Post work pig sticking

So by time some of you read this post, this is what I will be looking at. A few hundred acres of pig bliss in Central California. I'm up here working for a few months and since I do not have any daily family responsibilities what else am I to do. Was out there scouting last week and found good sign, so I have big dreams for today. We'll see.

Thanks all for sticking around while my life transitioned from Southern Cali to Central Cali and from one job to the next. Well I'm back and ready to rock. Hope to have a pig report here soon.
Cheers,

The Bearded Boar

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BowAmerica- DIY Pronghorn Antelope

DIY Pronghorn Antelope


Read it here in the magazine itself.

  We all have been caught day dreaming at work of far off places in which we fullfil our childhood dreams of taking a trophy animal on a species not native our our normal hunting grounds. Wildebeest on the African plains, a 7x7 Rocky Mountain Elk in Montana, Dall Sheep in Alaska or a Big Mature Whitetail in South Texas.  For me it is the fastest land mammal in North America, the North American Pronghorn or Speed Goats as I'd like to call them.
  I have spent countless hours scouring videos, articles, blogs, BLM maps, Google Earth and hunting stories of others taking their trophies on the plains of North American.  A lot of people take them with a rifle and sit 200+ yards away while the goat stares at them, but my dreams are a little closer than that.  I want to be able to see my reflection in their eyes as I lift my range finder up to verify the yardage of my then equal.  Game and hunter facing each other at and 30 paces, lime old west gun slingers, me the drifter and he the salty country folk locked in a battle of wits and wills.  The drawing of his last breath and the exhale of mine, a symphony of power and grace, that results in a well placed arrow just behind his shoulder at the intersection of white and brown. A short yet vigorous run from the goat that results in the most monumental event in my hunting career up to this point, my first Speed Goat.  The crowd stands in applause the curtain falls and I win an Emmy for my film on hunting in Idaho. Well at least that is how it plays out within my mind, or something like that.
  Fast forward a few years and insert an opportunity hunt public land in the great state of Idaho and more specifically South East Idaho.  Top that off with a friend who is a local who has endless connections and the ability to give much needed support on the ground and I am poised to embark an adventure that will for me at least be forever remembered.
  So now that I have the pie in the sky plans laid out in front of me where do I go from here?  To start, my hunt is all public land and though from what I have heard from others and what I have seen from pictures there are big goats out there, it is really still just hear say and promises.  But, I do believe I can do a lot of scouting from my office in California of the land and topography in South East Idaho.  Here is a basic rundown of my normal routine.

·         A simple Google search can do wonders for providing information on an area. Articles, a guides notes, and details from past hunters on a general area. You will find restaurants, archery shops, motels and endless information and possible contacts on an area that you have never even see. It is a daunting task at this point, but you need to start somewhere.

·         Click during the search click on the Images tab and start the endless hours of looking at pictures that have been posted by people and websites.  It is amazing what pride will do to a hunter, with all the advancements in technology our bar room boasting has only moved to the computer for everyone to see.  People tend to give way to much information on who, what, when, where and why's of the hunt, especially when the harvest something. Also take not of key geographical features in the back ground to help you get your bearings when in the field.

·         In my case with Pronghorn, water during the August and September is the best way to hunt them. Find water on public land and you most likely find antelope smacking their lips for a refreshing drink. So I looked up pictures of windmills, watering holes, hay fields and photo blogs.  Photographers may not pursue game in the sense that you or I, but they hunt game with a lens and share it freely.  You'd be amazed of the quality of information you can get from hikers, geocachers and wildlife photographers.

Now that the basic information has been found it is time to get specific and look at maps and more specifically aerial photographs of watering holes and hopefully game trails.  Last year I hunted and new area and by only searching Google Earth and my other best friend Cabelas Recon I set myself up on a spot that had a 250lb+ pig trotting right at me within 15 minutes of being in on being set up.  
  Look for programs and information on the web to help you set up what you can from your home. Lastly don’t be afraid to call up shops for information on the area you are targeting, search content and ask questions on regionally specific forums.  The worst they can say is nothing or no, at the least they may give you some info and maybe just maybe they will invite you over for a drink and tell you to bring your map when you get to town.

