Season is about to get going here in a few days! Time has really flown by and I feel like only a few months ago I was elk hunting in September. I’m sure there are more than a few of you that feel the same as I do! Before season starts is gear season if you ask me. One of the new gear items I got for my hunts is the new Exo Mountain Gear 4800 Backpack. Exo packs have never disappointed me in the past and I’m sure that this one will deliver as well. There has been a ton of anticipation for this new pack and I thought it might be cool to do, not a review, but a quick overview and first impression type piece. For this I thought a video format would do the best so that’s the route I went. It’s just way easier to show you this kind of stuff, rather than type it out. So, here it is! Exo Mountain Gear 4800: First Impressions. Enjoy!
The past few years I have spent a good portion of late August/early September chasing elk around with my bow. Along the way, I’ve made some incredible memories and harnessed a potent love for archery elk hunting. While that love has not faded, this year is going to be a little bit different for me. This year, I was fortunate enough to draw not one, but two early archery mule deer tags. One is in Utah and the other is in Colorado. A high country mule deer hunt is something I’ve wanted to do for quite a few years now, but never have because of elk season. I decided to finally pull the trigger and try to make it happen. Looks like it worked…..double! Both of these hunts will be backpack hunts lasting from 7-10 days each. As you can imagine, my head has been racing trying to figure out what I’ll be bringing with me gear wise and all. So, with this post, I wanted to lay out just that. What I will be packing with me along the way for the 17 in total days of backcountry hunting for velvet mule deer!
And now we land at the Paleo Diet! Man, this has been such a cool journey the past 4 months trying out different diets and seeing how my body reacts to them. I’m really excited about trying the Paleo Diet and can’t wait to see how it all pans out. We are a hop, skip, and a jump away from full blown hunting season as well. In light of that, I’ve got all of my dinners and breakfasts either in my possession or on the way. 14 days of hunting are coming up that will involve me eating Paleo. The first is just an overnight bear hunt here in Arizona. The second is a 7 day backcountry mule deer hunt in Utah. Lastly, I’ll be on a 5 day bear hunt back here in Arizona. All the while living the Paleo diet life.
As you may have read in a previous review I did on the Crispi Wyoming, things got off to a rocky start, but ended very favorably. With what learned from the Wyoming I took right over to a new release for Crispi this year, the Colorado. This boot was made in mind for folks that wanted a beefier boot without sacrificing flexibility. The Colorado is equipped with the same upper that many know and love from their ever popular boot The Summit. Unlike the EVA sole that came on The Summit though, The Colorado packs a polyurethane sole for more rigidity and longevity. With that they threw in their dual density polyurethane sole in the high impact areas of the boot. This is going to help fight against foot fatigue. Abrasion resistant cordura is what makes up the upper of this boot. This is super breathable and lightweight, making The Colorado a fantastic boot choice for early season hunting. Another feature that Crispi has added is their ABSS or ankle bone support system. The ABSS is going to give you the support you need in heavy pack outs and steep terrain. Of course The Colorado comes with a full Gortex wrap as well, making it waterproof.
The keto diet is exploding right now. Which is obviously one of the reasons that I wanted to try it out. To see what all of the rage was about. It’s all over the place. I see it on the cover of magazines, on TV talk shows, and it’s even the topic at hand on a plethora of podcasts. While this diet didn’t work for me personally, there are many out there that thrive eating keto. If they are a backpack hunter though, I think one question constantly pops up. That question is “How do I eat keto on a backpack hunt?” I asked the same question. Keto, in my opinion is a very involved type of diet. The thought of doing that in the backcountry kind of made my stomach turn to be honest. I assure you that it can be done though!
If you have followed my content for any amount of time, you probably already know that I am a gear junkie! I just love getting new gear and putting it to the test in the field. Anything I can do to make my system more efficient, I am usually game to check out. Plus, I just like trying out new stuff. These are a few gear highlights that I am pretty stoked on for the 2019 hunting seasons. You can expect that I will be putting together in depth reviews for each of these items in the future. They are simply too good not to. Check out the video below for the overview and I’ll include links to each item down below! Thanks for watching and let me know if you have any questions. What are some gear highlights that you are pumped on for 2019?
Yes, you read that right! After it was all said and done, I made it 17 days on the keto diet. There were parts that I really enjoyed in the beginning, but after a while, those parts actually turned negative. Being the type of person that I am, the decision to throw in the towel was a difficult one for me. I’m not one to give things up, and sometimes that is to a fault. With that being said, I’m going to dive into why I decided that enough was enough. I know that there are plenty of people out there that really love the keto diet, and that is awesome. I’m not insinuating that any of you are wrong for doing keto or bashing the diet at all. These are just the reasons why it didn’t work for me personally.
OK! It has been two weeks since my dive into the Keto diet and I’m feeling pretty good. I still haven’t gotten to do a legit backpacking trip with this meal plan, but am planning to in the future. It will be interesting seeing how that mashes up and how I feel. If I feel anything like I do now, I think I will be totally fine. Can’t blame me for wondering though! In the beginning of this journey, I was pretty pumped on Keto. Since then though? Let’s just say that my overall thoughts on Keto have definitely changed.
I have officially started the Keto Diet and am officially one week into it! So far so good, but there has definitely been some challenges along the way. It is expected at this point. Whenever starting something new, there is an acclimation period that exists. This experience has been no exception to that.
Father’s Day is right around the corner and I thought it would be cool to highlight a certain product that I think would be a perfect Father’s Day Gift! If your Dad is anything like mine, he loves his firearms. He doesn’t just love them, he takes an immense amount of pride in keeping those firearms clean. Hours are spent cleaning every crease of a gun by hand. My Father’s generation was filled with craftsman who truly cared about what they did. That very trait is sadly somewhat of a lost art. Good craftsman come far and few between, so when a company like Sage and Braker break the surface, my eyes are wide open. They are the makers of a truly high quality gun cleaning kit crafted at the highest caliber. A kit that will care about your Father’s guns as much as he does.
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