February/March 2016 Archives - Outdoor Writers Association of America

Into the unknown: 5 Montana destinations you’ve never heard of

OWAA Developer — Tue, 05 Jul 2016 06:29:55 +0000

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We all know about Yellowstone and Glacier National Park. We’ve seen the grizzly bears, the bighorn sheep and the waterfalls. But Montana has far more to offer than the obvious. Here are five incredible destinations in Southeast Montana you might not have heard of, but you’ll want to see when you visit Billings, this summer.
5. Calypso Trail
The Calypso Trail, which winds through the most scenic areas of the Terry Badlands was named for an old railroad stop which has been out of service for more than 100 years. It’s been used as a freight road, a wagon trail and even a bootlegging route during prohibition. Today the trail is used solely for recreation. Although its vistas are shrouded from travelers on the nearby interstate highway, the Terry Badlands possess some of the most unique topography in Montana. It’s the perfect place for anyone in the mood to get way, way off the beaten path (and has a vehicle that doesn’t mind a little rough terrain). Though it isn’t difficult to find, any resident of the little town of Terry, Montana, will be happy to point the way to travelers in doubt. Just watch for the rickety old railroad bridge crossing the wide expanse of the Yellowstone River. Once you’ve crossed it, you’ve arrived.
4. Medicine Rocks State Park
Medicine Rocks State Park is another scenic stop with extremely unusual, almost bizarre topography. To find the park head south from Baker, on Highway 7. The blacktop winds through winsome prairie habitat, rising and falling in a seemingly endless stretch of grassy rolling hills. Suddenly strange pillars of sandstone jut up amongst the bales of hay and rustic farm houses. Almost out of nowhere what appears to be a city of squatty sandstone towers, pockmarked and carved by wind and snow to have the look of Swiss cheese, rise from the hills, marking the entrance to the park. The location received its name from Native American hunting parties who often camped in the area and believed it to be a “place of big medicine.” Any visitor to this most singular of state parks will undoubtedly feel the same.
3. Pompeys Pillar National Monument
Whether your main interest is history or scenic beauty, Pompeys Pillar National Monument is worth a stop. Located about 30 minutes east of Billings, the massive sandstone pillar was named after Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, the young son of Sacajawea whom William Clark had nicknamed “Pomp.” During the Lewis and Clark Expedition’s return journey, the two explorers split up, with Meriwether Lewis taking the northern route and Clark heading south to travel along the Yellowstone River. Stopping at the pillar, Clark commented in his journal about the abundance of Native America carvings in the soft sandstone, and wanting to make his own mark, carved his name and the date of his arrival at the site. Railroad men, ranchers, and finally the federal government, saw the signature’s importance and preserved it. Today the site boasts a beautiful, modern visitor information center and museum, as well as interpretive ranger walks, living history presentations and much more. The monument is also a wonderful place to relax along the Yellowstone River. A wooden boardwalk leads visitors from the base of the pillar up to Clark’s signature. Those willing to face the many steps can continue up the boardwalk to the top of the pillar, which offers spectacular views of the Yellowstone Valley and the river itself.

2) Makoshika State Park
At more than 11,000 acres, Makoshika State Park is Montana’s largest state park, and is home to some of the most spectacular badlands wilderness in the West. The name Makoshika is a variation of a Sioux word meaning “Land of Bad Spirits.” Some believe it got its name from the Sioux due to the many dinosaur bones and skulls protruding from the dirt. Eastern Montana and the western Dakotas are the best places in the world to find dinosaur fossils, and paleontologists from across the country have come to Makoshika to unearth its treasures. For those in need of some recreation, Makoshika offers miles of trails which wind through bizarre sandstone rock formations and colorful layers of earth, with each color revealing a different time in history. A scenic drive winds to the top of the plateau, where campers can set up their tents under shady trees and admire the incredible view below. A host of prairie wildlife species inhabit the park, including birds, mammals and reptiles.

1) Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area
Whether you enjoy architectural marvels, world-class fishing, breathtaking scenery, or historic discovery, Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area is a must-see for any visitor to Montana. The canyon offers a different landscape than anywhere else in the state, with 1,000-foot cliff walls towering over a lake which stretches through this remarkable rift in the landscape for 70 miles. On the rim, you can follow the path of the Bozeman Trail, which once carried soldiers and miners into the rich gold fields of western Montana, and upon which the Sioux Chief Red Cloud launched his war against the U.S. Cavalry. Pontoon boats can be rented at either end of the canyon to explore the lake, or visitors can drive and hike the rim to discover breathtaking views.
— Story by Nick Mann courtesy, Visit Southeast Montana

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Montana is magical in the summer

OWAA Developer — Tue, 01 Mar 2016 19:06:11 +0000

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As much as I love winter, it often feels like I tolerate nine or 10 months of it, just to enjoy two to three months of incredible summers.
I do what I can to avoid leaving the Rocky Mountain region from July through mid-September. Even my closest friends know they probably shouldn’t get married on the East Coast in July if they want me to attend with a good attitude.
There are, of course, always things that pull me away, including OWAA’s annual conference. But not this year. This year’s conference is taking place in Montana. That means I get one more summer weekend in the state, and for those of you that live elsewhere, you have a professional excuse to visit.
If you are coming from out-of-state, make sure you plan on coming a few days early or staying a few days later to explore the area. A great way to truly experience a Montana summer is to sign up for one of our pre- and post-conference trips. It is activities like hiking and fishing that make Montana so magical during the summer.
If you haven’t already, you should plan to visit Yellowstone National Park. Our country’s first national park is other-worldly with geysers and hot pots and elk, bison and grizzly bears. This park, which brings in millions of visitors from around the world, is the trip-of-a-lifetime for many people.
That means lodging and guided trips fill up well in advance. If you are planning on visiting Yellowstone while at conference, consider making reservations now if you haven’t already.
Someone recently mentioned to me that we spend a lot of time promoting our conference, that it seemed as soon as one ended we were plugging the next. That might be true, but it is because we know conference is by far the best benefit we offer through OWAA. It’s not just about the sessions that help you hone your craft or business, or newsmaker sessions where you might get a story idea or background for future reporting. The biggest benefit is being around like-minded people who share your struggles in, but also your passion for, working in outdoor communication. Conference gives you tools to better yourself at your trade, but just as important, it fuels and reignites your inspiration.
I was recently reminded of how important and influential simply being around other people in your profession can be. In January the Lee County Visitor and Convention Bureau hosted OWAA’s winter board meeting on Captiva Island in Florida. After a full day meeting we had the chance to spend a day kayaking in Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge or fishing in the bay.
When I’m not editing Outdoors Unlimited, I work as a freelancer. And like most freelancers I can experience big dips in motivation and spikes of frustration. Just being around others talking about the latest policy news, story ideas and our love of the outdoors, left me inspired and ready to come back and tackle another year of freelancing. I mentioned stories I was working on and came up with new angles and outlets — and that happened during a two-day trip that included a board meeting. Imagine what three days of conference, plus the workshops and pre- and post-conference trips can do for your morale.
In the meantime, we are always looking for ways to motivate our members and help them gain new skills and make more money. Our latest effort is another webinar which will take place Feb. 17. Sponsored by Hunt’s Photo and Video, this webinar, which is free to OWAA members, will cover ways to make money as a nature photographer. Be sure to sign up at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/384746978245271554 and let us know if there are other webinars you’d like to see in the future.
— Editor Kelsey Dayton, editor@owaa.org
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Welcome to OWAA

