So today we dropped our foster kids off to spend the weekend with their biological family and afterwards we went to a local restaurant and ate some lunch. On the way home we decided to stop by my wife's parents house since we were in that part of the county. Her parents live in a wooded subdivision that was originally designed as a sort of hunting club. It is off the beaten path with all gravel/dirt roads, swimming lake with small beach, bass fishing pond, tennis courts and a redneck "clubhouse", pavilion. << MORE >>

Specializing in fly fishing northern Virginia and Washington D.C.'s urban and suburban fisheries. I am the D.C. metro area's only full time fly fishing guide.

 Rob is a fly fishing consultant.

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This week I felt a great need to relieve some stress by going into the outdoors. Since the January trout stocking has started, I figured I'd give it my best shot at trying to fly fish for one of these elusive creatures.

The Smoke Hole Canyon
It was really hard trying to figure out where I wanted to fish, but finally made the decision to go to the Smoke Hole Canyon. This is about 3 counties away and it took me about an 1 1/2 hours to drive there. << MORE >>

I cannot thank all of you enough for your amazing support over the last year!  I am super excited about what we have in store for this year at TOP. This is a special episode just giving thanks to everyone who has helped us be a huge success over the last year.

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Since I started fly fishing last summer, I've learned a lot about the sport of fly fishing and also the culture of fly fishing. One of the things I also discovered is the Fly Fishing Film Tour. You can go to YouTube and find homegrown videos about fly fishing just like you can for just about any other hobby;  however, most fly fishing videos set themselves apart from other videos that you may find on the internet. If you spend any amount of time on YouTube and if you enjoy fishing; I'm positive that you will enjoy many of the fly fishing videos. << MORE >>

This is a different podcast from usual, but I wanted to give a shoutout to all of my fellow podcasters and bloggers that I follow and listen to their content. Many of these people have mentioned TOP on their podcast or on their blog so I wanted to dedicate this episode to share with you the folks that I follow.



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I've been meaning to do a review of the Old Town Guide Canoe for some time so as a part of my grieving therapy of getting rid of our Old Town, i figured I would do this review.

Basic Specs
The Old Town Guide comes in two sizes 14'7" and 16'0" and in two colors: green and red. It is made with a Three Layer Polyethylene with a Shallow Arch Bottom and Moderate Rocker. It also has an Ash Yoke for carrying  The width is 38" and weighs 74 pounds with a carrying capacity of 850-900 pounds. << MORE >>

For the last 8 years my wife and I have thoroughly enjoyed our Old Town Guide 147 canoe. We bought it new and have spent many miles traversing rivers in West Virginia and Virginia in it. We also created a lot of memories with the Old Town. I have canoed in two types of  Old Town Canoes and 1 Coleman Scanoe and I absolutely love Old Town Canoes. << MORE >>

If you've been listening to the podcast for a while you will know that I started fly fishing this past summer, so it is only natural that I start to tie my own flies. I actually bought a lot of the fly tying tools last summer but I never got around to actually using them or learning to tie. Between work and spending time in the outdoors, I just never got motivated to learning, so I figured that it was finally time to learn.

For $10 (each class) my "local" fly shop is offering fly tying classes over the next 6-8 weeks. << MORE >>

Payge McMahon is an adventure athlete and journalist who travels the world inspiring others to get outdoors, try new things and start checking off that bucket list.
She has climbed in the Himalaya, summited the highest mountains in Africa, Japan and the continental United States, cycled through Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, backpacked across Northern Spain, the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu and California’s 221 mile John Muir Trail. She has trekked through the deserts of Egypt and Jordan, the Amazon Rainforest and the list goes on!
 
She is an expert in travel and many things outdoors.She writes for numerous magazines including National Geographic Adventures, Self Reliance Illustrated, Woods Monkey and Her Adventures. << MORE >>

Kellie is with Wild Woman Outdoors and is a Wildlife Survivalist and pure Adventurist.   Her mission is to get you outdoors to partake in the beautiful world around you.

In this episode you will learn the following:

• How Kellie got started with Wild Woman Outdoors and what she is trying to accomplish with it.
• The biggest deterrence in our society that prevents people from getting outdoors.

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I remember when I was in elementary school, we were given a few minutes to share what we did on summer vacation or during the Christmas break; so in that spirit here is what I worked on during my Christmas vacation.

