June 12th, 2008
By Arthur

As some of you know, Jeff and I have been looking for a camera that will allow us to capture some hunting footage. We had found one system, that I wrote about in a previous post, but that system was a little cumbersome. It required you to buy a bracket, that screwed into your stabilizer hole on the riser of your bow, and also required that you mount your camera on top of it. Then last week we were at the Gander Mountain Archery Event and we came across the Roscoby Riser Cam.

This particular camera has only been out since January, but I have to be honest and say that it is simply a beaut! This company is pretty ingenious with the design that they have come up with, and all of the guys from the company that we talked to were very cool.

The camera is a bow mounted unit, but unlike most systems out there, it looks and feels like a stabilizer. It isn’t much bigger than a stabilizer, and after holding a bow with the camera mounted on it, I can tell you that it doesn’t feel any different than shooting a bow with a regular stabilizer. It is honestly a slick little design and Jeff and I were very impressed with the product.

The camera is very easy to use, quiet, and pretty versatile. It operates on two AA lithium batteries that provide approximately 5 hours of use. It also uses an SD card for memory which is perfect. They advertise that for every gig of memory on the card you get approx. 50 minutes of video footage. Works for me! The camera is also very water resistant (the only reason they can’t advertise it as waterproof is because of the microphone port) so it is versatile in all conditions and the lithium batteries are designed to operate at -20 F so it can handle cold conditions as well.

The only flaw I could find with the camera is that on some of the footage the video was a little shaky. I think that just comes with the territory though. I think it also depends on the shooter. We watched a number of videos that they had available at the show, and only one of them was jumpy at all. I still think, though, that these are the best units we have seen for this purpose. Despite the footage being a little shaky, it was still huge improvement over the last camera system that we saw.

I’m pretty sure that before season starts Jeff and I will have at least one of these units. We might even have two of them. I guess only time will tell. This system is not made for DVD quality video, but for the average guy to go out bowhunting and be able to capture some of his hunts this easily, I think that this camera is more than suitable.

The price tag is a little steep at 349.99, but considering what all this camera can do, I don’t think that is too bad a price. The camera can also be used for other things as well and even has a tripod mount on it for filming other activities.

A pretty cool idea from a rowdy and fun bunch of guys. They almost had Jeff and I walking out with the camera that day. Go check out their site. I guarantee you’ll be impressed.

Author’s note: I did not receive any compensation for the this post from Roscoby. The only reason I wrote a post about it, just like other products I’ve wrote about, is because I thought it was cool!

Popularity: 29% [?]

June 05th, 2008
By Arthur

I truly believe that most people in Hollywood have gone crazy. I’m not sure what it is, but I think that most of the Hollywood celebrities out there are a little out of touch with reality. They tend to be very eccentric and completely on the opposite side of what I believe.

Then yesterday I was poking around the internet and I ran across this little gem. Apparently Angelina Jolie, despite being a touch weird at times, isn’t afraid to protect her kids and family. This is what she said in a recent interview with Vanity Fair:

“If anybody comes into my home and tries to hurt my kids, I’ve no problem shooting them.”

Apparently she has more guts, and values her and her kids life more, than say Elayne Boosler or Bill Maher. They both readily admitted one evening, on Maher’s Politically Incorrect television program, that they didn’t think they could shoot someone to protect themselves. It’s nice to see our lovely Ms. Jolie doesn’t have that problem. She even touched on the subject further:

“Brad and I are not against having a gun in the house, and we do have one. And yes, I’d be able to use it if I had to. I could handle myself. I think there are certain combat skills that would come out. I tend to want to throw an elbow.”

And then she even went further than that:

“There’s a side to me that people know is humanitarian, and there’s a side to me that’s a mommy. But there’s also the side that likes to get down and dirty and run and jump around and fire guns.”

So even if you weren’t an Angelina fan before you almost have to be one now after reading that. On a serious note it is good to see that someone isn’t afraid to stand up for themselves and have the guts to protect themselves and their kids. In today’s society I applaud Ms. Jolie for coming out and being truthful about what she feels and not falling into the politics of being a celebrity.

Very nice!

