Getting ready for the season

Mosby

Mosby

Well-known member
Finally, a break in the weather so I decided to start cleaning what needs to be cleaned, charging what needs to be charged and buying what needs to be bought. Going through everything and getting things clean, organized and ready to go. I have a number of things I still need to get done between now and the start of the season but I've got it going on and getting things done. Hunting is hard work but I enjoy few things more than getting my stuff ready for the season.

I know guys that do nothing from one season to the next and wing it and I've done that a few times, but I find it always bites me in the butt. I figured out that I enjoy hunting more when I have what I need and I can actually find what I know I have. If your hunting locally, it may not matter but when most of your hunting is out of state.....being organized and prepared makes a big difference.....at least to me.
 
I’ve started the same, two out of state trips before anything local opens up, dusky in 30 days and sharpies/huns in 60!!!
 
My brother is older than I am and doesn't spend 10 minutes a year getting ready for hunting. Can't tell you how many times I've had to sit in his house for hours waiting for him to find his stuff and get packed up....when we were already supposed to be on the road. Drove me nuts....
 
I have started getting ready for a couple weeks. The last few years I have stashed a trailer in the lower 48 to live in during pheasant season. I allow 6 days to drive from my house to the trailer, more if weather is bad.a couple years ago it took 11. Since I cross the border twice with changing issues I have to have my ducks in a row. I have lined up a house sitter got an appointment for a complete physical on the vehicle. Appointments with the vet,etc. the list fills out a whole page on a yellow tablet.
 
Alaskan swamp collies said:
I have started getting ready for a couple weeks. The last few years I have stashed a trailer in the lower 48 to live in during pheasant season. I allow 6 days to drive from my house to the trailer, more if weather is bad.a couple years ago it took 11. Since I cross the border twice with changing issues I have to have my ducks in a row. I have lined up a house sitter got an appointment for a complete physical on the vehicle. Appointments with the vet,etc. the list fills out a whole page on a yellow tablet.
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Is it a hassle with Canada and firearms in a vehicle?? I’ve had friends fly in but not drive
 
Quailnerd said:
Is it a hassle with Canada and firearms in a vehicle?? I’ve had friends fly in but not drive
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I've done both and thought driving was easier. Eliminates the risk of lost baggage. Make sure the guns and ammo are in proper cases and secure and you shouldn't have a problem....at least I didn't when I use to hunt up there.
 
Quailnerd said:
Is it a hassle with Canada and firearms in a vehicle?? I’ve had friends fly in but not drive
Click to expand...
In the past no as long as you follow the rules. Once I copied the wrong serial number down and had the vehicle searched. There’s forms that you need to fill out,sign in their presence going into Canada and a small fee. It pays to pick the right border crossing. With the changing economic atmosphere things could get more challenging. Dogs can be an issue also but that is getting back into the US. The AK Canada border is pretty easy as long as there aren’t visiting higherups making things tense, locals are laidback.
 
The closer we get to sept 1, the more the itch grows. I find myself going through the house keeping an eye open for what got strewn about by the end of last season. If I notice something I use in the field or on the trip to the field, I try to grab it and relocate it closer to where all my other gear is supposed to go.

By time October rolls around, i find myself getting excited about packing and prepping gear for the season.
 
I'm old enough, and have enough room in the house for my gear that I know where everything is, because it all has it's own place. But I hunt mostly locally.

Going to be taking a trip to ND or SD or both this fall. Will need to expand the things I take for both me and dog.
 
A couple of weeks after the season is over I go over my gear and try to get it in shape. I make a list of anything that needs to be fixed or replaced and pack my stuff away in a tote after washing what needs it. This helps with the depression that sits in after the season closes. I do a deep clean on the shotguns that I used that year and make sure I have enough of my favorite ammo. If I need some it goes on the list as well.
I clean and charge the collars and put it on my calendar to take them out and charge them every three months.
During the summer I look for sales and try to find the things on my list at a cheaper price than during the season.
Around the first of August I start taking all of the dogs out to a large field and just let them run. I wear boots and my hunting vest with a little weight to help me get used to walking over rough ground. (I haven't started yet this year because of my bad knee but tomorrow morning it's supposed to be 60* and my training begins)
I do my own service work on my vehicles and make sure I change oil and rotate tires before the season begins so they are ready. A week or so before the season I put the dog box in the back of one truck and the portable kennel in the other and put my Mud River Seat Organizers in and add binoculars and other thinks that I carry.

I'm like a little kid waiting for Christmas those few days before the season begins!
 
Mosby said:
Finally, a break in the weather so I decided to start cleaning what needs to be cleaned, charging what needs to be charged and buying what needs to be bought. Going through everything and getting things clean, organized and ready to go. I have a number of things I still need to get done between now and the start of the season but I've got it going on and getting things done. Hunting is hard work but I enjoy few things more than getting my stuff ready for the season.

I know guys that do nothing from one season to the next and wing it and I've done that a few times, but I find it always bites me in the butt. I figured out that I enjoy hunting more when I have what I need and I can actually find what I know I have. If your hunting locally, it may not matter but when most of your hunting is out of state.....being organized and prepared makes a big difference.....at least to me.
Click to expand...
This is an interesting time of year for me. I am still hard at boating and scuba diving, but the back of my mind is pushing towards getting ready for bird season. This is when I start looking towards the focused conditioning program for the pup and looking at gear for what I might need to replace, etc. The guns are always ready to go. Ammo is in a solid spot. I am focusing more this year on trying to reduce the amount of 'stuff' I am hauling in the truck. I will always have chain, straps, emergency kit, etc. but looking at anything extra that I really might not need to haul. I have always lived in the "what if I need it" world and that is hard to get out of for me at times.
 
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