New Gear Additions

My birthday is coming up and I thought it would be a good occasion to get some new hunting gear, I wanted an early season hiking boot and a good spotting scope.

Being on a budget of $500 it was tough to find quality items for this price range. I found a used Leupold gold ring 15-30×50 spotting scope and bought it for $250 on ebay, new these beautys go for 400-500 bucks so I thought I got a good bargain. Leupold gold ring optics have lifetime warranty so no fear is needed when buying used. I found this item to have the best value as it is reasonably affordable and Leupold Gold Ring are top echelon optics. Thanks to the online hunting forums I was informed about this neat line of compact spotting scopes. When looking for spotting scopes you want to get something decent especailly if you are hiking as there is no use packing junk weight!

here is the spotting scope I bought: http://www.opticsplanet.net/picture-2-leupold-golden-ring-15-30×50-compact-spotting-scope-kit-58390.html

For the hiking boots, I have researched for a while and have finally come to try  out Kenetrek’s Hardscrabble Hiker. It is a 7" boot weighing in at 3.6lbs as a pair, The boots are waterproof, full grain leather, with a breathable membrane. These beautys are made in Italy with top of the line material. I am very excited to try these out on my next hunt. Here is where I bought them from: http://store.carterscobblershoppe.com/ke-420-hk.html

My criteria for boots is: Light, tough, waterproof, and comfortable. I will try these items out soon enough and post a review here: Hunting gear reviews

Sighting In Broadheads

Since we planned out our bear hunt for next week, I decided to check my broadheads setup to see if I am still dialed in. To my surprise I was shooting low and left with my broadheads. I should mention that I use Montec G5 pre-season heads while shooting the foam blocks so that I dont dull my razor sharp hunting heads. I made the proper adjustments to my sight so that I am dialed right on the money at 20,30,40,50,60 even though I would only shoot up to 40 yards I just wanted to be sure. For a great article on tuning broadheads click the link. If you would like to learn how to sight in your compound bow this article is helpful: sighting in a compound bow. After I double checked I am confident that I can make a good kill shot count and I am eagerly looking forward to harvesting a big spring black bear. You must make sure your equipment is performing up to par before going on any hunting trip.

Getting Ready To Draw

Christmas time for hunters is upon us as we start filling out our limited entry hunting cards in order to draw a once in a lifetime tag. It is one of my favorite times  during the off-season. This year I applied for everything available and in B.C. that includes Caribou, Bison, Elk, Moose, Mountain Goat, Mountain Sheep, Doe, Grizzly Bear. I have never drawn a mountain goat or sheep draw but of course I am hoping that this year is the one. Remember to apply for everything you can hunt and have fun anticipating the results!

Spring Bear Hunting Story

Spring bear hunting is one of my most favorite hunts to do, the weather is exceptional, the game is plentiful, and the challenge exciting. I just wrote and uploaded the story of my first every archery animal which was taken on a spring black bear hunt, be sure to read it here: Spring black bear hunting story.

Enjoy the spring black bear hunting story and get inspired to do some spring bear hunting this year.

What are Some Good Hunting Magazines?

Hunting magazines are important to hunters in order to stay current in news events, new tactics, animal information, and of course advances in hunting technology and hunting gear. Some magazines out there are just advertisements and garbage, others are just focus on one topic like "tree stand hunting whitetail deer" for instance.

I like a variety of hunting stories and articles, I particularly enjoy mountain hunts in the untamed wilderness so reading about them gives me great satisfaction. Eastmans hunting journal makes a great magazine and I have suscribed to them for the last 2 years. I love the stories, the advice, the attitude and respect of all the editors and contributors. It is a great magazine to suscribe to for all hunters especailly those hunting the west DIY style. This magazine has breathtaking scenary photos that take you back to the wild on every page, its a great experience to read.

Hunting illustrated is a good magazine, I found there was alot of relevant articles with good information and also great pics.

Bowhunting world is a great magazine for bowhunters, featuring a wide variety of hunts and intersting gear talk and gear field tests, this magazine is a good resource and worth a subscription.

Online hunting magazines can also be helpful, here is a great one that offers a free subscription, just add your email and you get to view the online magazine: http://www.greatcanadiansportsman.com/ I like this magazine as it has great editorials and the editor also focuses on quality pictures.

Instructional hunting videos on you tube

If you are watching and learning hunting methods and techniques on youtube be sure to rely on a credible source who is giving you proper information, A good Idea would be to suscribe to this channel: http://youtube.com/user/huntingtipsandtricks

and recieve updates on whenever a new video is launched, its a great way to stay informed and it is great information.

