outdoors

In the world of hunting and wildlife conservation, we’re always looking for new people to join us in what we love. Recently, fellow blogger, Bob St. Pierre, wrote about Georgia Pellegrini and how women’s participation in hunting has increased 36.6 percent over the past decade. A pretty staggering number, isn’t it? I think this new trend is a great sign for the future of hunting and conservation.

 Someday soon, I envision a time when every instance a woman takes to the field or writes about hunting isn’t a big deal just because of her gender. True outdoors women deserve credit for being good hunters who happen to be women. Plain and simple.

 In fact, I’d like nothing more than for hunting to be widely accepted no matter what demographic factor you examine; gender, ethnicity, zip code or tax bracket. More people in the woods, waters, and fields will equal more people who believe in the virtues of conservation.

 So the million dollar question is “how do we accomplish making hunting so mainstream that it’s accepted as a common occurrence for any race, age, gender or creed?” Could the world of fashion be hunting’s gateway? *

 In that vein, I bring you “Glamping” and “Glunting.” These are the terms the fashion world has created to describe the new trend of combining high glamor with what us “normal folk” often refer to as camping or hunting gear.  Hence, glamor camping equates to “glamping,” and glamor hunting creates “glunting.” How else can you explain the exorbitant amount of Duluth Packs and Red Wing Irish Setters ending up in Brooklyn, NY?

I know I essentially said “the more the merrier” when it comes to people being interested in the outdoors, but… let me try to weigh the pros and cons of this latest fashion trend:

High fashion's take on the classic upland boot.

 Pros:

•  More people viewing the outdoors as being “cool” or “hip” equals more voices willing to stand up to protect the wild places we love
•  It’s now acceptable for me to wear my hunting boots to church
•  I can finally wear that camo sport coat out to dinner

 Cons:

•  It’s fair to say we all saw what happened to trout anglers when pheasant feathers became a hit with hair stylists
•  Honestly, did you see that pair of high heeled upland boots?...

Now that I think about it, maybe it’s a good thing fashion tends to be like technology in the fact it’s obsolete before you even get it home.

The Over/Under blog is written (sometimes tongue in cheek) by Andrew Vavra, Pheasants Forever’s Marketing Specialist. 

*There might be some sarcasm laced in this thought….

This past weekend was supposed to be the easiest hunt of the year. A reward for a good dog that performed great all season long. The pup, Beau, and I had already logged plenty of miles in numerous states on essentially nothing but public land. We worked for our birds and we found our birds, but now it was time for our annual pilgrimage to a good friend’s property in South Dakota.

This was supposed to be a cakewalk; what I ended up with was a dog that can’t walk.

By mid-Saturday morning, the action was exactly what I had anticipated. Most birds were flushing wild, but there were enough  “heart attack hens” and tight-holding roosters left to keep all four dogs busy. Beau was flying back and forth and a bit hard to control with so much scent wafting through the air, but I was ok with this. After all, this was supposed to be her payday for a season’s worth of work. Her tail was wagging, feathers were stuck to her muzzle and there was a renewed jump in her step – until that jump slowly morphed into a limp.

It started off as  barely noticeable, just a small hitch in her giddy-up while walking from field to field, but It quicky  escalated to  her rear left leg being hoisted to her gut while she hopped along in front of me. As if to say “I’ll just play it off as no big deal, he’ll still let me hunt,” she tried to stay ahead of me as if nothing was wrong. Not so fast pooch.

She was crated for the rest of the trip and with that, my hunt quickly turned into a nature walk. The spark was gone, the interest fleeting. There I was, hunting with some of my best friends, laughing along the way as we got closer to our limits - but with an unsettling emptiness looming within me. An emptiness I hope will be filled by next fall.

This week Beau was diagnosed with a completely torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL). She’s not even two years old, she was just beginning to come into her own and now both she and I have to start over. This past evening she looked up at me while sitting awkwardly next to the kitchen table with the easiest expression I’ve ever read on her face: “I’m sorry.” A look of remorse stared me in the eyes and neither of us knew what to do.

