The upland season in nearly upon us here in New England, and I'm ready to go. Recent changes in the form of a puppy rather than a ready to go dog assure me that this season will be different, and is sure to be educational. Not a day goes by when I don't think about stepping out onto the frost covered porch of the cabin, morning coffee in hand, brimming with anticipation of what the coverts will show us that day, while dogs stretch their legs, and turn their noses into the cool northern breeze. Oh yeah. I'm ready to go. But I've got to admit that I feel that something has been lost in the off season. In my efforts to prepare my gear, and ready myself on the clay course, I seem to have lost track of my upland tradition.
While inventorying my toy box I picked up on a trend I hadn't noticed growing, and now fear I've haunted the spirit of the hunt. Mind you, when I speak of upland tradition, and the hunt, I very specifically mean Ruffed Grouse and Woodcock hunting. Grand specimens, genetically predisposed to draw tradition respecting gentlemen of the highest caliber into the wildest of setting. This is why the absence of upland tradition troubles me so. If these birds, the kings of the upland have carried on their tradition why should I abandon mine. Where has it gone?
My inventory has forced me to do a head to toe check, searching, and clinging to what tradition I have left. Hopefully some remains. Some might only be misplaced. But some is gone for good. Had I worn my upland tradition out, and needed to replace it I wouldn't feel so bad, but I'm afraid that might not be the case. So let's take a look.
Starting at the top I am pleased to still be in possession of a well broken in blaze orange LL Bean ball cap. You know, the type with the duck brown bill. So I'm okay there. I feel pretty good in my vest too. Simple and comfortable, I get good use out of a duck brown strap vest. Strap vests are nothing new, so I'm still doing okay.
Things get tricky when it comes time to get dressed, though. Flannel shirts, and sharp looking tattersalls have given way to synthetic, technical shirts that breath, dry quickly, and probably have the shelf life of a cockroach. I'm not feeling much tradition in synthetics. To make matters worse, I've acquired a number of synthetic undergarments to be assured my shirts perform as advertised. What will it be like, not experiencing the tradition of soaking cotton with sweat, and suffering the chill of the northern wind as said sweat evaporates from my back?
Gore Tex brush pants? Yup. They've made their way into the toy box, too. I don't care for hunting grouse in the rain, but the morning dew or a bit of snow clinging to the cover have allowed me the pleasure of soaking my jeans, or trousers, even when protected in a pair of bullet proof chaps. I fear a week at camp will not be the same if I don't get to hang a dripping pair of pants over a railing to dry.
Boots have become less of a problem in my mind, but I'm sure there are still a few uplanders who truly believe the only proper footwear that should be worn in a proper covert is a pair of light weight, moc-toe lace ups. I've switched to rubber Wellies. The switch did not happen over night, as I've been wearing Wellies exclusively for some years now. Faced with the loss of other valuable-to-the-experience "traditions" I fear that I might need wet socks to fill the gap. We'll see?
Gun selection has not changed. I still prefer guns with two barrels. If they've got a straight stock I like them even better. My 20 gauge double will no double be my first choice of accessory, and will no doubt raise the reading on the tradition meter. My sleak little 28 won't be too far away either. The thing is, I've got a 12 gauge stack barrel with a pistol grip that I've been shooting rather effectively at skeet. The idea was to warm up the gun a little for it's intended purpose of waterfowling. I fear it may make it's way into the grouse woods. Compounding the matter, as I work on plans which should see me hunting pheasant in Kansas, where the 12 would fit right in, I keep being pestered with the thought of bringing my 12 gauge pump. It's a nice 12, which I shoot well, and have done some damage to waterfowl with. It was a gift from my father, which though I rarely shoot it these days, I cherish. A trip to Kansa with this gun, to shoot big, corn fed, wild Ringnecks might make a fitting tribute. But now I've gotten off track; which gun I shoot in Kansas won't matter, as everyone knows pheasant hunters don't have any upland tradition.
