Outdoor Adventure USA

The net this week will be a great opportunity to get some ideas for future outdoor adventures. The "5 Minute" idea is our way of getting as many participants as possible, as they each have 5 minutes for thieir adventure. Each will post information and pictures. Don't be shy - if you have a favorite camping spot, hiking adventure, hunting trip, river rafting trip, 4 wheel drive adventure, or sky diving trip, post up with a description and pictures. Also, join us on the net.

GUIDED PRIVATE LAND HUNTS

Synopsis
Guided Private Land Hunts have some significant benefits compared to hunting Public Lands on your own. In this 5-Minute overview, the benefits of Guided Private Land Hunts will be reviewed, then a few photos of the results of some Guided Private Land Hunts will be presented, and then a few links to Guide Services and Sources to Guide Services will be provided.

Benefits to Private Land Hunting

Great for beginners or old timers seeking to introduce a new hunter or learn new tricks.

• Experienced guides hunt more in a year than most hunters hunt in a decade or even a lifetime.
  
  The guide's experience is shared with the new hunter, and even the experienced hunter can learn new things.
  
  Reduced capital outlay for specialty equipment which is usually provided by the guide.
  
  Hunts can be much safer due to reduced or eliminated presence of other hunters on the same property.
  
  Good guides mix in safety, ethics, and technique (marksmanship, stalking, etc.) as appropriate for the client.

Great for hunters with limited vacation time to locate and scout public lands.

• Guides know the land they access, often eliminating the need for the hunter to spend days or weeks to pre-scout the hunting ground.
  
  Less competition with others trying to hunt public lands. Guides generally know who is on the ranch and where they are at, leading to increased safety.
  
  Guides have connections to game processors and taxidermists and will generally arrange for delivery, which can be a post-hunt relief to the hunter that needs to get back to the office.

Private Land Hunting - Photos

Y - Accomodations


Z1 - Backcountry Transportation
Links to a Few Guide Services (There are Many More Out There)
http://www.boaring.com/Boaring_Experiences/Welcome.html

http://www.jackranchwildpighunts.com/

http://www.bitterwateroutfitters.com/hu ... -pig-hunts

http://www.acehighadventures.com/

Remember, Hunting is Conservation.

Reported by WD6USA

Eastern Sierra above Bishop: Coyote Creek and Funnel Lake area

There are a couple of different routes into this area, one via Big Pine and the other via Bishop. The Big Pine route is more technical with quite a few off camber sections. The Bishop route is an easy route, switchbacks and stream crossings. You climb about 10K feet in a little over 30 miles.

There are lots of places to camp in the area, Baker Creek, Funnel Lake, and dispersed areas. I like Funnel Lake because of the surrounding peaks, trees, and lake. Within a short walking distance from Funnel Lake is Rocky Bottom Lake.

Since most of the camping areas are around 10K feet or higher, altitude sickness and shortness of breath could be issues.

I prefer the springtime because as you can see from the pictures everything is green, plush and there is still snow in some areas.

3 pictures of the trails leading into and out of the area Funnel Lake Campground
Morning view from campsite
Dinner complements of Funnel Lake
A couple wildflower pictures
One of the many stream crossings
There are 7 underground springs feeding this meadow
Sierra weather can be unpredictable but spectacular

One of my favorite destinations is Mammoth Lakes, CA. I had been visiting that area for years before I got into off roading. Now I've found that in addition to skiing, mountain biking, and hiking, that area also offers many different off roading and exploration opportunities.

Mountain biking from the top of Mammoth Mountain at over 11,000 feet. Hiking to one of the many high Sierra alpine lakes. Laurel Lakes is one of the favorite 4x4 destinations in the area. It is located up a scenic valley at almost 10,000 feet in elevation. The elevation change on the trail takes you from alpine desert scrub up past the tree line with a short but steep decent down to the lakes. Another popular short hiking destination is Devil's Postpile National Monumet Nearby after a longer hike from Devil's Postpile is Rainbow Falls Another 4x4 destination is the Inyo Craters area A good day trip from Mammoth Lakes is Yosemite via Tioga Pass. This is a view from Olmsted Point looking toward Half Dome. Offroading can vary from desert to forest. Here is a group on a trail between Mammoth and June Lake Local accommodations can be anything from backcountry tent camping to luxiourious condos with everything in between. Here is one of the cabins at Twin Lakes - Mammoth Lakes has many festivals throughout the summer. Here is a picture of the Bluesapalooza craft beer and blues festival held each year on the first weekend in August - And finally a view of the Taste of Mammoth festival held in "the Village"

Not exactly an easy trip to take, this is a 5 minute review of my Colorado Elk hunting trip.
Two days before the 4th rifle elk season we made it to Rock Springs Wyoming. There is no good route into the area of Colorado where we were hunting so the best approach is heading South from Rock Springs Wyoming. This first pic is what we woke to on Tuesday before the official first day of the hunt season.

This is just before heading out to the hunting area. This is the very first snow of the season!

Setting up camp the evening before the first day of the season we got 2 feet of snow dumped on us that night. With the wood stove, and plenty of firewood, we were very comfortable. But the wind was up to 40 MPH gusts and would not have been easy without good equipment.

The first official day of hunting season we were winching and cutting fallen timber off of the trails to get up the mountain. Winching several times and cutting fallen timber off the trail with my chainsaw before reaching the higher elevation where we were rewarded with a huge herd of elk.

Having two Jeeps in the back country, both fully prepared with chains, rope, recovery gear, and radios, we had a blast. This is where a dual band -Cross band repeat radio - is amazing.

Here is one of three elk that we got on this trip. This is a medium sized cow that was taken on a running shot at about 250 yards.