Pease be the journey,


The Bearded Boar

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More Shed Hunting

I had last week off from work and so I went off the grid to try and hang with my kids as much as possible.    On one of those days I went shed hunting with my son and we found a few jewels out there.  For me it is really important to teach my son about being outside and respecting the outdoors and I dig any chance I get to do that.  Shed hunting has become a family affair for us, wife, daughter, son and I all go out and look for them when ever we get a chance.  It is a good family bonding time and not just dad in camo stalking pigs and deer by himself.  Give it a try some time I know you all will enjoy it.


Cheers,

The Bearded Boar

Notice the Deer in the back ground? A little tame out here on the father-in-laws property.

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Shed you very much!

Its that time of year out here where deer start loosing the antlers and those who did not bag a great buck at least have a chance at getting a peice of him for the wall. It is fun, exciting and for me a family experience. Which brings us to Saturday. We were in the middle of moving to our new place when we made a quick stop at my Father-in-law's property to get a few things. As we where coming down the driveway my son yells, "Stop! I see something!" Not really believing he found anything of importance, I kept driving. Once we stopped he was out in a flash back up the drive way and returned with this guy.
  That's my boy. Way to go son.  We continued looking for sheds and found two more sets.  All in all it was a good day, but by far the four point was the highlight.  Good time and good haul.

Till the next time,

The Bearded Boar

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The Reason to have a quality Bow

  Yesterday I was up in Bakersfield, CA running some errands when I decided to go into the local bow shop to see what was going on and to introduce myself (Remember local shops are the lifeblood to our sport, see My local bow shop is closing and its our fault ).  Upon walking in first I was blown away. If you wanted a Matthews Helium they had it in your size and in whatever color you wanted, same went for Hoyt, Bowtech, Elite, G5 and more.  That was impressive to say the least.  I spoke with owners mother who was running things behind the counter and the uncle who was helping a young guy with in (XXXXXXX) bow, sorry don't want to give any details til I know more about what happens next.  Good shop and I was just cruising looking at photos and product thinking up what I need to waste more money one, beside the Matthews Helium of course.
 
  As I was talking to Mom, the had put the guys bow in the press and changed his draw length of his brand new bow that he had purchased a few days before.  First shot you here a noise, that was weird. Second time a round....this is the point where everyone is holding their breath and thinking of arrows going through hands, strings flying around and cutting faces and arms and general mayhem unleashing.  Well you are right, as the young guy got about half way through his draw snap! Strings and cams everywhere, arrow goes flying in my direction and I am ready to apply pressure till paramedics arrive. Luckily no one was hurt, only the bow.  The bracket that held the upper cam in place had completely sheared off and caused a train wreck. Needless to say that was exciting.

  So long story longer the Unnamed company wanted the bow back for testing and the young guy is being sent a new bow today.  I will say, good customer service, but I don't think I will be buying a bow from the company anytime soon.

So all in all, don't buy a XXXXXXX and head over to The Archery Shop if you are ever in Bakersfield, CA. They have a great selection of Hunting, Bowfishing and Camo products.  Plus they are good people too.

  On a side note they did have a bow from the movie Scorpion King staring The Rock, I didn't expect that when I went in there.



Talk to you later all,

The Bearded Boar

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DIY Gear- Hat Hook Holder

Something happened to me last weekend that I am still not over, I lost one of my really good flies. In the weed or on a sunken log I would not be as heartbroken, but this was different.  It was on my hat. My place of honor as you may.  A plethora of well loved flies that have seen many hours of battle and have done their tours in the rivers and streams of the west. They now rest upon my hat to proudly display their devotion to their trade. There are also a few that "hitch-hike" as it were while they dry or await to be placed back within their box.  That is where my Fly was last seen and now he is on the side of the road somewhere, hopefully he has been picked up by another angler who can appreciate him.  But this got me thinking today as I was on my way to work, I needed to make a way to place flies on my hat and easily remove them as needed or not. So here is one variation of what I came up with.

