Three nights prior to opening day

Wow, so I was gone for almost a week and for some odd, unknown reason, didn't think about elk hunting at all. Mostly true. I must have had other things on my mind....

But I'm back now, and it is August 31st. I bought the H.S. Basic Scent Elimination System to treat my clothes and gear. It comes with unscented detergent, deodorant, dryer sheets, hand soap, and scent-elimination spray. It also came with a large ziplock-like bag that you're supposed to be able to put your clothes in to maintain their scent-free qualities. Now, I agree with many other people I've talked to and decided that a large, hard plastic rubbermaid container will be the best to store gear in...but figured I'd give this bag a try since I'm going to be packing all my clothes in. Yah, first thing, the stupid ziplock system failed like a broken zipper and with looking at it, I found it had two male ends. Nothing to zip into, so it's worthless. I put the clothes in there anyways and then double-bagged it in a large trash bag. Looks like I need to go to Walmart. Disappointing, but good to know. Also did some reading today and found out that baking soda is just as well as any dedicated scent-elimination product you can buy and you can buy a lot of unscented things like detergent, shampoo, soap, etc by just buying Arm and Hammer brand products and ivory soaps. So, a waste of money I suppose...but again, now I know.

But I did buy a LOT of baking soda and saturated these washed and dried clothes in it. I found the hammock to be a great platform for doing this, any soda that misses simply sifts through and falls on the ground...while not polluting your clothes with scent. I layed the clothes out and sprinkled them with soda and folded them up with this still on them. Then, when putting the clothes in a bag, I sprinkled more soda between layers. What I'm thinking though, is that perhaps a smaller container than what I'll store this stuff in would be handy. Here's the thought, put a lot of baking soda in this container and add an article of clothing, then shake this container like a tumbler you use to clean shell casings. The entire garmet will be covered in soda...then you open it, fold the clothes, and transfer it to a garbage sack. This will not only save soda, but give a better coverage. It's nice to use this stuff, because it'll just shake off and not effect the camo...any remaining soda will act as a scent absorber. So, I think it'll be enough for me.

I'm taking about half a quart of baking soda with me and will use that in the woods. I plan to hike into where I will camp in normal clothes and not touch the cleaned clothes until the morning. I will get up and strip...dust myself with baking soda and brush my teeth with it (nasty by the way)...then dress from there. It'll be cold and will probably really suck, but I'll give it a shot. I treated my boots with just baking soda and that spray stuff (rubbing alcohol I'm sure.) I'll use soda in the subsequent days of the hunt to powder my feet and boots to hopefully cover up any foot odor I will develop.

I washed everything I will possibly wear, including underwear and socks, cover, gloves, and something I didn't think of...my bino caddie. I figure I'll just pack the scent-elimination spray and give everything a good once over prior to going out. Still, I am definitely liking the idea of straight baking soda instead of all this fancy stuff. I figure I could wash my clothes in normal detergent to clean them, then just wash them again in baking soda to eliminate the detergent smell...and hang them outside to dry. By the way, you WILL use a LOT of soda, so get as big a container as you can of it. I'm thinking Cosco will be a good source because I'm going to be doing a lot of hunting this season.

I'm surprised at how nervous I'm getting about this whole adventure. Having never shot anything large with an arrow (grouse and ground squirrels don't count) I'm now really struggling with the idea of "am I ready?" Do I have my pins sighted in like I want them? Will I be good enough and stable enough to shoot an animal when presented an opportunity? Is my eye / range finding abilities accurate enough in the woods? What if I make a bad shot? yada yada. This is a pretty real business I'm getting into here and I'm now realizing the seriousness of it all. I'm confident with a rifle and a pistol for hunting because I've done it and had no doubts like this...strange. Nerves I suppose, I know I'm ready and I've practiced a lot in the woods and at home...just one of those things that will probably keep me from making a bad shot. In the end, it'll be a good thing I'm sure.

There's only so much I can worry about. I made my gear list tonight and am wondering how I'm going to get it all in the woods. Luckily my camp will only be about two miles or so from the truck so if need be, I can leave gear in the rig to pack in on Friday night prior to opening day, or go get it later...like water. I still need to get a five gallon water container to leave in the truck, this will be vital. Otherwise I have to hike at least five miles from CAMP just to get good water I can purify with iodine. But I know there are elk using that creek extensively, so I'm kind of paranoid about giardia...I'll only use that if I have to. Even with iodine, I'm nervous about having the craps for weeks...talk about a damper on work and hunting.

I'm getting better at realizing what I actually eat when out on extended camping trips. So I now have it down to this for two dinners and three days:

• 2 dehydrated meals
• 6 instant oatmeal packets
• 1 Raman noodle packet
• trail mix (1 quart)
• 3 MREs
• and I'll have a gallon of water with me at camp, unless I decide to make two trips in on Friday, whereas I will try to pack in at least 3 gallons to camp. This is a vital necessity that my last scouting excursion made me realize that the more I have the happier I'll be. Worth the extra trip.

