The Santa Cruz Mountains, which run north-south just to the west of the Silicon Valley and south of San Francisco, are pinched in between the tech capital of the world and the Pacific Ocean. These mountains, which top out at a modest 3,800 feet, can be surprisingly rugged with deep canyons and steep [...]
There aren’t many bridges in the backcountry. Travel around much there and you’ll eventually have to cross some flowing water to get where you want to go, a process that can range from mildly inconvenient to outright dangerous. Experience eventually teaches that some ways are better than others. In smaller streams, the only [...]
The largest area of growth within the bowhunting community is the female contingent. Lady archers are coming on strong. That’s no surprise to me. As a fan of competitive archery, I’ve seen some impressive scores laid down by women over the years. If you happen to know a woman who has shown interest [...]
A cow elk drifted silently past, her spring calf romping along behind. Head down feeding, she was within longbow range. I watched, breathed, and relaxed as she made her way out of sight. Soon another followed her path, filling its belly in preparation for the chill high-country night to come. The main herd [...]
I have no idea how many nights I’ve spent camped out in the field, but it’s a lot. Most of them were pleasant and highly enjoyable, either because I was engaged in exciting hunting or fishing nearby or simply because my surroundings were free of the noise and clutter of daily life closer [...]
The air was still, and the oak leaves were fringed with frost. The moon overhead lit up the woods, and the shadows created an eerie feeling that fit the season. I paused for a moment at a fork in the trail. I glanced to the south, and like a good friend that’s always [...]
The old bowhunter stood there running his bent fingers over his favorite bow. He mused how its nicks and scratches from time in the field marked its age, just as the lines on his face have marked the passing of each year and each season for him. He recalled days when this bow [...]
The one time of the year that I look forward to the most is the month of September. And given the high level of anticipation and long wait time, I tend to have equally high expectations. But how often do we let the anxieties of our everyday life ruin something that’s pure, muddying [...]
During winter months the deep snows at higher elevations trigger the seasonal migration of mule deer. It is during these times that mule deer move in large herds down along ancestral travel corridors to their wintering grounds at lower elevations. It is essential for deer to travel in order to access seasonal habitats. [...]
Even though I didn’t start elk hunting until I was about 27 years old, it’s the one thing that I look forward to throughout the year. In the areas that I hunt, the terrain is often limiting and the low elk densities make for a challenging hunt. In 12 years of elk hunting, [...]