Showing posts with label LL Bean. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LL Bean. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Sunday, August 7, 2011
New Outdoor Gear
As the summer quickly passes, the time to start preparing for the upcoming hunting season has begun. Of course, one is never really relieved of the responsibility of their own preparedness when it comes to the outdoors,and I've been in the woods, dog training, shooting (a little), studying, and generally keeping my head in the game. But now the time has come to inventory my gear, acquire what I think I'll need, make my plans for the coming season, and start to address the issues I faced last season, so they wont be issues this year. This means, in some cases, new gear will be acquired.
The biggest issue I encountered last year was my Setter, Austin, succumbing to cancer. This left me in a tricky situation, but the answer was found in a Springer Spaniel pup I've named Ginger. I'm not out of the woods, or back in them, as the case may be, yet. Ginger is still too young to accompany me afield, so my hunting season will see me walking up grouse, something I expect to be educational, and shooting over friend's dogs. Waterfowling in my canoe or john boat, and deer hunting are two other activities I expect to heavily be involved in, so I'll not be without something to do.
As I've thought about the last few seasons, and some of the issues I faced, I decided I'd tackle one of the biggest issues that has been troubling me for a while; sweat. Even on a cold day, once I start moving, I sweat big time. The trouble here, as you all know, is that once I take a break I get a chill. Sometimes its quite hard to shake that chill once I start moving again too. I tried a fleece lined shirt last season, thinking that even if I soak the fleece with sweat it should stay warm. This worked to some degree, but wasn't exactly the answer I was looking for. As the shirt had no wind barrier, even a little breeze would cut right through, and cause a chill. I'm sure this shirt will see action on extremely cold days, but what I need is something breathable, and quick drying. Enter LL Bean. I've ordered two different breathable, quick drying shirts from LL Bean. One is the light weight ventilated shirt. This shirt might not be appropriate for later in the season, but I think layered with some technical sporting type of under garment which will allow the shirt to function as designed, I should be okay for a while.
The other shirt I decided I'd try is the Northweave. This, too, is a breathable, quick drying shirt, but in the case of the Northweave, it's made of a heavier material. This shirt should carry me well into the fall, as it'll provide more warmth.
In either case, I'll need to carry a sweater, or some other layer with me for the occasional break I take in the woods.
Two other additions include a new knife, which I mentioned briefly a while ago, and a new survival bivy. I'd been feeling the need for a good fixed blade knife for some time. Often my folding knives end up buried in a vest, or pack, or not deployed quickly enough. Something I could wear on my hip, and deploy without removing a glove would be perfect. Not to mention that fixed blade knives are generally stronger.
I decided to get a SOG Seal Pup. The knife isn't terribly big, so it's not awkward to carry, has a serrated section of the blade for sawing, or cutting line, and comes with a nylon sheath with an extra pocket on it. I use the extra pocket to hold a small LED flashlight I've had laying around the house. I still haven't had an opportunity to really use the knife in any fashion, so I still can't give any kind of review yet, but I think It'll see some action this week when I try my hand at a little bushcraft shelter building. Seal Pup
The bivy I bought was an impulse buy. I was looking for a small, light weight, nylon tarp I could add to my survival kit, when I came across the bivy. It's made by SOL, and comes rolled in a small sack. It seems to be substantial enough to survive an unexpected night in the woods. It's small enough that I doubt I'll even notice the additional weight in my vest. Hopefully, I'll never have to use it, but if I do, hopefully it'll not be more than once. SOL Bivy
I've got a lot more preparation to do, and more issues to tackle. But I've not yet decided how to address a few of them. When I decide, I'm sure It'll be fun, and hopefully educational. But most importantly, hopefully it'll be successful.
