July 2008
Monthly Archive
Tuesday 29 Jul 2008
Great new Outdoor community web page. My Outdoor Zone
You have to check this out. www.myoutdoorzone.com It is a website for outdoor enthusiasts. If you hunt, fish, camp, or just like to hike and take pictures this is the place to meet and enjoy sharing your thoughts, pictures, and experiences with people like you. Something like my space or facebook but catering to the outdoorsman and women. Lots of discussions and pictures and also the homepage for the hit TV Show “Own the Zone”. This is a fun show that shares the camraderie of being in the outdoors and the reality of hunting, and fishing with a bunch of close friends. Please check it out. Create a web profile and add me to your friends list. Also please put that Hack Albertson sent you! Can’t wait to see your pictures and hear your tales!! www.myoutdoorzone.com
Tuesday 29 Jul 2008
New State Law for Archery Hunting from Tree Stand Only???
I like this time of year here in Indiana. The hickory trees are full of nuts, corn has tasseled, bucks antlers are large and in velvet, and it is time to apply for the special hunts held on state property. All of these mean deer season is not very far away and that is a very good thing to me. But this year while applying I came across something entirely new on the application online. Here is exactly how it reads, “ ”
Special hunt Archery - Treestand only - Ground blinds and penetrating treestands and/or steps are prohibited.On archery properties, bow and arrows are to only be shot from treestands.
Whoa! Oh My gosh!! So now I am excluded from hunting these area’s if I had wanted to hunt them. This is the archery only area’s at the Indiana State Park Deer reduction hunts to be held this fall.
It includes the Clifty Falls State Park and the Fort Benjamin Harrison Hunts. Someone at the state level decided we needed a new emergency law this year for our safety is what I was told when I contacted Mike Mycroft at 317-232-4200 who says he is over the deer reductions to be held on these state properties. There are two laws here that exclude hunters, first the no ground hunting, second is the no penetrating treestand rule. See I am paralyzed and in order to comply and hunt off the ground I need my pulley arm in order to climb into my stand. It has bolts that must penetrate the tree for me to climb.
So the no ground hunting rule is the real issue for me. How is archery hunting from the ground a safety issue I ask? He told me the flat trajectopry of the arrow is the problem. hmmmm So a maximum effective range of say 40 yards is the issue? It is the same from a tree I added. He claimed the increased visibility from the tree offsets the danger. I said there has been deer hunting since 1957 and how many accidents has there been from trajectory? NONE He again said it was an emergency rule put in place for safety this year on the archery only properties. But what is to stop them from including it on all properties next year? So myself as a former Marine/lifetime Indiana hunting license holder for 25 years/ archery hunter for 30 years/hunter education holder/member of Physically Challenged Bowhunters and Colorado Outdoor Buddies would be unsafe in a ground blind ? What data or thought process was used to decide that? He said it was not his rule. I am not the only hunter affected by this rule. It means that NO HUNTER can hunt from the ground, not just the wheelchair hunters, or people that do not want to climb a tree. I love it when a political position makes a decision that is for our best interest. Especially when they consider all sides.
Consider this, far more people have been hurt falling from tree stands than by being shot with an arrow. I could understand a rule that said all tree stand hunters must wear a harness. Or even if you had to take a skills test to hunt there where accuracy counted. But to say to all paralyzed veterans, people with bad hearts or legs, and anyone else that just likes to hunt from the ground that they can not hunt is beyond me.
http://www.cdc.gov/MMWR/preview/mmwrhtml/00001481.htm
Center for disease control has actually studied treestand injuries.
It is far more dangerous to hunt from a tree than the ground. It is more dangerous to drive to the hunt than it is to hunt from the ground. Please let mmycroft@dnr.in.gov know of your thoughts on this new rule.
Tuesday 08 Jul 2008
Zero-Detect The Perfect Pattern Camo
Here is a new product that is a perfect pattern and not a picture camoflage. It virtually disappears when the right product is worn with the surroundings. Craig Fletcher of Fletcher Archery is one of the partners in this company. They have been working with the military and are now ready to roll this out to the general public so that we too can benefit from this great new camo. They are willing to work with any disabled customer and manufacture the clothing so it is adaptable to their injury. I find that very refreshing in a world that normally makes it much harder for a disabled hunter to enjoy the great sport of hunting. They have a full line of hunting clothing that is also reversible with an alternate color on the other side. So it is like you actually have doubled your hunting wardrobe when you purchase their product. Here are some examples and scenarios of the Zero-Detect product. They also have a hunting scent line as well as a superior fish scent line for attractants and cover up. There are under armour type products, mineral and block products, treestands, camo blind and curtain items are also in their product line.
Craig Fletcher is a life long hunter, fisherman and outdoorsman that understands our sports and the need to be completely hidden and undetectable whether by sight or smell. He is also an avid archer and has an indoor archery range that is over 7,000 square feet. He is a staff pro for several prominent archery lines and has his own custom archery line and products to fully compliment it. Do yourself a big favor and check their items out, you will not be dissappointed.
