing promotes successes in your hunting with both the immediate reward of finding game now and the long-term benefit of a more finely honed game eye. I will elaborate on the relationship between the brain and eyes; understanding the way we work makes building effective glassing techniques a more logical process. Once we understand how we function, I will elaborate on glassing equipment, technique and the selection of glassing points. From this you will develop a solid baseline of how to glass or how to glass more effectively, the results of which will dramatically effect your long term hunting successes.
. Think about the first time you met your significant other. You may have seen them around and could somewhat recognize them, but over the years, their hands, eyes, hair and silhouette are all thoroughly recognizable from any angle. The inner workings that make that person stand out are the same ones that help you find game over the course of your hunting career. Neurons fire when we see game developing a mental image of those animals. With each additional sighting, the quality and depth of that memory is gradually improved – actually building a mental image. Through repeated exposures the smallest details become finely ingrained in our memory, eventually those minute features will trigger recognition of an entire animal. This is why as kids we always had a hard time seeing the deer that dad showed us, but over the years we can find them by a patch of hair, an ear or eye.
The information we feed into our minds to initiate this neural response and polish the mental image is the actual creation of what many of us call a “game eye.” To become as effective as possible we need to understand a few eye components and their function. This knowledge will enable us to provide the highest quality information to the mind, which will build a better game eye. The key elements of the eye that effect what we are doing here are rods and cones. Rods number around 120 million and manage night vision, motion detection and peripheral vision, what I call passive vision. Cones, numbering 6 to 7 million, deal with the highest vision acuity and color vision. When we hand hold binoculars we are actively looking for game, using the cones. Unfortunately the movement that comes from our pulse and minor body movements combined with the magnification from our binoculars effectively disarms our peripheral vision and ability to perceive movement cannot effectively function. In other words, hand holding binoculars provides magnification but only allows us to semi effectively utilize 5% of our eyesight. So how can we use the passive 95% of our sight capabilities while still using the active 5% and magnification? If the image we observe is stabile, these passive game finding tools go to work – with no additional effort.
At this point we know that eye function is at its peak when provided with a stabile image and the body, especially when paired with magnification, is incapable of providing the requisite stability. Something is missing, and that something is a tripod. What I call a tripod here is actually a combination of three elements: tripod legs, a tripod head, and a binocular adaptor. The kind of tripod legs, head and adaptor you set up with will likely affect your success, so stay tuned, because that’s our next step.
