BlackOvis MTN Journal

Check out the Solid.HUNTING.Gear that the staff here at BlackOvis uses and are familiar with. Thinking of buying a product but not sure how it performs? Check out if any of us use it and give us a call! Details: Hunting Style: ArcheryFavorite Species: ElkDream Hunt: Alaskan MooseNext Gear Purchase: Rambo Venom E-BikeOther Pursuits: Freestyle Skiing Weapon Setup Bow: Hoyt RX-5Sight...

Info: Profession: Heavy Equipment Operator & FarmerInstagram: @_kevin.weber_Hunting Style: Archery/RifleFavorite Species: Whitetail DeerDream Hunt: Kodiak Brown BearPursuits: Fishing, Camping, Shed Hunting, Content Creation3 Most Essential Pieces Of Gear: Vortex Razor Binos 10x42, Crispi Summit GTX, Sitka Heavyweight Zip EV2.Next Gear Purchase: Sitka Fanatic Hoody EV2 Bio: I first began hitting the whitetail woods with my father around 7 years old...

ORIGINS For years Sitka’s 90% series ruled the game in terms of comfortable and quiet technical hunting apparel. However, with advancements in textile development and consumer demand, the 90% series was overshadowed over the course of a time and consequently discontinued. Many fans of 90% were very sad to see it go and wondered what could possibly replace it. For 2018 Sitka answered that question with their new APEX series. Designed for the spot and stalk hunter who demands silence and performance out of their gear no matter what. The APEX series features the APEX Hoody, APEX Pant, and APEX Pack. All are purpose built to be extremely quiet, comfortable, and practical for hunters that prefer to sneak up on their intended quarry. I was lucky enough to put these pieces to the test on an OTC Arizona Mule Deer hunt in January of this year and I was very impressed. Continue reading →

1 - Get Familiar With your Bow Getting familiar with your bow is the number one most important step when you're getting ready for your hunt. From learning to make adjustments on your bow to knowing what components work best with your set up. When you’re learning to make adjustments to your bow, some great things to know how to do include: changing the draw weight, adjusting the draw length, and adjusting your sight and rest. If you are out hunting and an accident happens that moves your sight or rest loose, knowing how to adjust both is going to save your whole hunt. Another part of getting to know your bow would be knowing what arrows and broadheads work the best with your set up. A great option for finding the perfect arrows is the BlackOvis.com Custom Arrow ID. This allows you to completely build your arrows from top to bottom making them the perfect match for you and your bow. 2 - Practice, practice, practice Continue reading →

If you love spending time outdoors, I’m sure you’ve come to realize how vital your base layers are to the quality of your overall experience. Base layers provide warmth and comfort, and a good base layer is probably one of the most underrated pieces of equipment we have at our disposal as outdoorsmen. When the guys at BlackOvis mentioned to me that they were interested in comparing their BlackOvis brand of base layer with one of the industry leaders in merino base layers - First Lite - I was all over the idea. I don’t think you can have enough base layers, because as the temps drop you can just throw one on over top of the other and layer to keep warm. From late October on, if I’m out in the field, I almost always have at least 2 light to midweight base layers on. Continue reading →

We know that keeping up with gear can be a little cumbersome and finding out what's the latest and greatest year over year can be a little tricky. Today I wanted to go over everything Mystery Ranch for 2018 including the additions, what's going away, and why you need to pack out with a Mystery Ranch this season! Let's start with what's discontinued. Starting as of this year (2018) Mystery Ranch is going away from the Multicam pattern. While it might be an awesome pattern, Mystery Ranch is eliminating it from the Hunting lineup and is keeping the pattern focused on the Military side. They are also going to be fading out some of their small day packs like the Crest. Continue reading →

Info: Profession: Loan OfficerInstagram: @alex_millwardHunting Style: ArcheryFavorite Species: ElkDream Hunt: Archery Dall Sheep Pursuits: Hunting, Shed Hunting, Fly Fishing, Outdoor Photography3 Most Essential Pieces Of Gear: Swarovski ATS 65, Treeline Tripod, Sitka Kelvin Lite HoodyNext Gear Purchase: Swarovski SLC 10x42 Bio: My love and passion for the outdoors, which I owe to my dad, was started at a very young age...

Check out the Solid.HUNTING.Gear that the staff here at BlackOvis uses and are familiar with. Thinking of buying a product but not sure how it performs? Check out if any of us use it and give us a call! Details Hunting Style: Archery/rifle Favorite Species: Mule Deer Dream Hunt: Brown Bear Next Gear Purchase: Leupold mark 5 Other Pursuits: Fishing...

