We've all seen, at some time or another, a photo or video of someone effortlessly whipping a fly rod and line above their head, making a perfect cast to the perfect spot. A smile then appears on the angler's face as a fat hungry trout rises to take the dry fly they precisely landed over it. It is images like this that inspire many to try their hand at fly fishing, even if they have no idea where to start. Because of this, we've decided to help clear up the "water" and put together some information into a 3 part series, designed to head you in the right direction. The intended result? To make you that angler with the smile on their face.
Enjoy solitude? Ever wonder what lies in remote stretches of water? Up for a challenge? Then prepare yourself to practice until you are perfect, fight through tangled brush and get knee deep in water because fly fishing is the just sport for you.
We've all seen, at some time or another, a photo or video of someone effortlessly whipping a fly rod and line above their head, making a perfect cast to the perfect spot. A smile then appears on the angler's face as a fat hungry trout rises to take the dry fly they precisely landed over it. It is images like this that inspire many to try their hand at fly fishing, even if they have no idea where to start. Because of this, we've decided to help clear up the "water" and put together some information into a 3 part series, designed to head you in the right direction. The intended result? To make you that angler with the smile on their face.
0 Comments
For anyone who missed it, our Commander in Chief had an op ed on guns in the Arizona Daily Star this past Sunday.
I've been able to see two possible interpretations of President Obama's stance on our gun rights for quite some time now. The first stance is the one put forth by the NRA and most of the other gun rights advocates. That is that he thinks very poorly of all shades of gun owners, and that he is biding his time until he can seize upon any available opportunity to roll back the 2nd amendment rights that we have worked so hard to secure. The second possibility is decidedly more moderate, that he's not exactly spending his spare time at the range, but he doesn't have particularly strong feelings on the subject. That he may have osmotically picked up some of the anti-2nd amendment ideas floating around the Democratic party, but he remembers 1994 and doesn't want to pay the steep political cost that comes along with curtailing our constitutionally guaranteed freedoms. Notice that in neither case is he a friend to sportsmen, we're talking about a difference of degree here. Up until this point, I'd have to say that the available evidence is equally compatible with either hypothesis. Lets see if President Obama's Op Ed can tip the scales in either direction: Up here in the People's Republic of New York, today was the first time in 106 days that the thermometer climbed above 60 degrees (I don't want to hear it southerners!). So what's a boy to do? Well this one decided to convince a few of his fellow redneck engineers to cut out of work early and hit the trap field.
We had a blast! We got into a little bit of a self-coaching session, which I highly recommend for the next time you hit the range with a group of friends. We were watching each other's stance, swing, gun mount, etc. and providing feedback. This is really helpful since there are a lot of things that you can't really see when you're the one doing the shooting. What was the best tip I picked up? I was holding the front bead too high when I called for the bird. The bead of your gun should be lined right up with the top of the trap house when you call "pull". If you hold it too high (like I was) then your barrel blocks your view of the trap house and you can't actually see the target until it is higher in the air. This obviously means you you can't start your swing until later and that puts you just a split second behind the 8 ball, playing catch-up right from step one. If you set your bead right on the roof-line of the trap house, then you can see the target immediately as it leaves the house and that allows you to start your swing just that much sooner. It seems simple, and I know I'd heard it before but it's easy to forget and I promise it will improve your game. -K.M. We've all been told that we really should be shooting with both eyes open unless we're using a high power scope. There are a lot of good reasons for this advice.
