Hey all, quick update on my shoulder injury as I just had an MRI done and saw the Doctor yesterday. Looks like the rotator cuff is torn and I will definitely need surgery! But the news isn’t all bad.

The Doc said he won’t do the surgery until the nerve damage in my arm and hand subsides. This might buy me enough time to still be able to hunt this year using a crossbow. Here is a video blog with all the particulars, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade!

Trev

As a lot of you may have heard, I severely dislocated my shoulder. I have been getting a ton of well wishes and support, along with questions. I thought I would post this blog/video blog to thank you for the support and explain what is going on along with x rays of what happened. I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences and please continue to pray for a speedy recovery, antelope and elk season are just around the corner.

Thanks again

Trev

Team Outback Outdoors

I just returned from my second year working with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation’s kids camp put on at Jack Creek Preserve in Ennis Montana. This year surpassed last year with 58 kids attending. Once again I was given the task of teaching archery and hunting to these future torch carriers. The area where we put on the camp is over 5000 acres of pristine Montana heaven.

The weather was perfect, sunny and temperatures in the 80’s with night time low’s in the 40’s. Keeping track of all these kids could not be done with out the volunteers who help cook, teach and mentor all these youngsters. I look forward to this camp every year.

The kids go through a number of work stations which last 90 minutes each. From trail building to conservation to fly tying and photography. An over night hiking/camping trip and archery as well as hunting 101. Most of these kids have never shot a bow before coming to the camp and this year over half of the kids brought their own bows. It is a great way to help grow the sport and teach conservation and responsibility.

This kids camp is four days long but flies by for all the volunteers. Everyone participates in a big bon fire on the last evening and on the last day we put on a big 3 D archery challenge. We break the kids up based on their experience level and some great prizes are awarded for all the top winners.

I want to thank all of the sponsors who donate some great prizes and gifts for all the kids who attended. Montana Decoy, Mossy Oak, Bugling Bull Game Calls, Hunter Safety Systems, Schrade Knives and others.

Kids camp is over and now time to focus on the fall hunts coming up for Outback Outdoors.

Scouting a new piece of deer property can be very fun, exciting and if done right will make you more successful in harvesting deer in the future. Once you arrive at the new ground take a minute to over look the entire area by getting to higher ground and try to  have a complete aerial photo with you or topo maps of the area. Take time to see where the food sources are, the bedding cover might be and take note of any travel areas that the deer will use.

Have a plan in mind and if possible try and do your scouting in late winter or early spring. This way the deer sign from the season past is still fresh and you will not be driving your deer from your property. I always like to locate the food in the area and than the bedding. I look for small pinch points or travel corridors and go there first. I like to find where the deer trails neck down and possible ambush spots are found and a likely air assault can be placed.

I rather hunt the travel areas and if possible stay away from the bedding cover. Out West usually the deer in the river bottoms travel short distances from food to cover so you have to be  ultra stealthy. The edges of alfalfa fields or other crops are good scouting points but I rarely sit on them when trying to shoot a mature buck. I like to be inside the field edges 100 yards or so where possible so I can catch those big deer staging just before dark. You will see less deer but more of the right deer you are trying to take. This strategy also works well when it is time to get out of your stand. When you sit on field edges and finish your hunt now you have to get down and walk across the same field the deer are in. Not a good idea! I rather slip out back through the timber and go undetected.

Morning hunts are also very tough out West in the river bottom properties. Usually you end up spooking the deer from the food sources when trying to get into your stand site. Most of my time is spent glassing from a high vantage point and evaluate where the deer are entering the cover. They will generally come back out in the same area in the evening. Use the mid day time to scout or hang stand set ups where you will have the least impact on the deer you are hunting. I have sometimes hung stand set ups in the dark while the deer are out in the fields.Just a few pointers to try if you are hunting river bottom property. Try using a small boat or canoe to enter and exit your hunting area and you will leave very little disturbance for the deer to pick up on. Wear hip boots to walk in the water and use while on stand. Your scent will be minimized. Make sure you have someone pick you up on the field edges by vehicle. Deer are used to farm tractors or vehicles driving in the fields and are better than you walking out across the areas you are hunting.

