Here we go!!!!!

Hey guys!

I've been staring at the clock all day today and it is finally here.

I'm leaving as soon as I finish this post to meet my dad and start the hunt of a lifetime tomorrow morning.

This is excited as I have ever been about anything.

I'm looking forward to letting you all know how it goes this weekend!!!

Talk to you soon and wish me luck!

The Badlands 2200: Strengh, Dependability, Versatility, and Comfort

Hey everybody!

Today is the day I reveal, to the world, my thoughts about what many would consider to be the "flagship" pack produced by the folks at Badlands, the "2200".

I've had a chance to beat it up over the past five weeks of intense scouting and am pleased to report that I have been impressed.

Intro,Pack Description, and Field Pictures:

The first thing you will notice when you put the pack on is the way it fits your back and grips your shoulders. Yes, grips your shoulder. Where many packs, especially with the carrying capacity of this one, 2200 cubic inches (hence the name), hang on your shoulders like a sack of potatoes, this pack is built to feel like it belongs there when you put it on. Traditionally I've been more of a day pack kind of guy so I was a little worried about this pack feeling bulky but that hesitation was quickly remedied before I even got my second arm through the strap. A pack with a HUGE capacity that fits and carries better than any day pack I own.

Obviously the fit is extremely important but now that it feels great on your back. . . . . what does it have to offer? Brooklyn Decker would be great to carry around too but she's probably not going to help much on your fourth day of a six day back country hunt.

Pockets galore, people. Just to give you some idea, my last load included:  three trail cameras, a range finder, jacket, knives, tree pruning equipment, eight bunjee cords, a full 2 litre water bladder, video camera, binoculars, 16 batteries, gps, and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that remained unsmashed after eight hours of hiking and riding to set those cameras. The 2200 boasts more organization than the guy at your office that has six different colors of pens in his shirt pocket.

Pockets are great, but as the guy in your office will tell you, they need to offer some protection as well. He is afraid of errant ink. You have dust, rain, mud, etc. to worry about. Taped seams, heavy duty zippers, and "grippy" rubber zipper pulls will not only keep your gear our of the elements but make it easy to get to when you need it. There is even an access zipper on the  front side (where the pack meets your back) that zips open for easy access to the main compartment if you happen to have something strapped to the back of the pack. I used this feature quite a bit when I had the pack strapped to the front of my 4 wheeler. Very handy.

Strapped to the wheeler, the easy cargo access was very handy.

Staying strong and looking good.



This is Trevor's  (another Badlands believer) 2200, loaded to the max.



Trevor's pack again, notice the zipper pulls.



Pulling cams out.



The pack has a really cool "meat shelf" that allows you to pack meat and gear at the same time. Unfortunately I have not had a chance to use this feature as of yet. .  but I'm hoping to change that very soon. When that happens you can bet that I'll be posting pictures, accompanied by a toothy grin, as soon as possible.

Should You Buy It?

I've used this pack for scouting to this point. Would I use it to actually hunt with? It depends. Define "hunting" and I'll give you an answer. I'm a big spot and stalk guy so if I'm wearing a pack at all when I'm actually making my approach I want it to be small enough to not snag on trees as I'm crawling under them. That being said, as much as I love this pack, I won't be wearing it as I make my approach. Will it be on the wheeler waiting for me to come grab it and start the "work" part after the animal is down? You bet your ass.
If I were a rifle hunter I would absolutely be carrying this pack when I pulled the trigger. Even if I were a stand hunter this pack would be hanging from a limb. If you hunt from a horse, this pack would also be perfect. If you need something to carry your gear while you're scouting, setting cams, hiking into camp for a couple days in the Unitas. . . . look no further.

How I Really Feel:

To this point my experience with this pack has been very good. I can haul a ton of gear without feeling like I'm hauling a ton of gear. Its very easy to keep everything organized, functional, and dependable. Last weekend I got caught in an absolute downpour while out checking my cameras. This wouldn't be such a big deal but I had forgotten my card reader 500 miles away so I was carrying my $1500 laptop to read sd cards. Yeah, stupid huh? I wouldn't recommend this by any means. . . . . but the pack kept my computer bone dry after three hours in the pouring rain. I wish I had a picture of it. . . . .it was to wet for a camera. If that were the ONLY experience I had with this pack it would be enough for me to give my full recommendation but to this point there have been many more and I would not hesitate at all to tell any of you to pull the trigger on this one.