The biggest issue I encountered last year was my Setter, Austin, succumbing to cancer. This left me in a tricky situation, but the answer was found in a Springer Spaniel pup I've named Ginger. I'm not out of the woods, or back in them, as the case may be, yet. Ginger is still too young to accompany me afield, so my hunting season will see me walking up grouse, something I expect to be educational, and shooting over friend's dogs. Waterfowling in my canoe or john boat, and deer hunting are two other activities I expect to heavily be involved in, so I'll not be without something to do.
As I've thought about the last few seasons, and some of the issues I faced, I decided I'd tackle one of the biggest issues that has been troubling me for a while; sweat. Even on a cold day, once I start moving, I sweat big time. The trouble here, as you all know, is that once I take a break I get a chill. Sometimes its quite hard to shake that chill once I start moving again too. I tried a fleece lined shirt last season, thinking that even if I soak the fleece with sweat it should stay warm. This worked to some degree, but wasn't exactly the answer I was looking for. As the shirt had no wind barrier, even a little breeze would cut right through, and cause a chill. I'm sure this shirt will see action on extremely cold days, but what I need is something breathable, and quick drying. Enter LL Bean. I've ordered two different breathable, quick drying shirts from LL Bean. One is the light weight ventilated shirt. This shirt might not be appropriate for later in the season, but I think layered with some technical sporting type of under garment which will allow the shirt to function as designed, I should be okay for a while.
The other shirt I decided I'd try is the Northweave. This, too, is a breathable, quick drying shirt, but in the case of the Northweave, it's made of a heavier material. This shirt should carry me well into the fall, as it'll provide more warmth.
Two other additions include a new knife, which I mentioned briefly a while ago, and a new survival bivy. I'd been feeling the need for a good fixed blade knife for some time. Often my folding knives end up buried in a vest, or pack, or not deployed quickly enough. Something I could wear on my hip, and deploy without removing a glove would be perfect. Not to mention that fixed blade knives are generally stronger.
I decided to get a SOG Seal Pup. The knife isn't terribly big, so it's not awkward to carry, has a serrated section of the blade for sawing, or cutting line, and comes with a nylon sheath with an extra pocket on it. I use the extra pocket to hold a small LED flashlight I've had laying around the house. I still haven't had an opportunity to really use the knife in any fashion, so I still can't give any kind of review yet, but I think It'll see some action this week when I try my hand at a little bushcraft shelter building. Seal Pup
The bivy I bought was an impulse buy. I was looking for a small, light weight, nylon tarp I could add to my survival kit, when I came across the bivy. It's made by SOL, and comes rolled in a small sack. It seems to be substantial enough to survive an unexpected night in the woods. It's small enough that I doubt I'll even notice the additional weight in my vest. Hopefully, I'll never have to use it, but if I do, hopefully it'll not be more than once. SOL Bivy
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Big Box Break Down.
No question about it, big box stores are a retail reality in this country. Walmart, Lowes, Home Depot, and Best Buy are household names. And many of us frequent wholesale clubs like BJ's and Costco in search of deals as well. Getting most of your shopping done under one roof saves time and money spent on gas. With gas prices creeping up, and lead prices now high, saving money at the gas pump, and in some cases, on daily necessities may be the only way some of us will be able to have any money left over come the shooting season.
The outfitting industry has their big box stores too. Cabela's, Bass Pro, and Gander Mountain are this countries big three, with cataloges full of glossy pictures of everything a sportsman could want, and then some. But in reality, the idea of the big three falls short of the expectations. My experience has been that the selection, and in many cases the hired help aren't exactly dialed in.
I've been to two Cabela's, the Maine store, and the Connecticut store. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. The lay out of both stores seemed to be nothing more than a afterthought, and the selection at both stores was lacking, with large gaps, both on the racks and in the inventory selection. To make matters worse, I've found the atmosphere at the Maine store, to which I've been several times, rather depressing. While the store was still filled with lots of goodies, the customers all seemed to just be wandering about in a fog. Perhaps they were in a the same state of increduliousness I found myself in every time I went there; perplexed that a store so large, and with so much stuff, didn't have a single thing I was looking for. How does that happen?
