MD -
50 yrs ago I was 15 but knew quite a few folk who deer hunted. I did not know 1 person who used a winch per hunting.
I also agree that hunting clothes have improved so much that THEN they didn't compare. I actually told my Dad I wasn't going to deer hunt anymore because actually warm clothes, outside of wool, didn't exist that I knew.
Beside, the OP excluded 'clothing'.
Most of the terrain I have hunted isn't open enuff for 'serious'
binos.
I really like and use my LRF, but most of the time it's not to determine the distance before shooting.
It seems to me that RIFLE SCOPES have developed so much more than even rifles and maybe bullets.
At 65 being 'far' sighted, iron sights are useless to me SO....
I could not do w/o a quality scope.
