Exploring Hunting

Hunting. It's been around for decades.

Hunting's a way to survive, a hobby, a lifestyle, a way to spend leisure time, to be with people, to eat organic meat.

It's the pursuing of game and so much more than the previous sentence lays out. I say "game" because to me I desire to eat what I pursue, and am anxious to cook game meat. After all, my ultimate goal of my hunting adventures to to bring food home. Remember, because it's called hunting, bringing home game is not always the case.

Hunting's intriguing to me because it allows me to go into the natural world and gives me a choice of how much technology I want to bring with me. Being in the woods reminds me of a time when the technological advances of today were yet to be discovered.

Yet, it's intriguing for another reason; the responsibility of a gun or bow, to load and unload, nock and un-nock, to know I have the chance to take a shot, and what shot is worth taking, or not worth taking.

I hope that when I do have a buck hanging at my place, my focus on hunting will still be in this raw state and not tied up with bragging over the animals I have taken.

As a sportsman most of my experiences, and expertise lie in fishing, in memories with family, and personal discoveries. I catch more fish than shooting animals. Over the years I have spent more time by the water than in the woods. So hunting is another way to enjoy the sportsman within me. It provides learning about new gear, and going after creatures moving on the land.

There's so much more to explore, like the responsibility to wisely use an animal. Animals have been given to us and why stewardship and conservation ought to be found in hunting and the sportsman, and why hunting is more than just killing.

It's good to explore what hunting means to you and how you can talk about it, and how you relate to hunting.

Exploring Hunting

Simple Or Techy, It's Hunting

Let's talk technology. It's always been a part of hunting. Sometimes, I get an attitude where I don't need or desire the new technological advances we have to hunt with today. This is not always the best attitude, because man always will look to improve hunting techniques and often times, looks at new technology to use in the field with him to make him more successful at bringing home his query.

However, knowing the fundamental skills is crucial. Playing the wind is an excellent example of how fundamental skills are nessasary even with the advent of the 21st century hunting technology.

Though new technology can make a hunter more effective, the latest technology is not needed to be successful. You still need the basic skills of hunting to go with the latest technology.  And this, my friends, is often what I put my time and energy doing. For if I master the basic skills of hunting, I can do without the latest technology until I can afford the latest technology. The price tags on some things can be ridiculous.

This may put me at a disadvantage at first, but over time I will have honed my skills and sharpened my senses of the woods, and knowing the basic skills of hunting will allow me to appreciate what the technology can add to my arsenal.

In a way you do need both. You need the basic fundamental skills so if technology fails, you can still be successful. Technology will come in handy to maximize the fundamental skills you have learned.

Thoughts? Jot 'em in the comments...

Simple Or Techy, It's Hunting

Tagging Out On Determination

You're reading about my hunting experience for the the 2012 WI gun deer season. The season opened November 17 and closed November 25. Although I didn't get a deer, yet...  I had fun hunting and gained one more year of hunting experience.

Furthermore, each year I hunt, I come to conclusions for my love of hunting and being outdoors. I realize just how deep my passion for hunting resides.

My plan each day was this:

• get in the woods before light
• sit until midmorning
• scout around and still-hunt the afternoon
• return to a separate spot to sit until dark

As I walked out of the public deer woods and back to my car each day during the 2012 gun deer season, I asked myself, "Will I get a deer?" Thoughts of frustration entered my mind as I was walking out of the woods without a deer.

Yet, each day I was anxious for the next time I would come back to the deer woods.

And sure enough, the next morning, I'd be just as excited and optimistic of my chances seeing deer as I was the morning of the season opener.

Morning of Day 4 of the 2012 gun deer opener was a foggy one.

It's exhilarating when you find a prospective spot and see deer sign such as droppings, rubs, trails, and beddings.

During one of my hunts, I confirmed that I enjoy deer hunting for the challenge and that's what keeps me coming back.

The challenge may be going through thick brush and heavy cover in order to explore a new area. I went through thick cattails because I felt deer were in there, and I found sign leading to this marsh that I had not explored yet.  Always be scouting around, even in season.

Followed this deer trail through the cattails, doing so also led me to a prospective spot I'll try late season.

When scouting, pay attention to the ground in order to find good deer sign. This may sound obvious, yet it's worth mentioning 'cus it's easy to overlook deer droppings, and finding deer droppings allows you to learn how to age them.

