For the first time since 1638, a total lunar eclipse will be visible from North America on the longest night of the year. That night just happens to be tonight, starting at 1:32 AM, so all you moon-oglers will have to stay up awfully late (or wake up perversely early) to catch it.
The eclipse, in which the Earth’s shadow completely blocks out the moon, will last for a particularly long time tonight–it will start at 1:32 AM (Eastern Time), with the total eclipse beginning at 2:41 AM. (West coasters can do the time zone math themselves, and watch the eclipse in shorts with their movie star neighbors on the beach, or whatever they do out there.)

The total eclipse will last for a whopping 72 minutes, until 3:53 AM, during which the moon will appear to change colors, most noticeably to bright orange-red. But do not be alarmed! The moon is not on fire, functioning as some kind of pagan punishment to celebrate the winter solstice. It’ll be changing colors due to the light filtering through Earth’s atmosphere and reflecting on the moon’s dull surface.

I was able to catch a couple of photos with my Canon S2.  Serious photographers will tell you that the moon is the hardest thing to photograph.  I didn’t have any fancy filters or settings.  The eclipse and clouds did that for me…

Sure enough, the rainclouds that have been rolling through for the last week obscured the moon.  I drifted off to sleep in my 30 degree down sleeping bag from Western Mountaineering, inside the Ptarmigan Bivy Sack.  I slept through most of a rain shower, dry and warm.  No shorts, movie stars or beaches for me.  It was 40 degrees!

What woke me though, was the bright full moon that shone down like a policeman’s flashlight at 1:50 am.  I took the hint and moved along to sleep the rest of the night inside.

While at the RMEF booth we got to hear Cameron Hanes talk about his latest Season as well as his gear selection for the backcountry.  Afterwards we visited with Cameron.  You know for someone as high profile as Cam, he is certainly a down to earth individual.  The way he relates to people is on a personal level, and he always finds time to talk with the kids. 

I really think that young kids and how approachable they think a person is is a great test of a persons character.  Young Syd had no problem with Cam as they posed for this quick snapshot.  That has not been the case with other people.

Earlier in the Day, we had stopped at a new vendor at the show Girls with Guns clothing, from Red Bluff California. 

As a father with three girls who I look forward to hunting with more, I wanted to be sure to support their love of the sport.  Erin picked out the sweatshirt at the left, while Kelsey and Erin are showing their picks in the accompanying pictures.

Check out their designs on the webpage at  www.gwgclothing.com

While at the show we had the privilidge of chatting with the folks at Relentless 365 magazine.   They were there giving out free copies of  this new magazine dedicated to hard core California Hunters.   The articles are by hunters and about hunting.  Not a thin veiled advertising pitch, not an ad copy product review, but stories about folks hunting big game, waterfowl, and upland birds, in California. 

I had submitted a story about Erin’s first turkey, that readers may remember from this March, and it made page 22 of the second issue.  Erin didn’t know about the magazine article and was pleasantly surprised when the guys showed it to her.

If you want to get four great issues of Relentless 365 mailed to your home each year, follow this link to get your subscription.  and while you are there you can sign up for a junior waterfowl hunt

Sign up your junior hunter to receive a FREE one-day guided waterfowl hunt in the Butte Sink from Relentless 365, Edge Custom Calls, and Edge Waterfowl Adventures. The lucky chosen hunter will also win a FREE duck call courtesy of Edge Custom Calls, a FREE years subscription to Relentless 365 Magazine, and a video copy of the hunt from Relentless Waterfowl Video Production.Hunt Dates: Feb 6 and Feb 7
• Ages 15 and under with a valid hunting license and waterfowl stamps
• Junior Hunter must be accompanied by an adult
• 1st winner hunts Feb 6 – 2nd winner hunts Feb 7

Winner will receive:
• FREE ONE-DAY HUNT
• FREE EDGE DUCK CALL
• FREE SUBSCRIPTION
• FREE VIDEO OF THE HUNT

So it was a good afternoon, showing the girls what an array of hunting products and opportunities are available , both here and abroad.  Sometimes I forget that I immerse myself in hunting and take it for granted, but it is all new for my kids.  This was a nice, warm, dry opportunity to show what hunting, and the outdoors has to offer.

So take the time to go to an outdoor show near you.  you might discover something that piques your interest, whether it is gear, a guided hunt or a new destination.

