I don’t really do a lot of gear reviews anymore. When I first hooked up with Skinny Moose they were more aggressive about getting us to pimp various things, some of which we never even saw. I’m sure someone was getting a sponsorship or some free advertising or something, but not me. Now I mostly ignore their “releases” and stick to things I personally would like to read, namely stories and pictures from the field.

But when an outfit called Carson Optical sent me an email a while back asking me to take a look a product call the Pholster I was intrigued. It promised to be a great way to carry birds, particularly pheasants. And at the risk of sounding like a wimp, I sometimes have problems carrying pheasants. My shoulder simply doesn’t bend the direction needed to stuff that bird in the back of my vest and I hate having a bird bulging in the side pocket. So usually you have to either put your gun on the ground or ask the guy next to you for help. The Pholster promises to eliminate this problem!

So I asked them to send me one, and they did. I hauled it around with me from the start of upland season in South Dakota down through Kansas and into late December in Oklahoma. I killed a lot of pheasants this year. I had the Phoster on my belt the whole time.

And the Pholster does exactly what it promises to do. You clip it to your belt and when your dog brings back a bird you simply slide the neck into the gap. You can then walk another mile of the thickest CRP without worrying about that bird falling out. It won’t happen. You don’t have to stop the whole line of hunters while you try to unhinge your elbow and shoulder to jam that bird into your back. Just slip it in the slot and keep hunting. Very cool.

The bottom line is this: The pholster is a simple little product that is worth having. It’s not expensive and it is helpful and easy to use. They come in packs of two, which is just right. If you’re a serious upland hunter who doesn’t hire someone to carry your birds for you, pick one up. You can find them here.

Let me know what you think.

Sunday will be a sad day for me. Just like September 1st brings excitement for the adventures to come over the next several months, February 15th brings an end to another season and a few weeks of moderate depression. This evening I took several guns apart and cleaned them, a sad ritual. But I decided to make the best of it so I took some pictures to see if I could make an educational blog post…

First, we start with a dirty but otherwise healthy Browning BPS:

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The last Ducks Unlimited Magazine had a cover story titled, “In Praise of the Pump”, which can be found here. I read it the same weekend I hunted with a couple of Super Black Eagle 2 toting friends. We were standing in flooded timber and dealing with both mud and ice. One of these $1400.00 wonder weapons turned into an occasionally functional single shot. I’m not picking on the Benelli, it happens to every auto. Or as the DU piece says:

I am not looking to start a debate here, so please don’t send letters. Somewhere out there in duck country, somebody has a pump gun that jams on every duck hunting day that ends in the letter y while someone else has an autoloader that has not jammed since disco was the rage. But the heart of the matter is that there is more “stuff” going on inside semiautomatics, while a slide-action gun is beautiful in its simplicity. Too much oil on your pump? Not a problem; wipe it on your sleeve. Not enough grease in the action? No worries, steal a little off the outboard. Drop your pump in the lake? Clear the barrel and then fire away. The pump is not powered by gas, springs, or inertia. It is powered by the operator, so it will usually accept a shell with a little ice or a few rust spots on the brass.

If I think back over the years it’s pretty easy for me to think of one time or another when I’ve seen each major auto fail. Usually it’s cold, muddy, and dogs and/or boats were involved. Sometimes it’s a clean pheasant hunt on a sunny day like this past November in South Dakota when I watched a Berretta become reduced to a single shot.

But honestly the reliability isn’t the only issue for me. Nor is speed. My grandfather used to say that a good hunter could shoot a pump faster than an auto, and I agree. The real benefit to me is accuracy. I believe the secret of shooting accurately after the first shot is rhythm, and there is no rhythm without a pump. Again, I’ll borrow from the DU article:

… a hunter who shoots one a lot for ducks actually revels in the time and process of pumping the gun. He uses this time to find a second bird—peeking over the receiver at a greenhead that has ducked behind an oak while he works the slide action back. He hears the satisfying sound of the action sliding open. There’s a solid ringing of steel on steel as the bolt returns home. Having calculated the lead during this opening and closing process, the experienced pump gunner anticipates the mallard as it appears again from the other side of the tree. At this point, I don’t like the drake’s chances.

