Up and Adam Adventures

I've been spending my available hunting days here at home in the Cohutta Wilderness and Wildlife Management area just north of where I live. It's a beautiful area home to a healthy black bear population and every year more Georgia bears are killed here than anywhere else in the state. My first hunting trip here was also my first time going into the area, so this has been a "scout-as-you-hunt" proposition for me. My first two days I saw 4 bears, so things looked good right away. Those were also the only bears I saw all season here, but I was able to learn about the area and do a lot of scouting. I found plentiful sign in some areas, and others devoid of any bear activity. Resident hunters here always say to look for the acorns and you'll find the bears. The only problem was, there were acorns everywhere! The task of narrowing down a small area to concentrate on was easier said than done, so I spent a lot of time walking and scouting new ground. Bait...

A few months ago, during the last 3D shoot I did, I had a release malfunction that gave me a case of target panic. My release wasn't firing as it should and subconsciously I began to hold low and punch the release. It was bad enough that I had my worst score ever, but with hunting season approaching I didn't have any time to spare in curing the target panic or release situation. Looking for answers to both problems, I decided to stick with a wrist strap release, so I searched for a dependable fool-proof design with an open hook. I found the Wiseguy by Spot Hogg, and knowing the quality of their sights, I decided to give it a try. I chose the nylon strap connector version for two reasons. First I believe that the nylon connector would theoretically apply less torque to the string than a solid connector. And second, I have small hands and didn't feel the solid connector had enough adjustability to give me the solid finger hook around the trigger that I wanted. Throu...

Just a couple of days after I left Wyoming, my dad went out to try and fill his antelope tag. He found this buck early, passed on him once, missed him the second time he saw him, and then connected on his third encounter. I guess it's safe to say this was HIS speed goat! My dad took this goat with a Remington 700 ADL in 7mm Rem. Mag.

My friends over at Food for Hunters have some great recipes. I wonder if they have one for tag soup? I have an elk tag to eat. This will hardly be my first time eating a tag, but they don't seem to taste any better the more you eat. It's definitely not an acquired taste. But before I go on, let me tell you that this isn't going to be a "woe is me" kind d of story, and aside from the fact that my tag is still intact, I actually had a great trip. I spent some quality time with my mom, dad and sister who were able to stay at the cabin in Dubois, WY that formed my "base camp." I saw some breathtakingly beautiful paintings done by our Creator and I had some close encounters with good bulls. What more can you ask for? I know, I could ask for my tag to be wrapped around some elk antlers right now. Oh well. The first couple of days were pretty slow. The weather was hot and dry causing he elk to be mostly nocturnal and there was very little bugling a...

I don't think you can get much closer to the wire than the evening of the last day of a hunt. Thursday evening as I headed toward our hunting area with my friend J.J. Salinas, his dad Joseph, and their friend John Collins, I found myself somewhere between the finality of returning to Georgia empty-handed and the hopefulness of having one more opportunity to wrap my tag around a set of velvet-covered antlers. If I didn't tag out on this trip, my tag was still good for the January archery hunt during he rut. The locals all agreed that was the best time to kill a giant muley anyway. But I wanted one in velvet. The first morning of our hunt was pretty eventful, but not as expected. We glassed up a few does, went a little farther and climbed a hill to do some more classing. Just as we were getting settled, we spotted a 4 1/2 foot rattler, then a 4 footer, all in the span of a few minutes. Both were dispatched with a few arrows. With my good friend J.J. Salinas We t...

I just returned from a trip back to Wyoming to see my mom, dad and sister, as well as to do some "Bonsai" elk scouting for my hunt in September. Bonsai scouting is a term referring to scouting a hunting area as hard as you can in a very short amount of time, usually due to the fact that you are saving all of your vacation time for hunting season. This is certainly true in my case. After putting in some time studying topo maps of the Dubois region, I was able to narrow down a few places that I wanted to scout for signs of elk, and hopefully see some critters. I'll be hunting an area 67, which I have never hunted before, and to me nothing compares to actually putting your boots on and seeing the land with your own eyes. We got to the area on Saturday afternoon and spent most of the afternoon driving around getting the lay of the land and a general feel for the area. I hiked around a few areas and found some sign that should be a good indicator of elk activity. I found ...

A few weeks ago I posted a picture of me shooting my bow in a suit and tie. It was right after church on a Sunday afternoon, and I got home and decided to shoot a few arrows before heading to bed to get ready to work that night. Although I had already taken my coat off, standing out there in my dress clothes with a bow in hand really tickled my funny bone for some reason. So I put my jacket back on for the photo opp. Now that GOP Presidential candidate Mitt Romney has selected Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate, a picture of him in a suit and tie with his Mathews at full draw has surfaced. I'm not sure when the photo was taken, but it certainly wasn't circulating like it is now. I just thought it was pretty cool that our pics were so similar. And it's certainly nice to think of having someone in the White House who understands outdoorsmen and women because he is one of us. So there's my plug for Romney/Ryan 2012.