Popularity: 19% [?]

May 28th, 2008
By Arthur

I already touched on the What Can We Do? portion of this challenge, imposed to us by Kristine, but now I want to touch on the other side of the challenge. I want to talk about the What Should We Do? portion.

I am going to take a slightly different approach to this part of the challenge. Plenty of other bloggers have listed their ideas for what the community, as well as the organizations that support hunting and fishing, should do in order to help promote our way of life. Rather than rehash all of those ideas here, and I think there are some good ones, I am going to focus on one main point that I think outdoor organizations need to do in order to help protect our heritage.

The point I’m going to make, and Kristine touched on this one as well, is to learn lessons from PETA. PETA is everywhere it seems. They are in the schools, on television, in Hollywood, and just about anywhere else you can think of. They are an in-your-face type of organization, and while I don’t think that hunting needs to be so outlandish with its message, I do think that our outdoor organizations have failed on many levels when it comes to exposure.

The main thing I see that would help to get our message out there is marketing. Why don’t we hunters and fisherman market ourselves? I think we need to not only market ourselves, and the activities that we love, but we also need a bigger push from the organizations that we support to help market us. I’m sure Kristine, with her expertise in this field, could shed some more light on this topic for us, but why don’t we have television and newspaper campaigns supporting our cause? Sure you might see some advertising when there is a hot hunting topic in the news, or a vote on a particular hunting or fishing issue coming up, but where is the everyday marketing of hunting? I think a newspaper or television ad that promotes the outdoor lifestyle would go over great in many communities. Why not an ad that shows our love of the outdoors, while promoting the things hunters and fisherman help to protect? An ad listing the positive things that come from participation in hunting and fishing? Also, there has to be some prominent Hollywood or music stars who participate in hunting and fishing. Why not have them do a celebrity endorsement of our outdoor heritage. PETA does this with their ads that promote not wearing fur. Why not have a star who does this by promoting their love of the outdoors?

I think the whole concept of regularly running positive outdoor lifestyle commercials would do wonders for the hunting and fishing community. It would be a great way to counter the nonsense and lies that is distributed by PETA and the HSUS every day through various outlets. I honestly can’t believe that this has not been brought up before. And while I don’t think certain news outlets would be any help, because of their anti-hunting stand, I do think that local as well as national organizations could benefit directly from running periodic television commercials that show all of us fisherman and hunters as the honest, nature loving citizens, that we are.

What do you think?

Popularity: 24% [?]

May 23rd, 2008
By Arthur

Kristine posed a challenge to all of us bloggers, on the OBS blog a few days back, and I figure that it is about time that I got around to answering the call to that challenge. I’m going to address these particular issues over a couple of posts. This post will be part 1, and discuss the What Can We Do? portion of the challenge, and I will write a follow-up post next week that discusses the What Should We Do? portion of the challenge.

I think that all of us outdoor bloggers have a definite responsibility to help positively promote the hunting past-time that all of us love so much. I also think, we as outdoor bloggers, have a responsibility to protect all outdoor activities, including, but not limited to, fishing, hiking, canoeing, etc. If it involves being in the outdoors we have a responsibility, not only to promote it, but to protect it.

I wrote an article awhile back, that is posted on Associated Content, that covered a few of these particular issues. And even though I know I am cheating a little bit, I am going to refer back to them. Some might call it lazy, but since I already addressed these issues, it is much easier to reference what I’ve already wrote, rather than re-write them again. Also, by putting these ideas on this blog, they will reach a different audience, and thus help to promote the outdoors to another set of eyes and minds. That, in and of itself, will help to promote the very idea behind Kristine’s challenge.

I think that the first thing we bloggers need to do, in order to help protect our way of life, is to educate. Knowledge is power and by educating, not only ourselves, but also non-hunters, it will go along way to help promote our outdoor activities, and help to erase the negative spotlight put on these activities by groups such as PETA and the HSUS. By simply displaying our love for hunting, and writing about the things associated with it, in a down-to-earth manner, many people will be able to relate to our cause, and even though they may never hunt, they will be more educated about hunting and fishing, and more likely to support those activities.