Gander Mountain left me a little less disappointed. I'd detoured to Watertown NY to visit the store on the way home from grouse camp last year. Id only gone there to take a look, wanting to buy nothing more than an atlas. The atlas they had in stock, but the general impression of the store left me with the feeling I was shopping in a Building 19.
Bass Pro Shop isn't quite the disappointment the others turned out to be, but suffers in other ways. Perhaps the biggest blunder at Bass Pro, and something Cabela's suffers from too, is lack of a regional marketing strategy. The store in Foxboro, Massachusetts sells camo patterns that would look great, and be efficient on an antelope hunt in Wyoming, but fail to carry much in the way of upland bird vests, or pants. I guess they haven't noticed that in Mass deer and pheasant are the two most widely hunted species. Why carry a sex scented bear lure? Bears mate in the spring, and here in New England our bears season is in the fall. A food scent, such as anise, which is in the catalog would make more sense.
Even worse than not finding what you want is finding something you do want, but also finding out it's way over priced. I don't bother to look at the gun selection at Bass Pro anymore. Twice I've pointed out to the management guns that were tagged too high. One gun was a discontinued model that even with a sale price $300 less than the ticket was still over what I could have bought it for down the street. That was before Christmas, and as of last week at least one of those guns was still there collecting dust. But let's end on a positive note; Bass Pro's interior, and atmosphere is lively and exciting. Walking through the store is almost like being in an outdoors themed Disney park.
I'll not rant about the hired help, but will say this; working at an outfitter five days a week still means you're only hunting two days a week, if your wife lets you. If you hunt more than two days a week, your experience, and expertise may be of a higher level than those in the embroidered uniform. Trust yourself, trust your judgement. This assessment doesn't only apply to employees of he bigger outfitters either. Here is Mass we've got a family run outdoor store that I've witness passing along extremely suspect advice, and even make stuff up as they go. When the employee behind the gun counter looks at a shotgun for a full sixty seconds, and still can't tell you the make or gauge of the gun, I say shop elsewhere; Even if the outfitter has nifty commercials on TV.
All hope is not lost, however, and I am not as cynical a man as the previous paragraphs might have you thinking. There are a couple of places here in New England where one can, in my opinion, comfortably shop for, and usually find what they need. Number one on my list is The Kittery Trading Post in Kittery Maine. What makes this place special to me is their marketing departments understanding of what hunters and fishermen in New England need. If you need it, they'll have it. Maybe not the brand you wanted, but another version. They've also got some knowledgeable people working there; the shotgun department in particular. I'm quite fond of LL Bean, too. Though I've not had many conversations with the employees there, I've also never failed to find what I'm looking for either. I find LL Bean to be a no frills outfitter, with a good selection of the basics. As a die hard grouse hunter, I've no trouble pointing other bird hunters towards Bean when they might need to replace some gear.
The outfitting industry has their big box stores too. Cabela's, Bass Pro, and Gander Mountain are this countries big three, with cataloges full of glossy pictures of everything a sportsman could want, and then some. But in reality, the idea of the big three falls short of the expectations. My experience has been that the selection, and in many cases the hired help aren't exactly dialed in.
I've been to two Cabela's, the Maine store, and the Connecticut store. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. The lay out of both stores seemed to be nothing more than a afterthought, and the selection at both stores was lacking, with large gaps, both on the racks and in the inventory selection. To make matters worse, I've found the atmosphere at the Maine store, to which I've been several times, rather depressing. While the store was still filled with lots of goodies, the customers all seemed to just be wandering about in a fog. Perhaps they were in a the same state of increduliousness I found myself in every time I went there; perplexed that a store so large, and with so much stuff, didn't have a single thing I was looking for. How does that happen?
Gander Mountain left me a little less disappointed. I'd detoured to Watertown NY to visit the store on the way home from grouse camp last year. Id only gone there to take a look, wanting to buy nothing more than an atlas. The atlas they had in stock, but the general impression of the store left me with the feeling I was shopping in a Building 19.