OWAA Developer — Tue, 02 Feb 2016 06:35:39 +0000

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Dr. Peter Brookes escapes his Washington, D.C. “think tank” job in foreign policy to America’s woods and waters as often as possible to partake of Mother Nature’s bounty and write about it. (Considering international politics, one must do what one can to preserve one’s sanity.) As a part-time, freelance scribbler, his writings on the great outdoors have found a home with the Northern Virginia Daily, an award winning Shenandoah Valley newspaper where he’s written on topics from bonefishing in Hawaii, to rabbit hunting with beagles in Virginia. A prolific commentator on foreign policy, Brookes has made more than 3,000 TV and radio appearances, published more than 500 op-eds and articles and one book. He’s a graduate of Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins University and the U.S. Naval Academy.
Mark Johnson grew up hunting and fishing on his family’s Christmas tree farm in the rural Appalachian mountains of North Carolina. After a 10-year stint as assistant editor of a statewide agricultural publication in Tennessee, Johnson became communications director for the 70-year-old Tennessee Wildlife Federation in 2013. In addition to editing the organization’s magazine, Tennessee Out-of-Doors, Johnson directs e-marketing, social media, media relations and other communications needs. In early 2015, he created a public education campaign — “Tennessee’s Wildlife is YOUR Wildlife” — based on the public trust tenet of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. Johnson lives in the middle Tennessee community of Kingston Springs with his wife, Holly, and the couple’s three children, Sam, 14; Ava, 13; and Pete, 8.
The adventures and grandeur of the mountains and the serenity of early mornings overlooking his favorite whitetail woods, drives Cody Metz’s creative passion for outdoor media. Metz entered the outdoor industry through a hunting-based television show that crafted his videography skills over a five year period. After writing his first published article in North American Whitetail, he quickly realized he wanted to spend more time and effort on the writing and photography side of media. He created his blog when he started submitting freelance articles to outdoor magazines. The blog has now become a point of focus not only for marketing his writing, but marketing key partners in the outdoor industry. While Metz is new to this industry, specifically the literature side, he is looking forward to the opportunities to not only grow his writing abilities, but also his list of outdoor friends through OWAA. You can find his work at www.calculatedsavage.com.
Benjamin Alva Polley is currently in the environmental sciences and natural resource journalism program at the University of Montana. His work has been published in Lake Superior Magazine, Whitefish Review, Written Rive magazine, Black Heart Magazine, Flathead Living magazine, Montana Headwall and in other publications. He is an associate editor of the Whitefish Review.
Krista Schlyer is a photographer and writer living in Mount Rainier, Maryland. Her work, which focuses on wildlife, natural history and conservation, has been published by BBC, The Nature Conservancy, High Country News, National Parks and Sierra. Schlyer is the author of three books including “Continental Divide: Wildlife, People and the Border Wall,” a winner of the 2013 National Outdoor Book Award. She is also the 2014 recipient of the Sierra Club’s Ansel Adams Award for Conservation Photography and the 2015 Vision Award, from the North American Nature Photographers Association. Schlyer’s newest book, “Almost Anywhere: Road Trip Ruminations on Love, Nature, National Parks and Nonsense,” recently released by Skyhorse Publishing, chronicles a journey that begins in a small Kansas town and culminates in America’s National Park System.
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It’s time to license ATVs

OWAA Developer — Tue, 02 Feb 2016 06:20:48 +0000

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BY PAT WRAY
I was hunting chukars east of Juntura, Oregon, when I heard the unmistakable growl of an all-terrain vehicle. I expected to see the machine become visible on a nearby fire trail. Unfortunately, not one, but two ATVs emerged from a draw not far from me and headed off across an open hillside. Not only were they traversing off road, but they weren’t even bothering to stay in each other’s tracks; they were making two separate trails as they went.

We were on Bureau of Land Management land, where there are already plenty of established trails, yet they blazed new ones.

I motioned to my son and we wandered over to riders.

After the obligatory round of introduction and pleasantries, we learned they were waiting for friends who were hunting elk nearby. Presumably, those men would be so tired they couldn’t walk another half-mile downhill.

I asked for their names and addresses.

“Why do you need them?” they asked.

“So I can report you for illegal usage of a motor vehicle,” I said.

They said they didn’t know they’d done anything illegal.

“No problem,” I said. “I’m sure the cop will take your ignorance into consideration. Now, what are your names?”

Unsurprisingly, they opted not to provide me with the information I requested.

“You are doing something today that you know is illegal, that you are ashamed to have your names attached to,” I said. “Congratulations. Your children would be proud.”

My experience is anything but unusual. Confrontations like this one are becoming more common, occasionally dangerous and mostly unproductive because people like me don’t authority, nor do we have a way of identifying the culprits. Here in Oregon we don’t even have a requirement for titles and registration of ATVs, which would be necessary precursors for what we really need, which are ATV license plates.

I have neither the space nor the inclination to beat around the bush, so let’s just cut to it. A small but significant number of ATV riders make a habit of ignoring laws, closed roads, gates and any other impediments to public lands. In so doing they ruin vegetation, harass wildlife, cause extensive erosion and ruin the experience of law abiding users. Some of these riders are hunters, but the only label that matters is criminal.

We need to be able to identify these people when we see them and turn them into the authorities for ticketing and prosecution, without potentially perilous personal confrontations. The best way to do so is to require ATVs to display easy-to-read license plates. That way, witnesses could write down or photograph the identification and turn the information into the authorities. Obviously, ATVs used only on private lands could be exempt.

It would seem that any reasonable person could see the wisdom in a license plate system but Oregon House Bill 2725, put forth by Rep. Peter Buckley of Ashland came to an early end last spring in the face of organized resistance from ATV riders and sellers. A few years ago, Utah legislators actually rescinded an existing law requiring ATV license plates in the face of pressure from the ATV lobby.