Along with this I will bring a small backpacking stove for heating water for oatmeal, Raman, and tea. I have to take a small, small pot also...because I don't like the idea of just heating water in a 2 cup mug that I'm bringing...luckily the mug fits in the small pot along with tea and some of the oatmeal. I'm planning on eating an MRE a day at some point, and the dehydrated meals are there for a change of pace. I know I will want to load calories at some point, so the more the better. However, I'm planning on leaving the five gallons of water as well as much more food in the truck just in case I need it. Always a good plan to have a backup.

I've got all my crap strewn about the living room. I am waiting until tomorrow to pack it all up because I still want to treat my packs with scent-stuff and I wanted to be able to do a last minute double-check on gear. One other thing I'm getting paranoid about is the amount of rope I'm taking. I know I have enough and I know I'm smart enough to make what I have work. But still, rope is one of those things that you really can't have enough of. I have a tendency to overpack...but one of these days, when everything goes to hell in a hurry, I'm going to be glad I put in the extra effort to plan for contingencies. Like a coat. Hadn't planned on that...thinking it was going to be warm enough the whole time. But now I'm taking my camo coat and camo rain pants, just in case I need them.

Man I could use a bigger pack for this. A good thing to probably do is to take my normal, huge backpack to pack the camp in on, then return for the hunting pack which would already be packed and ready to go. But I'm stubborn and want this new pack to fit the bill...so will see where I end up tomorrow night with packing it. Already you know I'm planning on carrying my sleeping bag in my hands on the way in. I think this will provide enough room, but I'm not sure.

I'm excited to hear some bugles and see where my days take me. I'm hoping that on Friday night I'll be able to hear where the bulls are and then plan accordingly on exactly what to do from there. It has the potential to change the place I want to camp and my strategy for the following day. I wonder how much sleep I'll get that night. I'm also not sure if I mentioned in here that I can shoot a mule deer if the opportunity presents itself in the area I'm planning on hunting. If such a situation comes up, will I shoot the mule deer? Probably. Those critters are much larger than whitetails and I'd have no compunctions with filling my deer tag on one of them. Because, the unit adjacent to where I'll be hunting has a restriction on mule deer. Only 75 people out of about 3000 applicants get the privilege to do that...but I know they're all over in where I'll be because I saw those five big bucks and found many more tracks. It'd be like hunting a game preserve if I'm in the right place. I have the potential to nab a huge mule deer because the pressure is so low and they live to grow some very large racks. We'll see.

So talking of that got me thinking of transporting meat. Yes, I'll be moving it on my back to get to the truck. But I've heard that there gets to be a bit of heat in the bed while driving. SO, I found a pallet in my recently-moved neighbors carport which I will acquire tonight to put in the bed of the pickup. I figure that way there will be at least four inches of air that can circulate under quarters if I'm lucky. Every little bit helps right? And I am not going to pack in a small block and tackle my Dad gave me because I've had the experience of hanging moose quarters from a meat pole and could get it done solo. It helps to have two people, but to tell you the truth, I don't want to deal with that get-up if I don't have to. Oddly enough, I think (currently) that I'm strong enough to deal with the sections I'm planning on cutting. I'm not planning on quartering an elk the way you imagine by splitting the spine. I learned a neat method in Alaska that doesn't require any gutting until you get to the point of retrieving the tenderloins. Everything else comes off in manageable chunks first....then you gut it just to get those tenderloins and make it easier to pull the ribs off. And I am planning on reserving at least one side of ribs just so I can make traditional ribs when I get home with the meat still on the bones. We'll see how tired I am at the time I suppose, but I'm only planning on cutting the meat from between the ribs on one side to use as hamburger. But I've had caribou and moose ribs that boiled for a couple hours and then were barbecued for another hour...I'll tell you what...one of the most fun and best meals I've had.

It'll be a good party if I actually do get something this coming Labor Day weekend, but I'm not setting my sights too high. If I can get some elk relatively close and see how they react to calling, I'll be happy. Heck, if I see a bull while hunting I'll be pretty good. I was recounting a story the other day of a hunt I did a couple years ago during rifle season. I moved into this area when it was still too dark to shoot and actually spooked a herd of elk. They didn't run 50 yards because they weren't really sure what was making the noise (I walked into the middle of them) so they stopped and so did I. I knelt in the slushy snow and waited until the sun was up enough to see. Unfortunately, by the time the sun came up enough to shoot, the elk were long gone. They had drifted away like smoke in the dark...amazing for how big they are. BUT, while I was kneeling there in the dark getting cold and wet, I heard a pack of wolves light up the night with howls about two miles away. I was simply blown away! That was the first time I had heard wolves, which sound much different than coyotes by the way. I putzed around looking for the elk for a bit, but then ended up heading out for the day. In my mind I had already achieved more experience in that hunt than I ever anticipated. AND, on the way home, I passed my folks who had my dog with them...they were going on a drive. So we transferred the dog to my car and I took him to the duck refuge and we went on a walk. Turned out to be one of those days that just sticks in your mind...a perfect hunt. SO, if I can have some experiences like that...I will be one happy man.