Most importantly, finding good deer sign rejuvenates yourself by giving you a positive feeling that deer are indeed in the area.  Much of hunting is about a positive attitude. This will keep you going no matter how frustrating the hunt seems.

Because I wasn't seeing deer, I was reminding myself each day that "just being out in the woods gives me a significant chance at tagging a deer". It's this attitude that kept me coming back to the woods and scouting around.

For me, it was frustrating to not see any deer even though I found great deer sign. Not seeing deer teaches me a cool cool thing about hunting: you don't need to get the animal you're after to have fun. You can take away other things about yourself, and the memories you make with friends and family.

Found a good size deer bed after kicking up deer in a marsh.

You also prove to yourself qualities you may not have thought you had, and even build on the qualities you know you do have. You are improving your hunting skills, and are able to utilize the gear you've spent money on.

One of the things I found was a new way to carry my deer seat in the woods that let me travel lighter, stealthier, and if a deer presented a shot opportunity while walking to my spot, this newfound way would give me a more comfortable shot.

In the end, I'm able to look ahead to remind myself I still have an archery tag through January 6 and there is a second WI gun deer season in the CWD Units over Christmas. I was able to look for additional spots to sit during these two seasons and there's still hope to get a deer. It will happen by taking a positive attitude.

Because I work for Sportsman Channel I feel I should be tagging out every year on deer, limiting out on fish each adventure out there. It's when I start feeling this pressure I remind myself of this simple thought: if I am able to get out in the woods, breathe the fresh air, and enjoy walking in public land, than I am experiencing being an American Sportsman. And this alone is a blessing.

Tagging Out On Determination

Adventure For Unity

Well the presidential election came to a close, and the political adventures continue on.

One of these adventures is one I hope will fade away are petitions to sucede. Politicians must unite.

I'll admit, my candidate did not win. Yet, my voting decision was a well informed one and that allowed me to sleep the night of the election.

I call myself neither a republican; nor a democrat. I am more conservative than liberal. These days I try to vote for the politician with the best plan, and also see if I agree with their morals and ethics(it was a real challenge to this election). The rest I leave to prayer otherwise I'll drive myself crazy. God has more power than me anyway, and with this mindset, I find relief.

Ultimately, both candidates made some good points, and other points I disagreed with. I wasn't impressed with either candidates plans that were laid out during the debates/conventions. I expected to hear more of a vision from Obama for the next four years.

Now where do we go? What is my attitude? It's realizing that reality is Obama's the president. I, (we) should do our best to respect him, yet know why we disagree with him, if we do.

Obama won. Whining about Obama is no good, and neither is debating his birth certificate. Forget about doing this. Bad attitudes are not good for work, for solving problems. Just know what the reality is and move on. This is still America. We live in a country of freedom.

We are able to voice our opinion, enjoy our hobbies, and worship freely. You are able to visit this blog and either finish reading this, or not. Heck, you can even write your own blog.

I can still fish where I please, (with proper permits), have either chicken for dinner or fish, and wake up to go work out before work if I chose or during my lunch break. And if I don't feel like brushing my teeth before bed, I won't. Remember, we still have choices! We have to work through challenges, even if we don't get our way. Being immature leads to crybabies, that's unproductive.

A strong solution is to work together. Both parties must come together. Political gridlock cannot go on.

And you see, that's one thing both Romney and Obama agree on. Working together. To the extent Obama and fellow republicans are willing to needs to be great.

What about these petitions to secede? Nonsense. What we need now is unity. Secession is the opposite of working together and unity, in my opinion, and ridiculous. Even more so if the motive to sign these petitions is because Obama is re-elected.

Adventure For Unity

Your Hobbies Lead To Adventure

I believe my hobbies allow me to look at everything as an adventure. To me adventure is fun, curious, refreshing, freedom, and a way to get outside. It’s also a way to break up the normal routine(make the everyday life fun and exciting), gain experience, and find ways to overlap hobbies.

Here’s what I mean on overlapping hobbies:

You see, you can bike to a fishing spot, may find a new fishing spot while scouting for a hunt, or biking/long-boarding around, and find a new hunting spot by fishing. Doing multiple hobbies opens up the door for exploration exponentially.

