Close up of Wasp in Arch Creek Memorial Park

Great close up of a Wasp taken in Arch Creek Memorial Park, in North Miami Florida.
Go see more great pics at Hochman Photography. There are lots of great subject matter in your own backyard!

Make your next Hike a Photo Safari!

We are fast approaching the fall, my favorite time of the year.  I love to take long walks or hikes when that crisp morning air is breathing just a hint of the cold that will overtake most of the country in just a few more months. If you are anything like me you love the hike, love the scenery but are constantly thinking what else can I do to make this great experience even better? Well, the answer is to bring some of that wonderful hike home with you, bring your camera and capture the moments that take your breath away.

 Some people may go out for a walk in the woods or on some hiking trail with a camera worth more than their Mortgage payments, while others may just grab a disposable off the shelf of the Walgreens when stopping for a bottle of water. I fall some where in the middle with a nice little, semi-affordable digital camera that fits nicely into my jacket pocket. A visit to your local Best Buy, Costco or even eBay should help you find exactly what fits your needs. Make sure it has an adequate zoom, wide angle and can handle some intense close ups as you just never know what or who you will encounter that day.

Once while taking an early morning stroll through one of the wooded parks in the heart of North Miami, Florida where I live, I struck up a conversation with a gentleman that I recognized as a member of the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins Super Bowl Champs, who graciously posed for a photo with me.  On another walk 40 minutes west of Ft. Lauderdale I ran into a very curious yet non aggressive Black Bear.  The point is to be ready to turn your walk or hike into that memory that will live forever.

 If you live in a part of the country that is known for fall foliage, be prepared to capture that special moment when the light hits those leaves just right and seems to set the trees on fire with brilliant colors.  If you live near the ocean, the waves may be crashing against the shore with the spray creating rainbows or that dolphin skyrocketing out of the water seemingly just to pose for your lens.

You may ask, “Why are you not giving us information about what type of equipment to use or what lens and speed?” The reason is that I am not a photographer, I don’t know the answers to many of those questions, you can go to http://hochmanphotography.com and ask my brother who is an expert at that stuff, personally, I just love to go out, hike a bit and if something great presents itself to me, I take a picture. I am here to tell you, get out and enjoy! Just being outside on a glorious day is satisfying enough, but with today’s compact digital camera’s, you can take some of that experience home with you. It doesn’t matter whether you are hiking a trail in the Everglades, up a hill in the Adirondacks or in Denali, AK, as long as you are doing it under wild blue skies you are a winner!

A Not So Little Piggy!

A great hog picture sent to us by Joe Leveridge and our friends at  US Hog Outfitters. If your’e interested in going after wild Hogs, then you must visti their website at UShogoutfitters.com

Deer Hunting Tips and using Scent Blocking Products

My good friends in Wisconsin, when indoctrinating me into the fine art of Bow Hunting, never taught me much about scent elimination other than telling me I smelled likemy favorite Delicatessen, and go take a shower. We would arrive at a parking area about a 20 minute walk from the tree stand we would use that day, and head in. Now mind you, that a lot of the education process took place in warmer months so I didn’t carry my bow in with me, but even in Wisconsin in late August, I would be a sweaty mess by the time I took my seat. I knew little to nothing about bow hunting at that time, but my friend sure did, as there was usually some great views of deer making their way down the game trail and quite often stopping for a bit directly under the tree stands. I thought “those bastards are mocking me!”, as I rarely saw anything when I ventured out on my own.

Fast forward two years and I have now taken a few deer on my own and I have realized quite a few things that have greatly improved my chances filling my freezer.  I thought back to my scouting missions with my friend and realized that we used no scent  masking or eliminating products, my buddy who lived in the area had several tree stands set up to take advantage of the any wind conditions. One of the most important things a bow hunter can do to lessen the chance of being detected is set up on an angle so that you scent will be carried away from your position or at least will stay above the animals for some distance as it disperses and grows fainter. Many hunters do not have the ability to use multiple tree stands and may sometimes need to hunt in less than desirable stands for the current wind. Knowing the area and having the ability to use a climbing tree stand may be of great help.

In order to give you the best chance of getting Deer in close enough for a good shot, and I am one of those folks who believe that a good shot is one that you will not miss the proper placement of your arrow from a distance you can expertly handle in the current conditions.  Lucky shots should not ever come into play when hunting, Get It! To get the animal to that distance you need to do everything possible to mask your scent. There are many products on the market to assist in this process, but make sure you are using a good one,  as to you and I, a scent designed to smell like an acorn to us, may smell like a human wearing acorn underwear to a deer. You may also need to match your masking scent to the type of environment you are hunting.  REMEMBER, there is a difference between scent blocking and scent masking.

Even better than something to mask your scent is a product that will block it all together (you can use both at the same time).  Activated Carbon is widely used in scent blocking clothing due to its ability to absorb odors, (even my infamous Delicatessen smell!). Activated Carbon can absorb and hold the gas molecules that are associated with our odors. There is an article of clothing for every hunter’s need, from under layers to hats to socks and boot material. Match the clothing and layers needed to the area and time of year you will be hunting. I prefer to be a little on the cooler side as I tend to sweat a bit more walking into the woods, which is never a good thing when hunting.

Finally, once you have used your scent blocking (activated carbon) garments, make sure that you only wash them with laundry detergents specifically made for this type of material. The reason for this is that the odors in normal detergent will engage the available odor absorbing properties of the garment and fill it up with those odor molecules, making it unable to retain more odors when hunting. Heat activates the carbon so a tumble in the dryer will do very nicely, but it is vitally important to remember, once you take the clothing from the dryer, immediately place it in a scent free, air tight container or plastic storage bag, I use the zippered bag that my down comforter came in and merely sprayed it down with scent blocking spray.

Take the clothes out of the bag once you have gotten to the area you have parked before heading in to the woods. This can be tricky if you are hunting in very low temps, a freezing rain, etc., but you get the idea! Just before heading in, spray yourself down with a good scent eliminating spray and don’t forget your boots as these can lead a trail of human scents right to your stand.  Once you get used to these procedures they will become simple and part of your normal routine, and can help you greatly increase your chances of a successful hunt.