We are currently coming up on the middle of August as I sit here and write this. If you are anything like me, you have been salivating for months anticipating what is to come. I’ve been shooting my bow all year long, dialing in gear, and making sure that I stay in the best shape that I can. Preparation is key. One of those gear items that I think is beyond important to get squared away is your boots. Our boots are our wheels essentially on our trips through the mountains. If you don’t spend the proper amount of time and take the necessary precautions with boots, you might be in for a world of hurt come your hunt. If you feet go out, your hunt might follow. Nobody wants that. Let’s take a look at 5 tips for choosing a hunting boot.
As a person goes through the learning process of anything, I think it is only natural to want to soak up as much info as possible. Be it through the internet, magazines, books, or just having a chat with someone that is more experienced than you on the matter. I turned to all of these outlets when I first started bowhunting. We live in a day and age where we have an endless amount of information at our fingertips. Anything that we want to know is just a few clicks and swipes away. Aside from the intel I gained through the internet, there were a few books that stood out to me though. Books that I continue to read over and over again. They are timeless.
Ever since I was a kid, I have been a planner. Knowing what laid before me for the day was something that I took pride in doing. Whether it was who’s house we were going to hang out at that day, or where we were planning on eating, I wanted to know. “Going with the flow” was never really in my repertoire. With how our lives our structured, this makes a lot of sense to me. We live on a schedule. Those are going to differ from person to person, but they are there. We get up, go to work, come home, eat dinner, and go to bed. There might be some other things sprinkled in there, but for the most part, there ya have it. Breaking that monotony is downright uncomfortable for some. The unknown can be a terrifying reality.
I remember sitting on the side of a cliff with my brother, being mad at myself on the third day of our hunt. We had just picked up a bear that morning with our glass and I chose to not try to close the distance with my bow. Instead, I caught myself just overthinking the situation. This led to a bunch of time wasted. That was at 7:30 a.m. At 10:30 a.m., I indeed picked the bear back up with my binoculars. It happened again though, and I didn’t act. Excuses rolled through my head about why I shouldn’t try to make that stalk. “The bear is not going to be there when I get over there. I don’t want to waste time going on a blind stalk.” Before I knew it, we were heading back to the truck, dreaming of the fantastic breakfast we would have in town the next morning. The whole time in doing so, I was frustrated. Frustrated that I didn’t at least TRY to make something happen.
As I sit here and write this, we are landed in the month of May. Turkey season is upon us, spring bear seasons have gone, and more are to come. I’m actually going through spring bear withdrawals over here myself. That’s besides the point though. Even with spring seasons in full effect, I know most of us have our eyes fixated on the coming fall. You know, when a lot of us go missing for a bit or “get sick” and can’t go to work? Things really pop off here in Arizona during the month of August. From that point until the end of January, there is just a lot of hunting to be done. Spending all of that time in the field, you get to know yourself pretty good out there in the quiet. Your strengths and weaknesses are magnified on these excursions.
This is going to be a different kind of post than you have become accustomed to here on Dialed in Hunter. This is just me reaching out to you, and from the bottom of my heart, telling you thank you. You are indeed reading my 100th blog post. The thought of that makes my head spin. I remember back when there were less than 5 and how it felt like I was writing to an empty room. That room has filled up quite a bit over the years and I can’t tell you how grateful I am for the support you’ve all given me. It has been a joy for me conversing with you, sharing my stories, and even inspiring some of you to get out there and chase your hunting dreams. That right there, has really become the biggest reward for me. So, thank you.
Every time I start out in something new, there always seems to be a tinge of feeling overwhelmed. I think it’s natural. In the beginning of a new endeavor, you don’t know your backside from your elbow. The longer down the road you go, the more impossible that very endeavor can seem. How much defeat can one endure before wanting to throw in the towel? Bowhunting is all too perfect of an example of this and I am sure you might have felt this way from time to time. The key to all of this in my opinion though is perspective. It’s how you look at it. Is what you experienced a failure or is it part of something much bigger? It is the Evolution of a Bowhunter and we are all part of it.
The thought to increase the draw weight on my bow when I was younger was not one that ran across my mind often. In fact, I was pretty stuck on never raising my poundage above 60 pounds. As I went farther down the road that is bowhunting though, I quickly decided that it was something I wanted to look into. Why? Well, for one I would be able to deliver more kinetic energy downrange, which would result in better penetration. As an avid bowhunter, I always hope for a complete pass through on animals and this would aid in that. Another reason was specifically for longer range shots. This would increase my arrow speed. Increasing draw weight would close the gaps between my pins, which would give me the ability to shoot even farther than before. That is something I’ve really began to love over the years. Watching my arrow sail into its mark from 100 yards is a great feeling.
After just coming off of my last hunting season until spring, I find myself reflecting on the past year. This is when I look back and reevaluate my goal setting. Did I have any gear that I wasn’t exactly happy with? Did any weaknesses stick out? How about my actual hunts? What did I do wrong in the field that I could work on for the future? For me, it is an ever evolving process. I am always looking for the next best piece of gear or new hunting spot. Just when I am happy with how something works for me, I end up trying to figure out something better. My Dad has always told me, “don’t ever think you’ve got it all sewn up.” There is always room for improvement. Where do you go from there though?
It wasn’t until my late teen years, when bowhunting entered my life. Even then, it was just a sprinkle of time during the year. My Dad and I would go out for a few days in Dec/Jan, followed by talks of missing our rifles. This bowhunting stuff was hard and we knew it. Whether it was one thing or another, something would always happen to thwart our chances of wrapping our tags. Fast forward to present day and I am still telling tales of how I ALMOST killed a buck. Over the past 5 years of bowhunting hard, I have been fortunate to fill a few tags, but it didn’t come easy. Perhaps, that is why I am so drawn to it.
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