I recently received a news flash about the USDA’s decision to release $50 million to help launch “Open Fields” land access programs in the 50 states.

Here’s a FAQ provided by the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. Yes, they’re an advocacy group. But they provide some good basic info here.

This is exciting news.

I’m sure many of you have run into the same frustration that I have at various times: you move to a new area, or you’re just getting into hunting, and you suddenly realized how hard it’s going to be to get access to that field just down the road that’s always full of turkeys, or that plot of woods near home that you’re certain contains a bruiser of a buck. Between finding/identifying all the landowners, contacting them and then convincing them that you’re a respectful citizen who will tread lightly on their property, you’ve got a load of work ahead of you.

Open Fields is meant to make that process a little easier. Landowners, many of whom are dealing with over-populations of deer and other game animals, receive incentives for practicing game management best practices and opening their land for hunting, fishing and other wildlife-oriented recreation.

Landowners get compensation for preserving natural areas.

Outdoors enthusiasts gain access to new land.

Another avenue opens to protect this country’s open spaces.

Sounds like a win-win-win to me.

I’m guessing a lot of you have run into the same conundrum I have in the past month: you want – need – to get outside, but not only is it hot, but there’s a good chance it’s raining cats and dogs.

Heat’s one thing to content with. Rain is one thing to contend with. And when you get the two together, it’s a real pain to stay comfortable outside for any length of time.

If you’re running into this situation, you really have two choices: let yourself get soaked, or bring the right lightweight rain gear.

The first is easy, especially when it’s nearing triple-digits outside. A good wicking t-shirt and breathable wicking shorts are key – think about how fast swim trunks dry when you get out of the pool. Plenty of clothing manufacturers make clothes that work in this manner, and often as not, it’s just as easy to wear swim trunks and sandals around.

The second option takes a little more work. You want a rain jacket and pants set that breathes (look for lots of vents in the back and underarm areas), keeps the rain off reasonably well (as with any waterproof fabric, you’re going to pay more for more protection – don’t expect a Gore-Tex jacket to cost the same as a nylon model), and packs to a small size. You want to be able to stash the gear when the sun comes back out.

Once you find the right rain gear, treat it well. Avoid briars and the various outdoor things that can puncture the fabric. If you stash it wet, air it out as soon as possible to avoid mildew. And follow the manufacturer’s instructions for how to clean and re-waterproof it; one trip through the wrong laundry cycle can be enough to wreck some lighter rain gear.

So have fun in the rain; if you prep right, summer rain showers are no worse than the drizzle you hunt in half the fall. And like that drizzle that often sparks game movement, summer thundershowers can trigger memorable bites on even mediocre fishing days.

If the user stats I’ve glanced through are correct, you probably have a dog. A four-legged friend in tow is almost as much a part of the great outdoors as the implements we carry for hunting and fishing.

With the weather thoroughly in “summertime” mode (read: hotter’n blazes for half the week, pretty darn nice the rest of the time), I thought it would be good to remind you of something very important:

When you hit the woods or lake with Fido, bring along plenty of water, and know where the shade is.

A 25-pound dog can suck down 1.25 liters of water on an average day. a 50-pounder can knock back a two-liter’s worth of water. Add hot temps tot he mix, and you can see that the owner of a full-size canine has to think about where his dog can get clean water on a regular basis throughout the day.

Add to that the fact that dogs don’t sweat through their skin, and you need to really pay attention on hot summer days. A dip in the lake certainly can help keep your dog cool, but without decent shade, that may not be enough to help your beloved mutt regulate his or her temperature. If you’re going to be out for an extended period of time, plan when and where you can stop to let the dog cool off in a shady spot.

Keeping those items in mind can make the difference between a fun day with your furry friend and potentially dangerous heat illness. It’s cooled off this week, but the summer’s fury is on its way, so do some pre-planning this week to keep Rover as happy as you are.

Youth and the outdoors. The two don’t seem to mix all that well these days. Between the seemingly endless editorials about kids spending all their free time plugged into electronic toys, the urbanization of our nation causing a generation to lose touch with its natural heritage and loudly voiced concerns over putting kids anywhere near firearms, it’s not often one hears good news that includes a young person and a traditional outdoor pursuit in a positive relationship.

This link leads to an ODNR video about Grant Brimmer, an Eagle Scout who earned that highest honor-of-honors by rebuilding facilities at the Delaware, Ohio, shooting range.