The bottom line is this: Illegal ATV use is an assault on public lands and on the wildlife within them. It is rampant and increasing. Let’s not pretend otherwise. Education is not working. Self-regulation is not working. We need to impose accountability in order to protect our natural resources and the experience of the law abiding public. Titles, registration and license plates, are the tools we have to do the job. Let’s use them.
— Circle of Chiefs articles are written by those who have received the Circle of Chiefs Award for conservation reporting and coverage. The Circle of Chiefs are considered OWAA’s conservation council and policy spokesmen. The article reflects the opinion of the author. If you’d like to add to the discussion, please send a letter to the editor.
— Recipient of the 2015 Jade of Chiefs award, Pat Wray is a freelance writer and book author residing in Corvallis, Oregon, with his long suffering wife and two hunting dogs. The dogs don’t suffer. His most recent book is “Corvallis Reflections.”
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Diversifying demographics: How outdoor sports and industry can reach more people

OWAA Developer — Tue, 02 Feb 2016 06:09:32 +0000

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BY BILL BRASSARD
Sitting on a diversity panel at the Outdoor Writer’s Association’s conference in McAllen, Texas, in 2014, I was prepared to talk about engaging Hispanics in the outdoors. I was armed with research and numbers, but it was a personal story of a fellow panelist that hit home the hardest.

The panelist talked about an older relative having the opportunity to visit the Grand Canyon for the first time during a driving trip between Texas and California. Yet he decided to pass, basically saying “That’s a place for white people.”

For those of us in the outdoor industry, or for those of who care about future preservation of outdoor places, this is alarming. The Latino population is growing in the United States and they are a group with not only growing economic power, but also a voice in outdoor recreation. They are also a demographic that might not have tried some of our most beloved outdoor activities.

At the National Shooting Sports Foundation, we are working to introduce people from all backgrounds to the recreational benefits and personal defense aspects of firearms ownership. We and others who promote outdoor activities are learning how to better understand and communicate with diverse audiences. We’re working on developing tools to help industry, marketers and media share the activities we enjoy with others in a changing America.

According to a report by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, one of every five Americans is Hispanic.

About two-thirds of those are naturalborn Americans who have a higher level of education and income potential than Hispanics and other ethnic groups less familiar with English and American culture. The Hispanic population is estimated to be 57 million, carrying $825 billion in consumer buying power.

The 1,265 Hispanics who participated in the survey indicated a high level of interest in firearms ownership and use: 30 percent would like to own a firearm and 40 percent would go to a firearms retailer or shooting range if invited by friends or family to give target shooting a try. Of those who said they had previously visited such establishments, a remarkable 91 percent came away with a positive impression. Why? Top reasons were being in a safe, controlled environment and being assisted by knowledgeable staff.

One of the most interesting findings in the report is that language does not appear to be a barrier. Surprisingly, the majority of Hispanics surveyed (79 percent) indicated a preference for obtaining information about firearms in English. One reason Hispanics prefer English is because of the number of varied cultures labeled Hispanics, including Mexican, Cuban, Puerto Rican, Dominican, Salvadoran and others, all who might have different dialects or languages.

If you are in the business of promoting your sports, products or services to a Hispanic audience, you’ll need to craft messaging and use appropriate imagery to appeal to the local Hispanic population. According to Rick Tobin, who heads up the Tobintel agency, developer of the report for NSSF, soccer analogies may not play well to audiences of Caribbean ancestry, while baseball references may not be understood by South American Hispanics.

“When marketing messages or imagery are not understood or related to by the target audience, the normal human reaction is to reject the marketer at some level,” he said. In short, you can very quickly alienate the audience you’re trying to win over.

Two other noteworthy discoveries from the report were that 61 percent of Hispanics are aware of their state wildlife agency, and 82 percent have a very positive image of that agency. These high scores imply a positive opinion regarding outdoor activities in general and an opportunity to coordinate outreach efforts with your state wildlife agency.

Five states report the highest Hispanic populations, representing approximately 70 percent of the U.S. Hispanic total: California, Texas, Florida, New York and Illinois. Additionally, projected population estimates for the year 2020 show up to 40 percent of the populations of New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado will be Hispanic. If you want to interest more Hispanics in everything from your products to ideas, developing or expanding outreach directed toward Hispanic cultures in those states should be on your radar.