So what you need:
-Hat- Here is my F3T Hat from this years showing, good hat to show.
-Velcro strips or patches- I like the patches ***Note the self-adhesive kind it can gums up the thread and needle so be careful.
-Needle and thread (Red because its cool)- I pick this one up at Target for $2.50


Line it up
 Pretty self explanatory, put to where you want it to go. Watch out that you do not place it over a seam or a thick part of the hat. It is not an easy task to sow through it.




Bamm!!
There you have it, start at the corner and work you way around.  Add a few extra stitches at the corners so that you do not break them after repetitive use. Another thing that you can do is use the other adhesive side and mount a thin piece of craft foam from your local craft store. This will allow you to take the flies off and add a new set of flies for easy access.  Just a fun little tool that will keep your flies with you and not on the side of a stream or road.

Later,

The Bearded Boar

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Flies of a Different Color

Most of the time flies are bright or colorful, they have nice structure and look appealing to the eye. I love tying Pheasant Tail Nymphs, Soft Hackles, BWO, Hoppers, Lefty's Deceiver and really endless amounts variations of each.  But, recently I have been toying around with other flies, ugly ones to be exact. Flies that curdle your stomach, make you want to hide your children, and bring the dog in. I am speaking of the Carp Fly.

  I have a long standing belief that carp flies should be ugly, simple, but hideous.  So I went about tying some new patterns last week and here are a few that I came up with.

Enjoy,

The Bearded Boar

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Moving on up....

So if there has been a strange silence coming from my direction the past two weeks it is because I was moving my family.  Well the move is pretty much behind us and things are starting to settle down now,  we are now trying to find our rhythm again and find some sort of normality.  We will see how that goes.  Good news is that we are closer to the things we love to do, hunting, fishing, horses, and miles and miles of hiking.  I am looking forward to the change in pace with my life, slowing down will be real nice with out a doubt. Sunday we took the family on a hike on the back side of Bear Valley Springs and we had a great time, we needed to start the week off right.  Stay tuned all and I'll talk to you all soon.

The Bearded Boar

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Trout Power- Come One, Come ALL

I wanted to direct all you fly bums over to a really cool project that you all should check out, Trout Power.  It is brought to you by Jordan Ross of JP Ross Fly Rods and the good people along the West Canada River in New York State. It is a really great project and a great opportunity for us all to help out or local community as well.  Give the site a once over and if you have the time and ability enter into the Tourney or just donate to the cause.

  If you can't make the it and are not able to donate, try and at least stop by the local stores and support local small businesses. Stop by for a sweet bite at Sweetie Pies or skip Motel 6 and go to Sugar Bush B&B for a good night sleep.

  I am trying to make it out there to the West Canada for the tourney and I hope you will too. This is more than just a lip ripping session, it is about the community and bringing anglers and small towns together.  So have at it all.

Later the BB.

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Good News, MY LOCAL BOW SHOP HAS BEEN SAVED!

Yes sir, my local bow shop, Archery Sports USA, has been save on the brink of extension.  From the depths of despair and destruction they have been pulled out of the muck and mire to be place on a street corner with a new location and new vigor. Out of no where a local propertry owner and businessman came in and wanted to help run the buisness and expand the shop.  So not only is the shop staying open, they are growing! It is American Capitalism at its finest.  With him injecting some money into the shop it helps them stay open and even expand to have 15 indoor shooting lanes.  Not a bad deal!
 
  And the best part about it is, the owner of the shop asked me if I would think about guiding for his Outfitting business in Montana a few months a year for Elk, Deer, Bear and Antelope.  Umm....let me think about it.  Sure if I have to spend some time there and hang out with guys who love to hunt. So all around a good time if you ask me, I keep my local shop, they expand and I might be headed to Montana to guide and hunt. Not bad.

Man I love the free market and entrepreneurship, it made and still makes America great.

Later All,

The Bearded Board

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