Mike M.

Mike M. runs Sounder & Scope as part of Iron Mako Media, his one-person portfolio of gear sites. He ranks hog-control gear on what can be checked (published specs, warranty terms, Texas A&M and TPWD guidance) and labels every pick with how it was evaluated.

Why Sounder & Scope

Landowners losing pasture to hogs are shopping in a market full of claims they can't check: detection ranges in the thousands of yards, lights that “won't spook hogs,” traps that promise the whole sounder. Some of that is true, some is marketing, and the buyer usually can't tell which. Mike built Sounder & Scope to sort it the only honest way available to a publisher: read the published specs, cite the extension research and the Texas rules, show the math, and say plainly what isn't known.

How Mike picks gear

Iron Mako Media's stated approach is plain: “Tested when I can. Researched when I can't. Labeled either way.” On Sounder & Scope, every pick is labeled Researched. That means Mike read the maker's published specs, manual and warranty terms, compared the product only with others in its budget tier, and scored it on the public rubric at How We Choose. It doesn't mean he owns, mounted or field-tested the unit, and no page on this site says otherwise.

If Mike does use a specific product, the page will say exactly what was done (how long, in what conditions, what broke, what surprised him) with original, dated photos, and the pick's label will change to Hands-on. Until then, Researched is the honest label.

What you won't find here

• Credentials, job titles or hunting experience he hasn't shown you.
• Claims that he has tested or owned gear he hasn't.
• Texas rules stated from memory. Every rule links to TPWD, statute, TAHC or TDA.
• Rankings paid for by a brand. Commissions never set a score or pick a winner.

Contact

Questions and corrections go to mike@blackironathletics.com. Mike reads every message. More about the publisher is at Iron Mako Media.