Grizzly Eating on a Elk

Nov 08 2011

This afternoon my wife came busting thru the door. A grizzly was down the way eating on a deer or elk. So I went down and took a few photos of the sow. I think she is a young 4 years old. Saw her cub in the timber. She didn’t like me much. Can’t find a good MD buck this fall but grizzlies, another story!

Gordon Eastman inducted into the Wyoming Outdoor Hall of Fame

Nov 07 2011

 

My dad Gordon Eastman was inducted into the Wyoming Outdoor Hall of Fame. The primary purpose of the Hall of Fame is to honor those individuals who have made significant, lasting, lifetime, contributions to the conservation of Wyoming outdoor heritage. The Hall of Fame is to promote Wyoming’s rich outdoor heritage. Past inductive have been Jim Bridge, President Theodore Roosevelt, and Curt Gowdy to name a few. The Wyoming Hall of Fame inductees photo and history information are housed at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center.

169 Inches of snow!

Apr 10 2011

We had 26 inches of snow hit use from Saturday thru this Friday with 169 inches of the flakes hitting the ground so far this winter! Winter! Its spring isn’t it? Went sledding to Cook City and run into big wolf track just above my house. He meet up with a smaller tracked wolf a female probably. It’s breeding season for the wolves. That’s all I need is more wolfs around the place. With the hard crust on the snow wolves can run down elk and deer pretty easily this time of year.

A Red Fox is hanging around the house. Bertie give him a few snacks. I wish he would go after the mouse under the deck. However he just sits on the snow bank waiting for my wife to come out with a snack. Before this last snow the weather got warm and my road fell out. Couldn’t get my 4-wheel Toyota down the road!  I bet I had 2 and half feet of snow build up on the road from the winter plowing. The old ranger couldn’t push it so I got a front end loader to move the slushy stuff!

Didn’t draw in Arizona I have 15 points! It’s a race between me getting enough points to draw and getting to old to hunt. Looking forward to Wyoming’s draw for antelope in the summer and a special elk unit. Working on a new mule deer book, will have it done by Christmas hopefully. Getting cabin fever pretty good but Bertie is still in the snow machine riding kick so no Florida fishing for me this winter. Hey,I should have her do some shoveling and plowing of snow. That could make her think of get out of the snow for a little Florida sun. Right!

That’s all for now! Good luck in the draws. Mike

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

Lightweight Tripod

Jan 10 2011

I’m back with a review on a small tripod that can be used on backcountry hunts. I have over the years looked at tripods that are on the market and most are to heavy, bulky or both. In fact, in my book Hunting High Mountain Mule Deer I even went so far as to build my own lightweight spotting scope holder that can be attached to a tree.

Fast forward to more modern times, and now I have found a tripod that is functional for those backcountry hunts. I have used this tripod for several years. It comes in several sizes and models, but the one that I landed on has a small ball-head so you can move the spotting scope left and right, or up and down with ease. It’s the Gorillapod SLR-Zoom Flexible Mini-Tripod with Compact Ball Head. It has a bubble level on the quick-release adapter, which will aid in leveling the tripod. The best news is that it’s only 18 ounces! This combination can support up to 6.5 pounds, which tells me even the heaver style of spotting scope can be supported on this lightweight tripod. Which by the way, I’m not tough enough to pack on extended backcountry hunts. However, for it’s lightweight and small size I personally like the Nikon ED 50 spotting scope.

The tripod stands only 11.7 inches tall and folds to a compact length of 12.5 inches, making it a perfect size to fit a side pocket of a backpack. With it’s “crazy legs” it can be set up on uneven terrain. Now here is the best part for me. I can twist its segmented legs around a tree branch for support and use while I’m setting or standing up. The additional advantage of using a tree is it also brakes up my silhouette while glassing on a lookout.

The price with the head is only $54.95 from B&H. Check it out at (www.bhphotovideo.com/)

My next Blog, the end of January, will be after the Shot Show where I will have information on innovative products that I find of interest to D-I-Y hunters.

Mike Eastman

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Jan 01 2011

Well, hope you and your family had a good Christmas and will have a great New Year! The snows came early up here. We have over 90 inches of snow fall since the 1^st of November, and the Eastman family was up for Christmas. Took the sleds and went to get a Christmas tree above the house. The grandkids came along and had a great time in the chest deep snow. Then Friday and Saturday we all did some snow sledding above the house.What a fun time with the whole Eastman clan.