Info: Profession: Real Estate Agent Instagram: @dcooley29 Hunting Style: Archery/Rifle Favorite Species: High Country Mule Deer Dream Hunt: Kyrgyzstan Ibex Pursuits: Hunting, Scouting, Backpacking, Photography, Fishing, Trail running, Hiking 3 Most Essential Pieces Of Gear: HanWag Boots, Tyto 1.1, Garmin Inreach Mini. Next Gear Purchase: Rambo Rebel 1000 Bio: Dylan Cooley is a self-made hunter and passionate outdoorsman who has...

Check out the Solid.HUNTING.Gear that the staff here at BlackOvis uses and are familiar with. Thinking of buying a product but not sure how it performs? Check out if any of us use it and give us a call! Details: Hunting Style: OpportunistFavorite Species: Black BearDream Hunt: Kodiak Grizzly BearNext Gear Purchase: Dewpoint Jacket And PantOther Pursuits: Family/Outdoor Adventures Weapon Setup Bow: RX-4 UltraSight...

When it comes to footwear and choosing your gear for the upcoming season the single most overlooked pieces of gear is your socks. What the average person doesn't understand is that most hunting socks are built with a specific purpose. Some are made to be light and quick, some are meant to provide more cushion in your boot. One of the leading brands out there in our industry is Darn Tough, and they are the prime example of what makes a good sock. It's a story of survival, a story of hard work, a story of never giving up, and all of those things make their socks "DARN TOUGH". Below is a film that Darn Tough put together last year that dives into the history and what makes a good sock. Definitely give it a watch when you have some free time. With that being said let's dive into how and why to choose the right sock for you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0anIAZT4T8 Continue reading →

Let's face it you guys, factory fletchings is a thing of the past. Grabbing a dozen arrows off the shelf that are already pre-fletched is great and easy to grab last minute, but what if we told you that you could create a dozen custom arrows, see a preview of what they'd actually look like, and have them built and shipped within 48 hours... Welcome to the BlackOvis Arrow ID Customizer... Continue reading →

The ALPS Upland Vest X (Pack) is one of the best designed upland packs in the industry today. It is a well thought out pack that was built by an upland hunter that understands the needs of upland hunters. My goal in this post is to go over the key features that really make this pack awesome. - Key Features of the ALPS Upland Game Pack -   Bird Pocket: The biggest thing that differentiates an upland game pack from any other pack is going to be the bird pocket.  It’s designed to be able to easily slip a freshly retrieved bird into the large pocket from either side of the pack so you can get back to the hunt with little to no interference. In the ALPS Pack, the bird pocket is large and accessible from either side. One key feature that differentiates this from a traditional bird vest is that it has a zipper at the top so you can fully open the pocket to dump out your kill; rather than having to pull birds out one by one, or shake them out. You can also lock the zipper with a toggle to avoid it coming undone.   Hydration Sleeve: I almost missed this feature because it’s concealed so well, but the hydration pocket is right behind the back panel. You can access it from the top, and there are ports leading out both sides of the harness straps. This is definitely something you won’t find in a traditional bird vest, and is really nice to have for those longer days. Continue reading →

The Briksdal GTX was one of the new additions that Crispi US made to the lineup this year. Reason being is that they would give hunters the option of getting into a stiffer boot than the Nevada’s but not quite to the extreme as let's say..a Scarpa.  That way you maintain that comfort level that Crispi is well known for. This boot was really designed to fill the need for those hunting at extreme elevation where they need a bit of Insulation (200 g), a stiffer board last, and a boot that will take a beating in the extreme terrain without getting into a pure mountaineering pack boot. Continue reading →

One of the first things you learn as a mountain hunter is that if your feet aren’t happy, you aren’t happy. Your boots can literally make or break your whole hunt (or scouting trip, shed hunt, etc). A quality, durable, well-fitting and broken-in boot is an overlooked necessity that should be one of the most sought after items in your gear list. I refuse to let something like poor choice of footwear keep me out of the mountains! Comfortable feet at 9300' Continue reading →

What is it? AccuBow has been purging the world of social media since around late 2015 and has been peaking the interest of every and any bowhunter ever since.  What it is, is an Archery Training Device that is simple, easy and extremely effective if used right.  It really is a revolution in archery training because it can be used virtually anywhere!  We were fortunate to get our hands on one to play with for a couple days thanks to Matt over there at AccuBow and being the Archery Expert/Bow Tech here at BlackOvis, I had to see if this was worth it and what all the fuss was about.  Before I dive into my experience with using the AccuBow let me just explain my situation since it will obliviously differ from most. Continue reading →