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September Is The Best Month Of The Year

I have always felt September is the best month of the year for several reasons. First, it’s the start of the NFL regular season. College football also kicks off, no pun intended. Second, the early archery seasons open around the country, which means archery elk to me. Next, the start of fantasy football. Even I can say that watching the NFL has become a lot more fun and entertaining because of fantasy football leagues. Our draft is coming up soon and is always the best party of the year.

If you happen to live in a city that has a competitive major league baseball team, then a run at the playoffs is icing on the September cake!

Back to NFL football and the upcoming hunting season. Hopes are high for every team, even the Cleveland Browns. They have some young talented players who have already lived up to or exceeded expectations. As excited as I am for the NFL season to start, I can’t wait to hear the first elk bugle in the woods, it is a adrenaline rush like no other! The anticipation is similar to that of the opening kickoff to a new season, hopes are high.

There are the obvious players everyone will try and draft, Tom Brady, Aaron Rogers, Drew Brees, Julio Jones, Antonio Brown, David Johnson and Le’Veon Bell if he ever signs his franchise tag contract, which he will. The trick is to find players that earn points who are hidden gems. Tyreek Hill last year would have been one of those players. I think a player who seems to fly under the radar is Golden Tate of the Lions. He may be one of the best number two receivers you can pick up. Another player I would take a close look at is rookie wide receiver Cooper Kupp from the LA Rams. He not a number one, but I think will catch a lot of passes, he is a sleeper. Another receiver, who has a new quarterback throwing to him, is Ted Ginn. His new quarterback is Drew Brees.

So what makes September so special? I shoot my bow everyday, get ready for my fantasy league, train for the first hunt of the fall, watch the Royals make a run at the playoffs and prepare for the start of the NFL season. What is it they say? “It just doesn’t get any better than this”.

The Outdoor Quarterback

NFL Left Tackles Are How Valuable?

How valuable do think left tackles are to starting NFL Quarterbacks? Just ask them! The most valuable is what you will hear. Over years of watching NFL games and analyzing quarterbacks, I have found that successful quarterbacks, statistically speaking, have one thing in common, experienced tackles both left and right. It is those Quarterbacks, who are fortunate to have veterans at the tackle positions, extend their careers and realize great successes. More and more teams are putting a premium on their tackles particularly the left side. Most NFL Quarterbacks are right handed which makes the left tackle the protector of the quarterbacks blind side. It is critical for quarterbacks to feel totally confident that their blind side is taken care of. When you can play with confidence you can play with focus, great left tackles affords quarterbacks that luxury.

Next time you watch Tom Brady, Aaron Rogers, Drew Brees, Carson Palmer and Matt Ryan play, focus in on their left tackles, watch how they move their feet, extend their arms, use their hands. They have developed techniques essential to playing the tackle position at a very high level, a true blessing to the quarterbacks. Just look at the number of tackles in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Several NFL starting tackles have been injured and are out for the season. Pay attention to teams who will begin to struggle with their passing games because of the loss of their starting left tackles. Really good left tackles are not just sitting around waiting for a phone call, they are already on a team. The teams who won’t see much of a drop off in their passing game are teams who understand the importance to having depth at that position. The Seattle Seahawks will be a team to watch, their starting left tackle, George Fant, is out for the season, and they are scrambling to find a replacement.

NFL Quarterback owe their careers to great offensive lines, but no one on that line is more important than the left tackle!

The Outdoor Quarterback

Spring Gobblers/NFL Draft

Two of the best things happening in May are the Spring Turkey Season, which is going strong in many areas of the country, and the NFL Draft. The Draft has become one of the most watched events on TV. It basically announces the start of the 2017 NFL Season. Bad teams are very optimistic and good teams just seem to reload. This is one of the deepest years for wide receivers. I have seen as many as 8 wide receivers projected to go in the first round. The Kansas City Chiefs may be in the market. Watch for at least that many to go in the first round.

For the first time, as far as I can remember, there is a devaluation at the running back position, which is a clear indication in the change of the NFL offensive philosophy and strategy. It has become a passing league, no question. I still believe you have to have a consistent running attack to be a championship team. If you can move the ball by throwing and control the clock by running, then you are putting yourself in position to make the playoffs and win a championship. Look for a good running back to go early.

Looking forward to the draft is exciting but the first gobble you hear during the Spring Turkey season is a rush second to none. You turkey hunters know what I am talking about. My ideal draft day is to go to the woods, harvest a turkey and participate in the Chiefs Draft Party. What is that they say, “It just doesn’t get any better than that”.

Tell me who you want your team to draft.