“A Hispanic Market Study: Firearms and the Shooting Sports” is available to media on request. If you are an NSSF media member, access it via nssf.org/research, otherwise send an email to me at bbrassard@ nssf.org for a PDF copy.
Bill Brassard is a former newspaper editor and reporter and now in his 18th year as a senior communications director and media spokesman with the National Shooting Sports Foundation. He is a target shooter, bird hunter and general outdoors enthusiast.
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Conference keynote speaker: Outside magazine founder Tim Cahill

OWAA Developer — Tue, 02 Feb 2016 06:09:29 +0000

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Tim Cahill is often identified as an outdoor adventure writer, but it’s not the identity he prefers.
“What I am is a writer,” he told John Pulasky, host for the TV show That’s Montana. “What I found interests me and what I do well is outdoor stuff.”
OWAA can now refer to Cahill in a different way — keynote speaker for the 2016 annual conference in Billings, Montana (July 16-18).
Cahill will speak on July 16 at the Holiday Inn Grand Montana.
He is perhaps best known as a founding editor of Outside magazine and the author of nine books, several with such colorful titles as “Jaguars Ripped My Flesh,” “A Wolverine Is Eating My Leg” and “Pecked To Death By Ducks.”
The fearsome sounding titles are throwbacks to a bygone era when manly adventures appeared in such pulp magazines as Adventure, The Argosy and Frontier Stories.
The back story to the titles for his books is linked to early discussions with two colleagues at Rolling Stone – Harriet Fier and Michael Rodgers – as that publication was developing Outside. Initially, there was doubt that the travel adventure genre was suitable for Outside. He disagreed … and prevailed.
“Our very simple concept for Outside back in the ’70s was to produce literate writing about the out of doors,” Cahill said. “Seems like a slam dunk now, but back in the day we were ridiculed for ‘wasting’ National Book Award winners and Pulitzer Prize winners on outdoor stories when it was well known that people who went outdoors were not literate. They were knuckle dragging mouth breathers.
“Our nine national journalism awards — competing against magazines like the New Yorker or The Atlantic — were final proof that our concept had legs.”
Cahill’s travel adventures became popular features of the magazine, largely because he didn’t shy away from incorporating his mishaps and misfortunes in stories that revolved around his flirtation with risk and the attendant fears it produced.
“You don’t need Superman to do an adventure story,” Cahill said in an interview with FORA.TV. “Where’s the drama with Superman? What’s gonna go wrong? He can leap tall mountains in a single bound. He’s not going to have any trouble.
“You’ve got to have somebody who’s a little clumsy. You’ve got to have somebody who can write a coherent English sentence but is easily frightened. I recall Harriet Fier saying, ‘Tim, you do it.’ And that’s how I came to be an adventure writer.”
Cahill was born in Nashville, Tennessee, but grew up in Wisconsin, where he became an accomplished youth swimmer. He helped Waukesha High School capture two state championships by winning individual titles in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle races, despite competing with a broken foot.
“Which may have led me to believe that obstacles make the story,” he said. Cahill earned an athletic scholarship to swim at the University of Wisconsin, earning a bachelor’s degree in European intellectual history.
His first break as a writer was a feature article on vultures that he sold to the Sunday magazine of the San Francisco Examiner, but he says the turning point of his career was his first book — “Buried Dreams: Inside the Mind of a Serial Killer.” His examination of John Wayne Gacy, who was convicted of murdering 33 young men in suburban Chicago in the 1970s, was a national bestseller, but convinced him to seek a different path with his writing career.
“Publishers wanted me to take on every new whack job that came down the pike,” he said. “Jeffrey Dahmer, those kind of guys. But I had exhausted my curiosity about serial killers, and I did not want to spend the rest of my life in the brains of those foul men. No, outdoor adventure was psychologically healthier for me. It didn’t pay as well, but I enjoyed the work.”
His stories have been singled out for National Magazine awards from the American Society of Magazine Editors and Lowell Thomas Awards from the Society of American Travel Writers. He was the co-writer on three short nature documentaries that were nominated for Academy Awards.
Another of his books is “Road Fever,” an account of his rapid ride with professional driver Garry Sowersby from the southern tip of Argentina to Prudhoe Bay in Alaska. They covered the roughly 19,000 miles in a Guinness Book of World records time of 23 days, 22 hours, and 43 minutes — less than half the time of the previous standard.
Cahill currently resides in Livingston, Montana, which will make his commute to Billings and the 2016 OWAA conference a more manageable 120 miles.
— Story by Phil Bloom, Conference program chair
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Photography in the field: A workshop with Ann and Rob Simpson