Bass Pro Shop isn't quite the disappointment the others turned out to be, but suffers in other ways. Perhaps the biggest blunder at Bass Pro, and something Cabela's suffers from too, is lack of a regional marketing strategy. The store in Foxboro, Massachusetts sells camo patterns that would look great, and be efficient on an antelope hunt in Wyoming, but fail to carry much in the way of upland bird vests, or pants. I guess they haven't noticed that in Mass deer and pheasant are the two most widely hunted species. Why carry a sex scented bear lure? Bears mate in the spring, and here in New England our bears season is in the fall. A food scent, such as anise, which is in the catalog would make more sense.
Even worse than not finding what you want is finding something you do want, but also finding out it's way over priced. I don't bother to look at the gun selection at Bass Pro anymore. Twice I've pointed out to the management guns that were tagged too high. One gun was a discontinued model that even with a sale price $300 less than the ticket was still over what I could have bought it for down the street. That was before Christmas, and as of last week at least one of those guns was still there collecting dust. But let's end on a positive note; Bass Pro's interior, and atmosphere is lively and exciting. Walking through the store is almost like being in an outdoors themed Disney park.
I'll not rant about the hired help, but will say this; working at an outfitter five days a week still means you're only hunting two days a week, if your wife lets you. If you hunt more than two days a week, your experience, and expertise may be of a higher level than those in the embroidered uniform. Trust yourself, trust your judgement. This assessment doesn't only apply to employees of he bigger outfitters either. Here is Mass we've got a family run outdoor store that I've witness passing along extremely suspect advice, and even make stuff up as they go. When the employee behind the gun counter looks at a shotgun for a full sixty seconds, and still can't tell you the make or gauge of the gun, I say shop elsewhere; Even if the outfitter has nifty commercials on TV.
All hope is not lost, however, and I am not as cynical a man as the previous paragraphs might have you thinking. There are a couple of places here in New England where one can, in my opinion, comfortably shop for, and usually find what they need. Number one on my list is The Kittery Trading Post in Kittery Maine. What makes this place special to me is their marketing departments understanding of what hunters and fishermen in New England need. If you need it, they'll have it. Maybe not the brand you wanted, but another version. They've also got some knowledgeable people working there; the shotgun department in particular. I'm quite fond of LL Bean, too. Though I've not had many conversations with the employees there, I've also never failed to find what I'm looking for either. I find LL Bean to be a no frills outfitter, with a good selection of the basics. As a die hard grouse hunter, I've no trouble pointing other bird hunters towards Bean when they might need to replace some gear.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Things You Should Check Out- Worcester Sportsman Show Edition
The Worcester Sportsmans Show opened yesterday at the DCU center in downtown Worcester. Hoping to avoid the weekend crowd I attended the opener. Though the show is predominantly big game, and fishing oriented there were a few wingshooting oriented participants, and I found a few things I think are note worthy.
NEPVA, New England Paralized Veterans of America is a charity group which organizes activities for paralized veterans. Many of those activities are outdoors oriented. In particular, the NEPVA organizes a bass fishing tournament, pairing up local bass pros with a vet. If you've got any interest in bass fishing, I'd bet they'd appreciate any time you can volunteer.
http://www.nepva.org/
There was a product featured that I am seriously considering purchasing. A company called Phazzer is making a pair or sun glasses with a built in video camera. They say the camera will clearly video out to 50 yards, and store about 2 1/2 hours of video, powered by a rechargeable battery with a 4 hour life. The glasses also come with a set of three interchangeable lenses. The show price was $199, but I found these same glasses sold at LL Bean for $169 for the camo frames, or $159 for the black frames. I haven't tried these out, but I wish I'd had something like this all along. With a pup on the way I'll be wanting to video training and hunting to document and memorialize my dogs in ways I've not been able to. I suspect these glasses will also find their way into both the duck blind and the tree stand.