Physical Fitness for hunting

Now that the ice hockey season is over for me, I started to hit the weights and trails in order to get into top physical condition, so I can hunt the high country this fall. I know most people don’t need to stay in shape to drive a Ford truck down a logging road and shoot a buck over the hood of your truck, but if you want to get away from the crowds and enjoy the vast wilderness of the alpine you will definitely need to be in top physical condition. Hiking up extreme elevations with a weighted down pack calls for a set of strong legs, a strong core coupled with endurance. Trust me, there is nothing worse than feeling bagged on the top of a mountain. You will lose your motivation to hunt, the sole purpose of being on the mountain that high up in the first place. So I urge you, be in the best physical shape you can be in next time you go up into the high country on your sheep hunt or mule deer hunt.

Here is a breakdown of my regime:

Cardio 4x a week

2 bike sessions 30 mins, 2 trail hiking sessions minimum 1-2 hours each.

Free weights 3x a week

Day 1) chest & triceps- 5 exercises for chest- 3 sets of 10 reps, 3 exercises for triceps- 3 sets of 10 reps

Day 2) back & biceps- 5 exercises for back-3 sets of 10 reps, 3 exercises for biceps-3 sets of 10 reps

Day 3) legs & shoulders- 4 exercises for legs-3 sets of 10 reps, 4 exercises for shoulders 3 sets of 10 reps

*remember to use free weights and focus on strength building exercises. eg. Squats, deadlifts, bench press etc.

I also work abs out 3 days a week by doing crunches and leg raises.

You don’t need to follow this regime per say, just make sure you are getting your heart rate into your cardio zone for at least 30 minutes 3 times a week and do some free weights 3 times a week focusing on your core.

Don’t delay getting into shape for your next hunting adventure.

Alex from Uber bows recently made an article specific for archers getting into shape for archery:

https://uberbows.com/strength-and-conditioning-exercises-for-archery/

Clean Your Bear Skulls

Since spring bear hunting is just underway, I wanted to remind everyone to take your bear skulls home and clean them yourselves so you can have a great looking European Mount. Once cleaned and bleached a European bear skull makes a great trophy to be placed on the mantle beside your bear skin rug or picture of the great beast in the field. Here is a great article on cleaning bear skulls and a European Mount. There is also a great step by step video on the whole process of making a European mount. Click to watch European Mount Video.

Scouting for bears

mountain trailScouting is a very important part of hunting and this is a great time of year to be looking for bruins coming out of their hibernation dens. It is also a good time of year to start getting into top physical condition for sheep hunts and early season alpine adventures.

I love the outdoors and staying in shape is a must to be a successful hunter so I am regularly hiking the local mountains all the while keeping my eyes open for bear sign so I know where to invest my time once spring black bear hunting season really picks up.

It is a beautiful mountain trail, steep at parts but none the less it will do the bear hunting spottrick for preperation on backcountry high elevation hunts.

After I made my way up the trail I found some nice open logging slashes that could produce some bear sightings as the sason progresses. I kept going after finding nothing worth looking at twice in the logging slash. I was getting a little disapointed to not be seeing any bear tracks, bear scratching posts, or bear scat. But I kept exploring to no avail.

On the way down close to where I started on the opposing trail, I finally found what I was looking for, a sign. I was excited to see some fresh bear scat at the begining of the trail head, now I have reason to continue scouting the area bear scatuntil I find some more clues and vantage points that will lead me to a successful archery bear hunt.

Bear Hunting Backup

I just read an interesting article on rifles and guns used for bear hunting and for back up weapons on bear hunts. I find it interesting how paranoid certain people are about black bears, even though they can be dangerous the likelyhood of being attacked is quite scant. This does not mean you should view bear hunting light hearted as you definately need adequate firepower to respectfully and ethically harvest a bear, lets look at some options for bear fire power;

Rifles– Bolt action is the most reliable action so it only make sense that this should be your optimal choice for a bear hunting weapon. I would say that a .30 caliber rifle is a good choice such as a .30/06 .300wm, .300 ultra mag, .300wsm, .300 weatherby, .338 wm these rifles will definately serve as great bear hunting guns. If targeting grizzly, brown bear, or polar bears, you might want to start with a .338 wm and move up towards a .458 wm. Even though many a grizzly have been taken with a good ole .3006, you might want to lean on the heavier side of armament when tackling the great northern beasts. For bullet weight I would look at 180grains and up with properties that have slow expansion and wieght retention.

Shotguns– I definately would not opt for a shotgun to hunt bears but if you are in a zone that prohibits rifles you could use a shotgun with a saboted slug load or some heavy buckshot in your 12 gauge. Pump action is probably your most reliable action to use, and a defender short barreled shotgun is a popular choice for bowhunters wanting the comfort of a plan B.

Bows and Arrows– Kinetic Energy is an important  consideration when using archery tackle to kill bears but a sharp deadly broadhead is key to the whole operation. For Black bears you should be at 50ft.lbs. of K.E. while the K.E. required for grizzly bear is 65ft.lbs. Broadheads should be 100grains+  depending on your arrow wieght which plays into your total kinetic energy.

I hope this information helps as spring bear hunting season is now on where I hunt!