I’ve always thought it was crucial to readdress the target after the first shot or you will continue to make the same mistake you just made.

So what do I use? Well this piece has caused me to start a post breaking down the choices you have among pumps on the market. Until you get that post, you can see my two guns that get 95% of the action:

A Browning BPS 3″ 12 gauge and:

A Winchester Model 12 2 3/4″ 12 gauge.

So we occasionally get these requests from the powers that be at Skinny Moose to pitch in ideas or comments on a topic. Yesterday we were referred to a gentleman from Delaware who was trying to create his own list and wanted to solicit ideas from other hunters and outdoor writers. Since I was stuck at home with a sick wife and baby I decided to give it a try:

1) Game Cameras – Perhaps no single force has lead to the demise of more big bucks than the development of trail cameras. Now suddenly a hunter can know what deer live in an area, and what their pattern is, all without disturbing them. Knowledge that used to require days of scouting can now be collected while you are working, sleeping, or hunting somewhere else. Remember this big Kentucky buck? He was found and patterned from a game camera.

2) The Internet – Something of an ‘outside the box’ answer here, but think about all the information available to hunters online. Google Earth, state Fish and Game websites, chat rooms, product reviews, hunting reports, the list is endless. Sitting here at my desk I can find out what the harvest reports were the last several days at my favorite duck marshes, or study the draw odds for Idaho moose.

3) Scent-Loc – The Scent-loc people changed the way hunters hunt, but not the way you think. Even the most loyal company spokesperson no longer utters, “Ignore the wind, just hunt” but it did usher in the era of scent hyper awareness.

4) Mojo Mallard – Nothing on this list is as controversial as this one. When the Mojo Mallard or Robo Duck first broke onto the scene it changed hunting in every marsh. It was, literally, magic. Suddenly the traditional skills involved in duck hunting were secondary, at best, to the amount of motion you had in your spread. Three world champions in a blind could not call ducks off a single guy with no calls and a motion decoy. Not everyone welcomed the change and some states banned the device including the duck hunting Mecca, Arkansas. They cited, among other things, the tradition of duck hunting.

5) Range Finders – I got my first range finder in the fall of 2000 in preparation for an elk hunt. It was the size of a cigar box and nearly useless. On a bright day it could tell you if a mountain was less than 300, but more than 50 yards away. It was a neat trick but provided almost no help if you zeroed your rifle at 200. Since then I’ve upgraded twice. My newest one will measure any archery shot, and give me both a linear measurement and an angle adjusted distance. It will also find distances out to 800 yards which is further than I can shoot, again with the option of angle compensation.

6) Cell Phones – While cell phones have been around for more than a decade, their mass appeal and rural reliability have just been around the last ten years or so. When I leave for a hunt of any type, I check to make sure my phone is in my breast pocket (on vibrate). It serves as a communication link to hunting partners, a scouting tool, a camera, a way to pass slow time, but most importantly it provides safety. Now if you get lost, stuck, injured, or have a run in with a poacher you can call for help. Remember this story? I took those pictures and called a game warden from the field with my cell.

7) Electronic Callers – This technology has also been around more than 10 years but in a less useful form. Now with wireless speakers and CD or digital storage, they have become the must have tool for predator and spring goose hunting. When legal, they are louder and produce a more perfect sound than anything a human can generate with a traditional call.

8 ) GPS – Modern GPSs can hold topographic maps, property boundaries, aerial photos, and tell you where you are down to the foot. Next time you are in a bush plane watch and see how often the pilot looks at his map or gauges, and how often he simply looks at his Garmin.

9) Hevi-Shot – Had lead not been banned this advancement would not have made the list. The poor physical characteristics of steel made the search for something else inevitable, and now many similar products are available to hunters. Combined with modern wad technology and ultra tight chokes, hunters have added 25% or more distance to their turkey guns.

10) Modern Archery Equipment – With opportunities for quality rifle hunts becoming fewer and farther between more and more hunters are turning to archery as a way to extend their season or draw a coveted tag. While bowhunting has been around for a few generations, it has not been until recently that it was accessible to the masses. Modern fiber optic sights, solo cam and split limb bows, torque free releases, carbon, and even Kevlar arrows have made today’s archer incomparable to Fred Bear or Saxton Pope.

