It was warm – a balmy 25 degrees. Of course, after surviving ice fishing the previous weekend in single-digit temps and below-zero wind chills, 25 degrees felt warm – very, very warm. The sun was also making its presence known — starting its slow descent into the western Michigan sky, and helping to cast my [...]
Go to Ice Fishing: A Family AffairAuthor Archive
January 31st, 2011
SOTV Episode 3: Big Bucks, Turkeys, and more
For your viewing pleasure, we bring you SimplyOutdoors TV episode 3. This episode features a little bit of everything – some nice bucks we captured on film, Jeff’s successful doe hunt, and a very memorable youth turkey hunt. We hope you all enjoy.
Go to SOTV Episode 3: Big Bucks, Turkeys, and moreJanuary 27th, 2011
Columbia Omni-Heat: An Honest Review
Whirlibird: not exactly the manliest of names for a men’s jacket. But once you get past the name, which isn’t prominently displayed on it anywhere (thank God!), you’ll be glad you are wearing it – silly name or not. And, if you’re lucky enough to be wearing the Omni-Heat version, you’ll be toasty warm – [...]
Go to Columbia Omni-Heat: An Honest ReviewJanuary 24th, 2011
Braving the Cold: It takes a different breed
Some people flock to a warm fireplace when it’s cold outside, while others curl up under the covers and watch a good movie. And some people tend to hibernate like a bear, and never leave the comforts of home, while unknowingly letting cabin fever set in. We’re different around here, though – we’re from Michigan, and we’re addicted [...]
Go to Braving the Cold: It takes a different breedJanuary 19th, 2011
Television Imagery, Life, and other thoughts
I was flipping through my Dish Network channels the other night – debating whether to give up and go to bed, or get really angry about the fact that, despite the amount of money I pay for TV, there is never anything on – when I stumbled across Current TV – a channel I hadn’t [...]
Go to Television Imagery, Life, and other thoughtsJanuary 17th, 2011
A Date On the Ice
How does a couple follow up a kidless night out on the town? By hanging out together in an ice shanty, of course. On Saturday night, after taking in a steak dinner and a boat show with my brother and his wife, as well as my cousin and his wife, we headed to bed and [...]
Go to A Date On the IceJanuary 11th, 2011
ATA Show Antics
Jeff and Stan Potts
Jeff, the Drury Brothers and Ralph and Vicki
Jeff and Craig Morgan
Jeff and Chuck Adams
January 10th, 2011
Ice Fishing: Breaking the Outdoor Slump
When I jumped in my cousin’s truck on Sunday morning, the thermometer registered a balmy 2 degrees. Not to be deterred, though, we pressed on, trailer loaded with three quads in-tow. I wasn’t about to let the temperature get me down, because the sun would rise soon, there was only a slight wind in the [...]
Go to Ice Fishing: Breaking the Outdoor SlumpJanuary 6th, 2011
On his way to ATA
Jeff, once he gets out of work tonight, is heading down to Indianapolis to attend the 2011 ATA show. For those of you who do not know what that is, ATA stands for Archery Trade Association, and this show includes the who’s who in archery and outdoor-related business. All of the big names will be [...]
Go to On his way to ATADecember 29th, 2010
Food: Telling the Truth Early
She loves magazines. She loves them so much that she often takes them to bed with her; you can hear here flipping through the pages before she finally falls asleep. And though she doesn’t truly know how to read yet, she still loves looking through the pages, pointing out things she knows, and asking what [...]
Go to Food: Telling the Truth EarlyDecember 28th, 2010
Time with the Daughter/Outdoor Time Limitations
I’m in the second week of my vacation, and I’m dreading it coming to an end. The time spent with Abby has been priceless, and I’m honestly not looking forward to getting back to “normal” life; “normal” life means work, and I’m not ready for that quite yet. A part of me feels a little [...]
Go to Time with the Daughter/Outdoor Time LimitationsDecember 23rd, 2010
Merry Christmas
All of us here at SimplyOutdoors wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas. Please remember to enjoy the time with family and friends. And, if after awhile you find you need a break from family and friends, and end up heading into the woods, we wish you good luck. Merry Christmas everyone!
Go to Merry ChristmasDecember 22nd, 2010
“Tracking” in the Snow
I’m on vacation, and I have not been able to put a deer in the freezer as of yet – to be completely honest, I haven’t even been in the woods since Sunday morning – but I have participated in a successful track job – an easy track job, too, considering that it’s not very [...]
Go to “Tracking” in the SnowDecember 21st, 2010
First Muzzleloader Deer
Sunday night, while I was helping my wife put our new kitchen table together, my cousin Ron was out behind Jeff’s house with muzzleloader in hand. Just before last shooting light, what Ron thought was a big doe with two fawns, stepped into the open field. It was only a little over a hundred yard [...]
Go to First Muzzleloader DeerDecember 20th, 2010
Hunting: Decisions, decisions
Well…..it’s been a week since my last post, and I’m still deer-less; not because I didn’t have an opportunity to kill a deer for the freezer, but more so because I had to make a decision – a decision based on the information I had on hand at the time. In retrospect, though, if I [...]
