One of the best parts of hunting, in my opinion, is the planning phase. It’s when the anticipation builds, your excitement level increases and you just get pumped! I love the planning process. Ask my wife, my friends, or whomever I deal with. Planning is one aspect of hunting that is not only essential, but can be quite a learning experience.
Along with planning comes practice. Not just archery practice, which I have been doing every Friday with my buddies Brett and Brandon, but also fitness (mental and physical) and using your gear before you hit the forest. I’ve been working out and have started increasing the difficulty using heavier weights or running trails. Don’t get me wrong, the working out sucks, but it’ll be miserable, if not unbearable if I am hunting at 10,000 feet and have not worked out at all. Another area to practice is using your GPS. I know that I will be using my GPS often when I am in Colorado, so I plan on breaking it out more and more to learn the essential features before I get there.
 |
| Improving my odds by shooting this pig target at 60 yards. |
Colorado has some of the best elk country in the USA and I am headed there in September. I’ll be heading out with Piranha Custom Bowstrings owner, and friend, Eddy Erautt. We have been sending emails, texts, talking extensively on the phone all in preparation for hunting elk in September. I am blessed with the fact that Eddy lives there and can do some preseason scouting before I arrive. It is not only a huge blessing, but also something that will help make our hunt that much more enjoyable and hopefully end in a successful elk kill!
Last night, Eddy and I spent the evening reviewing maps, areas to scout and gear to bring. We had a blast discussing our options and you could tell we were both very excited. We also knew that we’d have to start picking up some of our gear soon, such as Mountain House meals and wool socks. Trust me, there is much more that I will need, but each week I plan on setting some gear aside as elk season approaches.
One of the great features of the hunt that Eddy and I went over last night was mapping. I normally use BaseCamp for setting up my maps. I have the HuntingGPSMaps for California which show BLM, private and public land. It’s very detailed and up to date. Eddy mentioned a newer feature they offer which is the maps for Google Earth. So, I downloaded the Colorado map for Google Earth. I wanted to get a feel for the area before I arrived and also mark some spots and water holes. Eddy and I were able to view the areas we’ll be going into, via the map, and that made it much easier and excited us even more! By the end of our conversation all I wanted to do was start packing for Colorado!
I will share more of how the hunt planning is coming as September gets closer. For now, it’s archery practice, plenty of research, and hitting the hills in preparation. I cannot wait to hunt elk for the very first time!
Be First to Comment