Guru Huntress: That’s why we call her the ‘Guru’

Nancy Jo Adams, aka Guru Huntress, reports from the field this week via her Facebook page while on a black bear hunt in northern Minnesota. She just took her first bear with a bow. Congrats to Nancy Jo. Read more

Camo Mom: Reflections of My Dad

My dad was always so proud of us six kids, and as I reflect back, I realize how proud I was of him.  It’s been ten years since he’s been gone, but the legacy he left our family remains strong in our hearts and minds.  He taught us to work hard for what we want, not to expect it to be handed to us.  He taught us to stand up for what we believe in and to do our best in whatever we do.  He was a patriot and loved his country.

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Babbs in the Woods: Getting squirrelly about squirrels

I’ve been squirrel hunting in flannel pajamas, orange hat and Muck Boots. The territory? The perimeter of an old ranch house we inherited about 18 months ago, loaded with squirrels in the attic. Fortunately, it was squirrel season and I had a tag. I also had my trusty Ruger 10-22.  Read more

Outside My Comfort Zone: Constant vigilance … we need more Jethros

A few weeks ago, I sent a video, taken on my iPhone, to some of my gal pals relating to my mastiff, Jethro. Seems Jethro wanted to take over the guest bed in our house as his new spot to nap.  Constant vigilance is needed to keep the door to the spare bedroom closed and to keep Jethro off that bed, or off our couch, or off my bed. The up-side is that for every new perch Jethro tries (and in most cases is told a firm “NO”) he doesn’t repeat the behavior. I wish humans were so easy to train! Read more

Babbs in the Woods: Back to the business of flinging arrows

Trial and error. Live and learn. That’s about all I can write so far about my foray in the world of bowhunting. Read more

Stacey Huston advises how to figure depth of focus

As the late summer sun cast a beautiful orange glow over the high plains of Wyoming, I once again found myself amazed by the beautiful pronghorn antelope and their magnificent horns; to me they resemble overgrown beetles. The pronghorn antelope are a very unique animal, found only in the sagebrush flats and high plains of the North American West. Pronghorn antelope are the fastest animals in North America, second in the world only to the cheetah – a common sight here in Wyoming, and a wonder to watch race across the sage covered landscapes.

As perfect example of health and fitness, this fantastic buck stands frozen, awaiting my next move, while behind him, the less educated bucks ignore me and continue with their antics: unafraid and unaware that hunting season has once again returned to their land. 

Depth of Field (D.O.F) … A quick overview

Depth of field is the amount of the image that appears to be in acceptable focus (in this image, that would be the older antelope buck in “focus”).  There are many factors that affect the depth of field in a photograph.. A wider D.O.F leaves the majority or all of an image in focus and a smaller D.O.F will blur the background and foreground putting emphasis on the subject. The question now is how to achieve the desired depth of field when taking a photograph. I could take the time here to go into F #’s and aperture , and camera settings and lenses but I know that  90 percent of the readers don’t care, and 5 percent of those who do will completely forget before they ever get the chance use the information. So, instead, I will give you a few simple and quick tips to use when trying to control the D.O.F. in your photographs.

Take a look at the settings on your camera; it doesn’t matter if you are using a simple point and shoot or a more high tech SLR camera.  If you want to bring the entire photo into focus, put your camera on the mountain (scenery) setting. This will allow your camera to detect the settings that will bring the entire frame into focus. If possible, zoom back as far as you can from the image.

To blur the background, set the manual setting on the camera to the portrait (head) setting, if you have a zoom (telephoto lens) use it, focus on the subject that you want to stay “in focus” – the closer you can get to the subject, the smaller the depth of field will become, and the farther away from the background the subject is, the more the background will blur.  If you have the option(and a cooperative subject), manually focus the camera, and watch the different effects through the lens.

In the case of this photo, I was alone with the antelope and they weren’t too awfully concerned with my presence, allowing me the time to experiment with the different settings on my camera, which were F6.3~ at 500mm ~ 1/2000. ~Stacey Huston

Stacey Huston is an outdoorswoman to the core, and would much rather spend time in the high country than in the local shopping mall, and feels more at home in heavy timber than in a salon. She is an accomplished photographer. Stacey is also a licensed falconer and raptor rehabilitation volunteer, helping injured raptors to once again soar on open skies. She resides with her husband of 19 years and their two boys in the mountains of western Wyoming. To see her photography, go to http://www.staceyhuston.com/

Babbs in the Woods: On ball caps and power ponies

“OK, so that’s not an ‘old man’s’ ball cap, Mom. That’s a trucker style.”

I got the lowdown on ball caps from my daughter – the one who advises me on shopping trips using three words: frumpy or not frumpy. Read more

Camo Mom: The lazy, hazy days of summer

August is known for the lazy (who, what, when, where?  Are you kidding me?), hazy (absolutely, because the days fly by and are a blur) days of summer.  We all get caught up in the fast-paced, busy times we’re living in, but we really need to slow down and take a look at what’s going on around us.  Take some time to do some of the little things you enjoy doing. Read more

Guru Huntress: Firefly Electronic Wind Detector flits and shines and reports wind direction

It is a proven fact that large game and predators use their sense of smell for survival for locating food and water sources, as well as detecting danger. Any deer hunter that has spent time in the stand or field has had the opportunity to experience this first hand — usually with the results of the full blown, theatrical departure of a whitetail deer, coyote or bobcat fleeing the scene at the first notion of the scent of danger. For a successful hunt, it is important for a hunter to be aware of wind direction or thermal clines. Read more

Outside My Comfort Zone: On butter and boot camp

Why, oh why, did I sign up to start a 90-day boot camp program at a local gym?  And why did it have to start the same week I arrived back from a site visit to Mobile, Ala., for a large convention I’m planning in 2012? Did I know somehow that I’d spend four days in Mobile eating at restaurants named “Stick of Butter” with creations by Paula Deen? Read more

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