Category Archives: Steve Englund

Nov 05

Field Tip – Blaze Or No Blaze?

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The answer is almost always “Yes” when hunting.

Most deer hunters have the perspective of, “If I’m not required to wear blaze orange, I won’t.”  And it makes sense.  Deer may not be able to see the color, but they can see when there’s a gray blob in the woods that shouldn’t be there.

If the particular season your hunting for deer requires you to wear blaze orange, the answer is simple – It’s a good idea to wear it because it’s the law.  During archery season and muzzleloader season, it’s not generally required.

When I get to my stand, I don’t feel the need to wear blaze in these seasons.  I’m sitting still, I’m hardly moving.  I do, however, wear it when I’m moving to and from my stand or if I’m following up a deer I’ve just shot – especially on public land!  Even if you’re on private land, you never know who could wander on to it.

When I’m sitting in my stand, blind, or leaning up against a tree on the ground, I like to keep my orange nearby in my pack so that if a hunter wanders near me, I can flag them down to let them know I’m there.  Sometimes, if I’m sitting in a ground blind, I’ll even hang a blaze hat in a nearby tree when hunting public land.  This is also a time when it’s okay to have a broken up blaze so hunters can see it, but it’s still broken up for the deer’s keen vision.  It’s just safe hunting.

You may not be required to wear blaze orange all the time, but it’s still a good idea when moving through the woods.

Good luck and hunt safe!

Oct 27

Quick Tip – Forgot Your Camera? Now What?

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Most of us have probably done it.  We’ve just harvested a deer we’ve been hunting for weeks.  You just caught the trout of a lifetime.  Something awesome in the field has just occurred and you realize that you forgot your camera!

You can always wait until you get home to take a picture, of course.  At that point, though, the deer may be rigid; there’s no great backdrop, except for the tailgate of your truck; and let’s not forget the unsightly cavern where the deer’s innards used to be.  Here’s a reasonable solution.

Most mobile phones these days have a camera – not all, but most.  Many of those phones with cameras also have a slot for a microSD card.  You may find that this could suit you just fine when taking a picture in the field, if you happen to have forgotten your “normal” camera – by normal, I mean it’s not also a phone!  Go ahead and set your harvested game up like you want, arrange your gun, bow, whatever where you like and then smile and take the picture and save it.  At this point you have a couple of options.

First, if you have texting/messaging capabilities, you can send the picture to your e-mail address via picture message – even if you don’t have a data plan/internet access on your phone.  Standard messaging fees will apply, so make sure it’s in your plan.  In the “To” portion of the message, just type in your e-mail address, attach the picture and you’re good to go.  The picture will most likely be made smaller automatically so that it can be sent.  Once you get home, check your e-mail and it should be there.  That’s one way.

A second way is by using the microSD slot if you have one.  You can buy a microSD card for about$10 and if you get a microSD card reader, that’ll be about another $10-15.  Once you take the picture, save it to the card and then download it to your computer when you get home.  You’ll find the quality of this a little better than that of the picture message.

Once you get that e-mail from your phone that has no internet capabilities (cool, huh?), you’ll then know what your phone’s e-mail address is and then you can send pictures from your home or work computer to your phone – basically reversing the process if you wanted to have more pictures of previous harvested game on your phone to show off to your fellow hunters.

Now, if you happen to have a really smart phone (iPhone, Droid, Blackberry, etc.), or if you have a data plan on your phone, this post doesn’t really apply to you, but we also realize that not everyone has one of these so the tip may be a little handy in case you ever forget your camera in the woods.

All of this because this isn’t always the best way to show off your game…

Oct 21

Quick Tip – Know Your Landowners

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I’ve been hunting for about 15 years now.  In regards to land type, I’ve hunted public National Forest land, private land owned by my family, a farm where an uncle knows the owner, my wife’s family’s land, and most recently we got permission to hunt on a friend’s family-owned land.