DJ Writes:

The warm weather has been great, at least for the deer and elk, they need a reprieve. I hope it just keeps piling up in the mountains and raining down here. Have taken some walks around the neighborhood, haven’t seen any lion tracks, only preds seems to be the yotes. Went to Eureka and checked the cameras up there, had a few neat ones. Enjoy. The pink predator is Cazzie, she wanted to go check the camera by the house on the buck that we found on the property. She always talks about the coyotes

And the response is the same across all the forums….NO response.

Well before you drop kick your laptop, think about how you approached the situation. You came into a community of folks, and without any greeting at all asked for their spots they have spent years scouting and refining their tactics in. Would you do this face to face? No.

Here are some ways to get the most out of an internet forum:

1. Introduce yourself. Most forums have a place that new members can introduce themselves and tell a little about their style of hunting and where they are from. Many times you will discover other hunters that live or have family nearby.
2. Use the search function. Forums are made to be a discussion and the search function helps you weed through the variety of topics by focusing on keywords. For example searching on “unit xy Idaho” will bring up past topics on that unit you are interested in.
3. Contribute! Not money, but knowledge. If someone is asking in a topic about some boots or a pack you have experience with, pass on your experience. You don’t have to be a cheerleader and do an ad pitch for it, but a sincere mention about how you think certain aspects could be improved, or a new way to use a product are always appreciated. Congratulate successful hunters that post photos. Believe it or not, folks want to get to know more about the person behind the avatar and internet handle. The more outgoing and sincere you are online, the more other posters will appreciate you. Your personality may come through differently in writing than if you are with your buddies, so lay off the sarcasm until you know other readers will “get it”.
4. Pay attention to the Sections in forums. With the wide variety of topics discussed in a hunting forum, chances are they are categorized. If your question is state specific, try a state section; if it is species specific post it in the deer, or elk section for example.
5. Lay off the Caps Lock. THIS IS YELLING ON THE INTERNET.
6. After you have a few posts and start recognizing other people on the forums, you can share your plans for the upcoming season. After getting acquainted with the other forum members and developing relationships, you will be amazed at how helpful some people can be. Chances are you will have already developed some information about your hunt destination just through using the search functions and ongoing topics.

With these hints, I hope you will be able to use internet forums to your benefit and become a valuable part of the community. Over the years, I’ve hunted, fished, shot archery tournaments and roomed with fellow forum members that became lifelong friends, all because we shared the same interests on an internet forum.

Mule Deer : Nevada Aug 8-16

Antelope: Colorado Early September

Blacktail Deer: California November 14-29 (Awaiting the Draw with fingers crossed)

With these premium archery hunts scheduled, plus a bear tag, and one more General Deer tag for California,  the physical conditioning and archery practice has begun to consume nearly all of my free time.

My calendar now has these items locked in on a weekly basis:

Sunday: Trail Run (mileage increases from 8-15 miles through July 26th)
Monday : Rest and recover from Sunday’s run.
Tuesday: 40-45 minute Run (recovery run 5-6 miles)
Wednesday: Archery 3-d League
Thursday: 45 minute Run
Friday Tempo run easy:tempo:easy for 40-60 minutes.
Saturday: Cross train (hiking, biking, something other than running)

One of the things I like to do with my trail cams is hike them into some remote basins and set them up on wallows and springs. Obviously I get some pretty neat elk pictures and bear pictures, but I am more surprised at what I don’t get. Not one picture of a lion, lynx, wolverine, or other small carnivores like weasels or martens.

Like I said, I get lots of elk, and two bulls stirred my interest in the summer of 2007, one I dubbed “toad sticker” and the other “thirds”. The “toad sticker” bull had a freakishly long left second tine, it stuck out to the side like a sword. Overall he was a nice six, long main beams but very narrow, not being 36 inches wide. “Thirds” was a nice bull, the big dog in the basin; his third tines were much longer than any other bull I had ever seen in this country. They never showed up together, but “thirds” had a little tag-along rag horn that was always with him. Both bulls played into archery season 2007, but “toad sticker” is the most interesting story.

My buddies and I were on the second day of one of our usual weekend over-nighters. We were hunting two basins to the south of where I had the bulls on camera and were heading back toward our trucks pretty much beaten. Sitting down, filling our water bottles, bugles started ringing out above us, two bulls, bugling right on top of each other. I had obligations back home to get to, so I told me buddies, good luck, let me know if we need to pack them out tomorrow, and I headed up the packers trail. They were going to keep the wind and bushwhack straight to the bulls.

