The scenario plays out year after year. Hunters painstakingly scout for deer, select treestand locations, hang stands and then anxiously await bow season. Maybe they  add a bow pull-up rope to the set before leaving. Smart hunters will add a safety line as well.

 

In their haste to get the stands placed and prepped for the season, they typically leave out one of the most important components: bow and gear hangers. Some guys will cut off a nearby branch and use the remaining stub for a bow holder. Others will use an extra tree step. Hey, it works in a pinch, but it isn’t ideal. Remind your customers to not be that guy, especially when a super-convenient and affordable solution is readily available.

 

Realtree Outdoors’ EZ Series of products provides solutions to the most common inconveniences hunters face in the whitetail woods. The series includes bow hangers, mounts, hooks and saws that are both portable and convenient. You might have seen the standard hooks and bow holders, as they have been around for a few years, but several new items in the lineup take the game to a new level.

 

Here’s a look at my five favorite:

 

1.The EZ Hanger Crossbow bracket

This is most impressive of the new Realtree EZ items for this year. Ask any crossbow hunter, and they will tell you it is a complete pain in the neck (literally) to have to sit in a hang-on tree stand and hold onto the crossbow while hunting. It’s clumsy and awkward and especially tiring if you try to pull off a four- or five-hour sit with a cocked crossbow on your lap. The EZ Crossbow hanger simply screws into the tree and features an easy-loading fork that accepts any crossbow forend. Position the bracket in whichever way it’s most comfortable for you to grab your crossbow at the moment of truth. It also includes additional hooks at the bottom of the bracket that allows you to hang additional items for easy access — grunt calls, rattling antlers, binoculars, etc.

 

2.EZ Video Camera Mounts

Whether you’re an aspiring outdoors TV star (aren’t we all?) or just want to capture video of your hunts for your personal memories, the new Realtree EZ Camera mounts are the ticket for getting that over-the-shoulder video you see from your favorite hunting shows. Best of all, you don’t need another person in the tree!  The mounts come in two sizes — a shorter version for on-the-go hunts and a longer version that extends almost 2 feet away from the tree. The mounts are extremely versatile and allow cameras to be positioned in nearly any angle. Quick-release dials allow you to lock the camera into position once you are safely in the tree and ready to hunt. The EZ mounts can also be used with trail cameras, and this is a really useful application, especially in areas that don’t have trees large enough or straight enough to accept the standard straps that come with today’s trail cameras. On highly pressured properties, I use the Realtree camera mounts for placing my trail cameras up high (5 + feet above the ground). Deer don’t become camera shy because they have no idea the trail camera is there.

 

3.EZ Cellphone Holder

This is a companion item to the EZ mounts, and it allows you to use your phone to take still photos and/or video of all the action. Want to video your hunt with your smartphone? No problem. Just mount your phone in the EZ Holder and attach the holder to an EZ mount tree arm. The holder is lightweight and easily mounts on the EZ Mounts with the standard ¼-inch threaded ball joint.

 

4.EZ Hooks

I’ve been using these for years and honestly feel lost if I don’t have a few spares in my backback. I just never know when I’ll need them. They are super handy for having places to hang my gear and accessories within easy reach no matter if I’m hunting from a treestand or ground blind. I even use them in my backyard archery range. It sure beats laying stuff on the ground and then hitting it with the lawnmower because you forgot to pick it up after a day of archery practice. Sigh. Yeah, that’s a true story.

 

5.EZ Folding Saw

The Realtree-branded EZ handsaw is one of the sharpest little handsaws you’ll find, and it has all the features that you’ll want when trimming shooting lanes and prepping trees for your stands. It features a specially designed blade that locks in the open position and the closed position This enhances safety, as does an ergonomically designed rubber grip. The saw comes as a standard hand saw and also as a version that can be used as a portable pole saw. The pole saw version has an open back end that allows you to cut a branch or small pole tree and insert and secure it into the saw handle, providing you with a makeshift pole saw. It sure beats lugging a standard 6-foot trimming saw into the woods on the off chance that you only might need it.

 

Editor’s Note: Retailers, contact us today to find out more about carrying Realtree EZ products.