Now I know how Dr. Frankenstein felt. I thought I’d feature a picture of the winner of our first big year contest. Ok, this clearly isn’t Tom, but I’m pretty sure Tom has this shirt (the pink one) and this is clearly Tom’s look when he sees a life bird. The first big year is over and my old high school buddy Tom won. I admire his tenacity. He put in more time, more consistently than me. I was sure…
Black Skimmer at Milford Point, CT Back on December 17, 2014, I published a post about a “big year” birding contest several friends and I started amongst ourselves. The idea was to get off our butts, get outside, have some fun, and maybe learn a thing or two. Keeping in the spirit of any guy undertaking, Jim and Tom immediately went out and bought new binoculars. No doubt the new “bins” will be crucial in securing a win. Perhaps not….
Here is my not-too-secret confession, I love gear – particularly outdoor gear. Whether it’s a new fly box, GPS, hunting vest, fly rod or reel, tenkara rod (a whole other blog post there), or backpack…, I love new gear. Not just any kind of outdoor item will do. It has to be well-made and well-designed stuff. Jim Boucher helping Kirk land a fish Several years ago I was fishing the West Branch of the Ausable River in New York with…
I was disappointed in the performance of the plastic clip on the tree strap that came with the Bushnell® HD Trophy Cam. Disappointed in the way it broke in the cold. My solution was to use an old kayak tie-down (left). OK, confession, it wasn’t old, but it was available and I could replace it by the time it was warm enough to kayak in Vermont. It is generally a good idea to question your own cleverness. The new strap…
Back in January 2013, before my work life went crazy, I wrote about New Year’s resolutions for the Mountain Gazette. I outline some suggested resolutions that I thought would make the sporting world a better place and sportsmen better people – if that is possible. Among the resolutions I suggested was “Take up a new and complimentary ‘hobby’; something to get you out in the woods during the off season. Take up photography, bird watching, hiking, canoeing…