First Product Review : DU Waterfowler's Journal

This is a great tool for waterfowlers who like to keep records of their hunts. Ducks Unlimited has done a great job creating a simple, easy to use app for entering data after your hunt.

This app lets you record date, time, field conditions, number of birds harvested, species harvested, and even that great photo of the limit you shot that day. I have used it on a couple occasions to record data from successful and not so successful hunts. This is an easy tool I can use to look back and see conditions and times that were successful for me for future hunts. It even contains a note section for extra details or to store fond memories of the hunt for you to look back at in the future. 

I give this app 5/5

Early Season Prep

Nothing is more important before the season begins then to get a little prep work done. Scouting, repairing/preparing the blind, making sure all your equipment is in order is crucial to having a successful season. It doesn't look like much but to most waterfowl hunters, their blind is a second home. Before waterfowl season begins its always a good idea to see what has happened to the old blind before that first early morning hunt begins. Labour day Monday we headed out to the blind with the intentions of extending our blind, repairing our torn poly roof and clearing out the blackberries that had engulfed it. And exactly as it usually occurs we hit a couple snags along the way. Once we arrived at the field where our blind is located, we were greeted the a field of silage to navigate our way through with our lumber and tools. Not a fantastic start but we weaved our way through and finally got to the blind. After making several trips back and forth with everything we needed, we decided to clear the blackberry bush that taken over the inside of the blind. Unfortunately blackberries weren't the only thing that enjoyed the shelter of our blind as we were greeted by a wasp nest that had been built in the corner of our roof. So instead of clearing the blackberries we  decided to start our extension. Rather than building off our already established blind we had to build our extension out in the field and then carry our it through some brush to eventually attach it. After attaching the blind we sat and marveled for a second our new addition and then quickly came to our senses about our new predicament, field we were planning to hunt over had no birds in it. Where grass sat last year was nothing but tilled earth with sparse weeds, and no geese. Blackberries can be cut back and wasp nests can be sprayed and destroyed but making geese magically appear out of nowhere is a feat we cannot accomplish. Even if our blind was perfect and all our gear was in order there would be no birds to hunt. Unfortunately for us, it doesn't look like there will be an early season goose hunting this year. Always always always scout out your locations before you go hunting. As disappointed as we were not seeing any birds, at least we didn't just arrive at 4:30 in the morning the day of, haul out all the gear and decoys, and sit and wait for nothing to arrive. At least duck season is only just over a month away. More time to take care of those pesky wasps I guess. 

Fly Fishing Streams and Creeks

This morning I found a couple of excellent posts from a new blogger at Fishing Reviews TV. These are some awesome articles for beginners like myself. Fishing streams and creeks look super fun, and are something I very much want to try. Author Michael Leong did an excellent job of breaking down some of the gear required for fishing these areas. I found these articles very informative for a beginner like myself and I will definitely be looking back on them when I get the chance to fish these areas. Also from reading the articles, it looks like there will be a continuation and further blog posts on the subject to come. In the mean time, here are the links to the articles to wet your appetite for the time being.

http://www.fishingreviews.tv/getting-started-fly-fishing-streams-and-creeks/

http://www.fishingreviews.tv/getting-started-fly-fishing-streams-and-creeks-part-2/

First Fly Outfit

So this year I finally decided I should start fly fishing. My boss and his son are avid fly fisherman and they keep talking to me about it. It was pretty confusing at first, as with anything, the jargon can be quite confusing... All I kept hearing were things like "nymphs", "hatches", "dry flies" the list goes on. Now they got me hook, line and sinker (pun completely intended) so the big decision is trying to figure out what to buy to get me started. I've had a few suggestions, and have done a little bit of searching on my own, and have narrowed it down to a list of 3 outfits so far (outfit = rod,reel,line). Temple Fork Outfitters NXT Outfit, Redington Path Outfit (used to be called Pursuit), and the St Croix Rio Santo Outfit. There is also a poll that I put up that coincides with this post. There should hopefully be some more searching and reviews to follow in the next little while. Until then... I will continue my search to find my first fly rod.

The countdown begins

As of today waterfowl season begins in 7 days. Lately it's all I have been thinking about, well... mostly anyways. Plans are starting to come together for the first goose hunt of the year. Earlier this summer some friends and I made our own silhouette decoys (which is a great idea for any of you diy'ers out there,) and I can't wait to see how they work it the field. Been practicing my calling, which is passable at best but we will see what happens. Also just bought and installed a sling on my Remington 870. So far things are looking pretty good going into this season. Coming up this Monday I will be heading out to my blind with a couple buddies to get it ready for the season. We will be doing some additions and repairs, hopefully we will have everything ready in time for next Saturday. September 7th can't come soon enough!