Hunting Season is Close: Six Steps to Preparing Your Rifle

Hunting season is just around the corner. You have your favorite grounds picked up and you have your registration all settled, but do you have the most important part of your trip, your hunting rifle, prepared?

hunting rifle

Follow these six essential hunting rifle preparation tips to experience a hunting season that is safe, thrilling and without trouble.

Step #1: Set Your Sights

It doesn’t matter if you’re using iron sights or a scope; an improperly set sight will always be off the mark of where it should be. This issue can lead to the big one that got away or the reason that your rifle accidentally shot a hunting partner. Ensure your rifle is sighted in between 1.5 and 3 inches at the distance of 100 yards. Straying from this could lead to over or under compensating.

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8 Tips to Live by for Your Next Deer Hunt

VLUU L100, M100 / Samsung L100, M100It doesn’t matter whether you’re a veteran hunter or a novice heading into the woods for the first time, there are certain fundamental rules that you have to follow to stay on top of your game. If you want to be successful in your deer hunting missions, then following these key strategies can be of great help. Outsmarting the white-tailed bucks is a much easier affair with these tips and strategies:

1. Research Your Prey

The foundation for any hunt has to be laid upon this fact. Just like any other animal, the deer has only one goal: survival; and to do that, it must eat, drink and sleep.

White-tailed deer consume around 1.5 tons of food per year on average. It’s common to see them eat around ten pounds of food daily during prime season. They also eat about 4 to 5 times each day. Follow the food trail and you will find the game.

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Venomous: The Deadliest Snakes in America

With the exception of Alaska, every state in the USA has at least one deadly snake inhabiting it. Nearly 8,000 people a year are bitten by venomous snakes in the US each year. Getting bit in the wilderness, away from medical attention and anti-venom, can be a death sentence. All of the advanced outdoor survival skills you’ve learned won’t mean much if you find yourself on the receiving end of a deadly rattlesnake strike. Rattlers are the largest type of venomous snake in the US. They have no specific region and they are spread out all across the country. There are thirteen species of rattlesnake such as the Eastern and Western Diamondback in the United States. Rattlers are most abundant in the southwest near the Mexican border in places like Texas and Arizona but they reside in nearly every state. Rattlesnakes use a neurotoxin which shuts down the immune system of their prey.The rattling sound gives people a chance to flee before they strike and more people die from bee stings in the US than rattlesnake bites.

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Cold and Exposed: Five Essential Tips Every Hiker Must Know About Surviving in the Cold

Every hiker’s worst nightmare is being stranded cold and alone in the depth of the woods. Few people know how they’ll react or survive in such extreme conditions. By following a few tips and tricks, you can ensure that you are prepared with the essentials for combating the cold.

1. Building a Shelter

Constructing a shelter is the first way to get out of the cold and reduce your exposure. The most common type of shelter for this circumstance is the lean-to. Constructing a basic lean-to with branches and shrubbery will protect from wind, rain and snow. In order to insulate and keep generated heat inside the lean-to, be sure to pack snow around the exposed areas. This will create a shelter that will protect from most of the elements you’ll experience in the cold. Another great tool for shelter is the use of a fallen tree as cover. This requires expending less energy in gathering resources, but does require energy to dig a hole out from under the fallen tree.

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5 Tips And Hints For The Perfect Camping Trip

Camping is certainly a great way to relax and to let off some steam after a stressful week at work. If you are fond of a good-old fashioned camping trip and you want to make sure that everything goes according to plan, then the following tips and hints will help you enjoy a safe, exciting and comfortable camping experience:

1. Set Up The Camp Before Dark

First and foremost, it is important to decide on the most suitable place where you can install your tent. This basically depends on how much time you plan to spend there – you can find thousands of campsites, state and national parks where you can relax without anybody bothering you.

If you want to enjoy extra comfort, then opt for places where amenities are provided as well, like showers or grills for a delicious barbecue. One thing is for sure, though: you must set up the tent and everything else before it gets dark. Find a spot close to a reliable water source where you can shower and wash the dishes.

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Backpacking For Cheapskates: How To Travel On A Shoestring Budget

The whole point of backpacking is to allow travelers to see and experience more of a place, while keeping costs down to a bare minimum. It’s more than just an alternative mode of travel; it’s a lifestyle.

But while some people can readily adapt to backpack travel, others may find the whole low cost thing a bit discomforting. They would often spend way more money than what is necessary, thus throwing the real essence of backpacking out the window.

Going on a budget trip does not mean putting up with shady hotel rooms and crappy meals. For the backpackers out there who have trouble sticking to their travel budget, the tips below should make your every penny count for that dream trip.

Invest in a High Quality Backpack

Nothing is worse than owning a bad backpack: your belongings could easily get drenched in a thunderstorm, your clothes could spill out at the most inopportune moments or you could get sore from having ill-fitted straps digging into your shoulders all day.

When it comes to backpacks, bigger does not always mean better. Make sure what you choose is proportional to your size; the thing here is that the weight should be balanced evenly on your back so that you won’t experience backaches when you lug your backpack around for the duration of your trips. Most sports/camping supply stores will allow you to try on their backpacks with weights so you can see if it’s a comfortable fit for you before purchasing.

A good backpack is one that can withstand the rough-and-tumble of backpacking trips. It should be water-resistant, multi-compartmented, have a sturdy internal frame and padded shoulder straps. But don’t go for those that are priced over $250 – these are unnecessarily expensive. There are decent backpacks that will only cost you anywhere from $100 to $200.

Travel Off-season

This is a no-brainer. The rule of supply and demand is always at work when it comes to airfare and transportation costs. The summer season can be a great time to travel, but it’s also the most expensive compared to other seasons throughout the year. If you must travel during a lean season, book flights early to save yourself from the skyrocketing prices later on. Also, you might want to travel during weekdays, when flights are priced cheaper.

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