A Tale of 3 Boots | What are the best hunting boots?

A Tale of 3 Boots | What are the best hunting boots?

Over the past five hunting seasons, I’ve put a lot of miles on three different pairs of hunting boots. All were from different manufacturers, all were different in terms of function and style, and all had their pros and cons. When it comes to hunting (especially Western hunting), boots are one of the pieces of gear you don’t want to skimp on. I’ve done long treks in $50 boots in the past, and I definitely paid for it in terms of blisters and pain. However, boots and the way they work with your foot is a complicated equation, and just because your boots cost more than your truck payment doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be comfortable or last for years.

How to Film Hunts | Tips for the Solo Hunter

How to Film Hunts | Tips for the Solo Hunter

Hunting is hard enough without adding cameras to the mix, and most of us aren’t going to recruit or hire a guy to come with us simply to film the whole thing. But, can a cell-phone pic here or there really capture all the memories you’re hoping to preserve? Probably not. So, what can you do if you’re not a photographer, don’t want to mess up your hunt dinking around with cameras all day, and may even be hunting on your own a lot? Here are some thoughts on what you may or may not need, depending on your goals for the video.

Planning a Colorado Elk Hunt - Part 2

Planning a Colorado Elk Hunt - Part 2

Well, it’s been a couple months since my first post walking through all the facets of planning an out of state hunt. At this point, I will be hitting the mountain in almost exactly three months, and I couldn’t be more excited! I also couldn’t be more aware that there is still so much to do. So, at the three-months and counting mark, here is what I’ve done and where the whole process stands.

3 Tips for an Awesome Marriage | How to Keep Love Alive

3 Tips for an Awesome Marriage | How to Keep Love Alive

Sarah and I just celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary. Not exactly a major milestone or anything, but we’re three kids into this thing and still extremely happy (tired…but happy). We also find ourselves in a season where we seem to have a bunch of younger people in our lives getting married, engaged, or becoming Instagram-official…love is in the air, I guess. And because of that, I find myself talking to a lot of guys asking the same question: how do you have an awesome marriage? Here are three things that have kept Sarah and I going through even the toughest seasons of our marriage…

3 Tips for Overcoming Fear in the Backcountry

3 Tips for Overcoming Fear in the Backcountry

No one likes to talk about it (or even admit they’ve experienced it), but it’s real…very real! Something about hunting and the outdoors tends to bring out our most puffed-out-chest, manly-man, I-can-handle-anything version of ourselves, and so we minimize those parts of us that feel like we can’t handle anything. And because of that phenomenon, no one wants to talk about how frightening it can be to find yourself alone in the backcountry. All by yourself, not another human for miles, just you and whatever you can’t see out there in the dark…I don’t care who you are, some part of you is going to be afraid. But, how do you get past it so you can stay out and keep hunting???

When Your Son Breaks Your Heart...My Kid Hates Hunting!

When Your Son Breaks Your Heart...My Kid Hates Hunting!

I was afraid this day would come. Thinking back on my 10 year-old self, I would have LOVED the chance for someone to take me hunting. I was an outdoors kid in a non-outdoors family, and ever since my little ones were babies, I was determined that they were going to have the wild, outdoors childhood I wished I could have had. But, fearing the answer, I asked him: “buddy, do you even like hunting? It’s okay, just tell me the truth.” Even though I knew it was coming, it still stung like a hot knife in my back: “No, dad…I hate hunting! It’s so boring! We have to walk a million miles carrying heavy stuff, and we usually don’t even see anything. I hate it!” The ball’s in your court, Dad…what do you do with that one?

Planning a Colorado Elk Hunt - Part 1

Planning a Colorado Elk Hunt - Part 1

So, you didn’t get drawn for elk in your home state (story of my life here in AZ), or you live in a part of the country that simply doesn’t have elk hunting. You’ve watched all the shows, been sucked deeply into the YouTube vortex of Western elk hunting, and would LOVE to chase these majestic creatures this fall. But, where do you even start? It’s hard enough to navigate your local hunting options…now you’re gonna throw a dart on a map in an area you’ve NEVER been before, travel hundreds of miles, and hit the trail hoping that everything comes together? The idea of taking your first out of state hunting adventure is equal parts exhilarating and terrifying.

3 Reasons Every Bowhunter Needs a Great Bow Shop (and how to find one)

3 Reasons Every Bowhunter Needs a Great Bow Shop (and how to find one)

In my relatively short bowhunting career, I have had three wildly different bow shopping and/or tuning experiences at three different locations. A big box store and two different independent archery shops - two experiences were terrible and one was fantastic. Having now experienced some of the worst in the bow-world as well as some of the most amazing archery professionals, I am firmly convinced that EVERY archer needs to have an ongoing relationship with a really good bow shop. Here’s why and how to identify one…

5 Tips for Camping or Hunting with Your Kids & Family

5 Tips for Camping or Hunting with Your Kids & Family

I LOVE sharing my passion for the outdoors with my family and seeing my son have some great first-time experiences, but there are those moments where the hunt is impeded, where whining is the order of the day, and where I am just ready to start a full-fledged dad-rant! So, how do you do it? How can you create awesome memories and raise your kids with a love of the outdoors without going insane? Well, I’m certainly still figuring it out, but here are five things I’ve learned that help everyone have a much better time. There will still be periods of frustration and “teachable moments” (translation: those times when you might just leave your whining son on the side of the mountain), but these ideas can help mitigate the worst of it.