Trophy Bull VS. Meat Bull

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Hunting to many Alaskas means red meat for the freezer, enough meat to get a family through the winter.  Across Alaska many residents practice the art handed down by our ancestors and the cave men before that, the not-so lost art form called subsistence hunting.  Each Fall locals from around the state leave the comfort of there homes and thrust themselves into the wild attempting to fill the freezer against all odds.

2009 Moose Harvest

When your an Alaskan and attempting to fill your freezer, any animal deemed by ADFG (Alaska Department of Fish and Game)as legal under the states rules and regulations most likely will be harvested.  As Alaskan subsistence hunter August Manelick would say “a legal spike for moose will taste just as good if not better than a trophy moose.”  I agree with August in that the goal of hunting is first and foremost to be legal and secondly to fill your freezer.  All though most hunters (including August and myself) will agree that a 55 inch trophy bull moose would look better on the wall and in the freezer than a spike fork (small legal yearling bull moose) would.

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The goal of hunting is to fill your freezer and provide sustenance for the long winter months.  Taking a trophy animal is a bonus, providing in a sense two trophies the meat and the antlers.  The meat of an animal is the true trophy, don’t let anyone tell you different.  The hunt is about the experience, camaraderie, and the stories shared with loved ones post hunt.  The harvest of the hunt is a physical representation of the memories made while in the field, regardless of the animals antler size.  Any legal animal is a gift, take your blessings and eat plentifully through out the following year.

Auggie with a double trophy, meat and antler.

Auggie with a double trophy, meat and antler.

Bottom line, there is a big difference between trophy hunting and subsistence hunting.  Trophy hunting individuals hunt usually for just the size of the antlers, bigger is always better.  Subsistence hunters hunt for the meat value of an animal.  Two very different ball games, playing by the same rules.

Photo Shoot 2012

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I was recently invited to be a part of an outdoor photo shoot posed as two hunters stalking through a beautiful river side cottonwood hunting area.

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The photo shoot included host of Pure Hunting television program Willi Schmidt and free lance videographer and outdoor writer (me) Austin Manelick.

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I had a blast with John Depalma the photographer as he effortlessly snapped perfectly apertured picture after picture.  “Keep the light to your back”, was the photography tip of the day.  (That tip applies to videography as well….)  He made the shoot so smooth and brought relentless energy to taking the perfect “sweet cherry pie shot.”  Thanks again guys for such a memorable and awesome outting in the field together.  Your friendship and camaraderie is what hunting and the great outdoors is made of, thanks again for everything guys.

Pure Hunting is found on the Sportsmen channel @

AIR TIMES:

Monday

7:00 PM

Wednesday

8:00 PM

Wednesday

11:00 PM

Thursday

10:30 AM

Friday
 8:00 AM
Show them your support!  Its an awesome series and a great place to see some of my work as Field Producer.  I worked on this series and can garentee once you turn it on you won’t leave the couch..
“Epic-hyper reality adventure television”  Pure Hunting is a must see!

Webisode Operation Texas: Mission Alaska head to South Texas (youtube link)

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La Frijolia management Brush Buck

Youtube link

OPERATION TEXAS MISSIONAK YOUTUBE VIDEO

Team Mission Alaska head to South Texas on a mission, attempting to harvest a wild bore and a famous La Frijolia brushbuck. Hidden Antler Camo owner and sponsor Brandon, leads the men on their Texas mission. Join the guys live on the stalk with the La Frijolia Ranch guide tony, bowmen Austin, and Vid cam dude John.
Check out http://hiddenantler.com/ for any sweet camo apparel you saw in this video.
OR
Check out http://brushbucks.com/ to book the Texas Hunt of lifetime.

D_A_PRO LLC Production Highlights- presents Mission Alaska

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DA PRO owner Austin Manelick pictured with Major League Baseball MVP Texan Ranger Josh Hamilton and family.

DA PRO owner Austin Manelick pictured with Major League Baseball MVP Texan Ranger Josh Hamilton and family.

D_A_ PRO LLC  is a full service media marketing provider, specializing in filming of remote and extreme shoot locations.   DA PRO’s, enlist a full staff of professional videographers willing and ready to shoot HD footage in the hardest most unforgiving terrain possible.   State of the art High Definition filming and audio recording equipment travels with each member of our globally experienced team of videographers.  D_A_ PRO, LLC is the next generation of video production, bringing revolutionary visions to the television industry.

