For the past few years I have been a heavy advocate of replaceable blade knives. The idea of not having to deal with sharpening a blade out in the field was very appealing to me. They have worked great for me, but they do have their drawbacks. One being that the blades can tend to break, depending on which model knife you are using. This can be a pain in the butt when you are in the middle of taking care of an animal and your knife is gunked up with fat and meat. It’s also quite dangerous, so this year I decided to change things up a bit and try out a fixed blade knife. I have always heard great things about Benchmade and the quality/longevity of their knives. After witnessing a friend take care of a bear without sharpening the blade once, I was sold. The Hidden Canyon Hunter, by Benchmade, had my attention.
This post is sponsored by Everywhere Agency on behalf of FoodSaver®; however all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
Some of my fondest memories are from my childhood. These special times are what shaped me into the person that I am today. We are so impressionable as youngsters, and I will forever be grateful to my Father for bestowing a life in the outdoors on me. As far back as I can remember, he was taking me fishing and hunting. It was here that I learned a great deal about what hard work gets you. In order to achieve great results, I needed to put in great effort. All the while, truly appreciating what was in front of me, and the landscapes that I called home. Preserving these memories has become something incredibly important to me over the years, as is preserving our riches from these trips. I’m not talking about money, no. I’m referring to that precious organic free range protein that we are so fortunate to acquire through our great efforts. I’ve been preserving said protein through vacuum sealing for years and have full faith in its effectiveness. The GameSaver® Big Game™ Vacuum Sealing System fits that bill and here’s why.
Living a life that is rich in health and fitness is becoming way more common practice in this day and age. More and more folks are caring about what they put into their bodies and the long term effects of neglecting their health. For me, this all boils down to fear. I am simply fearful of not being able to do the things that I love for as long as possible. As many of you know, that is bowhunting the backcountry. In light of that, I started watching what I ate as well as working out on a regular basis. Longevity is what we are striving for here. So, when I heard that someone was coming out with health conscious meals for the backcountry, I was thrilled. Meals that were made with real food from the real world. As someone who lives mostly off of wild game, this was extremely appealing to me. Heather’s Choice meals for adventuring had my attention and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a few to try out.
Here is a brief overview of the tent I have been running on my backcountry adventures over the past year. It is the Nemo Hornet 2P backpacking tent. Super cool tent. Lightweight, durable, packable, and has a simple design. You can check it out at www.nemoequipment.com. If you have any questions, lets have them!
Something that I have grown to look forward to every year is the coming of new products from various companies in the hunting industry. I am always so eager to see what these folks have been cooking up and how the new additions might fit into my gear list. Our gear has come a long way in the last 10 years and somehow it just keeps progressing. Look at bows 5 years ago, or technical clothing. We have come leaps and bounds in that time. Just when I think that nothing else can be improved, a company like First Lite crushes my assumptions with their 2017 line of clothing. One of the products that I am especially jacked up on is their new Sawtooth Hybrid Jacket and that is what we will be diving into today.
Earlier this year, I decided that I wanted to start looking at smaller, more lightweight options, in terms of backcountry gear. I feel like I say this to myself every time I set off for a new adventure. As the saying goes, “ounces equal pounds and pounds equal pain.” Right off of the bat, I thought of my cook set. Not necessarily for the weight(although less can’t hurt), but for the size. The one I have been using is rather bulky and takes up more room than I’d care for in my pack. So, my goal was to find something that was efficient, lightweight, and more compact. I looked at a ton of different options and finally landed on the Optimus Crux Lite stove.
The discussion of boots is a fickle one, but one that every hunter needs to have with themselves. You might try on 10 pairs of boots before you find one that you like. Then when you do find that one, is it gonna be able to withstand the rigors of the mountains? Are they going to give you blisters after hiking 10 miles? Are they truly waterproof? Only time will tell that.
After trying a half dozen or so boots over the years and dealing with issues ranging from hot spots, faulty waterproofing, and literally walking the sole off of a boot, I was ready for a change. Taking care of our feet and having a good pair of boots is imperative and I was feeling that. The research began and I landed on the Salomon Quest 4D 2 GTX backpacking boot. I’ve put in about a year and a half of use on these and WELL over 300 miles of hiking. Now, that I’ve gotten to know this boot like I have, I think it’s time I give you all a review.
As I’ve gone down the road of this blog, one of the things that I’ve gotten asked the most is “what are you bringing on your backpack hunts?” In light of that, I have decided to post up my current backcountry gear list for 2017. My gear list is forever growing and shrinking, but hopefully you can get the gist of what is usually in my backpack. This list is going to be for an archery hunt in the early fall. If it were later in the year, I would just be bringing some extra layers along. I am by no means an ounce junkie, so I can’t tell you the EXACT weight of my pack and all of the contents in it. For most hunts, I am sitting in the 35 pound range though, depending on how much water I am packing in. That number will increase with the amount of days I am planning to be out, simply because of food. Each one of my food bags is in the realm of 2 pounds per day containing about 2500-3000 calories in each one. Besides food and water, everything else pretty much stays the same. If you have any questions, feel free to ask below in the comments.
I don’t know about you, but whenever I miss an animal and lose an arrow, I start hoping I don’t run out of arrows. I know that might sound hilarious, but it’s the truth for me. Probably just a mental thing really. This is especially true when I am backpacked into an area and have only the arrows that are in my quiver. Like a lot of folks, I have been carrying a 5 arrow quiver for quite some time and as of a few years ago, that quiver has always been a TightSpot. I loved the idea of the quiver being so much more closer to the riser, which would make it a lot easier to lay my bow in my lap while crab crawling my way down to a bedded mule deer. Just this past December, I was able to do just that and brought home my first archery buck. It was a day to remember for sure.
My first year ever really hitting this hunting thing hard was about 4 years ago. Of all things that I could hunt, I chose to chase black bears here in Arizona. One of the primary general seasons here lands right in the middle of August. For people in Arizona, that means 2 things. It’s deathly hot out and it’s monsoon season. Yes, it does in fact rain here, unlike what most people think. We aren’t all sand and cacti. This posed a potential problem for me on my hunt. My problem being, I could get rained out. I know. What a wimp right? I was a noob, what can I say!?
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