OWAA Developer — Tue, 02 Feb 2016 05:58:56 +0000

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Bring your camera and join Ann and Rob Simpson in a special hands-on, pre-conference photography workshop.
The Simpsons are not just professional shooters whose work has appeared in publications such as Audubon, National Geographic, National Geographic Traveler and Ranger Rick, and the more than 15 books they’ve written. They are also seasoned instructors leading Canon “Photography in the Parks,” workshops teaching thousands of visitors in places like the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone National Park. Their teaching style has been described as relaxed, patient and stress-free.
Instruction begins in the classroom at 1 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Grand Montana. After about two hours participants can practice what they’ve learned with a field session at Pompeys Pillar.
This workshop is for seasoned pros, as well as beginners playing with their point and-shoot cameras. Classroom attendance is not required for joining the field session.
Pompeys Pillar National Monument lies 25 miles east of Billings, Montana, overlooking the Yellowstone River. The pillar is a sandstone butte, or mesa, covering about two acres at its base and standing about 150 feet high. As the only sandstone outcrop on the south side of the Yellowstone River for miles in either direction, it has served as a landmark for centuries and contains the last physical evidence of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Captain William Clark carved his name and the date, July 25, 1806, into the sandstone during his return to the United States through the Yellowstone Valley. He named the tower for Sacajawea’s son Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, whom he called “Pomp.”
Directly north of the pillar is a viewing area of the Yellowstone River. The riparian areas nearby, dominated by cottonwood and willow along the Yellowstone, are great habitat for warblers, vireos, tanagers, kingbirds and other passerines. Great horned owls as well as bald eagles and osprey all nest either on site or nearby. The prairie to the south provides great habitat for falcons, sparrows, pheasant and a variety of other species.
The Pompeys Pillar Interpretive Center opened in 2006 to coincide with the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Exhibits in the 5,700-square foot center cover the Yellowstone River Valley journey of Captain Clark and his detachment, including Sacagawea and her son Pomp in 1806. The center also focuses on native culture, flora and fauna, the Lewis and Clark Expedition and the history of Pompeys Pillar. For more information on the site visit http://www.pompeyspillar.org/ and to register for the workshop visit https://owaa.org/2016conference/pre-and-post-conference-trips/.
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Teaching future hunters to shoot — with a camera

OWAA Developer — Tue, 02 Feb 2016 05:47:18 +0000

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BY STEVE MAANUM
In 2008, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported that the trend in outdoor activities for the years 2001-2006 showed decreases in hunting (-10 percent) and freshwater fishing (-14 percent).
The Kaiser Family Foundation reported that the current trend shows kids are spending as much as seven and a half hours a day or 53 hours a week with television, computers, video games and cell phones. This is generally “inside time.”
On the surface, that data may paint a pretty bleak picture when thinking about connecting today’s youth with their natural world. But look deeper and the answer becomes clear. The Kaiser report demonstrates that our youth are captivated with technology. But the fish and wildlife service survey also shows an increase of 35 percent in nature photography. By combining those two facts, we can use technology, through digital media devices, as the catalyst to connect kids to nature through the lens of a camera.
I started hunting when I was 8 years old. In 1958 I was a third grader and that October I shot four pheasants and one mallard with my Stevens .410 double barrel.
My dad was my hunting and fishing partner and nature mentor. He taught me how to cast and how to tie a jig on my fishing line. He taught me how to arrange a set of decoys and blow the right notes on my duck call. He also taught me how to enjoy the beauty of a sunrise and the peacefulness that surrounds it.
I became interested in wildlife photography in high school. It didn’t replace my hunting; it extended it to 12 months a year. To a photographer, seasons never close and lands that may not be available to hunters are usually available to photographers. When I’m on a photo outing I use all the hunting skills my dad taught me as a kid. A background in hunting has made me a better photographer and a background in photography has made me a better hunter.
We can reverse the trend of kids losing interest in outdoor activities, by reversing the strategy. I became a hunter first and that led me to an interest in photography. What if we help kids become photographers first? Could it spark an interest in hunting and fishing?
I recently teamed up with a group of volunteers to conduct a Youth Bowhunting workshop at Itasca State Park. It may be best known as the headwaters of the Mississippi River or as Minnesota’s oldest state park, but it is also known for its programming initiatives. The diverse staff included a retired forester, three active Department of Natural Resources wildlife specialists, a former educator with 4-H and others.
The day’s schedule included a brief history of bowhunting and the changes in equipment, instruction in shooting safety and etiquette, target shooting on an official range, an elevated stand and from a ground blind. While one group was shooting, another group was instructed in scouting techniques before taking a hike to identify food sources and search for deer trails, tracks, rubs, scrapes, and beds. Because it was early August, we had to enhance the area with a mock scrape, a rub on a sapling, and even a fake blood trail. As the participants walked in search of deer sign, we talked about the value of trail cameras as we inventoried the trees along the trail. We let them select a good location and then attached a camera so they could see how to set the proper height and angle. As we continued our walk and they found the rub and scrape, they stopped to photograph them with their digital cameras and smart phones. I discussed how their camera can be an effective scouting tool. By photographing such things as deer droppings, rubs, scrapes and beds hunters can draw detailed maps of their hunting areas. It helps make wise choices for placing deer stands.
A wildlife photographer becomes a student of nature. Whatever the photo subject, paying attention to its habits – what it eats, when it eats, where it rests, and when and where it migrates are all taken into consideration when planning a successful camera outing. Hunters understand the value of the same information in planning a successful gun or bow hunt.
It all ties together so let photography be an important part of hunting throughout the seasons and make sure you fill the role as nature mentor for our youth.
Steve Maanum is a retired teacher who has used his backgrounds in science and language arts as a foundation for his nature writing and photography. As an outdoor communicator, he strives to help others make nature connections through his family-style nature photography workshops and his presentations in schools and at young writers’ and artists’ conferences.
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Bookshelf