The Outdoor Quarterback

Make Your Western Hunts Fun, Get In Shape

For several years I have help guided elk hunters in northern New Mexico, around the Chama area. I have found the majority of hunters I guide come from the mid-west or the eastern part of the country. I have discovered many, if not most, of those hunters are not in good enough shape to really enjoy their hunts. It is simply a lack of cardiovascular conditioning. walkingforcardio

I have experienced hunters being so out of breath that when the moment of truth came, they could not steady themselves to draw their bow or steady their rifle. In most all of those cases the hunter never got a opportunity to shoot. We have found that once an elk gets withing shooting range, either with a bow or rifle, you have around 11 to 15 seconds to make the shot. Once you get in that range there is very little time to catch your breath, steady your rest or calm yourself down. If you can eliminate a couple of those elements at the critical moment, you will increase your opportunity for success.

Getting yourself in really good shape, referring to your cardiovascular conditioning, you can take care of the heavy breathing interference. If you can control that part then becoming steady to draw your bow, mount or shoulder your rifle becomes a none factor. Calming yourself is a matter of focus. If you are out of shape your focus and attention to details leading up to your shot no longer exists. Everyone gets excited when a shooting scenario presents itself, it’s natural, it is those hunters who are in good physical condition and that can bring their emotions under control quicker, will experience success more often.

The conditioning philosophy is relevant in just about every sport. When professional athletes get fatigued, their performances quickly declines. The same will happen with hunters. I know when quarterbacks throws come up short it is usually because their legs are tired. You have seen it with major league pitchers, when they begin to loose command of their pitches, it is normally their legs that get tired not their arms.

Getting in shape for a western hunt requires that you must improve your cardiovascular condition. Work your legs and your core. Exercises to Improve Cardiovascular Endurance. This year make your western hunt more enjoyable, get in shape!

The Outdoor Quarterback

Baby Boomers Join The RV Craz

Statistically speaking the Baby Boomer generation is joining the RV frenzy! More RV’s are being built than at anytime in our history. One of the major reasons is that the Baby Boomer generation are all at retirement age and are looking for things to do. Boomer’s want to travel but with the issues taking place outside the US, people don’t feel safe traveling abroad. So the Boomers have taken to the RV’s. People admit they have seen very little of the US and would enjoy experiencing the history and sites of our country and Canada, so the RV business is booming thanks to the Baby Boomers!

As a Baby Boomer myself, I have fallen in to the RV trap. My wife and I have ordered a RV, which will arrive sometime next February. In the meantime we are watching every U Tube video and listening to pod casts regarding RV’s and traveling in a RV. Some of the video’s are very good and provide some very valuable information about RV’s in general. There seems to be one major issue most people want to discus and those are the issues concerning your grey and black tanks. It appears there are many practical ways to deal with those problems, some good some bad. Everyone as an idea of which equipment should be standard on all your trips, which is very good advice, some you many have never thought of.

Some of the videos, featuring families who RV during the summer months with their children, are very entertaining. They do provide the names of organizations who provide camping locations and RV parks throughout the US and Canada such as the Good Sam Club or Family Motor Coach Association. What I am finding is that there is a lot more to this RV thing than just putting gas in the tank and driving down the road. Thinking you can pull over anywhere at any travel park, turn out the lights and go to bed is a recipe for loosing a lot of sleep! Like anything else, when traveling, planning ahead will always make the trip much more successful. In today’s RV world making reservations at a RV park is a necessity if not mandatory. In many of the National Parks, securing a reservation is standard operating procedure. What we are learning is, don’t leave home without knowing you have a place to park your RV for the night or for the week or you may end up very disappointed!

More to come on this new adventure we are undertaking, we are just getting started and have a lot to learn.

The Outdoor Quarterback

NFL’s First Year Quarterbacks

The newest crop of highly drafted quarterbacks appear more ready to play in the NFL than expected.

This years crop of rookie quarterbacks entering the NFL appear to be more prepared to play now, at the NFL level, than expected. The stage doesn’t look to big for any of them. Some of the major reasons are, the teams who drafted these high profile quarterbacks, drafted quarterbacks who fit their current systems, or have the skill sets not only to fit in their systems and offensive philosophies, but have additional talents which will allow the teams and offensive coordinator’s (OC) to expand their current playbooks and strategies. For those of you who might not understand, anytime you can cause a defensive coordinator’s (DC) to spend additional time game planning against a quarterback who can throw effectively out of the pocket as well as inside the pocket, and can create offense while extending plays with their scrambling abilities, become a DC’s nightmare. It appears that Mitchell Trubisky, Patrick Mahomes, Deshaun Watson and DeShone Kizer, the top four quarterbacks drafted in 2017, have all demonstrated they posses those skills. In my opinion they all seem to be having some significant success operating their teams offenses. I know it is only preseason, but as a former quarterback, what I have seen from each one of these quarterbacks are very high skill levels, maturity in their decision process, which is making good reads and throwing on time, protecting the ball and on the field leadership. These attributes and skills demonstrated in the preseason games I have watched, are early signs of what should be expected by these young quarterbacks plus what the future might hold. All of these skills are necessary to become a starting quarterback in the National Football League.