First off, having both eyes open gives you a wider field of view; it lets more visual information get into your brain. That extra visual information can be priceless in high stress, fast paced shooting situations like hunting and self defense. Second, without both eyes open you don't really have any depth perception. Don't believe me? Have a friend throw a baseball or football at you as hard as he can and try to catch it with one eye covered. Finally, our brains aren't really as advanced as we think they are. We've essentially got puny little monkey brains with just a tiny little bit of extra frontal cortex tacked on the top. When we're in a high stress shooting situation we might want to close our weak eye in order to get a sight picture, but that little monkey brain of ours is yelling at the top its lungs "look at the target!!". To make things worse, it's yelling so loud that it's trying to open both of your eyes to get a better look at that target that it's so excited about. What if you're so excited (or frightened) that your monkey brain wins? Now you have a split second to take the shot of your life and you're looking at a sight picture that's as alien as the jungle scenes in "Avatar"... good luck with that! Yet despite all that, a lot of have been closing our weak eyes in order to shoot since we were taking aim at those fearsome coke cans with our Red Rider BB guns. To make matters worse, it really is a hard habit to break; it has become an instinctive part of the process of mounting a gun to your shoulder. I have embarked on a personal crusade to make myself shoot with both eyes open as much as possible, read about my misadventures below. With Spring green-up and March Madness in full force now, the attention of many sportsman is turning to hunting what Ben Franklin wanted to be the United States national bird and symbol: The wild turkey. Though I haven't been on too many turkey hunts, I can tell you that you always have a shiver of excitement run up your spine when you hear a gobbler break the morning silence with one of his thunderous gobbles. With turkey seasons already underway in Southern states such as Alabama and South Carolina, be on the lookout the next week for a post on what it takes to match wits with a call weary gobbler. Until then, get outdoors and enjoy this wonderful spring weather the majority of the country is experiencing right now. I know I will.
-C.B. Everyone who loves the outdoors and follows politics even occasionally should read this article by Field and Stream's Conservation Editor Bob Marshall. It details the effects that the latest draft of federal budget will have on sportsmen...and NONE of them are good. "The federal government spends about $5 billion a year in conservation programs that are essential to the habitat that supports hunting and fishing, but it gets back about $14 billion in direct tax payments from people who make their livings in those industries--and that's a conservative estimate," explained Dale Hall, Ducks Unlimited CEO and former Director of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. "This makes no sense. Yes, we need to cut, but we need to do it intelligently. And we have to look everywhere." He was an outdoor icon long before we had the Outdoor Channel. He covered wars, patrolled the seas around Key West in his own boat during World War II and hunted from the mountains of Idaho to the plains of Africa. He was one who those in the early to mid 1900's called "Papa", just like he was an old friend. This man was Ernest Hemingway and he is one of the greatest authors in American literacy history. I have just recently finished reading a book put together by his son Sean Hemingway and grandson Patrick Hemingway called Hemingway on Hunting and I have to say that it is a must read for any avid hunter, fisherman or outdoorsman in general. From excerpts from his novel The Green Hills of Africa to short stories such as "Fathers and Sons" and even articles/letters that were written for magazines such as Vogue and Esquire, the book highlights the finest pieces on hunting that Hemingway ever wrote about. He pulls you in like you are on the hunt with him and leaves you wanting to make new memories in the field. So head to your nearest Barnes and Noble or Books A Million, buy this book and dive right in. I guarantee you won't be able to put it down anytime soon.
-C.B. Wikipedia defines Blue Laws as “a type of law, typically found in the United States and Canada, designed to enforce religious standards, particularly the observance of Sunday as a day of worship.” These laws have roots deep into American History. As we doubtlessly all remember from our history classes, several of the original 13 colonies were founded essentially as theocracies. During the colonial period, laws mandating church attendance, forbidding housework on the Sabbath, and enforcing all other manner of religious doctrine were not at all uncommon.