Subconcious must have it figured out

It really must, because yesterday, I hardly thought about elk hunting at all. Yes, I know. Amazing. I've got some other stuff going on that seems to be the focus of most of my "bandwidth" so I figure that's what happened. Of course, there was a hazardous weather warning yesterday for the exact area I'm planning on hunting. I could think of only two results of the 30+ mph wind and excessive lightning...either it'll burn up the little patches of green timber that do remain or it will blow down many of those dead trees. The latter could be good or bad I suppose, bad because I'll have to clamber over more down trees, good because it'll hopefully mean some of the weaker standing-dead trees will drop creating a little bit safer environment for me. Or I suppose it could blow trees over the jeep track I used to get in there. Hmmm, that'd be bad. I could take the chainsaw in the off chance something like that happened, but then would have to leave it in the back of the truck for anyone to take with them. Perhaps a good axe would work just as well....or, I'll just end up hiking an extra mile.

I was thinking about the camp I'm going to make though. So that pack I have is kinda small and the longer it sits in my room, the more I try to stuff in it or lash to the outside. I DO need to take some more odds and ends, and am now thinking of packing like a gallon of water to leave at the tent instead of just in the truck. I'm also thinking I like the idea of perhaps some oatmeal or Raman noodles for breakfast/snack. So that would require a little bitty pot and a stove. I'm starting to think about the amount of food I was planning on taking and it simply isn't enough for the amount of time I'm going to spend out there...plus they are just MREs, it might be nice to have some trailmix with me also. Ahhh! Sometimes over-analyzation is a bad thing. So, looking at the pack last night, I figured that much of the room occupied in the main compartment is from the sleeping bag. I know it would kinda stink to carry something in my hands on the way in, but I will probably end up carrying that and putting more important things inside the pack. I can still lash the bow to the back of it, so that at least will be out of my hands.

Well shoot, I guess I did think about this yesterday, because I also thought about my original plan. I was going to get up early on the 3rd and possibly throw a bugle out there...from the camp. Can you imagine though, if I did that and had an elk come up behind me and see the tent!? Hmmm, and I'm sure it'll stink up there from all my camping stuff, so that might not be the best idea at all. I suppose I could bugle down the north side of that ridge and if I get anything responding, I could quickly move toward it to cut it off. And if I don't get an answer from that direction, I could hustle to the south side and do the same. I don't know...but I suppose it'll all work itself out in the end.

Scouting two weeks prior to opening day

So somehow, with work and whatnot, I did not make it into the woods as much as I wanted this pre-season to scout. With the help of the TOPO! program and a lot of studying, I found one area that I definitely needed to check out before I decided where I was going to be on September 3rd. On Saturday morning on the 20th of August I enacted the plan that I'd been forming in my head for a couple weeks.

Now I had found this place based entirely by looking at topographical maps, so in essence, I was like an out of state hunter. I had hunted and scouted the drainages to the north of where I was heading, so I thought I understood how it would look....I couldn't have been more wrong. I left the house at 6:30 that morning and finally began hiking at 9:00. (A good idea to time that; I deduced that trip would require me going up on Friday prior to the season opener...something I hadn't planned on.) And it was weird, I jimmied the truck around on this narrow jeep track so I could park it, but it wasn't until I got out and shut the door that three BIG mule deer bucks decided the neighborhood was gone and started ambling away. They are fairly free from danger up there because only a handful of people are allowed to shoot at them every year. It gave a great opportunity to view their mass and size though, they drifted through the woods like smoke. I took this as a good sign and made my way along the ridge. Pretty quick I jumped two more smaller mule deer bucks, but definitely takers. I was hopeful at first, but as I got a good look from the ridge at the area I had wanted to scout, I noticed it had all burned in the past. I'm talking section on section of white and black trees...must have been quite a fire. Interspersed in all the dead timber, there were a few patches of trees...and many of those located in the creek bottoms...but some were little ribbons that extended onto some other ridges. That'll be important later.

I came to the first saddle that I thought might be a good ambush site, but found that all burned over, so it leaves little to security cover for any game. And, judging by the number of elk tracks I found in there (none) I decided I was right. Time to look for better places. BUT, then I noticed an opening down the slope and decided to check it out for wallows. It was a very moist meadow and sure enough, there were TWO recently-used wallows in it. I mean, there was still wet mud scattered around the edges of the water and some elk poo that was still green and moist. The standing water in the wallow was still muddy...if left long enough, any muddy water will clear up...so I knew I had an active area. I just wasn't sure, and am still not 100% confident, that it was elk or a moose. I had to take pictures of those, so maybe here in the future I'll get my film developed and post it. Just looks "elky" and fun to dream about. I walked down that meadow a ways and found another active wallow. Hmmm...and that one even had a perfect little stand of subalpine fir within 20 yards of the wallow, I might have a perfect setup there. I paid really close attention to the predominant wind in that basin and found it comes out of the south / southwest, which is good because then that blind will be downwind of the wallow...unless the early downslope winds decide to come up and cause me problems.

I had wanted to hit some areas in a certain order, so I moved back up onto the ridge and was moving toward the top when I finally got into lodgepole that wasn't burned...it was one of those islands that just happens to make it through fires of that magnitude. Anyone ever heard of the term "mosaic?" Anywho, I got into this beautiful lodgepole pine ridge and sure enough, up on a flat spot on the north side of the hill (coolest), I bumped two bull elk that had been bedded there. It was about 1200 by this time, so I can't help but thinking that maybe those two had been partying down in the wallows that are roughly two miles from there earlier in the morning. Again, hmmm.

