Inside Out Outdoors

Yesterday was a busy day full of turkey hunting up and down the South Mountains of NC so I never got around to posting the Photo of the Week, and I still won't post it until tomorrow.  That's because the Photo of the Week is one of the pictures I took (that I still need to get off the memory card) yesterday morning right before we started our "go look for them" approach to the day since the only gobbler we heard up to that time was some 200 yards or more below us when he got the closest and already had another hunter on him.  That being said, I ran across this short turkey hunting preview that The Harvest TV produced for what I assume is an eventual episode or short film by them and I wanted to share it with you guys.  I once again found it on the Campbell Cameras Prostaff Blog, this time posted on the main page.  Enjoy!

-C.B.

Here we sit juts hours away from the opener of the North Carolina Spring Turkey Season (the youth got started last Saturday, now it is time for the adults to join in the fun) and I am ready to go!  I ran across this earlier today on nchuntandfish.com and wanted to share it with everyone.  Forum member Hawglips posted it and if anyone is pumped up for tomorrow it is Hal as he gets it done every year in multiple states and lives to chase turkeys.  Below is his little ditty based off of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas", enjoy and good luck tomorrow all you NC guys!

-CB

I was looking around for some new recipes and I came across some good looking stuff on the NC Wildlife website.  They have a cookbook that you can download as well as a number of other recipes.  I plan to try some of these out!  Let us know if you try any and how they are!

-Paul Nicolucci

I purchased my first Ladder stand this past year.  I've hunted from homemade ladder stands quite a bit but given my limited time this past year and the opportunity to hunt some private land I decided to purchase one to save me some time.  The benefits of having some ladder stands set up is that it gives you much quicker set up time in the morning.....no need to attach a climber and climb a tree.  However the drawback is that it is not easily or quickly moved to a new spot and would most likely need to wait until the next season to move it.  So my first recommendation is scout, scout and do some more scouting of your location before setting up a ladder stand.  Since this stand is not going to be my primary hunting spot, nor is it close to my home I did not want to spend a lot of money for the stand.  I did however wish to have something roomy and comfortable that would hopefully last multiple hunting seasons.
 
I bought the Summit Solo Pro here for about $170.  I really liked that this stand was under the $200 mark and that it had a full size platform and a fold up bench seat and shooting rail.  The bench pad is removable and I'd recommend removing it and replacing it each time you use the stand so you have a dry seat to sit on.  The pad is not the most comfortable thing to sit on for an all day hunt so I usually brought an additional seat pad with me.  I like to use the following hot seat to compliment the seat pad.


I found setting up the stand was at least a two person job.  I did it with the help of another person and it would have been much easier with a third.  Overall the instructions were spot on and easy to follow.  I did however find I was missing a few parts and contacted Summit and they promptly sent me the missing parts with no questions asked!  So a big thumbs up to their customer service department!  After hunting from the stand for an entire season and taking two deer from it I'd buy another one in a heart beat!  It was much roomier than many of the other stands I was looking at.  The shooting rest and bench fold up out of the way to make bow hunting and standing shots very easy.  It attached to the tree pretty securely but I did add an additional ratchet strap to the platform to give it just that little bit of extra stability.
   
In closing, if you need a ladder stand that is roomy and hunt-able all year long then I think this is a good one to try out.  Summit has many other stands to look at in the same Crush Series, advertised as their economical line without all the bells but they have the necessary features for a comfortable hunt!

-Paul Nicolucci

I meant to get up the Photo of the Week yesterday but I was busy seeding a portion of the backyard in the morning and then attending a birthday party for my buddy's little girl.  Add in a late dinner with the wife and I really never got around to making a post yesterday, but here I am tonight doing so and with the turkey opener for NC coming up next Saturday I wanted to share a picture of a strutting tom.  I had lots to choose from but the one below, taken in Tennessee by Bowland Photography and shared on their photography blog, was the one that won the honor of getting shared with the readership of Inside Out (hopefully that number is not in the single digits!).  

Now it is Video of the Week time.  With part two of my outdoors filming blog series coming up this week, I thought it would be pertinent for this week's video to be one that I found on the Campbell Cameras Pro Staff blog.  It showcases b-roll footage and was filmed and edited by pro staff member Trent Busenbark and is entitled 2012 Nonsense.  Enjoy!

-C.B.

One of my favorite ways to cook a Venison Sirloin Tip Roast is in the slow cooker or commonly known as a crock pot.  I love cooking the Sirloin Tip Roast this way because you can just set it and go and by the time you return home it will just fall apart.  This is also one of the most simple recipes I cook on a regular basis.





- Start with a thawed Sirloin Tip Roast. In the picture featured in this post it would be cut #5.  You can do this same recipe with any of the larger cuts of Venison if you wish.
- Place the Roast into the crock pot.
- Season the Roast with generous amounts of Garlic Powder, Pepper, some Seasoned Salt and Italian Seasoning.
- I like to add 2 table spoons of Worcestershire sauce as well and if you have some fresh garlic you can crush some and spread it around on top of the roast as well.
- Take three cups of warm water and place into a bowl and add 1 McCormick's Au Jus Gravy Packet to the water and whisk it until it is dissolved.  You can find these packets at your local grocery store usually in the seasoning isle.
- Pour the gravy mixture into the slow cooker
- Cut up some fresh carrots and potatoes into bite sized pieces and place them around the roast in the slow cooker.
- I also like to dice up a sweet onion and put it in as well as it adds a nice flavor the the roast.

I like to add the gravy into the slow cooker to keep the meat moist and keep it from becoming dry during the cooking process.  Cook the roast for about 6 hours on low and you'll be ready for a great dinner the whole family can enjoy!

-Paul Nicolucci

Having moved a few months back, I finally have an area that I have dedicated to hunting and firearms as my second garage is serving the purpose of my very own sporting goods store!  I have a nice bench in the garage and decided it was time to buy a gun vise.  I wish I had done this long ago as it makes common projects much easier.  Everything from cleaning to scope mounting is made easier with this Tipton Best Gun Vise.  It can be purchased here, from MidwayUSA, for about $100.  I have yet to find a firearm that it did not fit and hold securely.  In my opinion it is well spent money. The days of my gun laying on the floor of my bedroom with a cleaning rod running through it are long gone!  I recently gave my Benelli a year end deep clean and decided to clean the recoil spring assembly. The vise held the gun in the correct position so I could easily clean it and leave it over night to drain and dry.  Cleaning the recoil spring assembly is another post I need to write up for any of you Benelli owners out there, so keep an eye out for that in the near future.    Overall, with the limited use the vise has gotten I'm confident in recommending it to our readers.  I don't have experience with another vise so I may be missing out, but overall, for the money, I don't see this being a bad vise.  It does what it was advertised to do in my opinion.  The one problem I did have is that the clamps for the stock tended to slip a bit when tightening on the gun so you had to hold the stock in place and adjust, otherwise it would just slip out of the clamps.  It also seems to have pretty good reviews on MidwayUSA.  So if you have some extra dough laying around and are looking for something to make your life easier I think this is a great off-season purchase!

-Paul Nicolucci