Bright Idea Outdoors Weblog

Rocky Update

This coming weekend marks the one-year anniversary of Rocky joining the Bright Idea Outdoors household.

He's nearly full-grown now (I hope) and has proven to be a great addition to the team.  He loves kids,  has lots of energy and faithfully protects his home and family.  Rocky chases deer but will always stop and make sure I haven't run off.  He's at a great dog age, I think, where he's young enough to be a lot of fun but old enough to know how to control most of his destructive dog-tendencies.

The only problem with Rocky is that he won't stop reading Rex's blog and afterward always whines about when I'm going to take him to meet Camo!

More Writing about Writing

I know I didn't do much blogging last week, and the two posts I did do were really just updates on other writing projects.  You'll probably see more of the same here this week; I may not be blogging much, but that doesn't mean I'm not writing.  Here are some of the things I've had going:

• Turkey Hunting Article: the deadline for that was changed to Friday March 6, so my research will continue this week, and I'll probably go ahead and write it on Sunday.  Since I don't want to steal any thunder from the site that is publishing it, Bright Idea Outdoors Turkey Week is rescheduled for the second week of March.  Anyone interested in contributing should email turkey hunting tips to outdoorblogger@verizon.net.

• Proposals: This doesn't have anything to do with blogging, hunting or fishing but it's got a lot to do with how I finance all three.  The busy spring landscaping season is about to begin, and prospective clients are keeping me busy writing proposals for work to be done in March and April.  By the way, I refuse to participate in the recession!

• Church stuff: A couple weeks ago, the pastor of the church I started going to last fall asked me if I would be willing to stand up and say a few words to the congregation on Sunday February 22.  As those who know me are aware, standing up and saying a few words is sort of what I'm into, so I was only too happy to oblige.  Of course, I wanted to make sure the few words I said made sense, so I devoted my Thursday and Friday writing time to writing out what I planned to say.

That went well, and I'm toying with the idea of publishing some of it here.  I still need to think about that though.  Maybe tomorrow. . .

Turkey Hunting Article in the Works

I made two turkey-hunting-related decisions last month:

1. I'm going to write an article on turkey hunting for my hunting "expert" page;

2. I'm actually going to go turkey hunting this spring.

See, my schedule gets pretty hectic in the spring.  April and May are my busiest months of the year at work, and I always end up coaching a youth sport or two in the spring season to keep things interesting.  Add to that busy schedule the fact that it is against the law to hunt on Sundays here in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and I've just never had time to get into turkey hunting.

A few weeks ago, however, I decided that this year I'm going to make the time to turkey hunt, even if it is only once during Virginia's five-week season.

So perhaps you're wondering how someone who is new to turkey hunting is going to write about the sport.  Glad you asked.

What I did was email interview questions to two hunting-industry professionals I know from the world of outdoor blogging, as well as to Bright Idea Outdoors special correspondent Tom Elliston, who started turkey hunting relatively recently but put in the work to learn how to do it and has had some success, bagging two birds in the last year.  All three of them responded generously, sending me responses that could easily be stand-alone articles of their own.

Now I just have to sort through the information, put together the high points and write my article.  I expect as I read the responses, I'll learn enough about spring gobbler hunting that I can at least avoid embarrassing myself when I go afield in April.

But because the individuals I contacted put so much time and effort into answering my questions, I don't want to limit my coverage of the topic to the short article I'll write for bizymoms.com.  I'm going to declare the first week of March the first Bright Idea Outdoors Turkey Hunting Education Week and publish excerpts from the great responses I received, as well as any other good information I pick up along the way.

So if you have any pointers on spring gobbler hunting, especially tips aimed at people who are new to the sport, please send them to outdoorblogger@verizon.net by the end of next week.  I need your help to make the posts I publish that week a resource for anyone who wants to try and bag a bird this spring.

Check Out My Gun Safety Article

Be sure and click on over to my page on bizymoms.com to read my short article on kids and gun safety.  And while you're there, you might be interested in some of the other topics covered in the expert corner.  They really cover a lot of subjects!

I haven't yet gotten much traffic to my site  since I started writing for bizymoms.com a few weeks ago.  But hopefully some of those moms will start clicking over, find the OBS site and then see that  the outdoors is for everyone!

The next thing you know, the woods will be full of gun-toting moms.  If they're not too "bizy" to hunt, that is.

