When I first started writing this article we’d just welcomed our first child into our house, a baby boy whom I hope one day will enjoy the great outdoors as much as my wife and I do. The week leading up to the birth was a seeming whirlwind of activity, and then, suddenly just like that, we had a baby. Thankfully everything went smoothly and after a couple of days we were discharged from the hospital.
I’m fortunate enough to have an employer that gives a very generous paternity leave when having a child, so I was home with my wife for about six weeks. With the little dude feeding every two to three hours, fussing, napping, and diapers that need changing there’s actually both not much we can do and an extreme amount of just sitting around seemingly doing nothing. I’d found myself scrolling through social media mindlessly, and when my Twitter Analytics email came in saying I was 40% more active on Twitter it kind of came as a realization that I needed to re-prioritize. While feeding the baby I realized I’d often only have one hand to work with. It may still be the off season for many hunters but there’s still plenty of work to be done.
Fast forward a little bit and we’re dealing with the Coronavirus pandemic six million and counting in the United States have filed for unemployment, and more are at home under employer orders to twiddle their thumbs. I figured now more than ever you need some suggestions on what to do, when you’re doing nothing.
Do Map Study
When I am interested in a new area to hunt in I do a couple things. I check out the topography on Google Earth or Google Maps and find some points of interest. From there I’ll then check out things like OnXHunt that will provide some land ownership data, since I hunt mostly public land I’ll be looking to decipher what variety of public land it is, how I can access it, and what any particular rules are on the property. To find trailheads I’ll do one of two things, either load up QGis and query my USFS National Forest Trails data so I can begin making a map, or just go to AllTrails and check through their search engine by searching the Wilderness Area, Park, or nearby town to narrow down potential access points.
There’s so much you can do with map study, and we’ve detailed some of it on our blog before. Admittedly it’s hard to do some of it one-handed while I’ve got a baby in one arm, but it is easy in the time between feedings or when I’m just otherwise idling around the house. Between this and checking for second properties on the weekends with a cup of coffee, it’s something that doesn’t get super involved and you can walk away when you’re needed.
Check Tag Draw Odds or Tag Lists
Early in August is the Colorado Leftover Day were leftover non-drawn tags are released in a PDF online that can then be purchsed over the counter, in person, or online. There’s about a week between when the list is released and when the leftover day occurs. In between those times you should study and create a wishlist. If you’re unfamiliar with the Game Management Unit now is the time to check resources like GoHunt or others to check public/private land breakdown and hunter success rates.
Knowledge is power and in situations like the leftover list it can help you from inadvertently buying a pronghorn tag in a private land only unit because you noticed there were a ton of leftover tags. Oddly specific example? I don’t want to talk about it.
Make a list, check it twice
I have a list for almost every hunt I go on, be it a packing list or what my Air Force or aviator friends might call a “preflight checklist”. I’m a planner by nature, annoyingly so to my wife. So when an adventure rears its head I’ll generally make some sort of packing list, food list, and preparation list. I use Google Keep for a lot of my note taking, but generally prefer a nice crisp legal pad. Google Keep allows me to always have it on my phone so I can add things while I’m thinking about them. It also allows me to jot down a quick note as an independent thought. Oh, some area outside of Denver is nice to go bird hunting? Note taken. Hearsay from the old guys table at the diner talking about a gun shop down town? Note taken.
Those lists come in handy in the procrastination weeks leading up to a large trip. We’ll be publishing all of our trip packing lists in future postings here for your reference!
What’s on the Menu?
Sometimes you just can’t do anything other than sit and ponder. Be it feeding a small version of yourself from a bottle or on your umpteenth conference call during your coronavirus work from home bender. It’s times like this that I like to think about what I have in the freezer and what creative ways I can cook the critters. I take inspiration from folks like Danielle Prewett (Wild + Whole), Hank Shaw (HunterAnglerGardnerCook), and adapt some recipes from J, Kenji Lopez-Alt (SeriousEats) and can cook up a storm in the kitchen with wild game.
Knowing what flavors work together and having good reference material is key to inventing new, or new-to-you dishes. I get tired of the same old same old, so looking to books like The Food Lab: Better Cooking through Science (J Kenji Lopez-Alt) and The Flavor Bible (Karen Page, et al) enable me to mash technique into interesting flavor combinations. It’s when I’m doing nothing — or my mind should be elsewhere that I dream up the next wild game meal for my family to enjoy.
Just Relax
Sometimes it’s necessary to just relax a little bit. I can be wound pretty tight, or so my wife tells me. I get fidgety if I’m just told to sit around with nothing to occupy my time. The coronavirus stay-at-home orders have put a damper on humans being social creatures by nature — we’ve hindered our normal activities in favor of greater survival and flattening the curve of infections.
So maybe it’s time to be a couch potato while you do your regularly scheduled nothing. Chores are done, meals are prepped and there’s nothing on the old interwebs that’s striking your fancy? Maybe now is a good time for some outdoor media consumption.
As of this writing there’s a ton of outdoor related media on Amazon and less so on Netflix. A couple of our favorites include:
- Expedition Overland
- Live The Stream: The Story of Joe Humphreys
- Dirtbag: The Legend of Fred Beckey
- Meru
- Solo Hunter TV (there’s a bunch of seasons)
- UltimateUpland on Youtube for WayUpland Season 1
This Too Shall Pass
Whether you’re dealing with the trying times of the coronavirus quarantine, a newborn baby keeping you awake at night, or it’s just the weekend before the rest of your family wakes up — and you need something to do while swilling your coffee… these are all productive things to do when you’re doing nothing.
