Up and Adam Adventures

If you've been keeping up with me for a while, you may know that I'm going to hunt Africa in 2017. Even though I've been talking and thinking about it often, I don't think the reality of that sunk in until I met Mike and Karen Helbing at the NWTF Convention in Nashville. They weren't at the World Deer Expo last year where I won the safari they donated, and prior to meeting in Nashville we had only corresponded by email. When I sat down at their booth at NWTF and Karen started going over all the logistical details, it finally hit me....I'm going to Africa! Wild Wildebeest Safaris is based in South Africa, with hunting concessions throughout South Africa and neighboring countries. They offer hunts for almost every huntable African species, limited only by your pocketbook. Looking at pictures and video of the accommodations, the lodge appears to maintain a good balance between the African experience and still being comfortable enough for Westerners to relax and...

On February 16, the Georgia House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee passed House Bill 859 on a 10-3 vote.  HB 859, sponsored by Representative Rick Jasperse, a Republican, seeks to amend restrictions in state law that prohibit law-abiding Georgia Weapons License holders from being able to carry and protect themselves on college and university campuses.  Today, the Georgia House of Representatives passed the bill on a 113-59 vote.  Although it's already obvious to many of us, CCW holders do not threaten public safety, as they are one of the most law-abiding portions of the population. They shouldn't be prevented from exercising their right to self-defense simply because they are seeking a college education. The bill will  now move to the Senate for committee assignment and consideration. In other college news, many colleges take great pride in bragging about their “diversity” and “inclusiveness,” but just wearing a tool of his tr...

I'm doing a giveaway over on my Instagram and Facebook pages. Here's a chance to win some cool Muddy and Big Game Treestands gear. Find me on Instagram @_Up_and_Adam and on Facebook at facebook.com/upandadamadventures.

This time of the year is the perfect time to scout your whitetail property for sign from the rut and late season travel patterns. The advantage to scouting now is that the rubs, scrapes and trails from the past few months will still be fresh enough to read as a general rule, and you can piece together what the deer were doing toward the end of the season on your particular property. This can help you determine if you need to move your stand locations from the previous season. On the hunting club I'm a member of, scouting after the season closed led us to discovering an area full of sign that we just weren't aware of. We got the property in the spring, and although we did some quick scouting and food plot work, there was no way to know exactly where the deer would be when hunting season got here. Now that we've got one season and a general idea of deer patterns on the property under our belt, adding some post-season scouting should help us be more successful this c...

I spent a day this past week at the National Wild Turkey Federation Convention in Nashville, TN. This event is a large gathering of turkey hunting and hunting related manufacturers, outfitters, production companies and pretty much anything related to the hunting industry. One day really isn't enough to cover every square inch of the show, but I did manage to cover most of the floor.  The show is held at the Gaylord Opryland complex every year, and it's a great host facility for this type of event, with plenty of space for the show floor, restaurants available onsite and of course the Opryland hotel itself. One of the main reasons I attended this year year was for a meet-and-great with Wild Wildebeest Safaris, the donors of the Safari I won at the Birmingham Deer Expo. I got to chat with Mike and Karen Helbing about my hunt, ask some questions and looks through photo albums of previous years' hunts.  One of the products I'm most excited about a...