So what do you think? Anthing I’ve forgotten? Does one (or more) of the above items not belong on the list?

Now here’s a different promotion. According to the letter I got in the mail yesterday from Cabela’s:

Before opening day, we will release 100 banded pheasants on public and private land within 50 miles of our store in Mitchell. Bag a special Cabela’s-banded bird and you could be eligible for a chance to win $1 million. Each band collected is worth a minimum of $200 in prizes, including firearms, gear, guided hunts and more. The contest takes place Oct. 17-18 for hunters who have pre-registered at Cabela’s in Mitchell.

Check their website for more info.

Quick, what do all of the above pictures of me have in common? That’s right, I was wearing my lucky North Face “Denali” vest. I own 3 of their vests and 2 more made by other companies, plus the one DU sent me as my yearly signing bonus a few years ago, but for hunting and outdoor activities only one of them makes the grade. It’s warm enough to be an outer layer early in the season, thin enough to layer over in the late season. It’s got pockets for shells, cameras, GPS, whatever you need. Since it’s black it can be used as an outer layer for duck hunting under chest waders. And obviously it’s extremely lucky. To say I’m emotionally attached would be an understatement.

Then the unthinkable happened. I was washing it to get the smoke smell off from the camp fires on the bear hunt when the zipper fell apart. So I called The North Face in California and told them that I had a 10 year old vest that I wear the heck out of and I want them to fix it. They say no problem, send it in, we’ll fix it or give you a new one, no questions asked. I didn’t want a new one.

Ten days after I sent it in I’ve got a package from California on my front step. I nervously tear it open and… My vest lives! Brand new zipper but otherwise unchanged and all at no cost to me. I’m a fan for life.

I headed out East of town Saturday morning hoping to return with at least one of a handful of interesting guns that were going to be auctioned. A nice custom 10/22 by Clark with a fluted heavy barrel was my real goal but I was also interested in a heavy barreled 700 in .223 and a couple Model 12s. Unfortunately each gun went for more than I thought they were worth, a couple even going for way too much (an 1100 for nearly $800.00!).

But all was not lost. Thousands or rounds of various ammo went after the guns. After the centerfire stuff was gone most of the buyers lost interest and I ended up with 20 boxes of various shotgun shells for $4.00 apiece. So when I got home I turned my office into a sorting station…

About half the shells were hot 2 3/4″ 4s 5s and 6s. The only real choice for pheasants. The other half was a smattering of 2 3/4″ steel 2s and 3″ goose loads. I’ll certainly burn through those with no problem. But I also ended up with 4 individual 3″ lead #4 buck. Any idea what to do with them? Maybe I should toss one in my turkey vest for coyotes?

I actually finished this book a while back but I hadn’t thought to write anything about it. I was loaned one of the limited edition hardback versions by the very same friend who was turkey hunting with me last week.

The book follows the hunting career of it’s author, Glenn St. Charles. If that name sounds familiar to you it’s because he was one the founding fathers of modern bowhunting. He was a contemporary and hunting partner of Fred Bear. He helped found Pope and Young. Anyway, he tells stories of his adventures both in the field and with P&Y.

My favorite stories, and those the book is named for, involves an uncharted trip into Alaska for sheep, moose, and caribou. In essence he simply hired a plane and they flew around looking for a game rich uncharted and unreachable area to hunt. After finding a place he and his friends built a small gravel bar landing strip and hunted there for a few years. The stories and pictures are fantastic. He also hunted Roosevelt elk, mule deer, pronghorns, and most anything else you can chase.

The book isn’t a very hard read and the chapters are broken down into good sub-stories. Perfect for the stop and start type reading I encounter in a tree stand.

Grab yourself a copy, you’ll be glad you did.

You can buy it here.

I got these pictures by email a couple of days ago:

When I got the email I wondered if this was even a real product. Apparently it is. Now I’m wondering what happens when you’re in one of these things:
a)In the sun (notice that it’s cloudy in the pictures). I wonder if there would be a wicked glare?
b)It rains or even gets humid. Would it fog up like the bathroom window?
c)What if it’s viewed from below eye level. Notice that reflecting from above gives you the cover of the forest floor but what if a turkey is looking up at it?
d)What will happen when animals see themselves?

Anyone have any ideas or experience?