Last year we ended up fulfilling a long dream of ours of getting some farm animals. The only problem is that we did not have any outbuildings  or structures for the sheep to take shelter during storms. In fact we did not have any fencing, so that was my first project when we got our first two sheep.   Our first shelter we set up was an old doghouse that was left by the previous owner and that worked while the sheep were young but they quickly outgrew that one. << MORE >>

Last week, I read a review by Alan Halcon about this backpack and it really grabbed my attention. I ended up getting an identical bag. There is no real reason for me to duplicate his review because the same points he brings up are exactly what I would write about in my review. So I encourage you to read this short blog post then head over to Dirttime's website and read Alan Halcon's full initial review of this great pack. << MORE >>

SAFETY PRECAUTION

The Mosin Nagant is a great rifle and very effective on Whitetail Deer. However, the safety is very different than what most people are used to, so before taking it into the woods to use for hunting, please make sure you know how to operate it. Also, please make sure you keep the safety on until you are ready to fire the weapon.

I love to deer hunt with my Mosin Nagant. << MORE >>

In this episode I share with you the reasons why and how we got started in raising sheep. I also give you a little more insight into my background which is very important to why we raise sheep. This is a great episode for anyone wanting to learn more about sheep and the basics of sheep husbandry.

• What facilities do you need for sheep?
• What type of fencing is required for sheep?
• What is a polled sheep?
• Why hair sheep are great for beginners?
• What are the basics for caring for sheep?
• Are Sheep really dumb?

 

This is Hannah Our Ewe

 

This is a very scary photo in so many ways, its just not funny.

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Ten years ago when I started hunting, I took the mandatory hunter safety course. During this course they gave us an introduction to muzzleloaders and I had no clue what kind of impact this would make on my hunting life.

I had shot a percussion cap muzzeloader a few times as a teenager but that was the extent of my knowledge with them and I was not really interested in hunting with them and if I did hunt with one, I thought about getting an in-line. However, the instructor was really awesome and he was extremely passionate about shooting muzzleloaders. << MORE >>

Steve Porter is married and father of two boys ages 2 and 5 and lives in Indianapolis, Indiana.  He enjoys biking, photography, traveling, skiing, scuba diving, and car camping.  He is also a small business owner and his website is mylogopromo.com.

Steve shares with us the following:

• How does riding with your family enhance the riding experience?
• What type of bike is best for cycling with kids?
• What options are available that enables parents to bring the kids along on a ride?
• How much does the equipment cost?
• What is the skill level needed to install the equipment on your bike?
• Steve shares some important tips for improving the riding experience for both parents and kids.
• What problems has Steve faced while cycling with the kids?

Here are some products that Steve mentions in this episode:

The Ibert Seat

For the last several weeks, I've been teasing you with a top secret audio project. Well, I took the public domain book and recorded it into an audiobook format. You can now buy it in my store at Outdoor Podcast Store.

You can get it in MP3 Audio Download, Compact Disk that will be mailed to you or you can save money and get the bundled pack version of both products. << MORE >>

Played: 689 | Download | Duration: 01:09:46

Jason Bruns grew up on a 162 acre farm in Eastern Indiana; he has been fishing and hunting since he was 12 years old.  He is currently a pharmacist and tries to find time to pursue his interests in big game and small game hunting.  He hunts deer, squirrel, and turkey.  He also enjoys hunting for mushrooms, spending time in his garden and making wine and preserving his harvests.  He keeps a small flock of hens and loves smallmouth and salmon fishing.  In addition to his elk trips he’s taken out west, he has also taking a fishing trip to Northern Ontario all of which have been un-guided and un-outfitted.

Jason shares with us the following in this episode:

• He shares with us nuggets of wisdom from 4 elk trips to New Mexico and Colorado
• The best way to prepare yourself for an upcoming elk trip
• How much preparation time do you need
• How to decide on which states and which areas to plan your elk hunt
• Tips on choosing elk hunting buddies
• What are the recommended accomodations for a serious elk hunt trip
• How much time off should a person from the east coast plan for to have a successful elk hunt
• What are Jason's must have items for an elk hunt

Here are some photos of Jason's successful hunts in New Mexico and Colorado:

One day as I was driving home from work, I decided to stop by a local bookstore and purchase a survival book. I really like Les Stroud and his TV Show Survivorman, and I had not read his book, "Will to Live," so I decided this would be the book for me.