PRODUCTION HIGHLIGHT VIDEO PRESENTS MISSION ALASKA

Follow this YOUTUBE link to watch the production highlight video a sample from the D_A_PRO LLC  Library.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72hU5wKa72s

                                                                                                 D_A_PRO LLC.

-THE PREMIER FRONTEIR PRODUCITON COMPANY.

Mission Alaska:Jim Roche “Outdoor Hero” Adventure in Youth Missions

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I found an interesting article regarding a filming gig I filmed last summer 2011.  A true role model to the next generation will be outlined, noted is his message to the next generation of outdoorsmen.

Butch Cassidy the Sundance kids hideout on the Green River

Butch Cassidy the Sundance kids hideout on the Green River

During my professional career as field producer and videographer, I’ve had the remarkable opportunity to meet astonishing people with messages strong and resounding.  True heros of conservation, the people who have planted the metaphorical “acorns” or strong outdoor moral values in the next generation, people like the man I met this past summer during a film shoot.  This documentary style shoot was a float trip down down the Green River in Utah, the very same river Butch Cassidy the Sundance kid took refuge to hide out from the law in classical western stories.  The man I speak of, Jim Roche, is the ideal role model for the next generation of outdoorsmen.  Jim a professional hunting guide and owner of Magnum Guide Service in Eldorado Texas, after years of much guideing success found new enjoyment helping boys become men through faith and the outdoors.

Jim Roche a true role model

“There’s so many kids that need to hear the word about Jesus Christ and who also need the hunter safety course. You’ve got to get outside the church to get across to most of these people.” -Jim

http://www.shortstoriesforchildren.net/hunting-guide-hopes-to-lead-youth-toward-christ

This float trip planned by Jim was a mission trip with a group of “boys” who would walk the steps of boyhood to manhood, walking the steps with Jim and Christ himself.  These 12-15 year old boys/men would be completly devoted to christ during the 100 mile or so float trip, learning campfire lessons about stories from the bible.  Each story had a different meaning, but all carried the same message, that message “Be a respectable, honoable man of society, who finds strength and courage through the almighty”. These men would be taught by Jim how to be sheppards of the land, good stewards of mankind.  They would also learn a valuable outdoor message through the bible and Christ “One of the things that we have to realize in the Bible, especially in Genesis, God’s given us dominion over the animals and over this Earth,” Hill said. “And so we really are in charge of this resource. and one of the things that we thought was important was to also work with the young people, boys and girls just like we have today, that help them be in a situation where they can manage that resource as they get older.

Adventure in Youth Mission Crew

Adventure in Youth Mission Crew

This trip was wildly unexpected and unanticipated, as I myself found this message to touch the roots of my christianity.  I could not help but to listen to the morning devotionals by the campfire as I filmed the young men read and follow Jims thoughts through each biblical verse.  I began to look at myself and how I could improve my relationship with Christ.  During this week long trip, I found myself on about the fourth day taking part in all parts of the mission trip, including prayer, sharing thoughts on bible verses, and sharing my own stories.  This became a very personal experience, not a work experience, I developed deep friendships with the young men around me and became one of the guys.

Vid Cam Dude known as "AK"

Vid Cam Dude known as "AK"

I immediately wanted to share my knowledge of nature with these young men, they were all very interested in what I told them before we embarked on the float trip.  I said “grab some hooks and some line, I maybe able to teach you how to catch a fish in a survival situation”.  The fourth night of the trip we ended up catching and realeasing a fistful of catfish, enough to feed the 16 or so people on the trip.  We used balled up whitebread on a single weighted hook, fishing right on the bottom.  We released the fish as we had enough food already reserved for the week, however we proved we could catch fish.  I taught the young men how to hand-line catch fish in a “survival situation”, to be ready for anything during adventures into the wilderness.  I imposed a small biblical lesson of my own, catch a man one fish feed him for a day, teach a man how to fish feed him for a lifetime.

Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime

Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime

I learned a few things from these young guys myself and ended up learning more than I could possibly teach.  I learned to speak more with the big man up stairs, and He discussed with me on this trip the mission of my manifest destiny.  The youth and the next generation of Outdoorsmen, teach them how to become respectable honorable men who care about nature and a healthy population of animals.  “On a mission trip to Green River, Utah, two boys accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior. Surprising Roche and everyone else, a cameraman with a postproduction company in Denver knelt down and accepted Christ, too.”  Short Stories for Children writes.

