Back to the Future: An 80s Flashback

Submitted by Corey Graff, Online Editor

Have you ever heard a Duran-Duran or Tears for Fears song crank up on the radio and
immediately feel like you’ve been transported back through time — back to the 1980s?
I think they call that an “’80s moment.”

Today I experienced an ’80s moment while putting some finishing touches on the Deer
& Deer Hunting 30-year Compilation CD
soon to be released. That’s because
I stumbled across the ad you see below from the 1986 December issue of D&DH for
the “Chair Pack.” That mis-matched duck camo, green sleeping bag, and early-style
compound bow really screams 1986. Even the concept seems 80s — something as simple
as a chair. The ad takes a person back to the days when the deer hunting industry
was beginning to gain steam and new companies were springing up, eager to jump on
the bandwagon with accessories to help hunters bag their buck.

It’s interesting to reflect upon a product that is essentially a chair and backpack,
when viewed backwards through time from a place in history when lightweight treestands
and ultra-high-tech pop-up ground blinds are the standard fare.

And you won’t catch a hunter in any ad today wearing mis-matched camo.

It was a less scientific time, for sure, when deer hunters walked into the woods and
plunked down on a deer trail, waiting for a shot that was sure to come sooner or later.
The longer you waited, the more your odds went up. And to wait longer, one needed
to be comfy. Thus, a chair.

Seeing an ad like this — and getting that ’80s feeling — makes a person want to go
back to those good ‘ol days, when deer hunting seemed simpler. Part of me would gladly
swap the times, since it seemed like there was less pressure to shoot big bucks in
those days and more energy was expended on simply having fun. But then again, that
view — no doubt through rose-colored glasses  — falls apart when one asks the
more pressing question: Good grief, comfy or not, who could stand the music?

chairpackad.jpg

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