The only one where I didn’t know the landowner, other than Uncle Sam & the National Forest, is the farm where I shot my first deer and still hunt whenever I go visit my folks.  An uncle of mine is pretty good about visiting and talking with the farm’s landowner though so I don’t worry too much about that.

This newest piece of hunting property where we hunt now is owned by the father of a good friend.  Three years ago my friend was telling me about this land and I asked if anyone ever hunted it.  A few days later, I was getting a tour of the land from his dad.  It’s about 130 acres and is a great stretch to hunt.  I’ve taken a lot of effort to get to know the landowner and to keep a good rapport.  I let him know when I’ll be hunting and even try to take him a ham around Christmas-time.  We have a good thing going.

Without going into too much detail, my wife and I have run into some problems with someone who lives near the property (also a hunter) and clearly does not want us there.  I’ve always kept the owner up to date on the issues we’ve had and he has always been there to back us up.  I originally tried to keep him out of it so he wouldn’t have to worry about anything, but this other individual brought him into it.  He’s gone to bat for us when we’ve just wanted to call it quits.  He’s always said that we have a right to hunt there and shouldn’t let the other person “win.”

This, not so, quick tip is that it is always good to get to know your landowners where you hunt.  They’re the ones that know the property best (in most cases), they most likely know the neighboring landowners, and if you can build a good rapport with them, they’ll stand up for you if times ever get tough or if you run into any trouble.  Now, if you’re the one causing the trouble, that may be a different story!

Anyways, it never hurts to stop in and say hi, or drop off a gift.  Happy hunting!

Oct 06

Adjustments

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When late August/early September comes around every year, I start to get very excitable. When October finally hits, I have a hard time sleeping, especially the night before a hunt. Hunting season starts to be attached to almost every other thought that runs through my mind. I good friend of mine refers to it as a filter. For instance, I live in a college town and my wife is a hair stylist – who also hunts. These seem like very distinct and different things. Not true – let me explain why. See when there’s a home game, pretty much everything shuts down here in our town because almost everyone is either at the game or watching it at home. The salon where my wife works if focused on college students so when there’s a home game, she doesn’t have many, if any, clients. So, her salon will either close early or not even open on a Saturday when there’s a home game. This means that we can both go hunting together. So, in many ways, I look forward to Saturday home games. My wife is my favorite hunting partner. It all makes sense now doesn’t it?

This is just an adjustment in my thinking. Another adjustment I’ve recently started to make is riding the bus because of hunting season. Why? Well, my wife and I live on a budget and we really try to stick to it. We have a Civic and a Cherokee. One is okay on gas and it’s not my preference to haul a deer with it, the other is a gas guzzler and I have a hitch haul perfect for well, hauling deer. My wife usually drives the car to work and I get the Jeep. It pretty much eats gas when driving it around town so I’ve started riding the bus so that when we go hunting, I’m not having to sweat not having enough gas to make it to our favorite hunting spots. This is another adjustment just for hunting season.

But I’m not the only one. A friend of mine is an avid bow hunter. As a matter of fact, he’s almost exclusive in using a bow to harvest deer. He has a job that is oriented around people. Not only that but he is a key part in making sure almost everything actually happens. In August and September, my friend will work 50-60+ hours so that when October hits, he can take the entire month off. The Entire Month of October. Now grant it, if there’s an emergency or something unexpected happens, he’s there. But, this is a huge adjustment he makes every year for his love of hunting.

So here’s my question: What about you? What adjustment(s) do you make each year or hunting season so that you can get a little more time in the woods? What sacrifices do you make so that you can get to your preferred hunting location?

Oct 06

Welcome Steve Englund

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FieldJournals would like to welcome  Steve Englund as a new writer to the staff.  Steve and his wife Amy live in Blacksburg, VA. They both love the outdoors – including hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, and Steve even dabbles in backpacking. Steve has been hunting and fishing for as long as he can remember and Amy has since she was 12 years old. They both hunt with rifles, traditional muzzleloaders, and bows. Steve also has a blog at http://flyaddicts.com/headedout