BlackOvis MTN Journal

For the past 85 years the Zamberlan family has been making boots that are designed for rugged mountain use, including their dedicated hunting boots. Yes, I said family. You see, Zamberlan boots is now under the direction of Marco and Maria Zamberlan, third generation family to run their grandfather’s Italian boot company. That they are now emerging in the North...

Havalon has taken the hunting and more specifically the hunting knife world by storm, and over the last few years their surgically sharp removable razor blades have quartered likely thousands of elk, deer, and other game. As there have been more users of the original Piranta Edge, Havalon has taken hunter's feedback and recently made a couple of changes to...

I remember when my friend and hunting buddy first introduced me to the Havalon knife, my first exposure to a removable blade knife for skinning and field dressing game. It blew my mind, and aside from the razor sharp blade that scared me to death at first thought of changing out blades, I was sold! With time and a bit...

Finding the perfect rain jacket can be a daunting task. Finding the right one for your hunting style and the weather in which you will be hunting can be difficult without trying them out in the field. While searching for the best Sitka Waterproof Jacket for your hunt, it's nearly impossible to find comparisons for the 3 rain jackets Sitka...

With the off-season in full effect, I know I am not alone when I say I could really use a trip to the mountains with bow in hand chasing deer and elk here in Utah. I know you feel the same, that instead of sitting behind that computer screen, you were a few thousand feet higher in elevation. Since now...

BOLD STATEMENT ALERT! When used properly, Sitka Gear is the best hunting clothing around. Now, of course I am biased since I always love wearing my "Opti-Fad" while I trick those huge 16" bucks into thinking I am just a blurry spot on their eye. But in all reality, my journey to discover the system which is Sitka did take...

With archery season just around the corner, we wanted to do a review on a new product we are carrying, the CamBow bowhunting sling by Alpine Innovations. Bow slings, just another hunting gimmick that I hate! But sadly, I have always been looking for one that will actually work. The ultimate bow sling has been harder to find than my...

Scouting season is upon us and the opening season is just around the corner. It is time to dust off those trail cams and make sure they still work, and stock up on batteries (more than you expect!) When scouting for a big mature mule deer you need time, patience, focus, and a good set of glass. Let’s face it, trail cameras are just another fun hobby.  I look forward to putting out trail cameras every year but I am not convinced that they will help you kill a mature buck. There are plenty of great trail cameras out there on the market. Honestly, I personally can’t choose one brand. Unless you are hunting private ground, my opinion is buy a camera that you can get a smoking deal on, that way when you place your camera on public ground you won't be stressing about your $400 trail camera you just put on a heavily used trail. Remember, when putting out trail cams, you alway risk getting your cameras messed with, broken, or even worse, stolen. For me, I can't beat the value of  Stealth Cam, Bushnell trail cameras, or even the Wildgame Innovations and Cuddeback Trail cameras. If you are in the market for a higher end camera make sure to check out Spypoint and Covert trail cams. They definitely help on finding bucks and what size of bucks that are in the area. Unless you have the same buck on the same trail or same water hole consistently than it’s all just a crap shoot. Now personally, if I do find a good buck on one of my cameras I will than pull cameras from other areas that are not doing so good and flood the area with the good buck to try and find the bucks favorite path. Alright, so you have placed your cameras and been able to pattern a few really nice mature bucks, now it is time for homework.You really have to do your homework on when you get the pictures back from your cameras. It will seem as if you are enrolled in law school for deer hunting. Check how often he is coming in and what times of day. Checking the times of day is so crucial, make sure you plan your hunt accordingly to when he is using what trails/watering holes. If legal in your state try and use a salt lick if you can in your state. I prefer the Trophy Rock brand. This will slow the buck down so you can get some good pictures of him, and also get him to keep using the same trail more frequently instead of using a trail that’s 20ft up or 20ft downhill from the trail you put your camera on. This is so important! DO NOT check your trail cameras too often, or else you can leave so much human scent the bucks will vacate the area completely. Give the area at least 2 weeks (3 weeks is better) before you check on it. I know it’s really hard to wait, but if you can’t wait, than get a few more and spread them out in different areas at different days of the week so you are constantly checking different cameras to keep tabs on your deer. Continue reading →

65 Days 11 Hours and 41 Minutes.  That is the time we have left until archery season begins here in Utah. As I gear up for this years deer and elk hunt I have been looking a lot into the gear I use and how I can better prepare myself for the hunt that is quickly approaching. The purpose of this blog post is to better familiarize you with some of the camping gear that we carry here at BlackOvis.com, but also to share experiences with you so that you can learn from my mistakes. I also have a killer gear list to help you on this year's hunt, whether you will be backpack hunting in Alaska or spot and stalk hunting in Sonora. "Last year while on the archery deer hunt in Central Utah, we got rained on pretty much every single day. Not just a little sprinkle here or there, but we are talking about torrential downpour each time we were in the field (make sure to get some rain gear!) This lead to one thing... discouragement. It did not matter how much I practiced, how hard I trained, how many bow-hunting movies I watched to get pumped up. I was discouraged. Now I had 1 saving grace, 1 thing that helped me to keep going. My Jetboil stove. A warm meal can really turn your spirits in an instance. With my Jetboil, I was able to get a warm meal at least twice a day. With hot oatmeal in the morning and a hot Mountain House meal in the field, it is what saved my hunt. Although I was not able to fill my tag, I did learn many valuable lessons along the way. 1 of which was the importance of my Jetboil stove, but most importantly that I needed to upgrade almost all of my camping gear for next year's (now this year's) hunt." CAMPING GEAR LIST If you are ready to get serious about hunting, camping and backpacking here is a list I made of all of my favorite camping gear: First off, a tent. You can't go wrong with any tents we carry, check out Hilleberg, Easton, and Big Agnes tents for a solid camping tent. A sleeping bag from Big Agnes. I would recommend this one. It's even on sale! Sleeping Pad: The Big Agnes Insulated Air Core is my pick. Check out more HERE Bear Protection from Counter Assault. Check out the Bear Fence! GPS/Navigation from Garmin, I like the new Montana 650t Coolers: Grizzly Coolers Water Filtration from Katadyn Cooking Stove from Jetboil (Obviously!) My stove model: JetBoil Flash Other Stoves and Accessories HERE Solar Panels from Solio Flashlights from Surefire Food from Mountain House and Alpine Aire. $1 off both right now on BlackOvis.com Trekking Poles for your hike. Continue reading →