The guys are getting ready for the winter show season and will be at many sports shows this winter. Check it out on the eastmans.com web site. We hope to see you at one. Bertie and I have had a lot of moose hanging around the place. I think it’s because of all the snow. I counted 5 bulls that the wolves haven’t taken down yet. Last year the deer, as well as the elk, winter around the place. But this year, because of all the snow they all moved out to greener pastures. Only moose are left and because of the wolves, boy are they cranky!

In the next Blog I will be doing a write up on lightweight tripods that can handle spotting scopes and cameras. I don’t know about you, but I hate lugging around a heavy tripod for use with my spotting scope. So I will give you some different alternatives for tripods that work on a backpack hunt. I will try to have this next Blog out by the 10^th of the month.

Good Luck on the up and coming draws.

Mike Eastman

Wyoming DIY Antelope Hunt

Nov 12 2010

Well, I finished up my 2010 hunting season with a DIY, hunt for antelope in unit 72 of central Wyoming. The last two years I’ve picked it up as a second choice tag. Three years ago, the unit had a lot of antelope along with some good trophy bucks. It does have a lot of private land, but permission isn’t a problem. However the Wyoming Game & Fish gave out 2,000 tags each of the last two years and ran the season this year till the end of October! I did find an excellent buck with 15” length, 5” prongs, and good mass. The buck will go in the low 80s and maybe net awards. I’m almost positive I was hunting the same buck I was after down there last year. He had the same length, but I think a little heavier. Like I stated in my antelope book, these bucks come back to the same area every spring. It took me five days to finally find him in stalkable terrain. It’s sad because with the heavy antelope harvest the last two years down there, there’s not much is left for mature bucks.  I won’t be putting it as a second unit next year for sure.

The mule deer rut is on, so I’m out doing some still filming of the bucks. I did run into this bull hiding out and got some pretty good stills of him. This time of year they are just hanging out and healing after the rut.

Read the rest of this entry »

Nikon ED 50

Oct 15 2010

Hey folks, I’m back after several months of not checking in – not good for the ol’ Blog, but I had problems with my new metal knee and the recovery wasn’t going as planned. I also didn’t have too much to talk about – it’s hard for me anyway. But now that my knee is doing better, I figured I’d get back to writing. In fact I was doing a little fly-fishing two weeks ago and stuck a 25” male brown trout, my best this year.

I went down to Colorado last week with Guy and harvested a heavy B&C-class antelope. It was a great hunt and we saw several large bucks. In fact, Guy took one even bigger than me, with 7” diggers. I scouted several days before the season, found the buck I wanted, and just hunted him. It took several days to get the job done, but it worked out. In my book, Hunting Trophy Antelope, I talk about this strategy.

Back in the Stone Age, when I was young and backpacking for mule deer in the high country, I’d always carry a spotting scope. This was in the ‘60s and very few hunters had one. I was using my dad’s, which he used in Alaska while guiding sheep hunters. Then in the ‘70s, I found a lightweight scope made by Leupold. It was small with a fixed 20-power eyepiece and was the perfect backcountry tool for glassing faraway basins. A lightweight scope small in length and diameter, it fit the backcountry bill. I could pack it in a side pocket of my frame pack. Well, Leupold, because of their inability to know western hunting, dropped it from their line for a two-tiered scope. That scope weighed more and wouldn’t fit in the side pocket of my pack.

Now fast-forward to today and Nikon has this new scope, the ED 50, which weighs only 19.8 ounces and can fit in my daypack or multi-day backpack side pockets. This compact scope is variable, which is a plus. I carry it in my daypack when I’m hunting antelope or mule deer. As you know, half inches on a goat can make the difference and I want to be able to take that last look before I squeeze the hammer.

Nikon has two others in their lineup – a 55mm and the monster 85mm – which can be a real plus in lowlight. These scopes are packed with plenty of glass. They’re heavy (the 85mm is 5.4 pounds), so you’re probably not going to want to take it on a backpack hunt. They can, however, bring in a ladybug at 500 yards at near dark thirty. In that case, I will pack the larger one in the rig for spotting from the truck. If I had to pick one scope to get, I would go for the ED 50 because of weight and the different hunting uses. So if you looking for a practical, lightweight, and rugged glassing tool for hunting, it’s a good match.