Watch the video. There are kids working safely with power tools in it. There are scenes of kids (gasp!) using rifles in a safe, controlled, sporting manner.

Maybe this is a sign that kids are reconnecting with the outdoors, with the values of hard work for the public good. Or maybe it’s just a case of a kid who was brought up well. Either way, it’s refreshing to see a young man do something like this. Let’s hope he’s got more friends like him, and that they can inspire others to do right by the outdoors.

OK, I usually try not to post straight out of press releases (pretty much anyone who writes nowadays knows the deluge of info – some good, some not so good – that comes via the magic of the e-mail press release). This one, however, scores pretty high on the “cool outdoor gadgets” scale.

Three words: remote underwater camera.

You know you want one.

Here’s the official word:

“At MarCum Technologies, genius meets passion, and the outcome is innovative products built in the USA. New for 2010-11 is MarCum’s VS625SD. On ice or in your boat, it’s easily the most complete underwater camera system ever made. The proof lies above and below the surface . . .”

The straight specs: This underwater camera/LCD screen combo is sunlight-readable and has a number of features the maker claims will keep it alive in the electronics-killing environment of an open bass boat. It gives you camera depth and water temp info on-screen, and frankly looks like a tremendously fun water toy, whether you’re fishing or not.

Here’s a link to Marcum’s web site. Take a look, and if you pick up one of these gadgets, post a comment and tell us what you think.

Way back in September I wrote a few posts about taking photos while in the woods. It’s a good diversion when the fish aren’t biting, or when the game’s not moving.

And if you’ve been forgetting to bring your camera along in your gear bag, now there’s a good motivator:

Statewide fame.

The ODNR announced this week it’s taking submissions for the 2010 Ohio Wildlife Legacy Stamp photo contest. The challenge? Get the best shot in the state of a native dragonfly or damselfly.

That’s not the easiest task in the world; you’ve got to know your species, and the little buggers don’t sit still for long, unless you’re out at just the right time of day (don’t ask me when that is; I haven’t had any luck yet myself).

Thankfully for those of us with some homework to do, the contest runs until August 2011, so there’s plenty of time to get out a long lens and start snapping.

And in the end, it’s just another good excuse to spend a sunny summer day by the lake – as if we needed any more reason to get out into the great outdoors.

To follow up on the last post about sighting in your firearm, I decided to do some web-crawling in search of shooting skills drills.

Unfortunately, my search stumbled across a lot of self-defense/tactical drills, none of which would be all that helpful when trying to hit the vitals on a squirrel at 30 yards (unless, of course, the squirrel’s shooting back, but that’s just plain silly).

I did find one gem, however. The whole article can be read here.

One paragraph, on visualization for a smooth trigger pull, really jumped out at me:

“Pretend that the front sight is attached to the trigger. When pressure is applied to the trigger, the front sight moves rearward towards the rear sight. The goal of pulling the trigger is to pull the front sight post straight though the center of the rear sight notch. With enough practice, you will feel like you are steering the gun with the trigger, mainly because you are.”

The article has a practical shooting focus, but its trigger control drills look to be right on the money. The series of exercises should be just the thing to make you aware of how you’re triggering your firearm, and would probably help with any trigger-operated implement, such as a crossbow.

So try the drills, then take your newly-zeroed rifle back to the range and see if your accuracy and shot consistency improve. I have a feeling they will.

You may have noticed I’m on a forward-looking trend right now. Between posts about hunting lotteries and ordering custom hunting gear, I guess my mind’s already in the woods with the bugs gone and the leaves turning.

Thinking ahead’s useful, especially in the mental/physical chess match that is hunting, so I’m going to roll with the trend and see where it leads us.

Today’s topic takes the planning out of the mind and puts it squarely on the range. It’s probably not a bad time to get out the rifle(s) and sight things in for the fall hunting season.

Wait a minute, you might say: it’s June, and it’ll be months before I crack a shot at a deer or squirrel.

True, but here’s where thinking ahead is really going to pay off.

Marksmanship, like any skill, gets better with practice. Since you owe it to your quarry to be able to hit the vitals on the first shot, it stands to reason that the more pre-season range time you get, the better.

Plus, there’s something tremendously satisfying about a long day at the range punching holes in bullseyes, or an afternoon spent plinking match boxes and spent shells in a rural back yard.

