It was nearly noon. I was soaked to the bone and hadn’t even seen an elk. Conditions were perfect for hypothermia: pouring rain, windy, and just above freezing. My energy was dropping, and I was beginning to shiver. I quickly set up my tarp. Taking shelter, I reached into my pack and grabbed [...]
We all enter the woods for a myriad of reasons. Necessity for sustenance, the thrill of an adventure, camaraderie with friends and family, or merely the solace of complete and utter lonesomeness. For some it is a combination of these, or possibly the drive is inexplicable, only existing through generations and generations of [...]
Each year, we traditional bowhunters put in a considerable amount of time planning how we are going to fill the freezer with various kinds of wild game. Whether its turkey, deer, bear, or elk, many of the plans we formulate, for filling carcass tags that have yet to arrive in our mailboxes, start [...]
In the early 1970s, when I started hunting whitetails in Nebraska (we didn’t have them in Colorado then), I was hunting them on the ground as I did mule deer here in the high mountains. It didn’t take me long to find out that everyone I knew who was taking good whitetail bucks [...]
I love the high desert of the West with its sage- and rabbit-brush blanketed prairies. The smell of the prairie and the abundant wildlife there have a fond place in my heart, bringing back memories of hunting and fishing the Snake River plain of Idaho in my youth. But southeast Wyoming is a [...]
You won’t read about him in any “Who’s Who in Archery” books. He’d be far down on any official list of bowhunter luminaries, but nonetheless he’s notable in that he was among the small group of pioneers who were there when our sport was in its infancy. In many ways he is representative [...]
Here is an oldie but goodie Clay Hayes video on getting your kids outdoors to look for wildlife tracks. Casting animal tracks with kids is a fun family outdoor activity to help parents and children learn about the wildlife nearby. Even if you live in a neighborhood or large city, you [...]
“The bow and arrows of days gone by Live still today through you and I.” From “The Legacy,” by Ron LaClair It makes sense that a diehard archer and bowhunter like Ron LaClair would be born and raised in Michigan. That state has always been in the forefront of the outdoor lifestyle, producing [...]
It had started all wrong, as if to remind me of my past turkey troubles. My first and middle names should be procrastination and stubborn, respectively. My husband Denny had tried to get me to apply for a spring turkey license earlier, but of course I never did. I regretted that as I stood [...]
As the astute Benjamin Franklin noted, "Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other." You can let yourself believe you're in pretty good shape--maintaining that belief is certainly the easier path--until you step out of the truck at 8,000 feet on your long-awaited mountain hunt. It won't be long [...]
