Chuck Adams - old bone to pick

I started hunting before U-tube, before Yahoo, and before Email.

My family did bird hunting in the UK but I was self taught for deer hunting in Canada . Since there was no one to teach me I started reading books, some were not applicable like hunting game farms in Texas. After going through some books and making all the usual newbie mistakes I came accross a book written by a young author named Chuck Adams. On the cover he was wearing an old Army watch cap, he drew my attention, it was black and white but the author described in detail what is required to bow hunt on public land.

At last I found somone who was just as strange as me, waking up at three AM to wade through a swamp and sit freezing in the dark hours waiting for some brown furry animal to walk in front of me.

I found a kindered spirit.

Or so I thought, part way through the book Mr Adams describes nutrition for a day of hunting, he recommended a large bowl of oatmeal to start the day.

So before my hunt I consumed as much oatmeal as a young man can, and proceeded into the woods. Let me tell you from experience, a large volume of high fibre food will pass through the body very quickly and repeatedly. I did not make it to my tree stand before having to squat, and again, and again throughout the morning's hunt.

Needless to say I did not shoot a deer that day. Mr. Adams, I otherwise enjoyed your book.

Well isn't that the sh..., strange as it is, it affects some people what you encountered, others like me will be giving birth to a compacted rusty rod you could beat a horse with.

Eggs and bacon for me thanks. Protein goes a lot further for me than carbs... lol

Funny-every and each time i go morning deer hutning(wake up really early-drive up)just before i change from my street clothing into my hunting stuff(yes-beside my truck,in any weather and any temperature i change )i must go to relieve myself.By now i always have roll of paper towel handy-and time allocated for this "need".
Each and every time.No exceptions.
Never on late days hunts or on afternoon hunts.Ever.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gbk

Funny-every and each time i go morning deer hutning(wake up really early-drive up)just before i change from my street clothing into my hunting stuff(yes-beside my truck,in any weather and any temperature i change )i must go to relieve myself.By now i always have roll of paper towel handy-and time allocated for this "need".
Each and every time.No exceptions.
Never on late days hunts or on afternoon hunts.Ever.

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I'm the same, I usually have to get up an hour before I walk in because I know if I don't get it out of the way I'll be stripping off my overalls before I get in the stand.

It's beneficial to have personalities like Mr. Chuck Adams share their experience and insight for others to follow. Years ago, I started my upland hunting, wearing what I thought was the traditional red & black plaid jacket, coming out full of thistles & burrs. North of Port Perry, I observed Mr. John Power (Toronto Star outdoor writer) wearing burr proof outdoor wear for his hunt. So I adapt to those with good experience !

Oatmeal is ok but a bit of a pest to cook up early in the morning. I find like others it does not keep me full for very long and wants out as quick as it goes in, the becomes a seond nuisance. Probably peameal bacon and aggs in the morning would be a better alternative for most and saves on the toilet paper.

For early hunts just a thermos of black coffee for me. Then head back to the cabin around 10 am for 3 eggs, peameal bacon, bear sausage, and hash browns. Sausage and hash browns done on the bbq. Eggs and bacon on the propane stove. Eggs need to be sunny side up and runny. Bacon and the bear cooked to the bare minimum that is considered safe. Hash browns crispy. After that hit the bunk for a 2 hour snooze. Then usually a trip to the outhouse and get ready to head out again. Been doing it that way for almost 40 years - works for me.

I have travelled the world for both work and leisure (55 countries and 6 continents last i counted) and eaten in more foreign and domestic 1,2,3,4 and 5 star restaurants than i care to recall and i tell you nothing is better than the above sitting at the woodstove on a cold November morning. Feel like Stan Rogers (RIP) or Gordon Lightfoot (RIP) or perhaps Stompin Tom should have put that to music somehow - would make a great Canadian hunt camp anthem.

Strange how a random thread can make me get all introspective but COVID hit when i was in my mid fifties. From my late 20s until then i was travelling the world and loving it. Was also hunting and fishing lots - but doing both. COVID seems to have burned away the fat so to speak and i am now 58 and haven't travelled since February 2020 and no longer have that desire. I am content to just hunt, fish, split firewood and get as far off the grid as i can (or as my wife lets me LOL).

As for oatmeal taking to long, I start off most days with a bowl of Quaker Quick Oats with a bit of dark brown sugar or fresh berries in season and a glass of milk. Finish off with a cup of coffee and toast. The oatmeal takes 1 minute and 13 seconds on high in the microwave.
Just thinking about and I am off to the kitchen. Back in a bit.
rodmcd

I've been doing overnight oats for the last few years for morning hunts with no emergency climb downs during this time. I'm normally good until 11:30am before that occurs or I get hungry

I used to do oatmeal and toast before the hunt, but found that it digested too quickly. Now I eat bacon, eggs, and toast with peanut butter. It’s slower to digest and I’m not starving by 10:00. Also, I’m warmer in the stand.

Unlike some folks, I don’t have to “go” when I rise in the morning. Much to the anoyance of my hunting partners, it normally happens when everyone is jumping into the truck to drive to the hunting grounds. If not then, usually when I walk in to my stand and at the exact same spot as the day before… I might as well build a privy right there!