I continued on and took a finger ridge through some burned timber. But then I saw some green timber down in a small drainage and decided to check it out. I saw numerous beds in some cool, grassy areas down there and some old scrapes. These little trees were still alive, so it could have happened earlier this year (I doubt) but most likely happened in the last two years or so. The trees were decimated, so I figure it'll take about three years before the needles all fall off. But the tops of the trees were green, so hopefully that bull will stick around. I was headed to marsh on the other side of this ridge, so I crossed that and made my way down to it. Luckily, I also cut a road that wasn't on the map. I say luckily because if I get anything near that thing, boy, it's only like two miles to the nearest open road. Better than the five miles I've already gone for sure. Again, I went down into this marshy area and it was full of nice grazing grass like timothy and the like. In the shadows of the remaining green trees were many beds....looks like probably a handful of critters had just bedded, then when they got sun on them, they just moved a little bit so they were still in the shade. That's what I'd have done, so good for them. Speaking of which, I noticed some bachelor herds of deer in the riverbottom doing the same thing. Now I'm thinking, early season when it's hot, go to where YOU will be most comfortable and you'll likely find deer. I would choose shadey spots next to any water. Tip for ya's.

Okay, so now I wanted to go to another marshy area over ANOTHER ridge and so beelined to that. But this little ridge had a stand of young trees on it that escaped the fire (hooray for logging!), so it makes an excellent place that deer or elk can travel from these marshy areas and up into the high country without exposing themselves for too long. Sure enough, many elk and deer tracks up there in the thick stuff. I personally think that if you consider yourself being hunted, you will START to think like an animal. You will take easy routes with a lot of cover and you'll do it SLOWLY. I moved down into this marshy area and crossed on creek that was actually kinda lively...about three feet across and running the cleanest water I'd seen all day. I passed by this and came to another creek that joins in the marsh below this point. There were elk tracks all up and down this narrow strip of green, thick timber surrounded by burned, exposed woods. But of course, I just ambled down in it. When I almost broke out into the meadow I stepped on a large stick that broke, then heard many more sticks breaking across the meadow. Sure enough, I had spooked another bull elk, but this one was quite a bit larger than the other two. The only sight I got of the first two was of a decent smaller bull, and his companion ran like he was much larger. Plus the one I didn't see well remained hidden better, something I think probably comes from experience, so I put him in the very decent range of size. Well this one I couldn't see very well either, but I caught glimpses through the trees and can tell you he was by far the largest of the three. His antlers probably extended to a little past the middle of his back. (A very good thing.) I went down into where he had been bedded down and found MANY beds. But see, this is what I think is going on in these moist, grassy, green areas. I think these animals are using them like I fort. I mean, they don't have to go anywhere for food (it's all there), it's coolest there, and they have the most cover with all the green trees and understory. I think they just follow the shadows of the trees and live a life of luxury...that's what I would do. How many people do you think they see in an area that is between 5 and 9 miles from the nearest road? Why would anyone really be in an area that was nuked by a fire during the summer? Why WOULD the elk move around like elk normally do?

After that I decided I had had enough, I had walked for about 8 or 9 miles in 90+ degree heat and I was BEAT. I had seen what I needed to see, I figured out the lay of the land, and I had pushed three bulls in about 5 hours...time to get out of there and leave it all alone. I hoofed it back up to the ridge and made my way out. That's when my water ran out. After walking in all that water all day, the bottoms of my feet were beginning to wrinkle, turn white, and hurt. Plus I was wearing my hunting boots with which I had made a decision to sacrifice thickness and protection, for thin soles and quiet walking. I really made a hump and made it back to the truck at around 1630...whoops, 4:30 pm. (I think everyone should understand military time, because it makes much more sense, but I understand some may not.) Anywho, that brings me to a point that became drastically clear in my dehydrated state. I am going to buy one of those five gallon water containers and leave it in my truck, just so I know where there is clean water if I ever need it. Also, I'm going to stash some food in there behind the seat. This all makes a lot of sense, from hunting to being stranded by a fallen log or storm...funny I haven't done that already.

So I still have a lot of strategy to sort out in my head. I heard one of those burned trees crash to the ground when that third bull was moving off, so I'm definitely not going to be camping in the burned area like I originally figured I would. I picked a gorgeous spot on the main ridge in that's only about two or three miles from the truck, but is nestled in lodgepole pines with about 14-foot spacing with an understory of dwarf huckleberry and beargrass, and a perfect view to boot. That way, I figure I can get up in the morning, be two or three miles closer to the area I want to hunt, and can perhaps either just listen for bugles to locate elk, but maybe even bugle myself and try and get them to respond. That way I'm at a high point with perfect mobility to get into any position I want. I will be the one with the freedom there. Also, that saves me more miles of humping my heavy pack around. From that point, all these marshes are within two to four miles...which I can do with just the frame and fanny pack. Of course, there is another marsh I want to look at that's on, again, another ridge over. I don't think the fire came up that drainage, but it's got a lot of meadows in it with a lot of creeks coming together. Since I didn't find any cows the other day, they might hang out in there. So I'm thinking these bulls might end up over there. Even still, it'll only be about five miles of hiking from this camp over to that basin. The bummer comes with the trail that leads down that drainage. It's nine miles to the road. On the ridge it'll be seven or eight. Might have to consider hiring some horses or hope the people that have offered to help are really into it. We'll see. Otherwise, I'm planning on a rough couple of days for myself.