Snowboarding, ice-fishing and hunting require ways to keep warm. Therefore, you may find yourself using your clothing layers and technology from snowboarding to stay warm ice-fishing. This also allows you to kill two birds with one stone since you can wear the same clothes for ice-fishing as you do snowboarding.

Each hobby also has there own tools to adjust gear specific to that hobby. Because of this, you can learn about how to use tools and may find that tools from one hobby will work for a different one. Again, this is a way to overlap your hobbies, and learn things from different hobbies.

Your homework:
Write down your hobbies (the things you like to do, and the things you spend money on for enjoyment). After you’ve written them down, keep that list handy and check back here for a new post on finding adventure through your hobbies.

Your Hobbies Lead To Adventure

Political Adventures & Wisdom Of Election 2012

Well, after reading and listening to the Republican and Democratic National Conventions. I have come to this conclusion: both parties had great speeches in which I agreed and disagreed with certain content spoken.

Furthermore,

No matter who get's in they're going to be faced with the same issues that Obama started out to fix. Keep this point in mind. It'll take teamwork to fix them. Democrats willing to work with Republicans, and Republicans willing to work with Democrats.

It's the extreme views on both sides that hinder teamwork. Both parties need to put the radical ideas aside; the extremists of both sides of the parties will only hinder the process of restoring America.

To recap, it's going to take both parties working together to fix and help this country. One party will not do it alone. It takes teamwork. Just like in a company or team sport. One department/person does not know it all or do it all.

Political Adventures & Wisdom Of Election 2012

We're Here Breathing

Time out. Take a deep breathe. Do it again.

Recently, Bill Nye came out to slam creation and exploit his view of things. His take is "We need scientifically literate voters and taxpayers for the future. We need engineers that can build stuff and solve problems". This is true, we need those things and the fact is those literate voters, taxpayers for the future, and engineers to solve problems and build stuff will be living on a planet God created.

Hebrews 11:3 states "By faith we understand the universe was formed at God's command..." (In fact, read all of Hebrews 11.) Notice, it's by FAITH. Just as it takes faith to believe in God and the Holy Bible. It takes faith to believe that the world came about by the big bang, random events, and evolution. And it takes faith to believe the world is billions of years old. (side note: from my christian perspective, the earth could be billions of years old, or it could be thousands. God never said how old the earth is. It remains a mystery to me. Some things we won't know, we are not God, until we're in heaven and get to ask God.)

Yes, I am offended at Bill's remarks. I'm going to be because I believe in God with all my heart, my soul, my mind. I am a christian who solves problems, who is a literate voter. Furthermore, evolution is already taught in public schools, creationism is not. Does Nye realize this? So the majority of kids in this world are already being taught evolution, it's also printed in scientific text books. Nye also needs to realize that those who believe God created the universe and everything in it are scientifically literate voters and taxpayers for the future, and they can be engineers to solve problems and build stuff. You do not need to believe in the big bang theory to solve problems and build stuff.

Not all science is bad; but science is not God, cannot be God, cannot replace God. There is right and wrong. Science can be wrong, and Science does not have all the answers. God does. And because we, you and I are humans, we are not going to know all the answers in this world, however, there is an answer to who created this world, God. Christians will reject certain scientific beliefs. This is why Christians reject evolution and the big bang theory. It's why there is a clash between science and religion.

I believe God created the world in which we live, the world I am sitting in today typing this blog post. It's the world that Bill Nye lives in. The air that Bill Nye is breathing in the video? God created that too. Nye has chosen not to believe in creation, his belief comes from man. Mine is in God, the Father almighty the maker of heaven and earth.

God gave us his Word in the Holy Bible that we may believe in him. We can learn how the world became to be in Genesis. It's literally how the world became to be. Please don't make it more complicated, for God's word says what is means and means what it says. God wants us to know about him and what he has done for us. God keeps his promises and means what he says. As Christians we take God at his Word.

We're Here Breathing

Opening Day Fishing 2012 (2 of 4)

This is the second post in a 4 part series on my 2012 opening day of fishing in Wisconsin.

In southeast WI, it was raining on opening day. Seeing as there was no lightning, I threw on a rain suit, hooked up the boat, and headed out.

While anxiously launching the canoe into the water I was imagining a bass hitting my topwater bait. My rods were rigged with lures appropriate for the spots I wanted to try first.

