The Politically Incorrect Guide to Hunting
There should be two books on every hunter’s work bench or e-Reader. One is this year’s game and licensing booklet. The second is, The Politically Incorrect Guide to Hunting.
It’s not a “How-To” book, but it is just as valuable. If every angler/hunter/trapper in North America read this book we would be able to intelligently counter and discuss the antics of anti-hunting groups and the science that backs effective wildlife management.
When you delve into the books pages, you find scattered through it facts (with sources) about our pastime in the outdoors. Facts like:
-You are about twice as likely to be attacked by a grizzly when you’re camping in National Parks, where hunting is NOT allowed
-Californians kill more cougars now than before hunting was banned. They annually use permits to kill between 100 – 200 cougars, which is MORE than hunters were killing when hunting was allowed
-Deer kill ten times more people each year than sharks, cougars, bears and alligators combined, and more people than all commercial airline, train, and bus accidents combined
-Hunters provided 1600 tons (12,800,000 servings) of venison and other big game for soup kitchens and food pantries
This book will facilitate sportsman to enter the arena with PETA, HSUS and others and competently shut-down the hype spewed out by the previously listed groups.
I took it to my hunt camp for a week and purposely left it out on the table. Many of the guys would read sections of it and then indicate how good it was to learn about what they had just read, because they had never thought about the science of hunting in this much detail before.
I would love to start a Foundation (or whatever you are supposed to call it) that would make sure every hunting and trapping course in North America gets these books to the participants. Every new and young hunter should be learning this stuff in their courses. Every outhouse in our hunting/fishing/trapping camps needs to have this book – right beside the tp.
Any backers?
Taste a creek with LifeStraw
I have crossed Spiers' creek many times as a hunter. Each time across, I would look at the cold, clear water flowing beneath my feet and wonder if drinking it would cause havoc in my intestinal tract. An unfortunate event that could bring a highly anticipated hunting trip to an abrupt end.
This time however, things were different. I was armed with a LifeStraw.
I sprawled out as best I could on the creek's uneven banks and place the LifeStraw to my mouth. A nearby beaver damn triggered my mind to silently warn that this may not be a great idea. After taking a deep breath, I put the straw in the water and began to 'suck' the water from the icy creek to my mouth. Initially, it seemed that the water was not going to move up through the straw, but with some mild extra effort (as the packaging suggests), the cold liquid filled my mouth.
The taste was wild, icy, and natural. The way a creek should taste.
More importantly, the Lifestraw removes 99.9999% of waterborne bacteria (>LOG 7 reduction) and 99.9% of waterborne protozoan cysts (>LOG 3 reduction). The hollow fibre membrane filters (without iodine) particles as small as 0.2 microns. Take that Giardia and typical muddy streams! I had no intestinal 'issues' after my creek drinking experience with LifeStraw.
This is the kind of vital outdoor tool that will make finding safe water on remote hunting, fishing or hiking trips much easier. The LifeStraw fits in my hunting and fly fishing packs and is durable enough to stand pack travel between extra ammunition and my GPS. It will be invaluable to me on my favourite trout stream or Algonquin Park lake trout lake. No more 'dip-and-pray' or 'chemical-spray' water bottle fillings.
The filter will safely clean up to 1000 litres (264 gallons) of creek, lake and puddle type water reservoirs. For only $20 per straw, you get great value for water safety. Assuming you drinking 3 - 4 liters (3 - 4 quarts) of water per day while hiking, the LifeStraw will last between 250-330 days - worth of drinking before it reaches its expiry of 264 gallons (1,000 litres).
In freezing temperatures (which I did not get to try the filter in yet), I recommend that you take extra care to blow out the excess water that can 'sit' or remain inside the straw after use. Ice formation in the straw will break the filter's effectiveness. Lying down to get water from whatever source you are considering taking water from, may not be the best idea. Fill your favourite (wide mouthed) water bottle and use the straw from there.
Go ahead - taste a creek today with LifeStraw.
Unleash outdoor photos with Posterjack.ca
Pull your hunting, fishing and cottage photos out of your digital media and display them easily, in the real world, with the help of Posterjack.ca!
I was excited when I was asked to review the poster product and photo art service at Posterjack. It gave me a simple opportunity to free a photo of a loon I had captured, on a Northern Ontario lake, from my computer's hard drive.