Now I used to be a voracious reader, however over the last eight years, my work schedule has pretty much taken away any desire to read books. I'm just too busy and find it really hard to stick with a book to the end. << MORE >>

John is the founder of Survival Resources and is the author Build the Perfect Survival Kit and Stay Alive—Survival Skills You Need.   Survival Resources also offers outdoors skills courses where John is the Chief Instructor.   He can also be found teaching at Dirt Time and The Pathfinder Gathering.

In this episode John shares with us:

• Brief Overview of his new book, "Stay Alive--Survival Skills You Need"
• How this book separates itself from other survival books on the market
• Learn about the Survivor Mentality
• What type of knife you should carry with you in the wilderness
• Must have items for Everyday Carry
• The biggest threat to the modern outdoorsman while in the wilderness

It was a pleasure to talk with John and I know that you will learn a lot from this episode.

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On Episode #40,  I interviewed Kelley Viner about Women in the Outdoors and also about her experience with Elk Hunting and harvesting a truly magnificent Bull Elk this year. She has finally released her blog called, Kelleys Outdoor Adventures, and will be sharing her passion for the outdoors, hunting, off-roading and whatever else she can get her self into in the the outdoors.

Let's join together and help her get a great start by visiting her page and subscribing to her blog, as a token of our appreciation for coming on The Outdoor Podcast. You can find her blog at:

Kelleys Outdoor Adventures

By subscribing to her blog, you will be giving her some much needed support and will be able to follow along in her journey to seek adventure in the outdoors. << MORE >>

Played: 642 | Download | Duration: 00:50:32

Jonathon is the founder and lead instructor of Wild Bayou and has been practicing self reliant skills since he was 8 years old and learned most of his skills from his uncle on an homestead farm.  He spent 6 years in the marines and helped to teach self reliance skills to his fellow Marines.

Jonathon shares with us a lot of the challenges Southerners face when it comes to self reliance and primitive outdoor skills.

• He shares with us his variation of the bow drill method that he calls the Fire Flute and why it's superior to the normal bow drill method
• The challenges that he and many others face in Louisiana
• What is Wild Bayou and how is it different from other schools?
• What he feels is the #1 skill that southerners need to learn?

To learn more about Wild Bayou, please click below:

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This deer hunting season has been a very memorable one for me personally. Just about every time that I've been in the woods, I have witnessed multiple deer and turkey sightings,  In fact, there are only two times so far that I have not seen any deer during my time on stand. I have also experienced what I call the best night of bow hunting in my life.

A few weeks ago I was hunting an evening hunt on a Saturday, and it was a beautiful clear day in the woods. << MORE >>

Played: 560 | Download | Duration: 00:44:16

Kelley is a small town country girl, who loves being outside. She enjoys hunting, camping, hiking, and off-roading, in addition enjoying football and basketball.  However, she says, the most important thing is to have her kids with her during the adventures.  She is in the process of building her blog so make sure you book mark this web site and check back often over the next few months.  Kelleys Outdoor Adventures

This is a great episode and is one of my favorites to date!  Kelley shares her passions for the outdoors, archery and big game hunting.  She has a great personality and you are going to like this episode as well.  Do not miss this episode.

Kelley shares with us the following in this episode:

• The Biggest fish she ever caught
• What is the one thing her husband did to get her interested in hunting
• Advice for women who want to get involved in the outdoors
• Hurdles that she has to overcome as an Outdoors Woman
• Tips to help husbands get their wives interested in hunting
• She shares her incredible story of  harvesting a Bull Elk

Here is a picture of Kelley with her nice 5x5 Bull Elk

 

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I was thinking this week, as I recorded podcasts about hunting, women in the outdoors, elk hunting and have Dustin Ellerman on the show talking about shooting, about some of my Adventure To Do List.  i guess most people call it a bucket list, but that cliche drives me nuts for some reason.

My Adventure To Do List is kind of an informal list that I made up a few years ago and I am the only person who ever saw and even knows it existed.  Well today as I was sitting in the woods, I figured it was time to take this list public and to have it written in stone, or at least on the Worldwide Web.

