HECS Stealthscreen Clothing Preliminary Field Report

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.

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.