The hardest part about the online process, was trying to determine which of Posterjack's photo products I wanted. After a simple photo upload process, I was presented with options to turn my picture into a photo poster, a photo canvas print, a giant peel and stick poster, a photo collage or a stylish framed photo.
My loon photo's destiny became that of a large semi-gloss poster that I am going to mount in my own custom frame. Once it was uploaded, the Posterjack.ca website gave me feedback as to the quality of my photo (for the size of poster I selected), an opportunity to make minor colour changes and border choices of varying colours and thickness.
Finally, after that, I was directed to a secure payment check-out to complete my photo art order. Amazingly, my positive experience did not end there. Posterjack.ca sent me an order confirmation email and shipping detail (with tracking number) email so that I could track my travelling loon poster to my home's mailbox. I got my poster in two days and it was obvious safe shipment is a priority to Posterjack.ca .
The packaging can be re-used or recycled and it can probably weather a flash storm on Lake Muskoka. They even sent an email reminding me that my poster had been delivered.
Posterjack.ca is based out of Toronto and the photo art company has "surpassed the traditional photo companies and now produces more photo art than any other company in Canada".
Consider unleashing the outdoor photos from your digital media drives today.
*Muskoka Outdoors was given an online credit to review the Posterjack poster product. This review represents my own thoughts about their product and service.
Kingdom Under Glass: Review
Jay Kirk's biographical tale of Carl Akeley, in Kingdom Under Glass, will capture your imagination with hair-raising african safari encounters and provide insight into the genesis of America's conservation movement.
There is more 'between the lines' in this book that my initial read-through revealed.
Carl Akeley is considered to be the father of modern taxidermy and the creator of the African Hall at the New York Museum of Natural History. He later, in 1921, was the catalyst behind creating a sanctuary for silver back gorillas in the Congo. Ironically, this came about while hunting these majestic beasts himself. An encounter that almost killed him. It is this major thread, weaved throughout the book, that attempts to lead the reader through the paradox raging in Carl Akeley's mind. Can hunting and mounting these African beasts actually contribute to their survival in the decades to come?
The book starts during a dark time for exploited African and North American wildlife. The biography paints a sinister picture of wildlife on the brink of elimination, but also depicts how the coals of conservation ignited a wildfire of protected lands and changed hunting practices.
I enjoyed the portions of the book that shared campfire-like accounts of Akeley's hunting safaris in Africa. These stories pulled me out of my ordinary life and dropped me right into the beastly battles and encounters you would expect to find in Africa's varied landscapes. Carl wrestled and choked a leopard that had clamped its jaws down on Akeley's shoulder!
I did not particularly enjoy the parts of the story that developed the relationship between Carl and his wife, Mickie. That's not to say their relationship was not important - it was just that I read to learn about the details of the next safari. Perhaps, I am more hunter than lover...
Should you pick up the book? Absolutely. A great book for your favourite hunt camp chair or a good gift for the outdoor adventure reader in your life.
That being said, the 376 page hardcover took me some time to get through. It was the not sort of 'read' that you can't put down. I read it in small bursts (leopard, gorilla and elephant encounters excluded) and felt that I missed the deeper meanings and themes behind the book. A second reading will be required.
Consider visiting the Kingdom Under Glass website to learn more about the book's author, Jay Kirk, watch video footage from Akeley's camera, and view a photo gallery of some of Carl's photos.
The publisher has provided 2 copies of the book to give away to my blog visitors. Comment below to enter a random draw for the books. On January 26, 2011, I will randomly pick two commenters and email them for their mailing addresses. Each winner will get 1 copy of the book.
*Disclaimer - this book review came at the request of the publisher and a review copy of the book was mailed to me. I am was not paid to write this post (apart from the review copy) nor do I make money when my blog visitors purchase this book while following the links from this post.
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Hunting
There should be two books on every hunter’s work bench. One is this year’s game and licensing booklet. The second is, The Politically Incorrect Guide to Hunting.
It’s not a “How-To” book, but it is just as valuable. If every angler/hunter/trapper in North America read this book we would be able to intelligently counter and discuss the antics of anti-hunting groups and the science that backs effective wildlife management.
When you delve into the books pages, you find scattered through it facts (with sources) about our pastime in the outdoors. Facts like:
-You are about twice as likely to be attacked by a grizzly when you’re camping in National Parks, where hunting is NOT allowed
-Californians kill more cougars now than before hunting was banned. They annually use permits to kill between 100 – 200 cougars, which is MORE than hunters were killing when hunting was allowed
-Deer kill ten times more people each year than sharks, cougars, bears and alligators combined, and more people than all commercial airline, train, and bus accidents combined
-Hunters provided 1600 tons(12,800,000 servings) of venison and other big game for soup kitchens and food pantries
This book will facilitate sportsman to enter the arena with PETA, HSUS and others and competently shut-down the hype spewed out by the previously listed groups.
