Gosh, I just love getting new bows, hahaha. This year I’m shooting the new Prime Black 5 and I am super psyched about it. Great draw cycle, feels great in the hand, and holds awesome. This bow build is one that I feel extremely confident in for 2020.
Spring Hunting Season 2020 is trucking right along here! Each week that goes by is another one closer to opening day of spring bear! Goodness gracious I can’t wait for that. In the meantime, doing these small scouting trips has really been helping fill the void. And now we sit with Episode 4 in front of us!
In this episode, I’m joined by my good buddy Skyler. Skyler has absolutely no experience bear hunting at all, so this was pretty fun for me to take him out. He’s what you’d call a “deer guy.” His passion for desert mule deer are almost a mirror image of mine for black bears. He’s an addict, and I totally get it! Skyler will spend all summer trudging through the desert, dodging rattlesnakes, all in the name of mule deer. With that being said, Skyler has been super interested in getting his toes wet on the bear front. And what a better way than coming out on a morning scouting trip?
We hike down into an area that I have been this season already, yes. However, we are trying to find a different branch of the same water source. The plan is to find that water and place a cam on a good looking pool of water. As it gets warmer out, the bears should start crawling in to cool off. Indeed, we found the spring. What we didn’t expect, was that we’d forget the straps and cables to the trail camera…
Yeah, you heard that right. Luckily, I had some bungee rope and regular rope in my truck. This was gonna be fun, haha.
Hope you enjoyed another spring hunting season episode! Things are only going to get better as it heats up, and I can’t wait. Another year of bear hunting! Don’t forget to like and SUBSCRIBE to the YouTube channel if you are digging the videos. This way you can stay up to date with future content. Until the next video, stay safe, and good luck out there!
Here are previous episodes if you haven’t already seen!
Backpack Hunting is filled with rich experience and the origin of many potent memories, no matter who you are. It’s a kind of hunting that isn’t for everyone, but the one’s that do cherish it, seem to live it. They thrive on the unknown and beauty that falls before them on their trips. Landscapes that are more unseen than seen. Then there are the challenges that come along with hunting the backcountry. These are things like rough country, carrying everything you need on your back, and just the general practice of living in the dirt. Another challenge though is just finding somewhere to hunt. This is especially true when coming from out of state and heading into a spot that you’ve never been before. One of the ways that I “E-Scout” is by utilizing maps to my advantage, and more specifically, topographic maps.
Here’s another spring hunting season video to keep the train rolling! I’m so stoked that I drew this tag. It’s bringing me into some areas that I haven’t stepped foot into for years. Last time I had the tag though, my strategy was mostly spot and stalk. This time, I’m mainly focusing on water sources. So my scouting throughout the pre-season is really just going to be about finding somewhat remote water sources that I can potentially ambush hunt a bear on. I’m not used to this, but trail cameras will be super helpful for this hunt. Not only do I just have to find a water source, but the water needs to be huntable. Meaning that there needs to be a spot for me to set up and wait for a thirsty bruin to come in.
So, I wrote a book! This has been a project I’ve been working on for the past year and a half and I’m so excited that it’s finally ready to be seen. The book is called “Becoming a Backpack Hunter: A Beginner’s Guide to Hunting the Backcountry.” From the title, I’m sure you can gather what it’s about, but let me give you the skinny on it and why I decided to write this in the first place.
Alright! Another spring hunting season is right in front of us and I’m am so excited to share it with you! I drew an archery spring bear tag right here in my home state of Arizona for 2020. If you’ve followed any bit of what I do, you know how much of a bear nerd I am. They are without a doubt my favorite species to hunt. Pair that with another love of mine, bowhunting, and I’m a pretty happy guy. My tag is good for May-July and scouting has already begun!
Being that this hunt takes place during a fairly dry part of the year down here, the plan is to focus on water. Over the next few weeks I’ll be checking out various water sources and placing trail cameras on them to monitor any beary behavior that may or may not occur in the area. Bears just love their water. They’ll swim in it, play in it, sleep in it, and obviously drink it. I’d look at this as sort of an achilles heel of the bear this time of year.
In this episode, I head down into a brand new area to a spring. Right from the get go, I was a little apprehensive of placing a cam here. The spring is fairly close to a trail, but after further investigation, I just couldn’t pass up placing a cam. It offered a great potential setup for an ambush with a hill right above the spring looking down. Would be a nice way to potentially take a bear over that water source.
If you like the video, I encourage you to SUBSCRIBE to the YouTube channel to stay up to date with all future posts and adventures!