If these young quarterbacks can keep up this type of consistent play throughout the preseason, then all the teams who drafted them are looking at the future franchise quarterback for their organizations. This doesn’t happen often in the NFL, having this many first year quarterbacks ready to step up and play. Don’t get me wrong, they are not polished players like Tom Brady, Aaron Rogers, Drew Brees or Alex Smith,

but they are in that mold. There are several reasons why these young quarterbacks are having some early success. I think a major reason is the willingness of the head coaches and offensive coordinator’s to adjust their offensive schemes and philosophies to match to skill sets of their highly drafted quarterbacks. This is a drastic change in how the NFL and teams have operated in the past. Good for them and it is about time!

I look for this years group of drafted quarterbacks to be very successful, Whenever the opportunity presents itself.

The Outdoor Quarterback

Last Chance to Camp Before School Starts

The last chance camping trip before school starts and activities begin is a great way to end the summer, don’t miss out!

The last chance to camp with the family before school gets started is closing in. Once school starts and the activities begin, it’s hard to get everyone on board to spend the weekend camping and enjoying what the outdoors has to offer. I am not necessarily talking about taking a long road trip, just find a facility close by that allows overnight camping, load up your tent or camper, including the kids and spend a couple days of quality outdoor time. Do a little fishing, wildlife watching, hiking or bike riding, anything to promote the outdoor experience. I am sure the entire family will enjoy getting away from the house for a few days before the fast pace of school begins. These are the types of experiences that create life long memories, family traditions and family entertainment.

I wish I could have had more of these types of family experiences, but sports and having a father in the military prevented that from happening. As a father myself we tried to do things that involved the outdoors on a regular basis. Float and canoe tips, fishing and cycling where always the most fun, and yes they included camping, cooking out and building camp fires where stories about Camp Tepee Tonka became legendary . Now my kids are grown with families of their own and they still talk about those camping adventures.

I am going to make sure the grand kids get to experience the enjoyment of camping and exploring the outdoors. Don’t miss the opportunity to use those last few days before everyone gets wrapped up with school, sports and other activities and go spend quality family time in the outdoors. No excuses!

You can check with your state parks division, or a national organization such as American Camp Association, acacamps.org, to find suitable facilities which allow overnight camping. Make sure you have permission to build a camp fire. There are some states who are in a drought situation, so open firers may not be allowed. Just make sure you check. In most parks and camping areas, signs are posted regarding campfires. Enjoy your adventure.

The Outdoor Quarterback

Where Is The Logic?

No one seems to have a consistent answer to the question, can a legally licensed hunter hunt in two states on the same day and shoot two legal limits while staying within the possession limit regulations?

Recently I was asked a question regarding waterfowl hunting and the interpretation of a law or regulation involving a duck hunt that may occur on a same day between two states. The question was logical the answer had zero logic. I have an answer, but I told the individual that I would first like to call the local game warden and get his view on the very convoluted law or regulation. Here is the scenario, if an individual owned property in one state and had the opportunity to hunt the same day in the adjacent state, could he in fact hunt both states on the same day and harvest a legal limit of ducks, in both states? Of course all the proper licenses and stamps for both states where in hand and the hunter would have been totally legal. Now to be even more descriptive explaining the event, one hunt took place early morning in one state and the second hunt took place late in the afternoon in another state, on the same day, over 4 hours away.

The answer I got back was no, they couldn’t. There was also some confusion on his part because it is a federal regulation and not a state regulation, but the state game warden must enforce the regulation. His initial response was, this is a very confusing issue. It is referred to as the Aggregate total of birds. I asked him to explain, he did his best but we were both confused at the end of the discussion because he said, it is all based on the flyway you are hunting in. For instance the Mississippi flyway or the Central flyway. I said okay, if that is the case, if I hunted in the Mississippi flyway in the morning than I should be able to hunt in the Central flyway in the afternoon. He didn’t have a answer to that question and was going contact a federal agent for a definitive answer. So, because there are different limits in each state, as he was trying to explain the very confusing regulation, there is an aggregate of the total number of ducks you could take in a day. So I set up another scenario with him, in Missouri you can shoot 6 ducks, four of which can be mallards, and two of those can be hens, plus you get two bonus ducks such as teal, wigeon, gadwall, etc… if I shoot my limit of 6 ducks in Missouri, 4 mallards and two bonus ducks, can I then move over to Kansas and shoot one more mallard because in Kansas you can shoot 5 mallards? Even though I have exceeded the aggregate of 6 ducks! Do I have the right to shoot the 5th mallard? No answer!

