Introducing Kids to the Outdoors in Arkansas

The newest challenge from Outdoor Bloggers Summit,OBS, was to write an article on "How to Get Everyone to Play Outdoors". Writing is not my expertise, but I've been fortunate to spend alot of time in the outdoors starting as a young child, and so I just want to share some of my experiences, and hopefully they'll spur you along or entice you to take a kid to the outdoors.

Image by El Destructo via Flickr

First of all, I've lived in the great state of Arkansas all my life. Unlike many states, Arkansas has numerous outdoor options including hiking, camping, canoeing, hunting, fishing,mountain bike riding and many other activities. Not many states have the variety of outdoor activities that we get to enjoy here in Arkansas. Guess that's why we're called the Natural State.


Arkansas Outdoors
Over 250 hiking trails that cover more than 1,500 miles
Over 2.9 million acres of public access national forest for hunting,fishing, camping, and hiking
600,000 acres of lakes and 9,000 miles of streams and rivers for water sports, scuba, fishing, etc.

Hiking in Arkansas

Image by El Destructo via Flickr

Numerous hiking trails to explore including day hikes, and backpacking adventures. Mountain bike trails, horse trails, and hiking trails take you into some of the most beautiful country you have ever seen.
(insert pic of buffalo river mountains,etc)

On and Off the Beaten Path, a guided hiking tour company based in North Arkansas, offers day hikes in the Ozark National Forest and the Buffalo River Wilderness Area.


Camping in Arkansas

There are more than 200 public-owned Arkansas campgrounds—offering nearly 9,800 individual family campsites.


Arkansas State Parks

 





Canoeing and Kayaking Arkansas Streams
Arkansas is home to the Buffalo River. The Buffalo River was chosen as America’s first national river in 1972, an honor held by only America’s finest rivers. I can honestly say these pictures don't do the river justice. You have to see the place for yourself. There are several outfitters that can plan you a trip, whether you want a half-day,full-day, or multi-day trip (which are awesome!! I'll be taking our annual 3-day float trip in April, can't wait!!). This is a great river to float for families, but also has some more difficult rapids upstream. You owe it to yourself to come check this river out.

There are many more things to do in Arkansas outdoors. I just don't have the time to list them here and explain. Most important thing to remember is take your family and children to the outdoors. It's important we keep them involved with the outdoors, so they can make sure that we preserve the wonderful outdoors that we all enjoy so much. If you want to experience the Arkansas outdoors, feel free to give me a shout, and I'll do what I can to help you!! Take care and God Bless!!

 

A must have for easy access to your binoculars and rangefinder

If you're like me having access to your optics is a must. I can't tell you how many times I've been digging around in my backpack while on the stand trying to get my rangefinder or binoculars, before the deer gets out of site. Well, I finally purchased the Crooked Horn Outfitters Bino-System. It's a harness that holds your binoculars and/or rangefinder close to your body, and out of the way if you're bowhunting. I hate binoculars hanging around my neck so these let your shoulders do the supporting. Check them out at Bass Pro Shops.

What binoculars do you guys use? I'm in need of some new hunting binoculars. I've been looking at the Nikon Monarch ATB 10x42 binoculars pretty hard!! Nikon binoculars have a great reputation and great reviews. Hopefully, I'll have me a new pair of Nikon Monarch bincoculars by Christmas! (Hint: Christmas present)

What to do when mosquitos are eating you alive when deer hunting?

This past week was the start of Arkansas archery season. I was sitting in my stand doing some bear hunting, and swatting at mosquitoes. I got to thinking about a hunt I had a few years back when I really thought I was going to die from all the mosquitoes sucking my blood out. Me and my brother-in-law were trying to drag the deer out of the swamp, but it was just muddy, and thick, and seemed like we just stirred up the mosquitoes worse. So I came up with a better plan, it seemed like a good idea at first...Here's the video

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• Blast from the past - Arkansas Bear Hunt (loving-life-today.blogspot.com)

Blast from the past - Arkansas Bear Hunt

Arkansas Archery Bear season is right around the corner, so I thought I'd post this hunting video, that me and my brother-in-law filmed a few years back. Bowhunting black bear is a pretty cool experience. We've actually got some good black bear hunting in Arkansas. There are several bears over 300lbs killed in Arkansas every year. Hope you enjoy the video, and hopefully I'll be posting another video in a few weeks, if I get lucky enough to harvest a big black bear.

Going with GrimReaper Broadheads!!

Well, I've been shooting Rocket Sidewinder broadheads
for a few years now. They've been a great broadhead, but just thought I'd like a change. Only complaint I've ever had from the Rocket Sidewinder broadhead
is the blades tend to bend after you've shot an animal. And we all know that broadheads aren't cheap, so I've heard alot of good things about GrimReaper broadheads, so I'm going to be using them this year while bowhunting. I've personally witnessed a GrimReaper Razortip broadhead blast through two front shoulders of a big Kansas whitetail, so they definitely cut and penetrate great. No O-rings or Rubber bands to mess with. They come in different cutting sizes. I'm going to be shooting the Razortip 1 3/8" cut 100 grain broadhead. I hope to be showing you some harvest pics in the coming months!! Good luck hunting everyone!!

Arkansas Bear Season Opened Today

Image via Wikipedia

Well, Arkansas Bear Season opened today!! But it doesn't open in my zone for another couple weeks :( I just started in the last few years doing some bowhunting for black bear, and I have to admit seeing those massive bears coming into your bait gets your adrenaline flowing!! Black bears are so stealthy when they're walking in the woods so you have to stay on your toes, because more than likely you'll see them before you hear them. I use a 55-gallon drum with about a 10-inch square hole cut out on the side of the barrel towards the bottom, so the bears have to work at getting the bait out. I've used all kind of stuff for bear bait. Corn, dogfood, donuts, scraps from restaurants, fish, etc. Just about anything sweet works wonders, and more syrup than a man could imagine. I'm always up for other suggestions. What do you guys use? Tips for black bear hunting?