http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/68091?feat=505846-CL2
If you've been following my blog you'll know that I've been dealing with the inevitable passing of my English Setter, Austin, due to cancer. Like most dog owners I've got lots of pictures, and I've been trying to find a way to use some of these pictures to memorialize Austin. Well, I think I've found it. Alan James Robinson, is an artist from Easthampton, Mass. Alan works in watercolor, and has been turning out some really nice stuff. He specializes in wildlife, and does both equine and canine portraits. The coolest thing he had displayed, however, was a series of works where he paints images on either nautical charts or topographic maps. I've already begun searching for an appropriate photo of Austin to be painted along side a grouse and a woodcock on a map of the region of New Hampshire we frequently hunted.
http://themapguy.com/catalog/index.php
Probably the biggest highlight of the show was meeting Paul Fuller, of the TV show Bird Dogs Afield. Paul has a passion for bird hunting and sporting dogs, and has produces a great show which features him and his handsome German Shorthaired Pointer, Dillon, hunting various locations in the US and Canada. The show airs locally in the New England area, but can also be viewed on the web. In addition to his show Paul writes the bird dog column for Northwoods Sporting Journal. There are two ways you can watch Paul's show on the web. You can link directly through his website,
http://www.birddogsafield.com/
Or through the My Outdoor TV website, which offers a selection of other outdoor sporting shows.
http://www.myoutdoortv.com/
Check them both out. You won't be disappoint.
NEPVA, New England Paralized Veterans of America is a charity group which organizes activities for paralized veterans. Many of those activities are outdoors oriented. In particular, the NEPVA organizes a bass fishing tournament, pairing up local bass pros with a vet. If you've got any interest in bass fishing, I'd bet they'd appreciate any time you can volunteer.
http://www.nepva.org/
There was a product featured that I am seriously considering purchasing. A company called Phazzer is making a pair or sun glasses with a built in video camera. They say the camera will clearly video out to 50 yards, and store about 2 1/2 hours of video, powered by a rechargeable battery with a 4 hour life. The glasses also come with a set of three interchangeable lenses. The show price was $199, but I found these same glasses sold at LL Bean for $169 for the camo frames, or $159 for the black frames. I haven't tried these out, but I wish I'd had something like this all along. With a pup on the way I'll be wanting to video training and hunting to document and memorialize my dogs in ways I've not been able to. I suspect these glasses will also find their way into both the duck blind and the tree stand.
http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/68091?feat=505846-CL2
If you've been following my blog you'll know that I've been dealing with the inevitable passing of my English Setter, Austin, due to cancer. Like most dog owners I've got lots of pictures, and I've been trying to find a way to use some of these pictures to memorialize Austin. Well, I think I've found it. Alan James Robinson, is an artist from Easthampton, Mass. Alan works in watercolor, and has been turning out some really nice stuff. He specializes in wildlife, and does both equine and canine portraits. The coolest thing he had displayed, however, was a series of works where he paints images on either nautical charts or topographic maps. I've already begun searching for an appropriate photo of Austin to be painted along side a grouse and a woodcock on a map of the region of New Hampshire we frequently hunted.
http://themapguy.com/catalog/index.php
Probably the biggest highlight of the show was meeting Paul Fuller, of the TV show Bird Dogs Afield. Paul has a passion for bird hunting and sporting dogs, and has produces a great show which features him and his handsome German Shorthaired Pointer, Dillon, hunting various locations in the US and Canada. The show airs locally in the New England area, but can also be viewed on the web. In addition to his show Paul writes the bird dog column for Northwoods Sporting Journal. There are two ways you can watch Paul's show on the web. You can link directly through his website,
http://www.birddogsafield.com/
Or through the My Outdoor TV website, which offers a selection of other outdoor sporting shows.
http://www.myoutdoortv.com/
Check them both out. You won't be disappoint.
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