At the time of putting the cam up it was late February. Like I say in the video, I really have no urge to check that camera until April most likely. Maybe even May. It needs to get hot and dry for those bears to consistently be smashing the water. Once it does, there can absolutely be multiple bears hitting the same water source throughout the whole day, not just in the morning and evening. So, now we wait. Until then, I’ll be out checking out some new areas and getting excited for the coming spring hunting season!
Next stop at the Western Hunting and Conservation Expo in Salt Lake City, Utah was FHF Gear. I’ve used the FHF Gear Bino Harness for quite a few years. You can find a review I did HERE. While newer models have come out since then with minor changes, the overall concept remains the same. A no guff, low profile, and easy to use harness to hold your binoculars. There are also several attachments that one can add on as well, such as a rangefinder pouch, GPS pouch, and bear spray holster to name a few. They don’t just stop at hunting though. Fishing gear is also part of their lineup.
In this video, owner and founder Paul Lewis goes through what FHF Gear has in store for 2020. One of the coolest things that stood out to me was the orange panel they are offering. This can be used as a stuff sack to store a jacket, a cushion seat, or something to throw over those antlers on the way out of the mountains. Enjoy!
Boom! Hope you all are enjoying these quick little gear videos I grabbed from the show. To learn more about FHF Gear you can visit www.fhfgear.com. Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to the YouTube Channel and blog to stay up to date with future posts! Thanks for watching and until next time, shoot straight and be safe out there!
Got another gear video from the Western Hunting and Conservation Expo in Salt Lake City, Utah! Late last year, Exo Mountain Gear came out with their new 1800 day pack. I’ve really enjoyed this minimalist backpack in the few months I’ve used it. Recently, I had it out on a javelina hunt, and I’ve been using it for short day scouting trips. It really does hold everything you need and nothing that you don’t. You can check out a video of how I personally pack this backpack for the javelina hunt I linked above. You’ll see a layout of the pack and exactly what I am putting and where. Of course I had to stop by the Exo booth at the show to get a rundown from the company. Jake from Exo Mountain Gear runs through their whole new 1800 pack and gives insight into pricing and other options with the K3 pack system. This isn’t a piece of gear you should sleep on!
I really hope you’ve been enjoying these gear videos I grabbed from the Expo! I sure did enjoy chatting with everyone. Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to the Youtube channel and blog to stay up to date with all of my future posts! Thanks for watching and good hunting out there. I’ve been currently out scouting for a spring bear hunt coming up here shortly in Arizona. Tick tock! Before we know it, hunting season is going to be here and this whole thing is going to start over again.
If you’re anything like me, you spent quite a bit of time as a youngster, and even an adult, consuming hunting media. Watching others embark on adventures around the world, doing something that we love is just downright inspiring. It pushes us to chase our dreams out in the mountains. As I got older, documenting such adventures became more and more appealing to me. Not so that I could be like the TV personalities I’d watched as a kid, but to simply have something to look back on. Something that I could share with my future kids and grand kids. “See? Your Dad used to do some pretty cool stuff.”
Carrying a DSLR or mirrorless camera around is hard work though. It just is. They are cumbersome and can be a distraction from the whole hunt, especially if you’re filming alone. GoPros revolutionized this and made it simple for us to strap a camera on our head or bow and go. All the while, we are capturing quality footage with just a push of a button. What if I told you that there was a camera specifically made for this? A GoPro made for hunting. Something made by folks who are like minded. The company is TACTACAM and their 5.0 camera is built for us hunters.
First Lite is a brand that I’ve followed for years. I remember when they only had 3 things. That’s quite funny to think about nowadays as they’ve grown so much through the years and evolved into a powerhouse of high quality, technologically advanced hunting clothing. They were absolutely at the top of my mind when it came to booths to visit at the Western Hunting and Conservation Expo for 2020. After hearing everything that they had to offer, I am pretty dang stoked for this year! A few key items that stuck out to me were the new and improved Uncompahgre Puffy jacket and Brooks Down vest. The original Uncompahgre is one of my all time favorite First Lite pieces and has stood the test of time. The Brooks Down Sweater from last year was so crazy light it was frightening. With that being said the warmth to weight ratio was off extremely impressive. Losing even more weight with the vest version, is gonna be next level. Check out the video below!
Boom! There ya have it! Another video from the Hunt Expo. I’m really enjoying putting these out for everyone to see. It was so cool getting check out all of the new gear coming out as well as getting first hand knowledge about it from the company. You can expect more videos coming down the road! Keep your eyes out! Thanks for watching and don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to the Youtube and Blog to stay up to date with future posts!
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