Simply put, it is just a list of adventures that I would like to accomplish in my lifetime, so without further ado, here is my Adventure To Do List:

• Travel to all 50 states (Just need to visit Wisconsin, Michigan, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alaska)
• Harvest a Bull Elk
• Harvest a Turkey with a Bow
• Harvest a Caribou
• Harvest a Black Bear
  
• Harvest a Mule Deer
• Harvest a Migratory Bison
  
• Harvest an Alaskan Grizzly or Brown Bear
• Canoe the Boundary Waters
  
• Follow Lewis & Clark's footsteps in a canoe
• Visit Meriwether Lewis' Grave
  
• Visit Yellowstone National Park
• Go Back to Yosemite National Park
  
• Salmon Fish in Alaska
• Visit Alaska multiple times
  
• Flyfish in Colorado
• Flyfish in Montana
• Fly-in Canada Fishing Trip
• Catch a Shark
  
• Go Para-sailing
  
• Visit Antarctica and See Ernest Shackleton's Hut
• Visit Shackelton's Grave on South Georgia Island
• Climb a Mountain
• Bicycle Across the USA
  
• Buy a farm
• Build a Log Cabin with Logs off my own property.
• Visit Australia
  
• To have people say at my funeral that I lived a full life

So what is on your adventure to do list?

Four years ago, I was leading a canoe trip for my church through The Trough in Hampshire County, WV. The Trough is a seven mile river gorge in the beautiful and rugged Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia. It was aptly named by George Washington during his surveying years because it resembles a trough. The only way to gain access to The Trough is either by canoe or the scenic railroad. The ruggedness of the terrain makes it a wonderful habitat for golden eagles and our nations treasure; bald eagles. Of all the local canoe runs in Hampshire County, this is by far my favorite.

During this canoe trip my brother was the navigator and I was the stern paddler responsible for steering the canoe. On this day, we made a great paddling team. We were running the challenging rapids perfectly and were enjoying the beautiful scenery The Trough offered us this day; and we were enjoying each challenge the river brought our way. We successfully maneuvered our canoe through small ripples to the more severe Class II offset rocky ledges without capsizing or swamping the boat.

We were feeling great and even a little prideful because of our skill at running the river. Towards the end, we were well ahead of our group, so I decided it was best to slow down and wait for the rest to catch up with us. As the guide, I do not like to get too far ahead of my group so I can offer friendly advice or helpful tips to those in need. So picture this scene--two grown men, sitting in a canoe, in shin deep slow moving water waiting on the group to catch up. We were simply talking and goofing off when to both of our surprise, one of us made an unanticipated motion that caused us to flip the Old Town canoe. Immediately, our canoe was swamped and our gear was soaked. This was one of the funniest things that have happened to me while canoeing. It was a very surreal moment for both of us because we made it through several challenging rapids unscathed and ended up swamping while sitting still in shallow, slow moving water. Fortunately, the water was only shin deep so it was very easy to recover our gear and the canoe, and it gave us a chance to get wet and cool off, but I would be a liar if I did not admit that our pride was definitely injured. The guide is not supposed to fall, yet here we were soaked and wet. This was definitely a memory that neither of us will ever forget.

Played: 607 | Download | Duration: 00:21:20

I've got an exciting interview for this interview. 

Dustin Ellermanmn is a Christian camp director in the small town Zavalla, Texas, a small town of 647 people,” He is a self-taught marksman and avid hunter and besides shooting pistols and rifles, Dustin is proficient with a compound bow; and he also throws tomahawks and knives. He is a minister, accountant, lumberjack, husband, father of two and foster father of three, Dustin lives in the middle of the Angelina National Forest and considers himself a Renaissance man.  Oh by the way, you may know him as the winner of History’s Season 3 Top Shot.

You can find out more about Dustin at the following websites:

Camp His Way

Top Shot Dustin

Dustin's Facebook Page

During my second year of hunting, I happened to have a really nice eight pointer come near my stand one evening during a bow hunt. He ended up winding me and ran off. A couple days later, I decided to try for this buck again and readjusted my stand to where I last saw him. It was a dreary Saturday evening hunt on November 16th, right in the peak of the famed rut. However, the weather turned south on me shortly after entering the tree stand. Unfortunately, I didn't own any rain gear because I didn't have a lot of money at the time but I stupidly decided to stick with the hunt. I was chasing after this buck like a buck chasing a doe in heat.