Well, as luck would have it, the packers trail looped up and back right under the two screamers. I can’t see them as I am stuck in an alder patch, but they couldn’t be 80 yards up the hillside. I hopped up on a root wad of a wind-thrown tree to see over the alder and asses the situation. There they are, 5 feet apart, screaming in each other’s face. What a sight. One turned his head, and WHOA, it’s “toad sticker”!

I fumble around in my pockets for my little camera to get a picture. Just then they start fighting! Major rumble, not just pushing and shoving. I get a couple pictures taken, jump down, and knocked an arrow. This is my chance to move in, right?

Let me tell you, next time you try to get close to two fighting elk, know that you are risking your life. I started up that packers trail trying to get to the end of this idiotic alder to where I could see them. They wouldn’t be more than 40 yards away from there. You could feel the ground shaking from those two behemoths throwing each other around the hillside. I was ten yards from the end of the alder, ten yards from glory. Then I heard them come apart and one is running. Coming like a train right at me. I had to enough time to kneel down and see this bull blast into the alders, head down, legs and feet flailing, dirt flying. Right past me, nearly over the top of me, that left second sword missed my shoulder by mere inches. I literally ate dirt coming off that elk. Down the trail and over hill he went. Crushing trees and brush all the way, I could hear him going clear down toward the creek. Now the other bull, a descent six, is trotting down the hill to, just to make sure “toad sticker” is gone, I guess. He pops his head into the alder, but won’t show me any vitals. I am shaking like a leaf now, he zeroes in on me and then bolts. It was all over in a flash.

I didn’t see him ever again that year, or on my cameras during the summer of 2008. “Thirds” had disappeared as well. That is the worst part of trail cameras. I always wonder what happens to them. I want to know if someone harvested them, did a lion or wolves kill them, did they succumb to winter on a snowy ridge somewhere, or did they just move off to new country.

As luck would have it, at the end of this past rifle season, I was talking with a guy who was uncharacteristically forthcoming about where he was hunting. He was hunting 3 basins to the north of where I keep my cameras. I knew it well as I had hunted there occasionally. He told me he saw a giant bull way up in a slide. He got a quick look at it through binocs and said it had a third main beam sticking out the left side. I just grinned, because I knew what he saw.

How the tragedy happened is unknown. Particularly the fact that the cattle began EATING the deer, even when being supplemented with a fortified feed and hay.  This is the first incident of this type. 

The 5 year old buck was a fixture at the Martin ranch. He had survived many a bow season and dozens of bowhunters.

A memorial fund has been created for those who want to make donations.  Proceeds will go towards fencing to keep those vicious beasts where they belong.

The caretaker of the cattle wished to remain anonymous and had no comment.

The victim years before the vicious cattle mauling occurred.

I found out today our group did not draw the Elk hunt we applied for in Wyoming. That figures since we were successful in the Draw the last two years. The good news though is that we have two years of Deer points that may help us draw a tag in the later Wyoming Deer and Antelope draw.

But not all is lost. I still plan to apply in Nevada, and I recently found out my Brother – in – law has moved to the antelope unit in Colorado I’ve been interested in.  According to GMUResearch.com, I have enough points to draw an archery Antelope permit there.

Then there are the in state permits. I can count on at least one over the counter tag for deer and bear in California. I’ve committed to put in for a late season tag for blacktails as well, so we will see how this pans out. I may be bowhunting in November!

So in between work and applications, I’m continuing to prepare with weekly indoor archery sessions, and the trail run training.

As Kyle Meintzer, a well known ultra runner and sheep hunter, said : “Now is when we make a deposit” that will benefit us when we are in the hills, and at full draw on a big buck, bull or bear.  Nothing beats the confidence knowing you have the fuel in your tank to get to that far-off buck you spotted and knowing once you are in that killing range with your weapon, that you CAN make the shot. 

So think to yourself “What can I do today, to make that hunt of a lifetime the best it can be?”  Making the deposits early and often does add up in confidence, endurance and skill.

Big Coyote…

This one AIN”T a Coyote though…Yep that’s a wolf.

There is more than one…

The predators aren’t JUST Canines in the winter