Hunting Season Is Here. Are You Ready or Just Hoping for the Best?
It All Starts Long Before the First Shot
The real work doesn’t start when you’re standing in the tree stand, hearing the wind shift through the leaves, or hiking that ridgeline in the dark before sunrise. It starts long before that moment. Weeks or even months out, the preparation begins. The scouting trips. The early morning range sessions when most people are still in bed. Hours spent behind optics, tracking movement patterns, checking trail cams, studying maps, and figuring out where pressure will push the animals once the season opens.
It’s glassing for hours without seeing a thing. It’s climbing that same hill again and again just to understand how the thermals behave in different conditions. It’s notching your boots with real miles, not gym reps. Successful hunters know this grind. They don’t leave anything to chance because they’ve seen what happens when you do. They don’t hope things go right, they make sure they do.
That kind of preparation doesn’t make headlines. You won’t find it in a highlight reel. It’s in the small things. Testing your layering system on a cold morning hike. Learning how your pack rides when fully loaded. Shooting with gloves on because that’s how you’ll be shooting when it matters. Packing and repacking gear until it’s second nature. Fixing problems in the preseason so you’re not dealing with them when the opportunity finally walks in front of your crosshairs.
If you don’t put in the work ahead of time, the season will show you where you cut corners.
Hunter waiting for his next harvest in a ghillie-suit.
There’s No Shortcut to Being Hunt-Ready
The checklist always starts with the basics. Are your tags in order? Do you know your state's legal shooting hours? Are your boots broken in, or are you about to learn the hard way? This stuff matters more than people like to admit.
You also need to go beyond just having gear. You need to know how your kit performs in the actual conditions you’ll face. That means testing your rifle or bow when it’s cold, wet, and windy. Wearing your pack fully loaded on tough hikes. Putting your optics through abuse so you can trust them when it counts. The idea is simple: if something’s going to fail, let it fail at home, not out in the field.
According to Outdoor Life in their 2024 Whitetail Report, "only about 41 percent of deer hunters harvested at least one deer in the 2022–23 season." Success rates vary dramatically depending on location. In New Hampshire, that number dropped to just 18 percent, while South Carolina saw a 71 percent success rate. These aren’t just statistics—they’re a reminder that opportunity is rare, and preparation is everything.
Read the rest of the Outdoor Life blog here: https://www.outdoorlife.com/hunting/annual-deer-report-hunter-success-rates/
Air Armor Tech Operator and Overwatch cases with Rifles laying on top of them
You Can Do Everything Right and Still Get Burned by One Mistake
Picture this. You’ve spent the better part of a week hiking through rough terrain. You’ve passed on smaller bulls and finally spotted the one you came for. You raise your rifle, get your scope on him and your zero is off. The rifle must have taken a hit during the hike in or the truck ride over. The moment is lost, and there’s no getting it back.
That scenario isn’t rare. It’s exactly why gear protection needs to be part of your planning. It’s not about babying your equipment. It’s about keeping it functional in the harshest places you’re going to take it.
Air Armor Tech’s inflatable cases are designed to solve that problem. They absorb impact, they float if dropped in water, and they collapse when not in use so you’re not adding bulk to your pack. These aren’t fragile cases meant for display. They’re meant for hunters who drag rifles through scree slopes and haul optics into tree stands before daylight.
Gear That Earns Its Spot in Your Loadout
When you’re heading into the kind of country where mistakes cost more than time, every piece of gear you bring has to serve a purpose. There’s no room for filler, no tolerance for failure. The load on your back should be built with intention, and every item in it needs to prove its value from the first mile to the final pack-out. That’s exactly how we designed the Air Armor Tech lineup of products that don’t just fill space but solve real problems hunters face in the field. Whether it’s protecting a high-end optic from a sudden fall or keeping your rifle secure during a brutal backcountry push, these tools were built to perform when everything else is on the line.
The Air Armor Tech™ Tactical 12 inflatable scope cover weighs just 15 oz. and is designed to protect an optic’s “zero,” structural integrity, and cosmetic features against significant blunt-force impact. It will provide flotation for up to 21 pounds of weapon system. With an average of over 2 1/2 inches of inflated air bladder surrounding the entire scope, the Tactical 12 is designed for 12-inch class optics mounted to a rifle system operating in extreme field environments.
Due to the slightly taller profile of most AR-style platforms and mounted optics, compared with traditional sporting rifles, the Tactical 12 extends farther down the side of the weapon, providing protection from the top of the optic to a position aligned with the bottom of the lower receiver and hand guard. Carrying your weapon in the field is also improved via the integrated carry handle located on top of the scope cover when not slung.
The Air Armor Tech™ Extreme 16 inflatable scope cover is designed to protect the scope’s “zero,” structural integrity, and cosmetic features against significant blunt-force impact, as well as provide flotation for up to 21 pounds equipment. With an average of 3 inches of inflated air bladder surrounding the entire scope and a carrying weight of just 18 ounces, the Extreme 16 is designed for up to a 16.5 inch overall length optic system mounted to a weapon operating in extreme field environments.
The OPERATOR mid-length gun case holds firearms and compound bows up to 42 inches in overall length, including optics, and weighs only 7 pounds. When deflated, it will roll up into a small, 17 inch x 8 inch diameter roll.
The OVERWATCH long gun and bow case holds multiple firearms or a compound bow up to 52 inches in overall length and weighs only eight pounds. When deflated, it will roll up into a small, 18 inch x 9 inch diameter roll. Made to carry a variety of firearms and compound bows, The Overwatch can easily hold two long rifles with optics. There’s a pistol pouch sewn in so you can place a combination of a shotgun, a carbine with optics and a handgun inside for easy transportation to three gun shoots. Also includes arrow pouch as well.
Proof in the Field, Not in the Lab
Greg Mchale looking over the mountains for his next harvest…
Greg McHale isn’t a paid actor. He’s a professional mountain hunter who has put himself and his gear through some of the harshest conditions on the continent. The Yukon backcountry is about as unforgiving as it gets. It’s remote, rugged, and completely unpredictable. There are no paved roads, no shortcuts, and no safety nets. When things go wrong out there, they go wrong fast, and there’s no gear store waiting around the corner to bail you out.
On one of his hunts deep in that terrain, a landslide ripped through their camp overnight. Not a minor slide or a bit of loose rock—this was the kind of event that destroys everything in its path. Tents flattened. Equipment buried. Chaos. But when the dust and debris cleared, Greg’s rifle was still in working condition. The only reason? It had been stored in the Extreme 16 Scope Cover. That case didn’t flinch. It absorbed the hit and shielded the rifle from damage. The gun stayed clean, dry, and accurate. That wasn’t luck. It was preparation backed by the right gear.
Greg’s experience is a dramatic example, but it’s not isolated. Hunters from every corner of the country share similar stories. Whether they’re hauling rifles up shale-covered slopes in Colorado, floating gear across backwater channels in the Southeast, or bouncing along washboard roads to reach a remote trailhead, they all point to one thing—they trust Air Armor Tech to protect what matters most. They don’t spend their time wondering if their scope is off or if their stock cracked in the truck bed. They stay focused on the hunt itself, which is exactly where your attention should be when you're in the field.
Gear protection isn’t about being careful. It’s about being ready. And readiness is what gives you an edge when everything else is outside your control.
The Hunt Deserves Better Than a Gamble
By the time you’re glassing at first light, you’ve already done 90 percent of the work. But that last 10 percent is what decides everything. Don’t let a broken scope or cracked stock end your season before it starts.
Protect your investment. Protect your time. Protect your hunt.