I took it to my hunt camp for a week and purposely left it out on the table. Many of the guys would read sections of it and then indicate how good it was to learn about what they had just read, because they had never thought about the science of hunting in this much detail before.
I would love to start a Foundation (or whatever you are supposed to call it) that would make sure every hunting and trapping course in North America gets these books to the participants. Every new and young hunter should be learning this stuff in their courses. Every outhouse in our hunting/fishing/trapping camps needs to have this book – right beside the tp. Any backers?
NOTE: I do not make money from the anyone clicking through the book links on Amazon. Do not let that stop you from checking out the details of the book. Nor, was I paid for this review. The author (or Representative) has sent me an evaluation copy of the book and I have agreed to write about it on my blog. I appreciate the time the author took to do this.
If you have a fishing or hunting product that you would like me to discuss on my blog, please contact me via the link on the top of my blog.
Eureka’s Assault Outfitter 4
The Eureka Assault Outfitter 4 is a high quality tent that is simple to set-up, compact (yet spacious) in design and packs some neat hidden features. Suggested retail $375
The tough part about picking out a tent is knowing exactly it’s dimensions and occupancy details. A visit to Eureka’s camping tent website will list tent dimensions and head space (graphically and textually) with each tent they list. I knew exactly what I was getting before the tent even arrived at my door. That means some piece of mind when you purchase an item online.
Setup
Due to the several feet of snow outside my home, my initial review of this tent occurred in my basement (you can chuckle). I will be doing an actual an overnight ‘field’ test later this spring in Algonquin Park while on the hunt for some spring lake trout. I started my stopwatch after I took the tent from the shipping packaging. It took me just 9 minutes to setup the entire tent by myself (minus not having to use tent pegs). Essentially, there were only 6 items easily rolled into the tent bag.
1. 3 13mm collapsing aluminum poll sections (equal length – no confusion or guessing)
2. tent peg and accessories bag
3. the tent
4. the tent fly
I just had to assemble the folding aluminum polls and slide them through their obvious mesh locations on the outside of the tent. Each pole end was easily ‘clipped’ into circular grommet tabs in the tent’s base to maintain the tent’s structural integrity and shape.
The addition of the fly caused a brief moment of thought as I had to determine its orientation over the top of the tent. This was quickly solved by lining up the orange tabbed fly clip with orange colored tab on one corner of the tent. From there, all the fly’s clips were inserted into the corresponding tab on the tent.
Simple.
Size
The Assault Outfitter 4 is listed as a four person tent. Of course, this rating is directly to the size of people who will be using this tent. It would be tight if I had three of my clones in the tent with me, but numerically it works because of its 8’6″ width. I could lie down in it without having to curl my legs up. The tent is 7’6″ long. There is additional space, with tent protection, on the exterior ends of the tent for some critical gear like boots (they probably should not be kept in an occupied tent). You can’t stand up in the tent ( at 4’8″ high), but you don’t feel like the ‘ceiling’ is just inches from your face when you are sleeping either.
Notable Features
* 75D StormShield® polyester ripstop fly with 1500mm coating (allows tents to ventilate and keep the occupants dry)
* Heavy duty 210D nylon oxford floor (tough and dry)
* 40D No-see-um Meshing (keeps the little guys out)
Summary
I don’t recommend every item I am asked to review. In this particular case, I would gladly suggest to my readers that this tent is worthy of your consideration. It is a great size for an Algonquin Park campsite and could sleep up to four campers (3 adults ideally). When fast set-up is a must (like an incoming rain shower) this tent will not disappoint. If this tent is not what you are looking for, consider other backpacking tents from Eureka
Update: I took our tent into Algonquin Park and we encountered high winds, snow and heavy rains over night. This tent set-up quickly and kept us dry and warm (with tent heater) despite the inclement weather we experienced.
Huntsville Weather
2°C
Huntsville
Overcast
Humidity: 75%
Wind: SW at 14 mph
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Wed
2°C -8°C
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Thu
2°C -8°C
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Fri
2°C -4°C
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Sat
0°C -14°C
