The idea of walking in the woods before dawn is exhilarating. The attempt to get into a specific location without spooking some of the most clever animals on earth is always a true challenge. The thought of doing this with an ostomy bag on my side makes it even more fun. Every year I look forward to a specific season. This season brings me immense joy and allows me to get back in touch with nature and feel refreshed. I think I enjoy this season the most because I take off a week from work and spend that time with great friends and family or alone in the woods. It brings lots of memories and allows me to spiritually reconnect and reflect on the year. This is hunting season and more specifically deer season. I say all these things because I want you to know how important it was for me to be able to continue to do this successfully with an ostomy. I was incredibly worried that my favorite part of the year would be destroyed by my own body. It hurts to think of it that way and it was psychologically troubling and worrying for me. Guess what I didn’t need to worry about it at all and neither do you. So how am I able to do this with an ostomy. Let me give you a few tips.
The hard part about hunting it taking care of variables that are hard to stop. One thing to know is that when hunting scent is everything. The smell is what causes most hunts to fail. It is the area in deer hunting that humans are the most deficient in. We have a much lower sense of smell than most animals and especially deer. So hunters for centuries have attempted to mask their smell.
This worried me because I was literally carrying my human feces around in a bag that was most likely more open to being smelled than it would be without. This terrified me as a hunter. So I took to researching what to do. I found the idea that getting the best ostomy supplies and gear that gave me the best adhesion and seals would be a start. So I found a company that offered free samples of different ostomy supplies and I got to work. I tried lots of products until I found one that would allow me to move in the woods silently and with the perfect seal.
Now trial and error are simply all apart of life. But teh error is usually not catastrophic and nasty. Then after trying lots of products I went into the hunting world of scent blocking. There are lots of clothing items out there that are made of charcoal or lined with it and sometimes silver that helps eliminate the scent. I was able to find clothing that worked well with my ConvaTec Ostomy Supplies bag and belt. So in a way, I was able to mask what I was worried the most about. I was also able to still move quietly and not have any interference with my gear. Smiles and joy were still possible and I have been rather successful at harvesting deer. So my freezer is full and so is my heart. Now have no fear and go out and enjoy the woods.
Ostomy Log 