I was hit with this epiphany like a thunder bolt from God, as I gasped for breath being pulled from the bottom of the Green River.  By the 6th and final day of the trip I became one of the guys, and found myself being baptized by my new buddy Blaine in a circle of men who were accepting Christ in the Green River.  What a wild experience, I was convinced the entire production crew and all those involved were brought together for this very special mission trip for a reason.  What each person would walk away with, was the discovery of why they were called to this Adventure in Youth Mission trip, and where they would go next.

Blaine "my hero" and designated Go-PRO Videographer

Blaine "my hero" and designated Go-PRO Videographer

Each of these men found friendships in both themselves and with the almighty above, they would leave with the fundamental values of how to be a respectable, honorable, god fearing and loving man.  These men would leave with a sense of pride an accomplishment, my new friends would leave me with an inspiring thought to encourage more youth to become men just as they.  My relationship with these young men continues today, Spencer Brent pictured above is a gentlemen I met on this float trip.  Spencer was offered a field editor position at missionak.com and will be reporting his findings in the field during the Texas hunting season.  Check back for more in the field action from our field editors like Spencer, the youth has been inspired!  Thanks again to Jim Roche for being such an outstanding role model to the next generation of outdoorsmen, the world needs many more of you!

Looking down on us... From Desolate Canyon

Looking down on us... From Desolate Canyon

Mission Alaska Reaches Across the Globe to India

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This is an email I recieved after I posted an article asking for your thoughts, opinions, articles, pictures, etc.  This email comes from an individual from India, who runs a blog site called  greenerpasturesind.wordpress.com.  He writes me connnecting my blog with one of his adventures in India, and he shows us hunters in India are viewed with more respect and prestige with more animal skulls on the wall.  Here is the email and pictures, humans continue to amaze in our ability to share connections.

Hey…

First of all, awesome blog guys. I only reason I read about your hunting adventures, is because you guys respect the wild, and more like a part of it. Hunting is perfectly normal, if you do it in a sustainable way and not harming the nature.
I live in a tribal land, Northeast India. Here, hunting is a part of the culture, and at the same time, the tribes have a deep respect for nature which only a person like you or me would understand. But things have been changing recently. A lot of hunting takes place, so that the products go to China, where they make perfumes and what not, out of majestic animals such as Tigers, Leopards, Rhinos..etc..
Anyways, I am the admin of greenerpasturesind.wordpress.com. Received your recent mail asking for people to submit stuff.
Well, I think I have a picture which you would like, which I have attached with this email. It was taken inside a Mishmi tribal house, located somewhere far away in the mighty Himalayas. The skulls are hung like trophies in their house, and the more trophies you have, the more prestige and respect in society. I have also sent the picture of he tribal, who is the owner of the house. All respect to him. He’s been there, done that.
Please feel free to use the pictures.
And keep up the great work.
Regards,

Vaivhav Todi 

www.thegreenerpastures.com 

 

My response:

Vaivhav,

Firstly I wanted to note how awesome it is to have someone from across the world such as yourself reading my blog and interacting with me.  I noticed your blog activity after you comment on my posted article about the mountain goat burgers I made.  Thanks for following up withmissionak.com! I appreciate your email and it will be going up today!
This is very fascinating about your views on hunters and the way of life “in your neck of the woods”.  It is very sad and a shame to hear of the destruction that “poachers” not hunters, such as the tiger, rhino, and leopard killers you speak of have committed.  You know, as I, that this illegal black market where valued animal parts from tigers etc are taken and sold as aphrodisiacs or health remedies, and is viewed as normal by those who consume the goods.  The decrease in many species in places like Africa, Sudan, India, China, has led to an increase in demand for animals products on the Black Market.
In the USA, we have many rules and regulations that must be followed by a hunter or consequences and citations will be given.  Poachers and people hunting illegally in the US, who do not obide by the hunting laws set forth by each individual state will be regulated by authoritative figures.  Each state has many counties and cities, the wild game in these cities is protected by Game Wardens basically wildlife police.  Game laws are very serious in the USA, and individuals must abide by these rules or they will receive punishments.  There is an intricate system that ensure that the wildlife in the United States is cared for and payed for, payed for by the hunters licenses and tag fees it cost to hunt the animals.  In essence, hunters pay for the conservation of animals(to hunt legally), and work with wildlife agencies such as each States department of fish and game to ensure that a heatlhy population of animals exist for the next generation of hunters and fishermen.
Secondly, your mission statement and your blog greenerpasturesind.wordpress.com has an authentic and real message, a message that I can relate to, understand, and commend even being from a different side of the world.  Your adventures are amazing and I encourage you to spread you message to receptive ears and minds.  Who wouldn’t want to find themselves in a greener pasture?  I seek new green pastures every day of my life, everyday is an adventure in my eyes.
The man in your pictures is what I like to call a “grizzled vet” , as in, a person who has veteran experience gained through physically and mentally demanding experiences.  Like you said, a man that has been there and done that.  Here in the US, trophies are viewed in many different ways, some are disgusted by it, some are fascinated by it, some are jealous, some are happy.  I am very proud of each trophy on the wall, not because I feel powerful, or prestigous, or manly.  I never place emphasis on the kill of each hunt, as killing is not what hunting is about.  The adventure and experience is the catch for me, the harvest or trophy value of the animal is purley in the edible meat to be consumed over a long winter.  The kill of an animal is simply put, a physical representation of the memory had on the adventure pursued.
I only wish hunters were viewed here in the United States with more respect and prestige in society, considering their hunting license costs recycles directly into the wildlife programs set forth by the state to keep the environment healthy.
Thanks again Vaivhav, your email has been awesomely informative and perfectly placed into the right hands.  Keep pictures like these coming, I would love to hear more on the culture of hunters in India and your culture in general.
Truly great to hear from you,
Austin Manelick

Mission Alaska: You can help

Africa, Africa Big Five, Africa big game hunting, African Hunting, alaska, alaska hunting expedition, archery hunting, arrows, artic slope, bear charge, bear maul, bears, big game hunting, bow and arrows, bow fishing, camping, caribou, coyote, coyote attack, DIY hunting, extreme hunting, fishing, grizzly bear, grizzly bear charge, grizzly brown bear, guns, hog hunting, hunting, kudu, meat, moose, nature, Pennsylvania hunting, Pike fishing, public land, Rifles, salmon fishing, small game, Small game hunting, snow shoe hare, texas whitetail, The next generation, traditional archery, trout, Trout fishing, Uncategorized, unguided hunting, Whitetail hunting, wildlife

If you have been reading missionak or following at all, then you would know that MA is all about the next generation and spreading the word on how “cool” the outdoors is.  I have been talking with every person I know personally and contacting all of the youth I have met over my lifetime of friendships, in attempt to spread the good word of the outdoors.

Men enjoying the culture of the great outdoors.

I want to thank all of the readers and followers of Missionak, since summer of 2011 MA has grown greatly and viewer numbers are through the roof!  I want to thank you again for following and reading my personal message to the woodsmen in all us.  If you have or feel like you want to be more involved on missionak.com, please feel free to do so, in fact please help me!

If you have any pictures, videos, stories, anything that you feel appropriate for missionak.com, please email me at austinmanelick@gmail.com

Once again, I would love for anyone to send me interesting photos they have found on trail cameras, taken on hunts, taken on fishing trips, taken on antler shed hunting trips.  Tell me a story, it doesnt have to be a trophy buck that you have taken I would be just as happy with a picture of a readers first deer harvest of a doe than of a monster 10pt buck.

I want to connect with my readers, help me!

-AM

SEND ME PICTURES AND STORIES!!!

Contact

austinmanelick@gmail.com

Man cave: 303-838-7869

Mission Alaska meets Africa

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Mission Alaska is not just a blog about the outdoors and my conquest to sojourn the Alaskan wilderness.  This blog will also pre-log my past adventures and experiences in different places across the world in which I have experienced different cultures while hunting.

I had an awesome opportunity to experience an African dream hunt at the age of 12, for several years I saved up my birthday and christmas requests in order for my father to come good on his safari promise.  He kept his end of the bargin and for my 7th grade summer I would spend a month in South Africa hunting 11 plains game african Animals.