OWAA Developer — Tue, 02 Feb 2016 05:46:40 +0000

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All Things Jerky: The Definitive Guide to Making Delicious Jerky and Dried Snack Offerings

By Andy Lightbody and Kathy Mattoon with a forward from Jim Zumbo
Skyhorse Publishing; E-book and softcover; 192 pp.; 100 color photos; $14.95.
Jerky, one of the oldest forms of food preservation, has become a national obsession. Exotic jerky — wild salmon, buffalo, alligator — was even projected to be the hot culinary trend of 2015 by Parade’s Community Table. The average consumer has begun to realize that there is nothing like tasty, chewy jerky for satisfying those hunger cravings. And homemade jerky is far superior to the packaged kind, is much less expensive, and is surprisingly simple to make. All Things Jerky: The Definitive Guide to Making Delicious Jerky and = Dried Snack Offerings focuses on one hundred of the best tried-and tested recipes from around the world and includes recipes designed for everyone from supermarket moms to the avid hunter and fisher.

Understanding Coyotes: The Comprehensive Guide for Hunters, Photographers and Wildlife Watchers

By Michael Huf
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; softcover; 120 pp.; $19.95.
The book provides a comprehensive overview of every aspect of the coyote’s life. Topics covered include biology, dispersal patterns, territories, diet, diseases, predationand interactions with domestic livestock. The author, Michael Huff, interviewed many of the leading coyote researchers in the United States and spent numerous hours observing the animals throughout the United States. Predator hunters will find the detailed chapters on the animal’s visions, smell and hearing of special interest. It includes how to overcome its super senses to get close to coyotes in the wild.

Almost Anywhere: Road Trip Ruminations on Love, Nature, National Parks and Nonsense

By Krista Schlyer
Skyhorse Publishing; hardcover; 276 pp; $24.
At 28 years old, Krista Schlyer sold almost everything she owned and packed the rest of it in a station wagon bound for the American wild. Her two best friends joined her—one a grumpy, grieving introvert, the other a feisty dog—and together they sought out every national park, historic site, forest, and wilderness they could get to before their money ran out or their minds gave in. The journey began as a desperate escape from urban isolation, heartbreak, and despair, but became an adventure beyond imagining. Chronicling their colorful escapade, Almost Anywhere explores the courage, cowardice, and heroics that live in all of us, as well as the life of nature and the nature of life.

Grizzlies of Pilgrim Creek, An Intimate Portrait of 399, the Most Famous Bear of Greater Yellowstone

By Todd Wilkinson with photograph by Thomas D. Mangelsen

Rizzoli/New York; hardcover; 240 pp.; 150 photographs; $60.
Grizzlies of Pilgrim Creek” tells the harrowing story of famous grizzly mother 399 and her family of offspring, who inhabit Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Their lives provide a window into understanding the lives—and deaths—of both bears and people vying for space in the 21st century, grizzly conservation, the move to remove grizzlies from federal protection and the potential consequences of bringing back a trophy sport hunt.
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Run and gun: The new industry standard

OWAA Developer — Tue, 02 Feb 2016 05:29:31 +0000

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BY ADAM STIELSTRA
If you’ve shot video with a 20-pound Betacam slung over your shoulder with only available light, you should be familiar with the term “run and gun.” At some point in everyone’s cinematic career we’ve had to bite down hard and wave production value for fast documentation, compromising art completely. Or in other words — sometimes we have to pay the bills.