The next important step that we bloggers can do is to be active. So many of us sit idly by while the anti-groups, such as PETA and the HSUS, defeat us. I can’t tell you how many hunters I have heard say “It doesn’t effect me, so why do I care?”. Well you should care, no matter if you are in California or northern Maine, because sooner or later the issue raised in the state that you didn’t care about, will be heading to your home state. You can guarantee that. Every hunter and fisherman out there needs to be actively involved in protecting their sport. How can you do this you ask? Here are a few ways that I outlined in my article:

It can be as simple as joining an organization that is on the positive side of hunting, or writing a letter to a newspaper explaining the positive things that come from hunting and conservation.

You might think you’re only one voice, but even if only one person reads your words, and it helps them to open their mind a little, the time it took to you to write the letter would be worth it. I think that even though we bloggers write posts on a regular basis about certain issues, that taking the time to write a letter to a newspaper, is a way for us to reach an entirely different audience. That is always a good thing.

The last thing I think us bloggers need to do, and one that Jeff and I take very seriously, is getting kids in the outdoors. We need to help the next generation get involved in the outdoors, and then feature those kids on our blogs. After all the kids our the hunting future, and the earlier we can get them involved in hunting and fishing, the better. To steal from my article again:

We also need to be actively involved in getting kids in the outdoors. This activity alone will go a long way in providing kids with a positive experience and help them to promote that love for the outdoors to future generations.

My words, and not only do I agree with them, I stand behind them, and actively strive to make them true. Jeff has gotten two of his step-kids involved in the outdoors in the last couple of years, and we also have given the bowhunting bug to our cousin Corrin, that many of you have seen featured on the site. Nothing is more pure for a youngster or a teenager than getting outside and appreciating what mother nature has to offer.

I think all of these things are great ways for us bloggers to help promote and protect our way of life, for us, as well as for future generations. I think these only scratch the surface of what we need to do, but I think they are the 3 main factors that I will be focusing on.

I will be writing the Part 2 of this post next week. Hope everyone will come on over and read that as well. This has been a great challenge posed by Kristine. I’m looking forward to reading everyone else’s ideas as well.

I hope everyone has a safe and fun Memorial Day weekend. Please do not forget what this weekend is all about!

Popularity: 25% [?]

May 19th, 2008
By Arthur

Michigan has a pretty decent black bear population. The DNR estimates the population to be around 15,000-19,000, with approximately 90% of those bears living in the Upper Peninsula. While I do agree with that statement, I think our state is starting to see a definite change in the areas where black bears live.

About 5 years back we started to notice bear tracks on the banks of the Pere Marquette river near Baldwin, Michigan. It honestly didn’t surprise me at the time, but it definitely was evidence that these animals were starting to move south. Michigan does have a black bear season, but the population still tends to be steady, and the evidence of that is the fact that these bears are starting to move to the southern part of the state.

A couple years back the DNR had to issue a statement because of the amount of black bear sightings that were being reporting in the Lansing area. People were witnessing a sow and cub, moving along the edge of a Wal-mart parking lot, and started calling authorities to report the “escaped” bears. Of course the DNR knew better and issued statements about the known population of black bears in that area of the city. They also shared the knowledge of a bear den in the area.

In January of this month, my father-in-law’s neighbor made a point to come out and talk to him, and let him know that she had seen a black bear in her back yard in Olivet, Mi. My father-in-law has ten acres near the city, and she witnessed this bear in her yard, and let him know that her dog was still so scared by the sightings, that he would barely go outside at night to take care of his business. While I wasn’t really surprised, it did hit home that bears were in this part of the state.

Now recently we have had a bear cub hit in Hastings, Mi and then, just last Friday, we had a bear shot in downtown Battle Creek by the city police. Having a bear that far south is just amazing and is definitely solidifying these bears presence in the southern part of the state.

I think it is pretty exciting, and while I think being able to hunt them down here, is a number of years down the road, I think it is going to add a whole new dimension to my hunt as I walk into the dark woods getting ready for a morning hunt. To know there could be a black bear in the area just makes it that much more exciting.

Pretty cool!

Popularity: 15% [?]