Peaks and Valleys. Peaks and Valleys

As April passes I find myself hearing Coach Mcginnis (Varsity Linebacker Coach) talking about peaks and valleys at practice and games. At the time it didn't mean anything. I was a 17-18 year old know-it-all punk, I thought this was b.s. to put it lightly. After being on a Peak for 3 months, with work, a 11 month old, and house work. My training for the Elk Experiment has dropped from 5-6 times a week to 1-3 days. Last week I found myself in a valley. Much like one you would find while elk hunting. I was out for a run in the afternoon, while I was running (jogging for you real runners)I could hear Coach Mcginnis talking about peaks and valleys in practice. He would explain that you can not be on a peak 100% of the time. You are going to go through valleys. That elk might be on that next ridge and you must cross the valley to reach him. Or you could find yourself with lack of motivation to hit the gym(myself). It could also be  home, work, or school issues, the list goes on and on. You have 2 choices either, one foot in front of the other and climb out or accept the valley and trudge on. I for one am a fighter. I'm climbing out of this valley and regain my stance on the top of the peak.

There is no time limit that one can be in a valley. For some it might be a day or two. For others it could be years. One of the main things you will need to climb out of the valley is some sort of Motivation. Positive people send positive and will help you drive your goal in the right direction. It will not happen over night and you are going to need a push every now and again to keep hammering up the peak. No matter how you find your motivation be it music, a video, your best friend, or a coach from the past. Just get motivated.

In the past few weeks of May, I have been back in the gym 4-6 days a week. My hunting partner Al and I have hiking with our packs once a week 2-3 miles, loaded with 80 plus pounds. I am pushing my way up the slope. 121 days left till we leave the sunshine state and head for the high country.

The Elk Experiment.

Welcome to the Elk Experiment. I want you to join me, as I prepare for my Over The Counter Archery Elk hunt in Colorado. This is my journey from your average out of shape beer drinker to an in shape high country bow hunter by September. When I started this journey I weighed in at 247lbs. As of today April 16 2014, I am 3 months and 9 days in and weigh 217 lbs. That leaves 156 days till we hit the road to Colorado. My goal for this journey is to be 200lbs, running 8-9 minute miles and pulling a 70lb bow. I ran a 10:53 mile last night. Our camp in Colorado will be anywhere between 8000-11,000' elevation. At these Elevations just walking to your car leaves people short of breath.

Now try hiking 6-8 miles a day minimum for 4-5 days. If you are lucky enough to tag out, then hiking was the "easy" part. The real work is on the pack out. Taking 80-100lbs loads back to camp. This is when the training, both mental and physical will come into play. I will also be hunting with my hunting partner Al. If we are lucky enough to both tag out then the work has been doubled. Sit back and enjoy my journey as I prepare myself for elk in 2014. Till the next time on the Elk Experiment. Its all about the release.

Test Shooting the 2014 Prime Alloy and Impact.

Yesterday I took the day off from going to the gym as I wanted to head over to my local archery shop Archery Outpost. I had a few issues with my bow that I wanted to get looked at. I had thought my rest release cable was sliding up, causing my rest to not drop as quickly as it should. Once Conner watched a few shots he informed me that it was not my rest, but my nocking point was to low. He took it back and into the bow vice it went. Re-set the nocking point, dialed it in through paper and it was shooting bullet holes. (My next project is to make a DIY paper tuner.) Back out to the range I was shooting low. I had to turn my single pin to 36 yards to hit at 20 yards. Now I will have to re-set my sight tape, another project.

After I shot 100 arrows with my bow I wanted to try a few new bows. I am thinking about getting a new bow before my trip to Colorado this year. I shot 2 of Prime's new bows for 2014. The Impact and The Alloy.

 IMPACT

 

• IBO (FPS): 340
• AXLE TO AXLE (IN): 35"
• BRACE HEIGHT: 6.25"
• MASS WEIGHT (LBS): 4.5
• DRAW LENGTH: 26" - 30"
• DRAW WEIGHT (LBS): 50, 60, 70

Drew from Archery Outpost let me shoot his Impact. He was dialing it in for an upcoming competition. We have the same draw length and draw weight. His bow is not stock off the shelf let me tell you. He had all the stabilizers, magnified sight and vibration dampening. As I shot it there was zero after shot vibration. He had change his set up so there was no valley which was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. I was really impressed after shooting this bow. It is a little long at 35" ATA but shoots really fast at 60 pounds. I really want to see what it can do at 70 pounds.

ALLOY

• IBO (FPS): 335
• AXLE TO AXLE (IN): 33.25"
• BRACE HEIGHT: 6.75"
• MASS WEIGHT (LBS): 4.2
• DRAW LENGTH: 26" - 30"
• DRAW WEIGHT (LBS): 50, 60, 70

The Alloy was just off the shelf. No stabilizer or sight, just a rest. I really liked this bow. Even without all the bells and whistles, this bow was smooth. The draw was smooth and transitioned to the valley very easy.  The Alloy seemed to want to drive the arrows to the target. This bow was set as a shop demo so it was set at about 50 pounds. This bow felt great in my hands and was very well balanced with just the display hook. This is a big ranking contender for my 2014 hunting bow.

I went back to my bow for 5-6 more ends and it felt great. I am not sure what I want to do this year. I know I am going to venture to a few other shops to try out the Elite, Hoyt and a few other manufactures this year before I do anything.