OBS Challenge: Why the Outdoors is for Everyone

Outdoor Bloggers Summit Chairperson Kristine Shreve recently issued a challenge for OBS members to write about our thoughts on why no one should be excluded from hunting and the various other outdoor pursuits we blog about.  The challenge came about in response to a controversial article that I'm not going to even bother discussing, but if you want to be offended click here.

The Non-Traditional Faces of the Outdoors challenge has been a tough one for me.  The answers to the question of why the outdoors is for everyone may at first seem pretty obvious:

• Hunting needs more participation by more kinds of people if it is to survive as a sport;

• Groups of people that were once excluded from other sports have gone on to make some of the greatest contributions to those sports;

• The number of female hunting bloggers is clear evidence that ladies like hunting too;

• We live in a free country; and

• If you can get your wife to try hunting, maybe she'll be a little more understanding of why you'd rather hunt than paint the kitchen.

Which brings me to why this challenge required a bit more thought for me than some of the others have.  My wife doesn't hunt.  She doesn't fish.  She goes camping with me about once every 10 years and even then only in a heavily-controlled environment.  She won't even eat my venison.

My kids are into hunting, but all three of them are boys, so I don't have a daughter to introduce to the outdoors.  I've also never had the opportunity to hunt with a black guy, a disabled person, an immigrant or anyone else that might fit into the "non-traditional faces of the outdoors" category.  But I'd love to introduce someone, anyone who might not otherwise get an opportunity, to my beloved outdoor pass times.

So in response to Kristine's challenge, I'm going to issue a few challenges of my own:

First of all, I challenge my wife to sit in a tree stand with me at sunrise.  She doesn't have to kill anything or even carry a weapon.  In fact, I won't plan on shooting either, and we can even do it in the summer if she wants.  I think if she could just once experience the magic of a deer emerging from the shadows, she would have a much better idea of where I'm coming from.

Second, I challenge my sister to allow and encourage her oldest daughter to participate in at least one Bright Idea Outdoors sponsored event this year.  I'm not saying she's got to let me take the little girl hunting.  Perhaps a fishing trip would be more her speed.  And I bet she'd enjoy plinking some cans off the roof of the Lodge with the Red Ryder.

Third, I challenge anyone who has never had a chance to hunt to ask me about how I got into it and discuss what we can do to get you into it.  If you're willing to put in the work and take a hunter safety course, I'll find a way to get you on some game next fall.

Finally, I challenge myself to this year introduce at least one person from the "non-traditional" category to hunting.  I'll let you know how that goes.

A Nutritional Note

Last night, I bumped into a friend who sells pharmaceuticals for a living.  I asked him how business is.

"I just got a new heart disease medication," he said.  "As long as there are MacDonald's, I can always sell that one."

This fellow spends a lot of time talking to medical professionals and takes good care of himself.  What he said will really give me something to think about the next time I'm tempted to pull into a drive-through.

So put down that quarter-pounder and throw those deep fried chicken nuggets you bought your kids in the trash.  Get some venison out of the freezer and go hit the produce aisle while it thaws.

Get Your Own Camospace

I've been hearing about Camospace for awhile but had never even looked at it until recently when Mel wrote that he'd joined.  I myself finally joined last week, probably around the same time Deer Passion signed up.

Since then, I've been fielding tons of "friend requests" from other members.  Like most things involving the Internet and computers, Camospace confuses the heck out of me.  Every time I take on something new, my head spins a little faster when I open my laptop.

It does, however, look like Camospace could be fun once you get the hang of it.  If nothing else, it's a great way to see just how many people out there have outdoors-related businesses they're trying to promote.  Take a look at my Camospace "friends" and then go look at their friend lists, which sometimes number in the thousands. 

Some of the people you see and what they're promoting will surprise you.  Just be careful, it can get addicting...

Camping Anyone?

It's been colder than a well-digger's hind end here for what seems like forever, and these last couple days have been particularly brutal.  But with hunting season over (sort of) everyone's thoughts seem to be turning to camping.

"Dad, can we camp in the Lodge this weekend," my son asked.

Well, the weather is supposed to be a little warmer Saturday and Sunday, but I think nighttime lows will still be a bit cold for little kids to be sleeping in that drafty unheated old chicken house.  I told him I'd see what the weather did, but I expect we'll be tucked snug in our beds come Saturday night.

Meanwhile, the Captain and I were commiserating today about our lack of a Florida trip this year when he started talking about putting together a big camping trip for several families.  We talk about doing things like this a lot more than we actually do them, so I think the time has come for me to issue a challenge:

Captain, you're in charge of the 2009 Bright Idea Outdoors Spring Campout.  Let me know what I can do to help.