Young predator, small but dangerous

Very spoiled indeed, I did not argue with my fortune of being able to go on an unforgettable life changing adventure.  Many men dream of going on hunts to the dark continent, I am very lucky to visit such an amazing place at such a young age.

Over time, sprinkled throughout this blog you will find old school pictures of myself from childhood till now.  Each picture represents the memories of the outdoors I have lived which have formed my traditions, shaped my culture, and made me who I am.  This post look back at my life, retrospectively gives the reader a sense of exactly who I am and what I have become through my passion in the wild. The outdoors is who I am, this blog helps to explain my method of madness.

New Age Thrill Seeker

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Ever since my father took me trout fishing in a local stream after my first day as a kindergartner at Pioneer Peak Elementry School, I was hooked for life.  I had recieved a new telescopic (totally BA) trout fishing rod set up and I could not wait to test my new implements of attack upon the majestic rainbow trout.  My dad picked me up after school and we headed to Wasilla Creek. It wasn’t too long before we found ourselves 50 yards from the road, in a perfect trout hole.  My Dad rigged me up with a small spoon lure and told me to cast in the dark, deep hole behind the log…. I did so expertly, as if I had been a bass master my entire 5 year old life, after my third of fourth perfect cast I felt my pole tip jerk directly toward my line..

Trout Killer: the Great Northern Pike found in my secret trout fishing lake

What happened next was almost unexplainable, to this day I still have a hard time finding words for it. My tiny stomach lurched forward and downward at the same time, and for a split second I swore I was levitating.   For a brief moment, my body seemed to have defied gravity. I did not know what was happening but I knew I had a trout or something on my line and I did not want it to get away.  After landing the trout my dad and I shared a moment of silence and awe at that little trout flopping on the bank. My body let me feel the ground once I got a hold of my very first self caught trout.  My body experienced one of my first adrenal highs. I didn’t know what it was at the time, but if fishing could give me that knee shaking experience….then I would catch more fish!!!!   At a very young age I knew I was a thrill seeker, and believe it or not fishing gave me that thrill.  It was only later that I experience hunting for the very first time, which brought the thrill to a completely different level.

Everyday after school, between sports and home work, I would head to the woods or the streams carrying my fishing pole on my mountain bike. Later that bike would become an ATV..   Yeah sure I had video games, but getting to the next level was not gratifying for me because I knew the next level would always be there and I would always be able to beat the game.  There wasn’t too much fun in video games for me, deep down when I played them, I knew there would be a monster trout sitting under that log that I wasn’t fishing.  The outdoors was a challenge for me, every time I left the house I knew I would have to be clever enough to outsmart a fish or a squirrel.   My next personal metaphoric “video game level” would be my next small animal target, or my next dream hunt for Moose or Dall sheep.  After many years of small game hunting, I wanted to challenge myself, I wanted to to start hunting big game animals.

I will not tell a lie, the outdoors gratifies me beyond words.  The only way to break the experience with nature down such as catching a fish, harvesting an animal, or even seeing an animal, is the chemical response in the brain linked to adrenal release.  Adrenaline so to speak is what I chase, this chemical is released when your “rod tip jerks” or when you spot a grey squirrel and you’re hunting for dinner, or when you’re hunting for bull moose and a trophy 60 plus incher walks out with a rack thats wider than a door frame.  Your body’s natural instinct is to release this super human chemical giving you seemingless power, you must seek a thrill to experience it.  The harvesting of an animal is not the thrill, I get just as much satisfaction releasing a 26 inch rainbow trout as I would harvesting and eating the fish.  The kill is not as important as outsmarting the game animal, for instance letting a legal but small antlered animal walk by you instead of needlessly taking a life just because you can.  The taker of a life involves maturity and respect for the animals as well, close relationships are formed with the animals we pursue.  A last second buzzer beater, a half court 3 pointer  shot with no time left to beat the other team, that feeling as the ball goes in the hoop is a similar feeling to the experience of catching or harvesting an animal.

I don’t discriminate. I follow each U.S. state Fish and Wildlife regulations and within law, pick several legal game animals to pursue whether it’s big game or small game the thrill is the same.  I have been an accomplished big game hunter most of life, in part to a father who at one time was a Master Alaska Guide.  We have hunted both big and small game together and to me the adrenaline rush is nearly the same.  More exciting to me than hunting or fishing for myself, is sharing the sport with someone new, sharing the experience (the rush) of animal encounter with someone who is interested.  This last winter I decided to take my best friend and high school sweetheart Jordan Pokryfki small game hunting.