I came from the school of big production. Rolling 35mm film was par for the course in Chicago in the 1990’s. By 1999 I had made it to cinematographer status and director followed close behind. Productions were robust and so were the budgets, but that’s all changed.

Digital media threw a rather large rock in the pond of video and still photography back the mid to late 2000’s. What seemed like a fixed tradition for the last millennia nearly bottomed out overnight. Everything changed. If you were in business then you might have felt the impact of YouTube, Facebook and iStock.

Television as a mainstay format was on the outs as the first outdoor websites where anyone could showcase their work- and amateurs happily did it for free — began to spring up.

The days of big production were nearly halted or immediately confined to a few large commercial agencies and Hollywood. The people in the middle, the working class artists and craftsman, were all scarred in some way by this surprise plague of shabby amateur video and low audience standards. Some of us lived. Some of us died. Some of us were reborn.

I took hard hits myself for a few years. Things were lean. But the novelty of YouTube wore thin as sites like Vimeo became the standard for new digital quality. Everyone noticed, including the companies who wanted this quality back, but the budgets never truly returned.

Manufactures of computers, software and cameras quickly saw dollar signs as they scaled down costs and increased availability and quality to basic production gear. Apple made exceptional nonlinear editing software. Canon and others made prosumer mini-dv cameras then quickly shifted by eliminating tape altogether with their digital single lens reflex cameras; simultaneously giving access to both the highest quality stills and high-definition video.

The digital revolution was ablaze, clearing new paths for beginners to attain production quality that appeared to match old-world budgets.

With post-production tools that could virtually fix anything, compact cameras that mimicked 35mm and young, willing pupils at the ready, why would anyone pay more for content? For the aged survivors, we had the skill set to make these new tools sing.

We knew how to tell a good story beyond relying on tech alone. For us, composition, lighting and wise editing were pre-programmed. Even with all the new platforms and advances, storytelling differentiated the amateurs from the pros and viewers knew it.

We just had to figure a way to do it lean. We had to go back to old school run and gun.

I recently completed video projects for Trout Unlimited and Yale University’s 360 website.

These projects’ budgets barely covered travel, meals and lodging, let alone the multiple days of dawn to dusk shooting. I was able to create videos that pleased the clients and audiences within that budget by taking on the projects as a one man band.

If you haven’t already, I strongly recommend you learn to edit for video and sound; possibly go so far as to learn more sophisticated software like Adobe After Effects and advanced Photoshop techniques. Wielding these post-production tools is key to making money in this business. It’s more work, but it also generates more income for you, instead of having to spend chunks of your budget on hiring out help.

I began learning non-linear editing in 2002 using my own footage shot in my spare time to feel my way around the software. Learning color correction, motion graphics, 2-D animation and even some rudimentary web skills, became a natural next step. If I wanted to continue in this profession, I needed to evolve. I went so far as to enroll in community college courses on improving my web skills. The leg-up I earned for my diligence paid for the tuition and continues to keep me relevant, so long as I stay aggressive.

I had the experience to already know that story was at the successful core of everything I made. Without a story, you’re just spinning wheels while going nowhere. Any good writer knows there must be a narrative among all the information otherwise all you have are random words on a page. Without story in filmmaking, all you have are pretty pictures. While all the technological knowledge and sexy gear is nice, you must first learn to understand your audience. Moreover, learn what it will take to impact them and what you need to learn to make that happen.

Run and gun is now the industry standard for working-class production. It has to be if we are going to work within the minibudgets we’re presented. But with the advances in technology it’s more flexible than ever.

Look at some of the more innovative work being produced and study it. Is it just a bunch of well-placed GoPro’s and quick editing to intense music beats? Or is it documenting a powerful story enhanced by solid production that hooks us and pulls at our hearts while one lone writer/producer/director/editor stands there with a drone remote in his or her hands, ready to run and gun?
Adam Stielstra has been directing/shooting/editing films both large and small for 21 years. He resides along Colorado’s Front Range with his wife and two kids. Feel free to reach him with any video production needs. Visit his website, picturesheal.com and write him at picturesheal@gmail.com.
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