We're all counting on you. . .

Whitetail Down: OK, I Think I've Done My Part

A little snow fell yesterday morning, and, since I rarely get a chance to hunt in the snow, I started getting the itch.  About 20 minutes after I got into my stand, I got a chance to scratch it.

"I think I might do a little deer hunting this afternoon," I told my wife when I went home for lunch. 

She can't understand how I still want to sit out in the cold, waiting on a deer after a season that has gone on for five months now (because of deer overpopulation in my county, we have an early antlerless season in September and a late anterless-only season that runs through March.)  Still, she nodded her approval.

Even I have had mixed emotions about the late season.  I've got plenty of meat in the freezer, and it's just not as much fun when you know you can't kill a buck.  Add to that the cold weather we've been experiencing and the fact that I haven't been feeling well for about a month, and I've had a hard time getting myself off the couch and into the woods. 

There's also the ever-present danger of accidentally killing a buck that has already dropped its antlers.  I discussed this with a Virginia Conservation Police Officer I met recently at the Nations Outdoor Show.  He encouraged me to be careful not to shoot an antlerless buck but also to get out there and hunt, saying that the late antlerless seasons we've had in Northern Virginia for three years now really are making a difference in balancing the herd.

So yesterday, feeling better than I have in weeks and energized by the snow on the ground, I decided to get out there and do my part.

Of course, by the time I got into my stand at 4 p.m., most of the snow had melted.  Any disappointment that caused vanished however when I spotted a deer moving through the hardwoods, literally less than two minutes after I had settled in.

It was only about 75 yards away, and my first instinct was to raise my Mossberg and get ready.  I fought off that urge though and instead raised my binoculars, carefully watching the deer until I was sure it was doe.

By this time she was within 30 yards and almost dead downwind of me.  A couple of times she raised her nose, sniffing at something that didn't belong.  Between the wind and still having to lower the binoculars and raise my shotgun, I thought there was no way I was going to take the deer.

"Oh well," I thought.  "It's still early.  If I can just avoid spooking her, more deer will probably come."

But somehow the doe I'd been watching kept moving closer.  As her head passed behind a tree I hoisted the shotgun.

At 25 yards, I let the 000 buckshot fly.  At 4:20 p.m., I climbed down to inspect my harvest.

As I said, I already had plenty of venison, so my first thought was to donate this deer to Hunters for the Hungry.  But, since winter is the slow time of year in my business and my employees haven't been working much lately, I decided to "donate" the deer to them instead.  For me, giving meat to people who really need and appreciate it is one of the most rewarding parts of the hunt. 

Company skinning parties are always a lot of fun too!

(In case you didn't know, this is where meat comes from.)

With that, I think I've done my part to thin the herd (five deer in the 08/09 season; four of them in Loudoun and three of those antlerless.)  I should probably put away my deer hunting gear and start thinking about fishing and trying to find the time to turkey hunt during the busy spring landscaping season.  Part of me says:

"You killed one late season deer.  It was a doe; quit while you're ahead."

But another part of me says:

"March 28 is still a long way away.  Never say never!"

The hunt goes on. . .

Banshee Reeks: A Little Known Jewel of the Loudoun Park System

I first heard about Banshee Reeks shortly after Loudoun County acquired the 725-acre property in the 1990's.  At the time, I was working as a reporter for Leesburg Today and writing about whether the land would be used as a nature preserve or for athletic fields.

The nature lovers won out over the Little Leaguers, and today the Loudoun County Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Services operates Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve with extremely limited access to the general public.  The land is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday.  Access outside those hours must be booked through the county.

When my boys and I visited Banshee Reeks over the past weekend, a pretty sizeable Boy Scout campout was in progress.  I may call the county this spring, tell them I want to have a Bright Idea Outdoors campout and see what they say.  How could they say "no" to these guys?

  Banshee Reeks gets very little publicity, and there is no visible signage for it on the closest major highway, Evergreen Mills Road.  I'm not sure if I would even know about the nature preserve had I not learned about it in my old job. 

The Banshee Reeks page on the county website states:

"Designating Banshee Reeks Park as a Nature Preserve ensures that all the plants, animals, habitats and cultural resources are protected." 

That obviously means no hunting, and I suppose it means we can't fish in the park's ponds or its Goose Creek frontage either.  Add that to the list of questions I need to ask when I call. . .