New Comer to Outdoor Gear-Check out Muddy Outdoors

I've been noticing alot of advertisements lately on Muddy Outdoors. They've got some really good looking products. Treestands, climbing sticks, harnesses, camera arms, etc. The climbing sticks look very similar to the Lone Wolf sticks, and everyone knows how popular those are. I bought some last week, can't wait to use them this year. Muddy Outdoors offers "Hunter" and "Hunter Pro" stands. They are basically identical stands other than the "Hunter Pro" being a little smaller platform and weighing a couple pounds less. I really like how the seat and platform adjusts so if you have few tree choices at least you can make your stand fit the tree. If anyone has any of these stands, I'd love to hear how you like them. Go Muddy!!

Adding some hunting gear...

Just bought me some Lone Wolf climbing sticks at Mount George Archery shop. I
got the 4-piece set so I can get a little higher. Johnny has a great archery shop so
stop by sometime, but it's hard for me to go over there and not spend money.

Super lightweight-2.5 lbs per stick, so total of 10 lbs. Quiet to setup, can't wait to stick'em on a tree.

Buffalo River Camping-Day Three

All I can say is "Thank God for ear plugs!!" I slept like a baby. I think we stayed up til 2 or 3 playing cards. The store didn't have any regular ear plugs, so I just got the ear plugs for kid's, to keep water out of their ears. I was desperate, and they worked like a charm. Needless to say I think I rolled out of my tent around 10 am that morning.

The river was pretty active, there was a steady stream of canoe-ers that day. Carson and I got some fishing in later that afternoon. I'm thinking he's going to be right by my side whenever I go hunting and fishing, and I couldn't be more happy about that. I can't wait to show him the outdoors, and experience them with him.

Then we got our grill on!!! Huge Ribeye steaks and fried potatoes for dinner!! Then fixed smores for dessert! Got my tail whomped at cards, then decided to turn in for the night, since we'd be packing up in the morning.

We had a great trip, and great friends with us, can't ask much more than that!!

Buffalo River Camping-Day Two

Day One and Two ran together for me, since I only got about an hour sleep. Note to self: Always bring ear plugs. I'm a lite sleeper, so with the coons having a ten-round fight over gummie snacks, bread, and potatoes that we left out, I didn't sleep much. But turned out great, around 5:45 am I decided the heck with it. I got up, and decided to walk to a nearby field, to see if I could see any elk grazing. Well, I forgot my binoculars in the truck, but I didn't see any elk in the field, so I decided to head to the river, and see if the smallmouth were biting. Fishing was slow, I was using a silver crankbait initially, then switched to a broken-back minnow, and it was on like donkey kong then. I caught several fish for the next 45 mins to an hour. It was awesome. If you've never caught a smallmouth bass you're missing out, the fight they give for being so small is unbelieveable.

Image via Wikipedia

We spent the rest of the day hanging out at the river.


We drove into town to pick up some cooking oil, and ear plugs(woohoo) later that day. On the way into town, we saw some elk grazing in a hay field. One bull elk and several cows...I was so wishing I had a camera with me. They are impressive animals. I hope to go hunt them sometime in the future.

The night ended with some great hamburgers cooked on the grill, and some card playing...

Day Three Coming Soon...

Friday Random thoughts

TGIF!! I'm ready for the weekend. Finally finished the trim and flooring in our living room and hallway. Got a cookout @ our house Saturday for some couples in our church. Turkey season is almost here!! Youth hunt starts this weekend. Team SB is filming Hope Outdoors this weekend, I hope they have a blast!! Hope Outdoors is a great program, you should check it out. We at StruttinBucks feel blessed to be able to partner with such a great organization!!

Interesting people in this world...

Me and a buddy of mine have been talking about outdoor adventures, hiking, canoing, etc., lately I've ran across a couple of articles that have blown my mind. This article is a story of a man, that lives in a tepee in his parents backyard. Of course, I first thought what a bum :) Then I realize he's a recent college graduate, a commodities broker, so I'm sure he makes well over my income, and after reading more of the story. He's a guy who just loves the outdoors, so I respect that. Maybe still a little eccentric, but still pretty cool. He makes his own fire, sleeps on a bear skin rug, and uses a hippopotamus skin as a blanket(apparently those don't catch on fire).

So if my wife ever kicks me out of the house, I'll just throw up a tent in the backyard!!


Life in a tepee

Impressive Hiking Trip

I have some buddies that have been hiking for the last couple years. I for one don't like hiking in the cold, much less doing anything in the cold unless it's hunting and then I have the clothes and equipment for it. I came across this article today, and I got to give Jenny Foster some props!! Way to go Jenny!! She ran a rugged trail in the wonderful mountains in Arkansas in an impressive time!! Here is the link to the article.. http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Style/251308/

What to do when hunting season ends

Well, Arkansas bowhunting season is almost over...It's sad!! I spend so much time getting ready for the season and then hunting like a madman, and then it's over. I'm already thinking about next season....Here are some things that might help pass the time.

1) Shoot indoor/outdoor 3d
2) Bowfishing-check out http://www.southerndrawbowfishing.com-tell them Steven sent ya!!
3) Go hunt some hogs somewhere
4) Shed hunting
5) Check/clean all your gear
6) Prepare food plots
7) Clear shooting lanes
8) Late-season scouting
9) Pick up the rod-n-reel and do some fishing
(And of course the most important...)
10) All the honey-dos that you've been putting off all hunting season!!

Good luck and God Bless!!