Fast-forward to 1787 when our founding fathers were drafting the Constitution. They had the wisdom to realize that many Americans had emigrated from Europe in order to escape the tyranny of a government using its power to enforce one particular set of religious views on the entire population. In order to prevent this abuse of power, they wrote the establishment clause into the first amendment: “Congress shall pass no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” So, any of you just tuning in might think that everyone got the message from the establishment cause. You might think that it's been 200 years since anyone in the US tried to use government power to force their particular set of religious views on the rest of the population...unfortunately you'd be horribly wrong. Those old Colonial laws were never taken off the books; instead, new ones were added and the whole racket went largely unchallenged until the late 20th century. As I'm sure you already know, many states still have these Blue Laws built into their game regulations. Hardworking hunters get their weekend effectively cut in half. The general apathy of the hunting public has lead to a situation where religious doctrine is being enforced via threat of imprisonment or fine. How can this situation possibly be justified? Let's take a look at some of the most common arguments against lifting the prohibition on Sunday hunting. I suspect that many hunters have a favorite recipe that they use to win over friends and family members who might be shy to the idea of eating wild game. Many a newbie has been scared off of the idea of eating wild game by a hunter who didn't introduce them properly. These recipes should showcase the unique flavor of the game (ruling out ground meats and sausage) without overwhelming those new to wild game with unfamiliar flavors (this rules out most the frying pan methods I've tried).
The following are some methods that I use to prepare venison for people who aren't familiar with it. Anyone who is any good at cooking venison knows you've either got to cook it screaming hot and fast or turn the heat down and go low 'n slow. This recipe will employ the later method. I recently purchased one of the Johnny Stewart Compact Digital Game Callers for a Coyote hunt that I went on about two weeks ago. I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the call. There are five different models: 1) Predator 1 - Baby Bird, Cottontail, Puppy Cries, Rodent, Woodpecker. 2) Predator 2 ( Call being reviewed ) - Cottontail, Howls, Coyote Pup, Fawn, Jackrabbit. 3) Deer - Buck Grunt, Doe Bleat, Estrus Bleat, Rattling, Snort Wheeze. 4) Turkey - Cluck & Purr, Cutting, Excited Hen Yelp, Locator Gobble, Soft Hen Yelp. 5) Crow - Come Here, Crow Attack, Discovery, Distress, Owl Attack. I purchased and used the Predator 2 model. It is affordable at a price point around $40 and comes pre-loaded with sounds, meaning there is nothing more to do except take it into the field and see if you can call in any critters. We were hunting a small lot of woods and while the sound was quite loud, if you are looking for a very long distance call I would recommend picking up a set of external speakers. One of the Cass Creek Bighorn remote speakers would work perfectly with this unit and can be found for about $50 at CassCreek. The included remote was also a nice addition as it allows you to change sounds easily.
Pros: - Light weight - Pre-loaded sounds (no need to download or purchase others) - Remote that works up to 50 yards away - Reasonably priced - Quality sound from such a small unit - External speaker jack to hook up your own speakers - Speaker pivots 180 degrees Cons: - There are only 5 sounds and no way to add additional sounds (though for the price this is still not a bad value) - Volume not remotely adjustable So if you are looking for an affordable caller for a specific species of animal, I would suggest looking into one of these units. You can read more about the unit at Johnny Steward Attractor Calls. You could even purchase multiple units and use them with the same external speaker and you would still have spent less than purchasing one of the bulky programmable electronic callers. As for one result from our first time using this unit, during our first hour of the hunt we had a coyote answer back and were able keep him interested for about 15 minutes with this caller. While we never were able to get a shot, I plan to use this call again in the near future; hopefully this time with a dead predator or two by the end of the day. If anyone has had any experience with the other versions of the call or if you'd like to share your experiences with this Johnny Steward call with others, please leave us feedback with your comments. -Paul Nicolucci |
Our Mission
Sometimes the great ideas that we have just need something to bring them to the forefront. The Inside Out team will be putting our talents to work and sharing our knowledge and love of the outdoors with anyone who wants to listen. Archives
June 2016
Categories
All
Blog Roll
Curran's Outdoor Adventures
Fishing Fury GoBlog (Get Outdoors) Grants Blog (Growing Deer TV) Huntography Hunt Like Your Hungry inFOCUS (Campbell Cameras) inMotion (Heartland Bowhunter) Make It Happen Outdoors Outdoor Freaks Sole Adventure Taking a Walk on the Wild Side The Rivah Blog The Will to Hunt Wired to Hunt |