- With spring rain and wind, staying warm and dry requires planning.
- When hunting: Stay free of deer ticks, learn about using Permethrin, Picaridin, and Rynoskin.
- Hunting or Fishing: Keep your feet dry and warm. Check out Vaprtrek insulated boots and light Merino wool socks.
By Forrest Fisher
It has been an excellent year for rain gear and umbrella salesmen. So, getting out there with rod/reel or hunting gear requires a combination of preparation, proper gear, and strategy to stay dry, safe, and productive. You know the old saying: Failing to plan is a plan for failure.
It’s spring in the North and East and elsewhere. It’s chilly. It’s rainy. It’s “uncomfy.” If you’re fishing or hunting, invest in high-quality, insulated, waterproof boots. Add a thin polyester sock as the first layer on your foot, then a thin pair of Merino wool socks before inserting your foot into the boots. What boots? I’ve been wearing the Irish Setter VAPRTREK models because they are light and comfy. I wear out at least one pair a year. They are my everyday boots for when I play outdoors.
If you’re in the turkey hunting woods looking to find a thunder-chicken, get some gaiters too, and spray them up with Permethrin to keep the deer ticks from finding a doorway to crawl up your leg with your back against a tree. While you’re in protection mode, add some Picaridin to your neck and any other exposed skin. Sawyer Company sells both products; they are inexpensive at under $15 each. To stay chemical-free, consider a Rynoskin armor suit as your underwear cover. Even no-see-ums can’t get through. I wear them hunting, fishing and gardening because going through a cure for Lyme Disease in the human body is no fun at all. Ask me how I know? The Rynoskin full-body suit costs about $150, worth every red cent.
The bottom line is that there is nothing like wet feet to END outdoor fishing, hunting, camping trips, or whatever you’re doing outdoors. Stay dry, stay warm, and enjoy the experience.
Next, be smart about where you’re at and what you’re doing. Remember, it’s wet. Get a small dry bag to stow in your rainproof backpack to protect your wallet, keys, and phone.
You’re ahead of the curve if you wear moisture-wicking clothing layers with breathable, waterproof outer layers, such as pants and jackets (like Gore-Tex). Get these garments in the color you need to be where you are. Add a wide-brim hat or hood and waterproof gloves if you need them, and life will be cozy and dry. Happiness is.
It has been windy and stormy from the Midwest to the Northeast for weeks. Right through the start of many opening day fishing and spring turkey hunting seasons all across the north country regions. If you don’t postpone your fishing trip because of wind and waves, and then decide to go hunting instead (no big waves in the woods), use a buddy system. Don’t go alone if possible – but at least tell someone where you’re headed. Trees can crash down in heavy wind at times. So, look around for solid trees to be protected from that type of event before sitting down. Be safe.
Fishing for Lake Erie jumbo perch in heavy winds can be challenging and downright brutal. Just ask big perch prize winner, Mark Mohr, from the annual Southtowns Walleye Lake Erie Perch Contest, always held on the first weekend of May. Mohr caught the biggest perch of the tourney with a 2.74-pound jumbo, but his fishing buddies Mark Woelfle and Charter Captain Rob Ebersole admit that their fingers felt frozen and their feet were wet. With heavy wind and high waves, it’s difficult to keep the fishing lines down and even more challenging to keep the boat still enough to drop down 2-hook and 3-hook fishing rigs with minnows in 55 feet of water depth.
If in the turkey woods, remember that turkeys move less in the wind. Set up in wind-protected hollows, field edges, or lowland woods, and be watchful. Don’t call too often, sounds move in funny ways in the wind. Plus, the rain quiets the forest floor, so you must listen and watch more carefully than usual.
On any day, it’s pretty exciting when a bird in the far distance answers and you realize he is answering you! You wait a few minutes and reply back with your call, and they return their volley of turkey jabber. It’s honest, exciting fun. In this light of turkey sound creation by us humans to fool a tom turkey into thinking we are sexy turkey hens waiting around the next brushpile for them, I want to share a new discovery. About a year ago, I met Brian Benolken, owner of Cutting Edge Game Calls. He shared with me, his new turkey-calling toy and explained how inventor Eric Steinmetz created one of the most unique turkey box calls ever made. I have one now and discovered the call is totally innovative and is deadly-useful if you hunt turkey. Constructed in a 4-way configuration of old-fashioned sounding boards made from four different wood species, it is called the “4-Play Turkey Call.” The paddle is a sort of a game-like joystick that allows variable pressure and angle change to provide never-before-possible turkey friendship, mating and boss-bird leadership sounds. All in one call. The 4-Play provides clucking, yelping, cackling and cutting sounds. Any of the four sounding boards can be accessed by rotating the paddle around one end of the call. The resulting notes can form a composition of turkey singing harmony unmatched by one call ever before. My wife actually gets upset when I practice with this call in the backyard. It attracts turkeys, a variety of wild birds, and some of those critters that feed on birds and turkeys (fox, coyotes, etc.). Deer know that turkey are keenly aware of predators, so deer come strolling through the yard too. Remind me to take this call when deer hunting during archery season this fall!
Numerous Wildlife Management Areas in New York and other northern states are open to the public and provide access to diverse habitats for turkey hunting. These are good places to hunt those tasty wild thunderchickens right now.
By equipping yourself with the right gear and adapting your strategy to the weather conditions, you’re setting yourself up for success. Whether you’re fishing or hunting, the thrill of a successful and safe outdoor experience is hard to match.
Gotta love the outdoors.
