Hunting Preparations..

Well, I'm posting my process of getting ready for my hunting trips this fall on an online forum called www.monstermuleys.com. They are running a special forum with prizes that they are going to give away to the folks posting some of the best stories on the entire process so I figured I might as well try my hand at it. I doubt I'll win anything, but as lucky as I was drawing my tags, maybe I'll get lucky on winning something with the hunt challenge.

Anyway, I figured I would start posting some of the same information here on my blog. Probably pretty boring, but some folks might enjoy it.

Right now I've been working on long distance scouting. I ordered some maps from www.publiclands.org and have been looking over the maps plus looking at Google Earth trying to figure out where I would be living if I was a mature bull elk.

I've been using image overlays in Google Earth where I take a pdf map and convert it to an image and then overlay it in Google Earth. You can change the transparency of the overlay from 0% to 100% and it zooms in and out with you when you so you can get as close as you want and be able to tell whether you are on national forest, wilderness, private land, etc. Still not a substitute for a good old map though, pretty hard to haul around your notebook computer on the trail with you.

Here's a screen shot from my computer.

I also finally got started on getting in shape with a run to the mailbox and back last night. Doesn't sound like much of a workout, but that's a 2 mile round trip for me. I'm starting on the elliptical tonight.

My current hunting boots are some Rocky's that are nearing the end of their useful life so I've been researching boots and asking questions on monstermuleys.com. I'm not much closer to making a decision than when I posted (maybe even farther from a decision since I was given several new options), but I think when it comes down to it, any of them should be a big step up from any boots I've had in the past.

I also went back down to the land this weekend and pounded in some T-Posts to mark the Quail CRP boundary line. Not sure if more of the native grasses are coming in, or some other invasive grasses are coming in but there is a lot of green. I think most of it is Johnson grass. I did ID some of the partridge peas that I planted coming in and some native sunflowers (that I didn't plant but I think aren't a bad thing).I ended up pounding in 48 fence posts for the markers. I had to put them every 100 feet. Got a little bit of exercise in while I was at it!

The electric golf cart is working out pretty well so far. I have a few squeaks I need to work out, but overall it is getting used more than I thought it would. It worked great for hauling the posts around. You can see my hill top hunting blind in the background. It's about 800 yards away.

I guess I'm in the wait and see, hope and pray process right now. I did see some sand burrs in the mix this time as well, but hopefully the NWSG and Switchgrass will out compete it over the next couple years.

That's it for now. Nathan