First and foremost, you need to sight in your rifle or handgun. This is something that’s wise to do whenever the firearm has been put away for a while – something may have gotten bumped, and the routne will help reacclimate you to good shooting form.

There are plenty of sighting-in instructions out there, but here are the basics that work for me. First, get a solid rest. It could be sandbags, a dedicated shooting rest or the like, but I prefer something that lets me hold the rifle, rather than clamping it into position. I don’t carry a hunting bench into the field, after all.

With a solid rest that will keep the gun from hopping around, I like to start at a reasonably close distance (25 yards works, since it’s the de-facto short distance at most ranges) and make sure things are reasonably close. Is the bullet/pellet hitting relatively close to where the crosshairs sit? If not, I make sure I have the tools to check/repair my scope mounts, and I try to keep myself patient and moving slow. A large error is annoying, but so is chasing it around with the elevation and windage dials.

Move toward accuracy in small steps. If a shot lands high and left, fix the high first, then the left. Don’t try to adjust for both at once, or you may end up chasing your tail.

Once the gun’s shooting consistently on target at the shorter distance, I like to move out to the distance I expect to encounter most game animals. This varies – it’s a heck of a lot closer for squirrel than deer. I repeat the sightng-in process on the sandbags, then move to less- and less-stable shooting positions. Does everything stay reasonably accurate as I do this? If not, I go back to the sandbags and make sure something hasn’t come loose. This progression also helps me isolate errors in my shooting technique. Do I jerk the trigger more in sitting position than when standing? Am I canting the rifle funny when prone? Identifying these problems in early summer gives me a lot of time to correct them before I’m out where it counts – in the fall fields, zeroing in on the vitals of a game animal. That’s a wonderful place to be, but not one I ever want to go into without full confidence in my shooting skills.

Summer is the time of year when the ODNR holds its controlled hunt lotteries, and the state recently announced which areas will be opened to the lucky hunters who win this year’s drawings.

Here’s a link to the official ODNR info on the hunts, along with links to online registration. At $3 a pop, it’s not a bad deal to put in for more than one and try your chances.

If this year is anything like last year, the odds aren’t half bad, either. This chart shows the numbers from 2009. At worst, you’re looking at 150+ to 1 odds, but there are several controlled hunt lotteries that gave entrants as good as a 3 to 1 chance of getting in.

So take a look. These lotteries provide access to hunting land that would otherwise be out of reach, and they ensure the state’s game populations remain balanced and healthy.

And in the end, the prize is a good bit better than the free ticket one usually scores with a scratch-off lotto game of the same price.

I wanted to follow up last week’s post about custom firearms with a nod to my string-and-arrow readers. In fact, if your big hunting fantasy is taking a major game animal with a one-of-a-kind hunting implement, you can’t beat custom archery gear from a pure dollar-investment standpoint.

Image courtesy of Morrison Archery

That’s not to say a custom recurve and set of crested arrows will come cheap; a look around the Web shows that you’re probably looking at dropping a substantial number of Ben Franklins for a top-rate bow and accessories. But that’s small change compared to what you’d spend on a firearm of the same level of customization – let me explain.

There’s much more to a custom bow or rifle than selecting the wood or fittings. A full-on custom project involves the boyer or gunsmith collecting the client’s measurements (draw length, pull length, etc) and details of his or her shooting stance and intended hunting style. A bow designed for plugging hogs in thick brush, for example, may be very different than one made for long shots at antelope from a prairie blind.

And then there are the cosmetics: does the client want the bow built from special hardwoods that will create a distinctive pattern? Does he or she want carbon or fiberglass incorporated in the design? Do these wants match up with the needs of the intended hunting situation? A good custom boyer will consider these and more factors in crafting the perfect bow.

And the finished product has the potential to be truly unique. Several people may order an over-under with a Binelli action and a curly maple stock, but these shotguns won’t have the same uniqueness as recurve bows ordered by a left-hander with a high wrist grip, a righty who shoots instinctively and another southpaw who prefers a target reticle over traditional aiming or hunting sites.

So if you MUST have custom, and are willing to put in a little work to become multi-lingual in the hunting implements department, think about picking up a basic target or factory recurve and trying archery for a season. Even with the extra bow in your arsenal, you may spend less total for it and the custom hunting implement of your dreams.