HECS Stealthscreen Clothing Preliminary Field Report
Russ Chastain 04.02.15
A few months back at the 2015 SHOT Show Range Day, I ran across an interesting display. It was for HECS Stealthscreen, clothing that supposedly blocks the human body’s natural electrical field to prevent game animals from seeing you as a threat. After a talk with the company president, this skeptic walked away feeling cautiously optimistic and excited to think of the potential–especially as turkey season approached. And that’s how I was feeling when I posted about it then.
After a nine-day turkey hunting trip to the woods, my spirits are somewhat dampened. I haven’t given up hope that HECS clothing can be helpful, but I can testify that it is definitely not a cure-all that will allow you to get away with a lot when wary game is about.
On three different occasions, I was busted by turkeys and noted “so much for HECS” in my hunting diary. I was spotted at long distance by a hen as I sat against a tree looking at my phone, again by a gobbler at long distance as I slowly moved forward on a trail while screened from the bird by light brush, and again by a turkey that strolled up behind me and only alerted me to its presence by putting as it departed.
I was busted more often than that, but on those occasions I felt that my HECS clothing should have helped me out. It doesn’t seem to have done so.
In the interest of fairness, I must mention that I did have a satisfying close encounter with a hen turkey, which apparently spotted me slowly move my hand as I sat in a hiding spot as it fed in a field no more than 15 yards away. She got curious and walked a little closer to me as I sat there frozen with one eye closed and one eye open just enough to see what she was doing, then she decided I was okay and calmly departed. But could I have gotten away with the kind of movement it takes to turn my body and gun and fire? I highly doubt it.
After a close encounter with a pair of gobblers on another occasion, I felt that they *may* have been a little less alarmed than usual. But still, as soon as they saw me, they began leaving the premises, and I never got a good shot.
I’m not giving up on HECS Stealthscreen clothing just yet, but I am less hopeful than I once was.
I’ll post another report after I spend more time in the woods with HECS.