I, and many other hunters who hunt in two states, don’t see any logic in this regulation or law. If I have paid for all my licenses and stamps and I am totally legal to hunt in both states, haven’t I paid for the right to hunt in both states and shoot a legal limit in both. I understand there are regulations and laws regarding possession limits, but if I am well within the possession limits then I should, legally, be able to hunt both states on the same day. How about using a little logic here.

The Outdoor Quarterback

Time To Tune Up

Time to tune up your hunting and fishing equipment. Fishing is still good and the early archery seasons are just around the corner. Don’t let equipment malfunctions be the reason for your hunting or fishing trip to go south. Simple maintenance is all it takes.

As I was going through my hunting and fishing gear I realized my hunting and fishing equipment needed tuning up. My urgency was more with my fishing gear because there are still plenty of good fishing opportunities left. With that said, early archery elk season is not that far off either. I have already started my body tune up but as I was looking at my archery equipment, it dawned on me that I had not taken care of some routine maintenance issues on my bows, releases and arrows. It’s a good idea to routinely check your bow strings and cables. If the strings are frayed and dry make sure you wax them. I use a leather glove to apply the wax to the string, that way I can create friction to melt the wax in and on the string. For your cables just check to see if there is any unusual wear and make sure they fit correctly on your wheels or cam’s. Check all the fasteners on your bow, make sure they are secured, including your sites and rests. Don’t forget your D-loop and peep. Just a solid once over will normally work, but don’t take anything for granted. You can live with operator error, it’s the mechanical issues that causes most of hunting heart burn!

For your arrows, check for any irregularities in arrow flight. They could have been nicked or the fletching could be torn or separated from the arrow. Both of these can alter your arrow flight significantly. Make sure your inserts and knocks are secure as well. None of these checks take long, it is just good practice to routinely check all of your equipment. Don’t forget your releases. They will sometimes collect dust or some other foreign object. Both of those will cause release malfunction, trust me I learned that lesson the hard way.

I know I am guilty of not changing my fishing line near often enough. It is a simple task that I ignore way to much. I don’t fish for a living but I have opportunities to fish where there some real quality fish and there is nothing more frustrating than to loose a good fish because of fishing line integrity. So I changed the line on all my reels, Now if I loose a fish more than likely it will operator error and not the age of the line.

I have some of the same neglect issues with my reels, I just expect them to work! Not so fast my friends, they need tuning up just like any other piece of equipment. They collect dust and need to be cleaned and lubricated periodically to work properly. So in addition to new line on my reels, I did a complete oil and lube job on all of them.

My confidence is much higher now that my hunting and fishing equipment has been tuned up. No more neglect!

The Outdoor Quarterback

2107 NFL TRAINING CAMPS

NFL Training Camps.

All of the NFL training camps are now open which means preseason games are just around the corner. First is the Hall of Fame game played in Canton Ohio. The Hall of Fame game jump starts the NFL year. This game provides all the football addicts their first taste of the upcoming season. Training camp and preseason games gives us the opportunities to see what is in store for us fans. I always want to see how new pieces to the offensive and defensive puzzles are going to perform. I want to see how the draft picks react to the speed of the NFL game. I want to see if the game, at this level, is to big for the rookies. Most importantly I want to find the player who is going to help me win my Fantasy League! That is why training camps around the league are important to me this year! Watching training camps on TV, traveling to some in person. I want to know more about players and their roles on certain teams and in certain situations. I will admit I do listen to the analysis of so called experts and their opinions on players, how they are going to fit in and what affect they are going to have on their teams offense or defense. The only problem is they have been more wrong about players than I have! Anyone can pick a Tom Brady or Aaron Rogers or Drew Brees or Le’veon Bell, I have to find the unknown player, the player who no one wants and will somehow or someway get me out of the dark depths of last place in my Fantasy League. That is why NFL Training Camps this year are important to me! I am on a Mission and I will find him!

I highly recommend going to a NFL Training Camp. Seeing these players up close and personal is the best way to evaluate young talent against veteran players. First hand information like that is invaluable! That is going to be my approach to NFL Training Camps 2017.

Although, I may have a more scientific method of selecting my fantasy team this year. I will take pictures of all the top players from each position, starting with quarterbacks, tack them to my archery targets, go back to 70 yards, shoot an arrow and whoever it hits, that’s my guy at that position. This method just may work!

The Outdoor Quarterback