Outdoors USA | Fishing Vacations

Ok now that the New Year has started and Christmas hubub is past its time for me to start focusing on what I love to do and that’s to go fishing.   I hope to spend tons of time this year on the lakes, stream and farm ponds in my local area as well as trying to take a few fly fishing vacations.  I’d like to head out east for the opening of trout season and perhaps out west later in the spring with a few buddies of mine to hit some of the crystal clear mountain fly fishing streams.   I know some of these types of vacation ideas can be a bit expensive but I’ve made some good contacts over the years and have secured some fairly inexpensive lodging at a couple of my favorite fishing locations.  Has anyone else out there ever taking a vacation dedicated to just spending time fly fishing with buddies?  Any way in planning for this trip I’ve started looking into all my gear to make sure I’ll have everything I need.  It looks like I’m in pretty good shape and shouldn’t have to do much shopping at the fly shop at least not for the opening of the fishing season.  Well have to run wife and kids think it’s time to take the Christmas tree down now.

Outdoors USA Hunting Season Coming Soon

Summer vacation is almost over and kids will be returning back to class.  This always gets me thinking towards the fall hunting season and spending time outdoors practicing with my bow.  If you’ve never tried hunting with a bow you don’t know what your missing.  I just started bow-hunting a few years back after a buddy let me borrow his old compound bow for some weekend target shooting.  I fell in love with the idea of taking my first buck with a bow the minute I launched the first arrow.  If you are like me and haven’t used a bow to hunt deer or any game for that matter you should really give it a try.  I recommend starting out with a less expensive used compound bow just to decide if your going to like it or not.  Many that decide they want to bow hunt find out once they have spent tons of money that it’s really not for them, so be a smart consumer and start out inexpensive or borrow a buddies bow.

Outdoors USA | Summer Fishing Fun

Summer time is definitely at full swing. The kids are hitting the pools, fireworks are bursting everywhere and tan lines are starting to show.  With summer comes the opportunity to spend your time doing some early morning and late evening fishing.  It doesn’t matter if you take a trip to the lakes, wade a local stream or fish the farmers pond fishing is relaxing summer fun for everyone.  Fly fishing in a pond, stream or lake is definitely my preference but if you enjoy cat fishing, bass fishing or spearing carp its all about the fun.  After a long winter of trying out my new rotary fly tying viseI have amassed a large collection of pan fish files I cant wait to try out on the mid summer bass and blue gill.  The nice thing about fishing is its fun for the whole family from young kids through grand parents.  There really isn’t an age or style of fishing that cant accomodate eveyone in the household.  So get out there and enjoy some summer fishing fun on your favorite fishing hole.

Outdoors USA | Bring On The Marching Bands

With School just about finished for the year in most areas, kids are gearing up for marching band season.  Many high school and middle school kids spend their summers at band camp and competing at various band competitions.  I remember as a kid the endless supply of students coming to the local college for band camp.  From 8am until late into the evening you would constantly hear them playing and practicing.  Do your kids go to band camp?  Why send them to camp with an expensive new instrument when you can buy a cheap used musical instrument for them to take.  Knowing they wont destroy their primary instrument that would cost hundreds or thousands to replace should give you some peace of mind.

Outdoors USA | Little League Season Is Here

Spring time not only brings tulips, blossoming fruit trees and green grass, it also means little league season is here.  Little league season for those parents who have kids involved can be a frustrating time.  There’s the headache of getting kid to practice, making time to get off work for the games and the all too familar fund raisers.  Parents looking to ease some of the cost burdens associated with little leage baseball should consider purchasing little league bats and other little league equpiment from online auctions.  Online auctions can provide quality new and used little league equipment at greatly reduced prices compared to local sporting goods shops.

OUtdoors USA | Dust Off The Clubs Spring Is Here.

Just renewed my golf membership and cant wait to hit the course.  I went out and grabbed a bunch of used golf balls and hit the field next to the house for some driving practice.  Wow am I rusty.  Our course is still awful wet after all the rain we’ve had lately.  Half the holes are still underwater and the greens are in real poor condition.  Hopefully it will dry up in the next week or so and they can get out there and do some work on the golf course

Outdoors USA | Family Vacation In The Mountains

Have you ever visited the Great Smoky National Park? In My opinion it is one of the best places in the world. It doesn’t matter which side of the mountains you visit, both the Tennessee and North Carolina sides are beautiful.  Waking up in a smoky mountain cabin overlooking the cities in the valley below is just something everyone should see. This is truly a place that God took extra time and care in creating.  I encourage everyone to plan a visit to one of America’s prettiest locations.  There is plenty for everyone to do.  Camping, fishing, hiking, horseback riding and just a few of the many activities in and around the Smoky National Park

Outdoors USA | More Spring Clean-up

Outdoors USAwants to remind everyone that while you doing your spring house cleaning and garage cleanup not to just throw everything away.  With gas prices going though the roof and the economy in tough shape, why not make extra income selling on ebay.  You always read about people making good money from their junk.  You might as well cash in on this as well.  That old used fishing rod, tackle box or trolling motor will be in high demand this time of year.  Take the opportunity to make more money from your junk by selling through eBay or holding a garage sale.  Neighborhood organizations often plan on area wide garage sales this time of year.  Make sure to check and see if you can get in the listing.  If you don’t think you can make extra money from selling your junk, just check out a few items on eBay and you might be surprised.

Outdoors USA | Sleeping In The Outdoors

Have you done much camping? Outdoors USA and our family has done quite a bit of primative camping in seveal of the state parks throughout the US. We really enjoy sleeping in tents, cooking over open fires, and enjoying the peace and quite that primative camping brings.  My only complaint as I get older is leaving the comfort of my soft bed. Sleeping on the ground is getting harder and harder as the years go by.  Lately, when we go camping I’ve been using an extra matterss pad but I might break down and buy a full blown adjustable air mattress.  Waking up with stiff joints and back is getting to be more than I can handle.  Who knows I may even decide to give in and buy a small pop-up camper one of these days.

Outdoors USA | Spring Yard Cleanup

Spring time has started arriving and in the northern parts of the country the snow is disappearing.  Now is the time of year everyone starts to work on getting their yards back in shape.  A winter of high winds, snow and floods in some places have left lots of debris and trash in the corners of many home owners yards.  My yard is no exception.  I was looking out the back window watching the neighbor rummage through his outdoor storage shed for his rake, when I too decided it was time to clean up.  I hate this time of year its wet, muddy, damp and occasionally too chilly to do much outdoor work.  I just have to keep thinking to myself the soon the grass will turn green, the trees will blossom and spring temperatures will start to rise.  Well that’s about all I have for today have to go grab my rake and get started on spring cleanup