Growing up in the West, I had access to literally millions of acres of public land to roam. I started locally, then expanded my horizons to pretty much all the western states, then moved into some midwestern states, too. Fishing, hunting, hiking, backpacking – anything outdoors was good with me. Especially if I had the country all to myself.
I’ve been doing it since the late 1960’s, and learned early on that isolation meant untapped fishing and hunting. Back then there were no cable TV or YouTube hunting shows, only the “Big 3” hunting magazines that were long on adventures in faraway places, but short on DIY tactics and techniques for guys like me. We didn’t have Google Earth, Smartphones loaded with hunting and weather apps that provide instant and detailed information, scouting cameras, or even a GPS. Compared to today, the gear was bulky, heavy, and rudimentary. We did have topographic maps, and a lot of get up and go.
And so, I learned by the seat of
