Spring Has Arrived!

Mar 21 2011

Spring Has Arrived!

Folks it’s spring and its time to get out the flip-flops put in a Jimmy Buffet tune! Wait its 5 degrees and 4 feet of snow on the lever! Rats! Never mind the flip-flops and the sun block. But we did have a wonderful day above the house sledding the first day of spring in the Beartooth’s. I’m waiting for the Humpies to come out. It’s time to lock the doors and put the bear proof garbage container in the garage. Last year those old grizzles came out by now. Wondering up and down my road looking for a meal. But we have 3 times the snow and it’s still pretty much winter. All the game left to lower country with the wolves in tow. Not like last year with wintering deer, elk, and moose around the place. Speaking of snow a D6 Cat was brought in to push the snow banks back on the road to my place. With some much snow like 100 inches up on top above the house we have the best sledding in 5 years! So I have been doing a lot of sledding this past month. Got to get back to writing my mule deer book but not until the snow leaves! That’s Mike’s update at the head of Squaw Creek in the Beartooth Mountains Wyoming .

70% in Taxes – Outrageous!

Taxes running amuck! I pay my phone bill on line. The other day I downloaded my bill and reviewed all the charges. The phone bill was $69.00, which isn’t that much, I guess. However, I’m on a fixed income, you know. Breaking down the bill, I have a local phone line charge, plus long distance service charges for a total of $29.00. Then at .05 cent a minute charge for long distance minutes added up to $11.80. As you can see, I don’t do much phone chatting. Now add that up and you get $40.80 total phone charges. So here’s the question. What is the addition $28.20 setting on my bill? I call Qwest and they explained in a nice way, it’s all federal and state taxes!

So let me walk thru this swamp of over taxation. For this exercise, lets assume Mike is in the 30% tax bracket. So right off the top, I have to earn $89.70 just to be able to pay the $69.00 phone bill. Why, because the IRS takes 30% right off the top. Then the Knuckle Heads in Washington, and my state, added on 40.8% in taxes and fees to the phone bill! Then from my income tax bracket I add my $20.70 income tax to the phone tax and it comes to a whopping $48.70. A 70% tax just to use my phone! This is my cowboy math which mite not be the most accurate. But at any rate I will be letting my Congressman know what I think of 70% taxation! How abut your phone bill? Check it out.  Good Luck shed hunting and have a great spring! Mike Eastman

A Tripod That Works in the Field

Mar 06 2011

I’m not known for being a good shoot. When I was growing up, my brothers and I put the hurt on the ground squirrels. My younger brother was flat-out deadly when shooting offhand, but the only way I had a reasonable chance at a well-placed bullet at those varmints was with a dead rest.

We all know hunting in the wide-open spaces of the West makes finding a dead rest a challenge. Many years ago, I started packing a tripod in my pack to solve this little problem. As most of you know, the marketplace is full of different makes and models of bipod and tripods – I will be the first to admit that I’ve tried most of them. The holy grail of shooting sticks for me is a set that’s lightweight, easy to use, and not noisy.

Noise was the most important consideration for use in the field because most big game animals hate the noise of manmade material rubbing together. And the second worst noise is metal rubbing brush – like when you set up for a shot and the legs rub on sagebrush. It’ s not a natural sound and it drives critters crazy! If you want to see big game leave in a hurry, just rub metal on metal.

After many years trying different bipods and tripods, I finally found the best one for my hunting style. In my new book, Hunting Trophy Antelope, I used the first generation Bog-Pod tripod. Fast-forward to this year and the next generation Bog-Pod tripod is the CLD-3 series. Using it in the field last fall for over 100 days, I found it’s the ticket. You know me, it has to be not only functional, but lightweight and quiet. Rubber O-rings and padding takes out the noise, making it great for packing it in the field. Plus, just out of my pack it sets up quickly and easily.

The legs can be expended very quickly from prone up to 68” for shooting offhand. The three legs, being larger in diameter, take out the flex from the weight of your gun. The addition of inch-markers printed on the middle leg help you obtain a quick height setting. A really cool benefit is the lever locks for lowering/raising the legs – it allows for a fast and accurate setup in no time. Add the rubber-covered universal shooting rest that swivels 360 degrees and you have one functional and portable dead rest. Put all of these features together and you can see why the 40-oz. CLD-3 tripod fits all my requirements. Look up all the models of CLD tripods at Bog-Pod’s website, www.boggear.com and check out all the new models and accessories. Take care and good luck in the draws. MIke

Winter up in the Beartooths 2011

Mar 02 2011

Well, I’m back on the blog after several months of moving snow all day, every day, up here at the place. By Christmas, we had more of the white stuff then all last year! I think we’ve got something like over 120 inches that hit the roof of the house. In fact, I had to shovel the roof twice this winter. Between shoveling snow and plowing, I was able to do some sledding – let me tell you, it’ s been a great year to own a couple snowmachines!

All the game has headed down country with the wolves at their heels. By the 18th of March last year, the grizzlies were out all over the place, but because of the heavy snow this year, I hope it’s a little later. At any rate, I’m counting down the days until the humpies start moving in. I will be sure to keep you all posted on those pesky bruins.

In January, I ventured out of my snow-bound homestead and went to the Shot Show in Las Vegas. When I was there, I found a few new products that would be of interest to high country hunters. One was the Zeiss smaller spotting scope that can be cranked up to 45 power. It’s rubber coated and the whole scope is one unit – which helps keep moisture out for sure. It weighs 2 pounds, a lot less then the big cannons they now offer. The other find is Savage Rifles’ new mountain rifle that weighs less than 6 pounds and has a 22” barrel – just right for the backpackers and high country hunters. Myself, I hate having to pack those heavy magnums up the mountains. I will do a product evaluation on both in future blogs.

Went to Yakima Sports Show and lectured and talked to a lot hunters. We had the Trophy Deer Display there and were the hit of the show. Fun Stuff!

Hey, while I’m thinking about it, I’m working on a new version of my book, Hunting High Country Mule Deer – it will have several new chapters and sections that are sure to be full of useful information. All the chapters will be rewritten for modern day high country hunting and it will have a lot of new photos, and the gear section will have the latest equipment for backpacking. I hope you hunters will be interested in the new version. After you pick yours up, make sure you drop me a line at mike@eastmans.com, and let me know what you think. Good luck in the draws and I will check back later. -Mike