Other things I thought of....hanging a meat pole will be tougher than I thought. How am I going to get a pole high enough in the trees to that I can cinch any meat above four feet? I don't think it'll be possible. I'll have to figure something out if, and when, the time ever comes. And I'm thinking I might actually want to measure my rope, so I know how much I'll need. Details! Umm, I also noticed MANY of HUNDREDS of gray jays, "camp robbers." I've heard hanging a tarp above the meat will keep some birds out because they don't like being UNDER things...but I'm not so sure about that. I'll have everything in cheesecloth, but still, that's no match for birds. Also, I must remember to pick up a lot of pepper. I've heard bees and whatnot are a problem in the early season but don't like meat with pepper on it. I will also be buying a camo cover. I had decided that was one thing of camo I didn't need, I mean, how much should you need to camoflauge brown hair? Well, on the entire way in I was walking east into the sun, and on the entire trip out I was walking west into the sun. If I hadn't have put sunscreen on that morning like a good kid (this is VERY much not normal for me) I would've been fried to a crisp. Also, since I do not plan on wearing that smelly stuff while hunting, I need something to keep at least my eyes out of the sun. It gets hard to squint for nine hours or so. Speaking of which, why hasn't someone made unscented "hunter" sunscreen? Hmm, I can think of a GREAT product here. Although, maybe they have it and I haven't paid enough attention to that. Anywho...

Some folks mentioned the great idea of taking a borrowed cell phone with me so if I DO get something back in there, I can just get to the top of the hill and call for assistance. Fantastic. Hopefully it wouldn't turn on in the pack and then get a call during the hunt...wouldn't THAT suck!? I was also thinking about how darn dangerous what I'm planning on doing is. I can't even imagine breaking a leg and then not be expected to come out for a couple days. I mean really, it would take one to two days for people to notice I wasn't out, then another day for them to make it to the area. I need to remember to carry my whistle, shooting three arrows in the air isn't like three gunshots. But I have done experiments and I know that I can spend the night out in DECEMBER with nothing but my cold weather clothes on and a fire, and I know I can already go two days without eating, so...that at least comforts me a bit. Shoot, if I had actually killed something by the time that happened, all I'd have to worry about is water right? And since it takes a couple days for giardia to set in, I should be set. I know, a terrible backup plan, but what else would I come up with? Crawling with a broken leg for two to nine miles to get to a road that someone might not come down? Or get to the truck and not be able to drive? Ya, I think I'll just sit tight and be fine with it.

Tip for a compact tent and sleeping pad

Okay, so the most I've thought about elk hunting this afternoon came when I got home. In an earlier post I mentioned that I was going to try to figure out a way to combine my tent and sleeping pad in a compression sack...I think.

So I came home and did this. I unrolled the tent (which has the fly included in the fold) and put the three poles in that. By the way, I think this is a three person tent, but you know how that goes...it sleeps two comfortably and one person has more than enough room to sleep and store gear. The specific brand is North Face and the tent is called a "Kestrel." The fly extends on both sides to form a two small triangles, perfect for packs, boots, and whatnot. Okay, so I rolled this tent over the poles (excluding the stakes...there are plenty of those in the woods) and then rolled THAT bundle in the thermarest self-inflating sleeping pad. That made a rather large bundle. But it still fit in the MEDIUM sized Granite Gear compression sack. I think I mentioned this earlier, it will compress both on the circumference of what is in it, as well as the length. However, the length compression only has one strap, so all it really does is bend...although it is good at just making the whole thing tight. I got this whole getup down to about (eyeballing) seven inches in diameter and the width remained at around the flat WIDTH of the sleeping pad..not sure what that is....around 2.5 feet.

Okay, so that's all well and good. But the key part here is the pack it is now attached to. I bought a Dwight Shuh bowhunting pack...and as I mentioned before it has a frame, day pack, and fanny pack that separate depending on your needs. Well this bundle I made fits PERFECTLY between the daypack and the fanny pack...even when they are both already loaded up with all the gear needed to handle downed game and camp for two days. I still can't weigh it, but the duraflex frame rides extremely well on your back since it's so small; it is surprisingly comfortable. With it all combined, I would say it was probably about 30 pounds. Not too bad when I only plan on getting the whole camp in a couple miles. AND, with the way this is packed, I can still carry my bow piggy-backed on the whole outfit.

I would strongly recommend this setup of wrapping the tent with the sleeping pad for any camping trip. However, it probably won't work too well with internal frames for obvious space reasons.