After starting the motor and heading to the first spot I had planned to go to, I noticed the wind picked up since I left from home. Because of the increased wind, the water was too rough to use a buzzbait. (Buzzbaits and other topwaters work best when the water's calm or when there's a slight chop.) I ruled out my original plan and began to feel unsure of where to go.

At this point in fishing, you have to adapt to the weather conditions. As a fisherman and hunter you're at the mercy of what nature throws at you; your success depends on how you overcome adversity.

Because I was already heading towards the far end of the lake, and since the wind was blowing in a direction that I could drift back towards where I launched from, I kept going. Besides, since there was a no wake until 9am and I was already half way towards the far end of the lake, I just wanted to get there.    

First fish of opening day hit hard! Snapped this pic and released

Finally, I got to the far end of the lake. I started the drift and realized there more weeds than normal, and the wind was drifting me faster than expected. 

During the initial drift I wound up in an unfamiliar location of the lake, but it  did look promising so I went with it. It was by a patch of reeds. Nobody else was fishing here. 

Reaching for my spin cast rod rigged with a Kalin Grub and pink jig head I took a cast. Moments later I felt my first strike! 

(Stay tuned for part 3 next week!)

Opening Day Fishing 2012 (2 of 4)

Opening Day Fishing 2012 (1 of 4)

For the next few weeks I'll be doing blog posts on my 2012 opening day of fishing in WI.
This opening day was different from the others. 

Usually, my dad and I share opening day, and because he had to work this year, I went out alone. 

They say don’t fish alone, or hunt alone, but you can learn a lot on how you process events and your decision making process. 

Fishing and hunting are great for teaching lessons as the next few posts will show. I'll go over my decisions that morning on the water during the 2012 WI fishing opener.

How often do you fish alone? Do you have a fishing/hunting buddy? Is that person family, friends, or both?  

Opening Day Fishing 2012 (1 of 4)

Duck Tape Adventure

Just a couple days ago, I used duck tape in a new way. Which happend to be when I ran out of band-aids.

Seeing as I was ready to hit the hay, I didn’t want to drive and pick up some. With a glance at toilet paper and a quick thought about using duck tape, I discovered my band-aid.

Unconventional with a taste of ingenuity; I was satisfied. Certainly it would not fall off, this is how I judge bandages. In the morning, it met my expectations and was still attached.

This newfound bandage certainly will do the trick if you’re in a pinch. Note though, it’s warm. So, it’s not as comfortable as the real deal, however, a new use of duck tape is found.

How have you used duck tape? When do you use it? How many rolls are lying around by ya?

Duck Tape Adventure

A Night Before A Fishing Trip

On the night before a fishing trip I’m anxious. Anxious about everything for the trip, even breakfast. Even if it’s a local fishing trip. The feelings are: how baits will work, what baits will work, and the first cast of the trip. Preparing is just as fun as the trip, although often not done as well as I could since my mind is racing about how the trip will be, and how the weather will be.

I’ve often thought I’ll catch a stringer full of the fish I’m after before the fishing trip; I'm doing so right now about tomorrows. Then, I wonder if thinking I’ll catch a bunch will jinx a successful day on the water. Superstitions are silly and I don’t by into them too much, so, I block this silly idea.

At the fishing spot if i'm not catching fish shortly after I arrive, I often find my self praying to just catch one fish and then I’ll be satisfied. And usually after catching that first fish, it’s not long before I’m praying and hoping to catch more. After all, I want a fish fry, or want to tell friends and my dad I was successful catching fish.

Successful catching fish, what determines a successful fishing trip? To be clear, it can mean different things to different anglers. For me catching one fish is successful. And I feel more successful if I do with lures than with live bait. But lures vs live bait is another blog post.

This post is about the feeling of a fishing trip the day before, more specifically the night before. As written earlier, this is the night before early morning Saturday fishing. I’m anxious, and as mentioned above about preparation, I should doing just that, now.

Well, I’m itching to fish now. And more anxious for tomorrow a.m. than when I started this post.

Do you feel anxious before a fishing trip? What do you prepare? Do you get your rods rigged before heading to the lake and buy bait beforehand? Or do you wait till you arrive at the spot to see how the weather conditions are? How do you do breakfast?

A Night Before A Fishing Trip