Pair this with that famous Badlands warranty, quoted directly from the link on their site below:

 "Our warranty was designed to keep your pack in the field for as many years as possible and also to demonstrate our willingness to stand behind our products for the long haul. It was not designed to be a "free upgrade program". Therefore, this is our one caveat (as stated in the warranty). "We will repair your pack for free, forever, no matter whose fault it is, no questions asked", sounds like a square deal to us. A few things you need to know here; in most cases it probably cost less to replace a pack than it does to disassemble and repair it. The other thing is; it is now and always has been our intention to do right by our customers, period. This a company founded on treating people as we would like to be treated ourselves. Therefore, if it is a case where the product should be replaced, it will be done promptly and without whining. If it makes more senses under the circumstances to repair it, that will be done. Either way, we do it on our dime."

http://www.badlandspacks.com/content.php?userChoice=badlands_warranty

You can't go wrong with this pack or the people that stand behind it.

Click the logo below and give the Badlands site a look, you'll like it.

Enjoying the Ride: Snapshots Along the Way

Hey everyone!

My hunt is now eleven days away. Eleven.

I have spent the last five weekends leaving boot tracks in some of the most remote corners of Southwestern Utah, seeing things that not many people take the opportunity to see. The Southwest Desert unit is not what most people would consider to be classic "elk" country. Normally when people think elk they think steep quaken aspen covered ridges and lush green meadows as far as the eye can see. I grew up in the desert though. For me, elk country is rolling hills, pinion pines, low cedars, sage brush, and small springs bubbling out of the hills.

It's a different place but it's very near to my heart. My emotional connection to the area is due, greatly, to my father. He loves the area as if it were all his own. He's coming up on an incredible 30 years with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. Maybe I love being out there because I feel like I'm sharing it with him. He knows every dirt road and what's at the end of it. Every canyon, burn, or clearing has a story as well; whether it be a big case that he solved or a time spent with the family. It's hard for me to not fall in love with that place every time I'm out there. It's even better when I'm riding around with my dad. Elk or no elk in a couple weeks; I already wouldn't trade the time we've spent out there, for anything. There's no crying in elk hunting. There's no crying in elk hunting. There's no crying in elk hunting.



Looking South West, thunder clouds move over Pine Valley.



Anyway, the last couple weeks have been incredible and I just wanted to take a few minutes to post some of the pictures I've taken along the way. Lest you not worry, the product testing is definitely being done. This post is about taking the time to just enjoy doing what you're doing. Take a mintue and soak in the memories you're making while you're making them. We are all trained, programmed, and wired to spend our time working hard to acheive goals and that's fine, but take a break every now and then. . . even if it's just a mintue to take a deep breath and look around. . . . and snap a picture, even if it's in your mind.

Here are a few of the pictures I've captured along the way. I hope you like them.

Setting another cam

  

Awesome "Cactus" buck. Cryptorchid.


 

Wasn't expecting this! What a great looking buck!

 

No this is not a jean advertisement. But it should be.

 

Hiking in new boots and short socks = sore feet. "This will be good practice for carrying your elk out." She said as we got closer to the truck.



Heading out to glass in the rain.



Russ and I getting back to the truck.





Dad with a dandy out of the pond.



Not many better feelings than this one.



Fish on!



Mustang on the skyline



Russ with anther fine specimen.

 

Looking out over the valley from one of my favorite spots.



Backpacks make good rack packs too.

Brunch.



Russ stopped to think about whether he remembered to take the wet clothes out of his washer. I took a pic.



Dad glassing.

More pics soon to come, everyone. There are just a few that I have and wanted to share.

I'm really getting into this trail cam thing and will be posting my comparrisons on cameras and image quality very soon. Between mine and Trevor's camera's in the field, we have five different brands doing work for us out there right now. We have some incredible pictures so far and I'm looking forward to posting them for you to see and compre soon.