And by the way, I'm still working on getting the cables necessary to hook my GPS up to the TOPO! program. I went to Staples today and got a usb/serial adapter for use with PDAs, GPSs and the like ($30). The problem comes with that it outputs to a male, standard size (A) usb. But my GPS unit excepts only a male mini A usb and outputs also to a male, standard size usb. So, I went to Radio Shack and their unbelievable lack in converters amazed me. However, I DID notice they have female to female usb gadgets on their website, so it looks like I shall have to order it online. And I have found nothing that will convert a male mini A usb to a serial port. So much for TOPO!s claim that these parts could be found at any electronics store. Heck, I still don't know if all this will work in the end. Not too impressed with the deal, but still hopeful.

Ironic confirmation in Field and Stream

So yesterday morning I posted a technique I've been using to improve my release and form. Well, yesterday afternoon I got the most recent issue of Field and Stream and one of the articles in there was about how to improve your shotgunning, bowshooting, and rifleshooting. Oddly enough, there was a similar technique mentioned in there about closing your eyes as well as shooting at "the whole bale" or something like that. You know, not focusing on one point, but shooting the entire target while concentrating on your release. Boy and I'll tell you what, I was getting to the point where I was concentrating really hard on my pins a couple weeks ago and forcing them to the target. See, I thought that was how you were SUPPOSED to do it. When I was in high school I used to shoot a bow a lot, my form was terrible, and I'm sure I did plenty of things wrong. BUT, I could nestle those arrows together pretty darn well. I even got to the point where I wasn't using pins (it was an old Bear compound) and I was shooting it instinctively. (My buddy had a recurve, so I thought I'd play with the idea of instinctive shooting.)

So the other night in the yard I was shooting and forcing pins to move and whatnot, then realized I wasn't having any fun. I decided to relax and NOT concentrate so hard. What this ended up doing was making me look at the target more...I had in essence begun to shoot instinctively while using the pins to estimate range. Make sense? To make a short story short, I began grouping my arrows much better and actually had more fun doing it. My Block is taking a beating with all these broadhead shots though, last night I had one arrow sink in almost 3/4 its lenght. Not sure I'm too happy about that.

I discovered something the other night with that National Geographic TOPO! program. When you are trying to set it up for use with a GPS, it only looks at your COM ports! Now, if it was me, I would have it look at USB ports because who in the world uses COM ports for anything anymore? It's obviously an old program that needs some updates to continue being competitive...at least I think so. I still need to go to Radio Shack or somewhere and find something that will convert USB to COM because of COURSE my Garmin has it's interface cable go to USB. But anywho, last night I was looking at the 22 x 34 map I printed the other day and go the idea to actually hand-transfer some waypoints to my gps. You know, once you get in the timber, sometimes it's really hard to figure out if your NEAR a finger ridge you saw on the map. So I made some points along ridges, on some saddles, and marked some small marshes I want to check out for any wallowing activity this weekend. I figured, when I'm out there I can get to the point on the top of the mountain or ridge and then use the compass on the GPS to tell me which way I need to move to get to those marshes and saddles...because it'll give me distance too. The goal with that is to be able to better prepare a stalk if need be. This weekend will be the first time I've ever been in this area and the last time I will be there until hunting season; I need all the help I can get.

So yea, speaking of this weekend, I'm going to go in on a dirt road and find somewhere to park then hike a long ridge to what I hope is a relatively open mountaintop...I know there are trees on it, but sometimes you can see off of them. After I hit that spot, I will continue down through some saddles and look for sign while evaluating areas for cover, bedding activity, and food. One of the most important things is to look for a good spot I can put MY OWN camp come opening weekend. I have the idea of camping near (NEAR, not right with, and elk if I get one. I just got thinking about bear safety...) BUT, I also want to be able to drop some unneccesary camping weight while hiking around. I have a pack that separates into a day pack (which'll hold the camping stuff), a fanny pack, and a duraflex frame. What I want to do is to leave the daypack part at a good location that will keep me "out of their bedroom" so to speak, but still close enough that it won't be too much of a hump to get back to. AND, if all goes well, then I can take a load back toward camp on the first trip out.

I'll tell you what. The pack is small enough it's keeping me from loading it down with unneccessary gear. However, the longer it sits there in the house, the more I'm putting on it/in it. Like last night, I put my tent in a compression sack and was trying to figure out a way to include the thermarest and tent poles. (I do not really like the idea of sleeping on the cold ground without a pad...and then I got worried about rainstorms. They kinda suck when you're sleeping under a tarp...I mean, I'm tough, not stupid.) So what I'm thinking I will try is to roll the tent poles into the tent, then wrap the thermarest around that and THEN put the compression sack over it. This isn't like your normal compression sack that only works on one plane, this one you have the option of decreasing the circumfrence AND the length. And there's a great little spot for it between the fanny pack and the day pack on that frame.

That's enough for this morning. I can ramble on and on. One of these days I am going to buy a scale and weigh some of this stuff. It'll also be fun to make a list of what I think I'm taking, that'd be an interesting post.

How long should you be able to hold your draw?

"Just how long should you be able to hold your bow at full draw?" I thought while watching some of those elk hunting videos that were "vital" to my library. I had seen a couple of their hunts in there where it seemed like the guys were holding for at least a minute. So I timed them. You can sometimes hear them draw when they're off-camera, so it took a little educated guessing, but I still got the idea. I timed two of the longer ones, and one guy held for 30 seconds and this other fella held for almost exactly one minute...never getting a shot.

