Hunting Gear That Makes A Difference
I’m asked a lot about the gear I use while hunting, not only throughout the West, but around the world. While some of the clothes, boots, trail food, guns, bows, bullets and arrows come down to personal preference, others items simply work efficiently. It’s these efficient items that save me time and money. With hunting season upon us, here’s a look at some of the bonus gear I use, and why. Marsupium Backpack I’ve used a lot of packs during my 40 years of big game hunting, and my favorite, all-around pack is made Marsupium, a small company out of Utah. I’m not even sure if these packs are still made, but they can be found floating around online, you just have to do some digging. When I heard they were closing their doors, I ordered multiple packs, so have enough to last me for years, or until something I like better comes along. What I love about these packs is that the bag attaches to a small frame. The frame cinches tight to your body, so even if the load shifts, your pack stays stabilized, which allows you to safely carry heavy loads in comfort. The baffles on the frame [...]
Kazden’s First Bear
Over the years, Kazden has been on several bear hunts with the family. He’s even held his own tags, but he’s never taken a bear, until now. I wanted Kazden to experience success, and knowing his love of dogs, thought a hound hunt would be the most enjoyable. The place was Idaho, and we were hunting with Boulder Creek Outfitters (www.bouldercreekoutfitters.com), near the little town of White Bird. I’ve been on this hunt many times over the years, and there’s a reason I keep coming back. The week prior to our arrival, six hunters in camp each took a bear. On our first day of the hunt, a buddy filled his tag. The next day was Kazden’s turn. Helping the three dog handlers, Bud, Zach and NASCAR Al, Kaz’ loved the morning ritual of getting everything ready. He thoroughly enjoyed helping with the dogs, and especially playing with the pups’. Loading up the ATVs with hounds, we were soon headed across the labyrinth of logging roads on the nearly 50,000 acres of private land we hunted. Bears were drawn to the area by the thousands upon thousands of wild plum trees, originally introduced into the area by settlers. Bears leave the [...]
Columbia Blacktails: The Learning Never Stops
I’m often asked what the hardest animal is I’ve ever hunted for. Mountain goat and Himalayan tahr are the toughest hunts I’ve been on, physically speaking. Mentally, the toughest hunts have been the man-eaters I’ve chased in different parts of the world, namely big cats and crocs’, with some marauding bears thrown in. But when it comes to consistently filling a big game tag in North America, I rank taking a trophy class Columbia blacktail as the most challenging. Take a wily whitetail, toss him into the thickest and some of the most rugged terrain in the country, and there you have it; blacktail deer. The fact these deer inhabit such diverse terrain, from sandy beaches to the highest peaks in the Cascade Range, makes hunting them a big challenge. Since writing the book, Trophy Blacktails: Science Of The Hunt, I’ve continued learning about these deer. As an author, one of the biggest questions I ask myself is, “When do I know enough to write a book?” The answer is, never. That’s because I’m always learning. But at some point you have to start punching the keyboard, otherwise the knowledge will never be shared. Since the release of the book I’ve [...]
Egg Handling To Optimize Your Cures
Fall is the time to catch lots of great eating salmon...and accumulate large amounts of eggs. Regardless of the egg curing recipes you like to use, it’s crucial to start with the best, cleanest eggs possible in order to realize the full potential of your cures. Once a fish is caught, give it a quick blow to the head, then cut a gill rake. Allowing the fish to bleed-out will not only increase meat quality, but also egg quality. Skeins from a fish that’s been bled will be orange and clean. Skeins from a fish that has not been bled will be purple due to the amount of blood retained. As blood coagulates it begins breaking down and rotting, allowing bacteria to contaminate the eggs. It’s this bacterial growth that can ruin an entire batch of cured eggs, which will be realized in their lack of ability to catch fish. This is why sulfur-based cures are good, because sulfur is a bacterial inhibitor. Wearing rubber gloves, carefully remove the skeins from the fish, making sure not to cut into the connective tissues that hold the individual eggs together. There’s a vein running through each skein. Cut that vein and force all [...]
Clam Digging Fun!
This summer has offered some of the best clamming in recent years along the Pacific Coast; except for razor clams. Due to the open-ocean habitat razor clams thrive in, red tide levels have been high, forcing extended closures. But bay clamming has been red-hot. And with the intense summer heat and lack of rainfall, rivers flowing into estuaries have been low and slow, meaning salinity levels are high in the many bays and estuaries where many clams thrive. Higher salinity levels means some clam species won’t dig in as deep on low tides, equating to easier digging and faster limits. Next to razor clams, softshell clams are a favorite to eat for many people, myself included. Generous limits and good sized clams yields a nice amount of tender meat, and they’re simple to clean. Softshell clams, aka mud clams, can be dug in a few ways. You can dig a trench and find multiple clams in one spot, find the biggest shows (hole in the sand through which the clam’s neck protrudes to eat and breathe) and dig for that one clam, or use a stick to poke into the show and dig into it. The stick method helps ensure you [...]
Spring & Summer Fishing Adventures
“Dad, how long’s it been since you’ve made a blog post?” quizzed my oldest son. “Uh...wow, a long time,” I hesitated. “Yeah, 9 months,” he reminded me. While I love my job of hunting and fishing, finding time to share the adventures in every medium available these days, isn’t easy. In an effort to improve getting information out there–the real reason I do what I do–I know making consistent posts are something I need to improve upon. Our speaking and seminar schedule was crazy from January through May, this year, traveling to the east coast multiple times, and driving to different states throughout the West. We’ve also been developing a new website geared toward sharing information on hunting, fishing, cooking, destination adventures, and more. Stay tuned, as I’ve not seen anything quite like this site, one we hope to launch early this fall. Oh, I also wrote a book on clam digging for a publisher and have written over 75 magazine articles this year, on top of the more than 60 seminars I gave. Yes, life is busy, and there are only so many hours in the day. But, I was able to get out fishing a good bit this spring [...]