It has already been one hell of a fun season and it hasn't even started yet. As crazy as life is, it's great to feel like things do slow down just a little bit when you're in the hills. I believe that time spent out of cell service should not be deducted from one's life.

As always, thanks for reading and look for another post very soon!

An Embarrasing Moment and My Latest Purchase: Under Armour Heat Gear Scent Control Camo

Last night I got caught in somewhat of an embarrassing situation. To those of you who know me personally, I know that must come as a total shock to you.

Knowing I had a few minutes before my girlfriend came home, I ran up the stairs with a new purchase and quickly ditched my insurance monkey suit.

Unfortunately, I didn't have as much time as I thought and I was caught in the act: modeling my new camo, head to toe, in front of the bedroom mirror.

My hunt starts in 17 days and I'm a little bit excited about it.

Now, to my latest purchase!

As you've seen in some of my blog posts I purchased a pair of Under Armour Speed Freak boots and have been very impressed to this point. I have had my eye on Under Armour camo for some time now and having had great experiences with their other products (mostly workout and baseball clothing) I decided to take the plunge and pick up some UA Heat Gear Scent Control t shirts, on short sleeve and one long sleeve.

The unit I'm hunting is pretty unique in that it goes from frosty cold in the morning to 90 degrees in the afternoon. Literally. Good base layers are extremely important because you shed your jacket as soon as the sun comes up if you don't want to be covered in sweat. Under Armour shirts and been great at the gym and on the baseball field so I'm pretty excited to take that experience to the hills.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS:

Ok, I know I'm supposed to be all technical here but come on guys, let's be honest: this stuff LOOKS awesome. Maybe Under Armour has just done a great job with their marketing but as soon as I saw this stuff I thought to myself, "I'd look freakin' awesome wearing that in a picture with a nice bull." Yes, I tried it on before I bought it and may or may not have flexed the guns in the mirror just to see how it looked. I'm starting to feel like I'm way to honest with you people.

Outside of them looking awesome, these tops do have some technical aspects that enticed me. I'm not much of a stand or blind hunter so I spend a lot of my time running up and down mountains to get ahead of animals. Needless to say, sweating like crazy is a given. More often than not, an animal is going to smell you long before it sees you. I don't believe that there is a garment in existence that will eliminate your smell. I don't care how much you spend. I do believe though, that if you can keep your perspiration to a minimum
you stand a better chance of not smelling as bad.

As a side note: What you are wearing makes absolutely no difference if you don't cook your dinner time Italian sausage all the way through on your butane stove. . . .This tip brought to you by a lesson learned on elk hunt number 1. I'm pretty sure I didn't get within a square mile of an elk the next day.

Being that I'm hunting in a place with an extreme climate, this seems like a perfect fit: a  great base layer that is light and breathable under a jacket for my early morning hunting that will perform nicely as my outer layer as soon as I shed the jacket. This is my hope anyway, I'll get back to you guys with the results very soon.

These shirts are also made using the Armour Block Antimicrobial technology. The theory behind this is not to "trap" human odor but to stop it before it starts. Again, I don't believe human odor can magically disappear, Copperfield style, but management makes sense. Under Armour advertises that "ArmourBlock technology uses a combination of silver & chitosan as anti-microbial's that "block" odors before there is any odor at all." Honestly, I was going to buy the shirts before I saw this so if it works. . .. GREAT! The only ones that can attest to the effectiveness of this technology are hopefully standing in front of my trail cameras as I write this.

Another incredible feature that I'm very excited about: these shirts actually repel skunks. Yes folks, you read correctly. Check it out. Haha, what else could it be?

So to wrap this all up, I am excited about the features this UA gear brings to the table. It's also hard to deny that you really do feel like a bad ass when you put this stuff on. Barring a major malfunction like the seams disintegrate on the first wash or even worse THE SHIRTS BEING JUST THE OPPOSITE OF SKUNK REPELLENT I think I'm going to be really happy with my purchase. Like everything though, I'm going to test the hell out of this stuff and get back to you all with yet another honesty filled review.

As always, thanks for reading!

'Til we meet again!