The first thing I thought was, "A minute! That's it? I can do that." Little did I know...

You know, I've done some shooting in my house to practice my release, which helped a lot, but I think the thumping and whatnot could be heard by my neighbors. So I try not to do that unless they aren't home, despite all their noise, I'm still a considerate guy. Believe it or not, it REALLY did help my release. You set up your target and then stand at a distance where you are very CERTAIN you won't miss...don't forget to account for the arc of the arrow, which means aim LOW. Anywho, so then your standing there and get into your position, bow drawn, proper sight picture; then shut your eyes and focus on either your fingers or your trigger squeeze. Make it as smooth as you possibly can. When you start getting good at this, I'd say after about 50 shots, your form will improve. Do it enough and it gets ingrained in your muscle memory, then shooting in the yard and cutting fletching gets REALLY fun.

On this day, I set up the target on the floor of my bedroom and kneeled about three yards from it (I have a small house.) I wasn't planning on releasing after seeing how long I could hold it because there was a bookcase, a wall, and a nice window waiting for the arrow if it decided to deflect due to my shaking. But I set this all up anyways, dryfiring, even on accident is never a good idea. (Ya, no kidding right?) I set up a stopwatch nearby and just waited for it to get to a minute so I wouldn't have to try and start it then draw and "account" for those couple of seconds. It hit one minute and I drew. Things were going really well for what seemed like thirty seconds, but then I glanced at the watch. "Fifteen seconds!" I thought. Already my back was getting tired. After what seemed like another minute, I peered at the watch again, "20 seconds!" I was starting to shake pretty good around 25 seconds and decided that my goal was 30 seconds. As soon as that watch hit 30 the bow was down.

Now I'm not sure how important this all is. I've heard different things from various sources; some say to learn to draw, aim, and shoot within three seconds. Other people seem to think that being able to hold your bow for a long time means you've practiced enough and you're shooting a bow weight that is right for you. I'm shooting a 60 lb bow with what I think is 80% letoff. So what's that?...12 pounds while holding at full draw? Not sure if that's how they do that math or not, but of course, now I can't seem to get my "shortcomings" out of my mind. I will probably work on that a little, partly because I'm paranoid and partly because I like improving no matter how trivial it seems. I'm still in the giddy state of mind where I need to have all my brand new ducks perfectly lined up. I'm sure this is all a mute point, but one can't help but wonder.

Catching up....

Sometimes I am terrible at keeping track of what I'm doing. Of course, this case is a little different. I didn't think of keeping a journal of the days, weeks, months prior to my first season bowhunting for elk until a couple days ago. Then today, I finally got the idea that it'd be fun to keep a blog of it. That way, if nothing else, I could write in my journal without actually having it with me. Hopefully I'll keep some notes during the hunts, and hopefully I'll keep this updated.

Let's get caught up a little...it'll be brief because the excitement and thoughts have been contemplated, changed, sorted through and digested in the past three to four months since I bought a new bow. I originally got the idea to bowhunt for elk during the past four years of unsuccessful rifle hunting elk. I kept thinking, "Boy, those guys that bowhunt have all the advantages. They can use calls to at least figure out where the elk are, they can wear camo, they hunt when the snow isn't up to your knees and the camping is much more comfortable." Yep, I used to think that bowhunting for elk would be EASIER than with a rifle. Don't worry, this has changed a bit since I last thought that. So last season I was serious. I was after elk 90%, until about the beginning of November when I figured I needed SOME meat in the freezer and took a weekend to hunt whitetails. As things worked out, I got one I believe on the 2nd of November (the first weekend out) and thought, "NOW I can concentrate 100%." I even went as far as to take a week off of work at the end of the general rifle season when a unit where I hunt was opened for hunters to take cows OR brow tined bulls. I figured, "Shoot, I've been in cows enough, I'll get one of those easy." That obviously is what every other hunter in 500 miles thought, because the day that started, it was like opening day. To make a long story short, I didn't see anything.