Go to Hunting: Decisions, decisionsDecember 12th, 2010
Pre-Storm Hunt: Playing the Odds
Right now, as I write this, the Winter Storm, which was forecast for our area as early as Friday, is wreaking havoc on a good portion of the state. The roads are snow and ice-covered, the winds are gusting and leaving certain areas without power, and local authorities are urging motorists not to travel. On [...]
Go to Pre-Storm Hunt: Playing the OddsDecember 9th, 2010
SOTV: Episode Two
For all of you who’ve been waiting, here it is – SimplyOutdoors Tv Episode No. 2. It’s our best episode yet, and features some very special footage of Jeff’s brother-in-law trying to put some venison in the freezer while he’s home on leave from Afghanistan. Does he fill the freezer? If you haven’t read the [...]
Go to SOTV: Episode TwoDecember 8th, 2010
Late Season Ramblings/Thoughts for the Future
As every day passes by, and we get deeper and deeper into December, my chances of actually putting a deer in the freezer diminish. I’m not quite done trying yet – there’s still two weekends left in our muzzleloading season, plus a late doe season that runs through the first of January, and archery season [...]
Go to Late Season Ramblings/Thoughts for the FutureDecember 2nd, 2010
A Confusing Hunting Stereotype
Hunting Experience No. 1: The sun was just breaking over the horizon, casting its orange glow upon the masses and highlighting the visible moisture clinging to the oak leaves. The natural lines of the ridge I was hunting on were just becoming visible, and the birds had started their morning song. I was in heaven. [...]
Go to A Confusing Hunting StereotypeNovember 28th, 2010
Another Buck for Jeff
Minutes after I published the previous post, I answered Jeff’s phone call and heard this: “I need your help. I just shot a beast, and I need help to find him”. And since I’m such a good brother, and even though I was relaxing in the living room with Abby and the wife, we all [...]
Go to Another Buck for JeffNovember 28th, 2010
A Buck for Jeff, And Downtime for Art
Last Thanksgiving evening, while I was spending time with family, Jeff got an opportunity to hunt with Justin in “the swamp”. And we call it the swamp, because it’s a little slice of deer hunting heaven. The place is full of bucks – Justin has passed up a few who would have never made it [...]
Go to A Buck for Jeff, And Downtime for ArtNovember 24th, 2010
Happy Thanksgiving!
Tomorrow morning Jeff and I will be trying to put some meat in the freezer, and then we’ll be coming in from the rain and cold to eat turkey – with all the fixings. Have a great Thanksgiving everyone. Enjoy the time spent with family and friends.
Go to Happy Thanksgiving!November 22nd, 2010
No Deer, No Sweat
You can always tell when firearm season starts in Michigan, because the deer become scarce in an instant. Hours can be spent on stand with nary a deer sighted, and everything seems to change with the first pull of the trigger. Or maybe that is just my experience. Amazingly, though, despite the lack of deer [...]
Go to No Deer, No SweatNovember 18th, 2010
Hunting/History: An Active Approach
In our living room, there is always a book sitting on the end table next to the couch. I’m always reading something, and without fail there is always some sort of book laying there. Of course Abby loves books as well. We’ve read to her since she was about a month old, and there isn’t [...]
Go to Hunting/History: An Active ApproachNovember 16th, 2010
Opening Day: Elation and Heartbreak
Hunting can be a finicky activity – an activity of chance, luck, and skill. And with that, and with all of the factors that come into play during a day’s hunt, there are many things that can go wrong. But there are also times when things can go right. Today – during Michigan’s opening day [...]
Go to Opening Day: Elation and HeartbreakNovember 14th, 2010
Opening Day of Firearm 2010
Last week was a rough week. The entire family was sick for the first part, and, as I write this, I’m still fighting remnants of the nastiness; if it’s keeping me out of a treestand during this time of the year, you know it’s bad. And it’s bad. But, all of that aside, tomorrow morning [...]
Go to Opening Day of Firearm 2010November 10th, 2010
Veteran’s Day 2010: It’s Personal
The picture in this post definitely means something to me – it’s a photo of my Father-in-Law last summer, as he found – on The Wall – a few of his friends who weren’t fortunate enough to make it home from Vietnam. It was a moment which will be etched in my mind forever, and [...]
Go to Veteran’s Day 2010: It’s PersonalNovember 10th, 2010
Coming Up: A Deer Hunter’s Weekend……And I Need it.
Last weekend, Jeff and I spent a ton of time in the woods. The weekend included some close encounters, some great sunrises and sunsets, and two opportunities – if we would have decided to – to kill a couple young bucks. All in all it was a great November weekend in the woods. Little did [...]
Go to Coming Up: A Deer Hunter’s Weekend……And I Need it.November 7th, 2010
November Bowhunting: A Close Encounter
Saturday morning it was a balmy 23 degrees – perfect weather for deer hunting. And considering the time of the year it is, I was expecting a few deer to be on their feet – in order to eat, or – maybe – to look for some love. And it almost worked out. Around 10 [...]
Go to November Bowhunting: A Close EncounterNovember 3rd, 2010
Longing to be in the Cold
As I write this, I sit inside a temperature-controlled hotel room – a room which had the thermostat set at 75 degrees when I walked in. I immediately turned it down to a balmy 68 degrees, and hoped I didn’t die of a heat stroke before the air conditioning kicked in – yea, the air [...]
Go to Longing to be in the Cold