Around 4:45pm I saw the magnificent buck come busting through the dense cedar grove with his nose to the ground heading straight in my direction. Up till now, I had not harvested any deer with my bow, although I had taken several frustrating shots over the previous year. I tried to stand up and ready myself but I couldn't, no matter what I tried, I was frozen to my stand like an icicle to a gutter from buck fever. It was every bow hunter's nightmare and it left me temporarily paralyzed! I tried to regain my composure but the buck was on a mission and getting closer to my stand. I knew that if I was going to harvest this deer that I would have to do it while sitting. I drew the bow back and was surprised at the range of motion. By this time the deer was ten yards away and parallel with my stand and on my left. He was quickly moving along his well trampled trail and was completely oblivious to my presence as he was sniffing for a doe, but he was beginning to move away from me. I was able to grunt in desperation, but it failed to stop him in his tracks. This buck was on an unstoppable mission to find a doe! I had a decision to make and no time to make it so I quickly picked a spot and released the arrow. I prayed the Redhead Carbon Supreme arrow would hit its mark. The spinning arrow was like a blur as it whizzed towards the beautiful eight pointer and a micro second later I watched as the buck kicked his rear legs like a bucking bronco. He took off running like a lightning flash and stopped about forty-five yards from my tree stand.

At this time the daylight was quickly slipping and a thick fog was beginning to stir. The soupy mixture of dusk, rain and fog made it difficult to see the deer clearly through the woods. I thought I could see him wobbling and was sure I landed a solid hit on him. I was now totally overwhelmed with buck fever and I was soaked to the core from the rain. My body began to convulse in uncontrollable shivers that would have made the South Pole explorers proud. Against my better judgment, I decided that I needed to warm up by getting out of the tree and staking my claim on my trophy lying in the woods. By the time I gathered my gear and climbed down, the daylight was a thing in the past, so I made my shivering trek through the woods with my flashlight in hand. Full of excitement and anticipation of collecting my first bow kill, I went to the last spot I had seen the incredible buck wobble. To my dismay, there was no deer anywhere to be found. I did a quick search and was totally confounded by this magnificent creature so I began to second guess my shot. I replayed the shot over and over again and I even went back to my tree stand to retrace the shot and soon found the arrow sticking in the ground like a javelin spear. It was covered in a grassy greenish slime. At this point I knew that I had hit the deer, but I had no idea why the arrow was covered in green slime. I did another exhausting search like a parent looking for a lost child, but I still could not find my trophy buck.
I drove to a friend's house to show him my arrow and he told me that I had gut-shot the deer and while it was probably a lethal shot, the deer could travel a long distance before expiring. I was in for a long sleepless night because the hour was getting late by this point.

I had to attend church the next day, and then we had a potluck dinner after the service. I could not wait to eat and run and go find my trophy deer. My friend and I finally had a chance to make a dash back to the woods in the early afternoon. We searched high and low for the elusive deer but we just couldn't find him anywhere. We went over the next ridge and searched some more, but still came up empty. After two hours, my buddy said, "Let’s go over the next ridge and if he's not there then we'd have to give up hope of ever finding him." Exhausted, we crested the ridge and quickly saw the white belly of the deer through at the base of the next ridge. In a surreal moment of absolute joy I took off running like a silver bullet towards my first bow kill deer. Upon close inspection, we found that I indeed gut-shot the deer and he traveled approximately 400 yards before expiring at the base of the ridge. He measured approximately 96" and was a 2.5 year old eight point buck. While he wasn't a true Pope & Young trophy, he was indeed my trophy buck and my first bow kill and it is still my biggest buck to date.

I learned many lessons from this hunt such as: purchasing proper rain gear and being prepared for any type of weather while hunting, the importance of proper shot placement, waiting at least 30 minutes before leaving the tree stand, and to go above and beyond the call of duty before giving up the search for a lost deer. While things didn't quite go as planned for me on this hunting trip, I was very fortunate that in the end everything worked out just fine and I recovered my trophy buck. I experienced a chilling rainfall, severe buck fever and a lost deer, but in the end it all came full circle and I was rewarded for my efforts.