North Easterly's

Adventure is where you find it, we entered the Oregon Wilderness under the premise of hunting for the magnificent beast we call Rocky Mountain Elk.  And our days were filled with plenty of elk hunting.  But along the way we found plenty of diversions, stump shooting, mushroom hunting, grouse hunting, and finding springs with crystal clear mountain water to quench our thirst and our burning desire to find something wild.

There were 3 in our elk camp, I was the greenest of the group and I was all ears when they shared their yarns.  I called in a spike early morning and closed to within 20 yards with some new tactics.  Nocked an arrow and came to full draw.  As I focused on a point behind the elks shoulder I could not help but notice that there was a big bushy branch in the path of my arrow.  Ironically I could see the spot on the elk clear as day.  But as an old teacher taught me years ago, it's the arrows path that one must see to the target.

I let down the arrow, the elk knew it wasn't his time and took a step forward and then around the nob of the ridge to safety.  I knew it wasn't his time either.

Got all my gear packed and loaded into my Jetta TDI.  Really looking forward to getting into the Oregon wilderness for some backpacking and elk hunting.

Besides the mess of gear you see, try to pick out my new longbow!  It is a Fox Royal Crown and it is my favorite hunting bow bar none.  I tied up a string quick-like and didn't take the time to put some whiskers on, I was impressed that the bow is whisper quiet without any type of whiskers or balls.  I've been shooting all broadheads and rubber blunts in practice and this bow groups.

This is one of Ron's new carbon limbed bows.  The bows are still under wraps but he will be announcing them soon.  I like the carbon as far as the way the bow reacts and sounds, I would need to get over a chrono to see what it is doing numbers-wise.  To protect the carbon from the rigors of hunting there is a thin veneer of wood.  Like all Fox bows this one is a "Beauty".  I can tell that this Royal Crown will be a perfect companion for my upcoming adventures!

Masters of the Barebow volume 3

Last weekend found me in Kalamazoo Michigan hanging out with the Daryl Quidort and Denny Sturgis Jr.  We had some fun taping MBB vol III, got to watch some whitetail hunting dvd's.

I had a great time going over some of the shooting and training techniques that I've discovered over the years and I had a great time discussing shooting with Daryl and Denny.

The visit culminated in a late night shooting session with the Michigan duo.  We were shooting at a bale with targets past any reasonable light.  It was dark and it was fun.  Daryl had the best groups through the night with Denny coming in second.  My groups finally tightened up after I opened both eyes.  After we called it quits I challenged both of them to a one arrow shoot off winner takes all, closest to the X.  Being stellar hosts, I think they let me win that one.  Thanks guys!  You made an old World Champion feel good :^).

My first backpack trip of the year was even more importantly my son's first backpack trip in his life.  We headed into the Mokelumne Wilderness on the auspicious day of 8/8/2008.

The "moke" is known for its up down terrain and trails that lead outward bound with spur trails but no real loops to speak of.  We headed out to Wheeler lake for our first nights camp.  We day tripped to Frog Lake the first day which kept to the theme of healthy climbs up to a ridgeline and dropping down into a valley that held the lake.

Joel made good use of a Gerber knife I gave him before the trip, he whittle many a stick.  He was intrigued by the Jetboil stove we used for cooking and the Katydyn water filter that we used to purify the crystal clear water.