She knows something is wrong but not to what extent. I know what’s wrong but not what this means for our future. Both of our hearts are caught in our throats. By the time her second birthday rolls around in February, hopefully I’ll have more answers. For now all I have is an extra bag of bones and ambiguities.

To have surgery, or not to have surgery, that is the question…

All Beau wants for Christmas is the ability to hit the fields running next fall.

The Over/Under blog is written by Andrew Vavra, Pheasants Forever’s Marketing Specialist.

It all started innocently enough. I found myself meandering around a small town hardware store/gas station/local hangout after a long opening morning pheasant hunt. Somewhere between the overpriced energy drinks and drywall anchors the pet aisle caught my eye, feeling quite proud of my pup’s performance that morning I figured it would be worth coughing up a few extra dollars to reward her for a job well done.

Beggin’ Strips? Sure, why not, nothing wrong with a little treat at the end of the field -but wait – what’s that? Do I spy an entire smoked pig femur? Perfect. This would keep the little hellion occupied as I try to warm up to a piping hot bowl of chili.

We arrived back at the farm house and much to Beau’s delight I tossed the bone into her kennel before retreating to the comforts of clanking spoons and college football. No more than an hour later, I went back outside to uncrate the dog and was greeted by a feverishly wagging tail… and no bone.

Zip, nadda, zilch. There was nothing left of what was once an entire femur. “Crud.” Except I didn’t say crud.

The rest of the afternoon was basically a casual walk through the park with my gun over my shoulder and an uncomfortable lab licking my heels. She wasn’t having anything to do with sudden movements and therefore I wasn’t going to be partaking in the flushing of any birds.

Luckily, Sunday morning arrived and after a few extra bathroom breaks Beau was back up to full speed. Lesson learned. It’s one thing to be a bone collector; it’s a totally different thing to be a bone eater.

If your dog can chew through a used tire, you might want to reconsider giving it one of these "treats" before a hunt...

Have you ever inadvertently made your dog take an off day?

The Over/Under blog is written by Andrew Vavra, Pheasants Forever’s Marketing Specialist.

To be quite honest, I don’t normally think about deer hunting in June. I consider myself more of a “meat hunter” than anything else and my preseason big game preparation usually begins and ends with clearing out a few shooting lanes and checking my stands in September. This year, however, might be a bit different.

Last October a rogue buck wandered by my trail camera and I’ve had a tough time picking up my jaw ever since. Figuring he was just passing through, I didn’t think much of it when he didn’t show himself during the 2010 firearm season. In fact, by the end of the year, I assumed he had already made someone else’s day.

The "Big Boy" shows himself in a trail camera picture taken in fall of 2010.

New evidence proves otherwise.

Here, the same buck from 2010 shows some new growth (photo taken in June).

To my astonishment, not only did he survive the gauntlet known as the Minnesota Deer Season, he looks bigger and better than ever. Common sense would say I need to have my rear-end glued to my deer stand for a majority of this fall, but unfortunately I know that in order to keep the lady happy, I only get so many weekends afield and my true passion is hunting pheasants with my dog.

Do I fill my freezer with a healthy doe and be happy pheasant hunting more with my Lab, Beau?  Do I just hope he happens to wander by one of the times I plan on hitting the hardwoods with my bow or gun? Or do I devote every spare moment to taking what could be the buck of my lifetime? I do wish some of my favorite hobbies didn’t all take place within the same 4-month window of time…

What would you do?

The Over/Under blog is written by Andrew Vavra, Pheasants Forever’s Marketing Specialist.

A father’s gift of introducing a son or daughter to the great outdoors is perhaps the greatest gift of all.

The Over/Under blog is written by Andrew Vavra, Pheasants Forever’s Marketing Specialist.