Rain and wind in the forecast, Lets go hiking

My hunting partner Al and I talk all last week about getting out and scouting a new area on the opposite side of our hunting spot. The forecast for the end of the week was looking to be the hardest rain we had got in 3-5 years. This year has been extremely dry with hardly any rain. So we needed the rain, but Al and I needed to get out of the house and hit the trail. We emailed back and forth Thursday and Friday with weather maps, models and road closers for the surrounding area we would be hiking. I made the call to give its go and at least get to the trail head. Expecting the worst I was ready for a warm breakfast instead of a hike. When we arrived at the trail head there was a light sprinkle but it seemed to be letting up. As usual we were the only car parked at the trail. That was fine since I'm not out there to hike with the masses, we want to get away.

At the start of the trail we had a few stream crossings to get over to access the trail. With the rains the  streams were now mini rivers. On 2 of the crossings I had to jump from my last rock to other side of the bank, about 4' to clear the water. At this point I was trying to stay dry. I knew the rain was all around us, so it was only a matter of time.

    

                                                               View of the incoming rain

We hiked a total of 12 miles that day. We did glass a little, with the conditions we were faced with we both knew the deer would not be moving. It felt great to get out and enjoy the day on the trail.  We had to put the rain gear on a few times but it quickly passed. Then we would strip layers off and continue on. It rained on us the last 45 minutes. I figure it was getting myself ready for elk in Colorado this year. When we got back to the car Al had brought 2 Pats Backcountry Brew. Check out his review on http://socalbowhunter.blogspot.com. Mine will be following as I just picked up one.

                                                                      Crazy Manzanita 

I was glad we ended up going and not being a typical Californian. It was a great hike and lots of talk about our upcoming elk hunt. 

      

   

Happy Feet, Happy Training.

CurrexSole RunPro Insoles Medium Arch

I was recently chosen to test out a pair of Insoles from Insoles and Beyond. As the New Year just past I set a goal to start living healthier by exercising and eating better. I picked up a new pair of running shoes and they felt great. I walked and jogged about 20 miles or so before getting my new insoles. At this point my shoes felt great or so I thought. My feet would have a slight tingle after a 5 mile plus jog. I went to the Insoles and Beyond website (insolesandbeyond.com). I picked the currexSole RunPro Medium Arch support. They were shipped out and at my house in what seemed like record time. When I pulled the insoles out of the package, I gave them my little one, two, three, bend, flex and twist test. The insoles felt great in my hands and passed my test. At this point I was excited and could not wait to get them in my shoes. I went and gathered my supplies of scissors, a sharpie and flat piece of cardboard for a surface to trace my current insoles onto the new ones. Once I pulled out my old insoles I noticed they were the exact size as the new insoles. I wear a size 12 and the new insoles fit perfectly in my shoes. At first never having an arch support before the insoles felt different but it was not uncomfortable. After my first jog around the block I was sold. My shoes were comfortable before, now they are extremely comfortable. After logging about 50 miles so far I can say I am very happy and my feet are very happy to be out pounding the pavement. I don’t notice the arch support at all and love the extra support under my feet for the hard asphalt.  Also the tingle is gone when I get back home. It makes me just want to keep going down the trail. I will be getting a few more pairs for my gym shoes to my hunting boots.

Side profile of the medium arch support.

Insoles after 50 plus miles still strong.

Perfect fit in my running shoes.

The Insoles are priced 49.95. That might seem a bit high but when it comes to your feet remember you get what you pay for.

Im back, After a long break from the blog I'm back. I have been working on a lot of projects from BBQ to The Elk Experiment. I partnered with Real Steel Pits this year and have been loving my custom pit. It smokes meat like no other, if you are looking for a new pit check them out. I have also started a documentary on my journey from an average beer drinker to a backpacking Elk hunter. I started The Elk Experiment January 6. I will be filming my adventure every step of the way. I am really looking forward to hunting in 2014. I have trips planned to Colorado for Elk, Bear, and possibly Deer. I will also be going to Missouri to hunt a 300 acre family plot. I will be traveling out there prior to season to build a food plot and set cams to see what bucks are on the land. I also have my local California hunts I am planning this year. I have to figure out what tags I am going to apply for. I am thinking of D-14 so we can back pack into San Gorgonio.  I am also going back and forth on Big Pine (A-17) and the Angeles National Forest (A-31). I also have a great chance at some local wild pigs in an undisclosed location. Plus spring turkey is just around the corner I am feeling that 2014 will be a great year. We will doing a lot more gear reviews, insight and all other things hunting, fishing and fitness. So keep checking in and watch this little blog grow.

A Great Start to a New Year.

This has been a great year so far. I have been working hard at losing weight and getting in to better shape. I head to the gym every morning before work and get a good 2 hour work out in. That treadmill kicks my butt. I  have also been shooting as much as I can. Coming up on March 9-10 is the San Gabriel Big Horn Sheep survey. Me and 5-6 of my buddies will heaed out to find the majestic mountain sheep. Plus we can scope new area for deer hunting. So it is a win win. I am excited to get out and see how good of shape I am really in. The last trip of deer season was a tough one. I was beat hiking out. Now this year I want to be like our hunting partner Brandon. He files up and down those hills. I have been hitting the incline hard to make sure I am in 100% better shape than year (not round). I also just found out my girlfriend and I will be haveing a baby boy. So add a new hunter to the list.