Thunderbird 3 Shoot Recap – I got back to the house late last night after a short 9.5 hour drive that was filled with memories of new friends, helping raise money for some great young outdoorsmen, a ton of fun, and a lot of laughs! As I mentioned in my earlier blog, the 19th Annual Thunderbird 3D Shoot (where I was the featured speaker on “How to be a Ten Percenter”) is a fund raiser for the NM Bullseye 4H Shooters Club that teaches kids about handguns, shotguns, muzzleloaders, bowhunting, hunting identification and most importantly… Hunter Safety! With 357 shooters attending from Mexico, NM, TX, and AZ, this shoot was HUGE success!!

With the rollover of older hunters who are passing away we HAVE to get the regenerate those numbers of outdoorsmen with the younger generation. We must get them from in front of the TV and Playstations (and by the way I love video games too!!) and into the outdoors! This event helps do just that! It was awesome to see 2nd and 3rd generations in a family group shooting together and building that bond that is bound by the love of hunting, bowhunting, and everything outdoors!

I also want to sincerely thanks ALL of my (and Outback Outdoors) who partnered with us in this event and donated their quality products to be raffled off to further raise money for the NM Bullseye 4H Shooting Club!

Below is a collage of pics from the event and we are already planning for next year, I hope you enjoy the pics and hopefully we will see you next year at this event!

Trev

and Team Outback Outdoors

Deer hunting videos and off season preparation that keeps the wife happy… might not be the normal heading for a blog on ANY hunting website, but for me I have found a way to make these two important things (off season training and a happy wife) work together.

I am married to a wonderful non-hunter! Don’t get me wrong she loves for me to hunt and will cook ANYTHING I kill, but she has no desire to hunt herself. In a way that is good thing. When I am out in the field trying to capture my exciting bowhunting adventures on video for Outback Outdoors or Hardcore Hunting TV, I do not have to worry about her being cold, worn out,  or comfortable. All of my attention can be focused on the hunt at hand. But as most of you hunters that are married know, keeping one’s wife happy during hunting season can be a difficult task. It is not that my wife dislikes hunting, but the time I am in the field and away from the family places a burden on her to keep the machine running smoothly at home, by herself.

I was reminded the other day by a good buddy Jerod Fink about some wisdom that the legendary Randy Ulmer shared on this very subject a few years ago at the ATA show when we were all out to dinner together. Randy explained how important it was to him to have his wife feel connected while he is out stalking a giant muley buck or bull elk.

This how he does it, “Before I leave for a hunting trip,” Randy explains,  “I hide notes that she will find through out the week around the house that remind her how much I love and appreciate her. I will also have a friend drop pre-written postcards in the mail, one each day, that have poems or thoughts so she gets those everyday while I am gone. It has made an incredible difference on my wife’s countenance and our relationship!”

It might sound corny but it works!! A way I have found to “connect” with my wife is doing something together that SHE loves . For MY wife that is competing in triathlons (Sprints – 1/2 mile swim, 12 mile bike, and 3.1 mile run). This summer we are competing together in a few triathlon events and last weekend we finished our first (the pics are from this last weekend’s tri). While we don’t compete in the event “hand in hand” or even always train together we are working towards the same goal and my wife LOVES it.Let’s be honest here… I DO have ulterior motives! Imagine the shape I will be in when it comes time for my mule deer and elk hunts!

In summary a hunter doesn’t have to do a triathlon or run a 5K with their spouse to “build up points”, the bottom line is the investment I make NOW…. in time with my wife, a unifying purpose, and getting into top physical shape will pay HUGE dividends in the fall….. MAN AM I GLAD SHE DOESN’T CROCHET!!