In high school her father, Vince, would teach us how to make port orford cedar arrows and osage orange self made D-bows.  We both had a love for the bow and making beautiful arrows, it was now time to put these arrows to action in the next challenge.  Noticing that Jordan was deadly with a bow I suggested we purchase a hunting license together, she asked me if we could actually hunt legally if she had purchased the license. I told her yes we could hunt small game (Snow shoe hare, ptarmigan, red squirrel, and spruce hen)because thats the small game open this season and off we went.

Jordan and austin

Bunny Hunting

Our first time out, we definitely looked deadly, however we spotted no bunnies during our snow shoe adventure.  Un-deterred  we decided we would head back out to a different bunny hunting location the following weekend, and this time we would use snow machines to get further from the road and deeper into bunny country.

One bunny, one zwickey doubled bladed broad head.

Our new game plan, using snow machines to get further into bunny country worked!  Jordan and I would succesfully harvest several bunnies this day, and had a blast doing it.  Jordan liked it so much we decided to go the following weekend to the same place, this time we would bring her dad and have equal success.

What a beautiful Alaskan winter day, an amazing moment.

Like I said, I don’t discriminate in the adventures I go on, the satisfaction I received would only be comparable to the happiness of  Jordan and her first successful hunting experience.   Seeing Jordan come to full draw with her home made refinished bow as bunnies zoomed through the willows, would bring me to a full draw smile and many awesome memories.

This year big game hunting is essentially coming to a close, and the populous of hunters are beginning to find themselves in a hybernation type pattern.  This is the exact time when the hard yards are earned  help you have succusfull 2012 hunting season.  If you have ever dragged a deer from the woods or packed out a bull elk, or bossed up a 200+ pound moose hind quarter then you know that you must be in not the best, but a pretty good shape  to safely bring your quarry from the field.  It’s to often that you hear a hunter tell a story of how he busted his ankle, or threw his back out, pulled a hamstring, the list of injurys goes on and on.  Being healthy and fit for the outdoors can only help to make you a more successful hunter, going further to help you get to that secret spot you only wish you get during the rut.  No matter if your a tree stand whitetail hunter or a back country elk hunter, being in shape both mentally and physically are factors playing into a successful hunting season.  Besting game this day an age takes hard work and perseverance, this is why I enter my hunting seasons as a professional athlete would enter his pre-season training camp.

Camp and Caribou on back.

I begin my pre-season hunting workouts during the winter, starting with an alternate cycle of a month of heavy weights with light conditioning such as non-weighted hikes or back country snow boarding hikes.  The second alternating month is an anaerobic high intensity high repetition excercise which is a simliar variation of the popular work called CrossFit.  Crossfit, focuses on a combination of different excersise in non-step repetition with little to no rest between exercises.  I made up my own variation of cross fit and p 90x, I like to call my workouts Wilderness X because its a combination of the outdoors with functional workouts.  The work out is similiar to what a hunter would go through during his time in the field(think spring bear on an Alaska hunt deep snow), I begin a snow shoeing hike with a weighted pack and enter one mile onto a pre-designated national forest trail in the middle of no-where Colorado.  Once a mile up the trail I pulled out my 40 pound dumbbell and begin the work out doing a combination of 5- 10 exercises between 15-30 repetitions each.  Once I finished this I would pack my weight away and hike back to the base of the hiking trail.

This work out mimics a spring bear hunt by placing the hunter in a game time situation such as a bear that is spotted, then stalked, then harvested. Long periods of heavy walking with a pack leading into several high intensity moments followed by another long period of walking.

That pack has a 40lb dumbbell inside

-The Wilderness Work Out

One Mile Hike with weighted pack (I chose 40 pounds)

Sumo Swings

Standing Triceps extension-20

Push ups 20

lunges 15 X each leg

Push ups 20

Sumo Swing

Standing Triceps extension 20

One mile hike down with weighted pack

This one way I prepare myself for success, some would call it a little crazy but each hunter has there superstitions.   How do you get ready for your hunting season?  Do you work out or go through some other form of ritual?  To each his own, what has helped you have you most successful year ever, and what will make you have the most successful 2012 season?

Stay tuned for the next post, the youtube video of the actual work out.

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