So this spring I invested in a Parker compound from bowhuntersfriend.com which came with all the gadgets and whatnot. Instantly I was in the yard shooting up an $80 target. The landlord was curious enough one day to come by. The first thing he said was, "New toy?" "Yep" I responded. He followed with a smartass remark like, "I thought it was a little early to be practicing." "Well shoot, I thought, isn't this what bowhunters have to do to be good?" Moving on....I couldn't hit my ass with both hands for about two days, then I started to get the hang of the release and started getting results. Pretty shortly thereafter, I was breaking more arrows by hitting them with other arrows than I could ever have imagined. So practice slacked off. I figured I'd buy some judo points and go into the woods and practice my stump shooting. This was all well and good, but I have an important note: Don't shoot a stump you haven't checked out yet. I shot one nice, white, shiny stump from about 30 yards and just nailed it. But, I noticed my nock came flying off on impact, I thought, "Cheap arrows." But I got up there and one of my nice, new, carbon arrows was splintered into the stump...it didn't penetrate even an inch! The arrow kept going, but the little claws on that judo sure did stop the point. That forced the carbon to break and push it's way down until IT was flush with the stump. Funny, I didn't think carbons would break. That was the hardest previously-burnt heartwood I had encountered. But overall I did really well with my rangefinding abilities....yes, I would love a rangefinder, but the cost is a little too much just yet. Perhaps Santa Claus won't know about all the bad things I've done this year and feel sorry for me. And that's when I ran into trouble. See, I was scouting an area I'd rifle hunted in winters past and knew there were elk around....but I didn't figure I'd run into them in June! That's when the fever really took a hold of me. I was actually just cruising down the hill toward an opening where I could eat my lunch. Call me crazy, but on the top of a mountain, I figured I deserved a view for my efforts. I located a nice burned area where I had an incredible view of the [mystery] mountains and sat down hard. Just plunked my pack down and started digging for an apple that was calling my name. That's when I actually looked around. About 70 yards down the hill was a freaking herd of cow elk! I figured they must like a view as much as I do. Oddly enough, they didn't see me....yet. "No better time than now to see what my cow elk sounds would actually do to real cow elk." The result wasn't exactly good. They all seemed to turn and look at me, but knew they should see an elk from where the strange sounds were coming from. (I've learned a little since then.) The wind was perfectly in my face, uphill (another good thing to keep in mind) and they didn't spook. Then the lead cow started getting a little frantic because she could tell something, "just wasn't right." She set off this bark-like bugle thing...I'd never heard a cow's distress call before, and within seconds, the entire herd was down the mountain and out of site. And, like an idiot, I just collected up my stuff and tromped after them. After I thought they had lost me I ran into them again which REALLY caused a panic. I'm just hoping they don't remember that terrible event in a couple weeks. Come to think of it, I must have learned quite a bit since that first day out....so maybe it was good I got that out of my system back in June.

Since that day, I've practiced nearly every day. I've bought hundreds of dollars in camo, calls, broadheads, videos, and packs. (For some reason, NONE of my standby hunting equipment seemed to make the grade.) I now look like one of those guys you see on the videos with all the crap hanging off of them....perhaps that's what my subconscious believes will buy me an elk. Or, perhaps it's just fun buying stuff. I have begun to understand how women can shop for clothes...you see, men do the same thing! It's just in different stores! Ohhhh...gotcha.

I began shooting NAPs Thunderhead broadheads religiously for nearly a month now. My Block is nearly worn out. It does a great job, but jeez, those broadheads still make a mess of the insides. Unfortunately, those strings of white foam hanging out of the target gave me something to aim at...I lost the "eye" for picking a random spot and aiming at it. So I've begun tacking a 6-inch paper plate to the target which forces me to pick a certain part of it to aim at. This has worked and I'm back to slicing fletching off my arrows. Yea, you wouldn't have thought of that would you? I sure didn't. I've been getting good enough groups that when the broadhead grazes my fletching...a little piece of orange flutters to the ground. Crap. Didn't think I'd have to pay money for THAT. But anywho, I was shooting 6-inch groups at 40 yards with field points. This has dwindled to 6-inches at 25 yards with broadheads as of late. Personally, I don't think I want to make a shot much more than that. Another benefit of getting "learned-up" early. Just think if I'd been shooting fieldpoints and a couple days before the season switched to broadheads. I would have been a basketcase...shooting all the time, worrying....ah, not for me. The one thing I can do fairly well is plan and prepare.

Speaking of plans, my big plan this year is to backpack for elk. This dream, this illusion, the HOPE is that I will have enough gumption to do what I dream...work the elk until dark, then camp where I'm at. In the morning I should be in a perfect position right off the bat. Will it work? ....we shall see.

Another case of fever concerning scouting has cropped up recently. I bought my Dad National Geographics TOPO! program for his birthday....and of course got permission to place it on MY computer. So now at night I can be found browsing through all the quads and zooming in, zooming out, exploring all sorts of country. And with one weekend left to scout (I have prior arrangments the weekend prior to the hunting season....probably a good thing), I have to narrow down my choice of hunting areas for opening day. Tough job when you have at least five PERFECT spots picked out. (Yea, perfect on a map isn't so perfect on the ground, I know.) I've looked at some spots I've actually hiked and at the end of a couple hours I was ready to turn around....only amounted to about three to four miles back in the woods. The places I've been looking at on this program are easily five to nine miles from a driveable road. I wonder if I'm man enough to carry an entire elk out if I get one? I must work on some contingency plans...

And I spend a lot of time in my closet practicing bugling. I practice cow calls in the truck on the way to work. Heck, the other morning I woke up to the sound of an elk in my yard! Didn't take me long to sit up, wide awake, and listening. Of course it was my neighbor, obviously not as concerned as I on how he sounded. For a minute I considered trying to call him in, but figured that would get the neighborhood in an uproar....I mean, it was like 8:00 a.m. on a Saturday. Looks like someone else came down with this bug that seems to crop up every summer. At least now I'm part of it.

That's the skinny (real skinny) on where I am at now. Hunting is typically my primary focus for most of the year, except most springs...I tend to get involved with backpacking and fishing. But that's a short month, then I'm back to thinking about the upcoming season. I will try and maintain this post to update myself on my new ideas for strategies, things I NEED to buy, what I'm going to take, etc.