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Show Camouflage By Brian Brinkerhoff Camouflage is key for wildlife enthusiasts, whether whe-ther your interest is viewing, view-ing, photography, or hunting. hunt-ing. With patterns available from Sage Country Camouflage Camou-flage and Everywear West Camouflage, Inc., disappearing disap-pearing into the background back-ground is easier than ever for outdoor recreationists. Ancient hunters discovered discov-ered the importance of blending into the background, back-ground, because it made the difference between eating and going hungry. Some disguised dis-guised themselves amongst the native shrubs and grasses, while others wore animal skins to blend in with the herd they were hunting. Today, two companies have developed patterns to aid western hunters as they head out to the hills this fall. Don Burch and Dennis Dunn of Sage Country Camouflage Cam-ouflage have developed patterns pat-terns benefiting those who find themselves hunting the open sage areas. With over six years of field research and design development, they are now introducing the most natural sagebrush camouflage pattern available avail-able on the market. Dunn commented, The Eastern patterns frustrated us. They were simply too dark for our use in the Western rangelands." In the areas they hunted, those patterns were simply not effective in areas that offered waist-high sagebrush sage-brush concealment. With the upper half of the body exposed more than 95 of the time, it was difficult to remain unnoticed by the game they were seeking. Dunn and Burch tested the product through numerous numer-ous trials to develop a pattern pat-tern that they were satisfied satis-fied with. Dunn noted, This pattern allows the hunter to Archaeological opportunities abound Although Utah's National Forests are great places to play, they are also exciting places to learn history and our nation's heritage. Traces of Utah's human history can be seen in sites ranging from Anasazi ruins to miners' cabins and old hunting camps. The Forest Service invites visitors to explore the story of humankind in the National Forests, but to remember that collection of ancient and historic artifacts is illegal on public lands. To preserve valuable information about our national heritage, the Archaeological Resources Protection Act prohibits removal of historic and prehistoric pre-historic artifacts, including arrowheads or flakes, pottery pot-tery or potsherds, mats, baskets, bas-kets, rock art, even old bottles bot-tles and pieces of equipment and buildings. Human burial remains are protected under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. Violations of these acts Happy 60" Birthday Please call and wish him a Happy Birthday 756-0536 mu a key to outdoor pursuits blend in with the foreground fore-ground and the background." back-ground." Their camouflage has now proven its effectiveness effec-tiveness with several trophy tro-phy animals taken by hunters wearing it. For example, in Dec. 2001, Aaron Howell took a New Mexico Mule Deer scoring 249 58, while using their outerwear. The antler spread on this animal was 35" wide. Sage Country Camouflage is available at Sportsman's Warehouse and more information is available at http:sage-countrycamo.com. http:sage-countrycamo.com. Wayne Landrey from Everywear West Camouflage Camou-flage had a similar experience experi-ence with the military woodland camo he was using, while working as a professional guide and wildlife photographer. He remarked, "Being a native of Wyoming and roaming the vast open expanses of the west where few trees exist, I felt a little more than conspicuous to whatever what-ever quarry might be pursuing. pur-suing. Outside of the timbered tim-bered mountainous areas, the dark greens, browns, and blacks did not blend in very well at all." Landrey took hundreds of photos of the Western terrain ter-rain and perfected a pattern over a two-year period with Jaymie Davis-Elmer, co-owner co-owner of the company. He commented, "From the very beginning of this project, I had vowed to promote this camouflage only after I was certain and satisfied with its capability to disguise the human form." Everywearwest Camouflage Camou-flage has been on the market mar-ket since July 2001 and has been received very well by the hunting public. Product can be purchased by calling 307-684-5674 or checking out their website at http:www. every wear-west.com. wear-west.com. can result in fines of up to $250,000 andor prison sentences sen-tences of up to 10 years. The Forest Service urges people to help protect our heritage by reporting suspicious or illegal activity to the nearest Forest Service office, or by calling (801)342-5125. Although personal collecting collect-ing is not permitted, people can still experience the thrill of uncovering the human past. The National Forests of Utah offer a variety of volunteer vol-unteer opportunities. They include participating in excavations under the guidance guid-ance of professional archaeologists, archae-ologists, cataloging artifacts and historic photos, surveying, survey-ing, photographing, and Matt Owens Wins Top Tech 2002 in Western Region SB'" This is the second Gunthers technician to receive this award Last year Dean Gunther won and went on to become the North American Top Tech. To enhance the performance perform-ance of any camouflage, wearers should be aware of their surroundings and stay close to cover that is similar to the patterns that are worn. Avoid ridgelines and hills that silhouette you against the sky. In addition, staying in the shadows is always more effective than sitting in the sunshine, where the sunlight reflects boldly off your clothing. Since many animals have a very keen sense of smell, it is also an advantage to keep your camo clean. Wash your clothing and yourself in a "no-scent" product or a neutral scent product, available at sporting goods stores, to minimize spooking spook-ing them away from you. A cover scent, a food scent, or an animal scent is a great addition to masking your scent and will actually attract the critters you seek, if you choose the scent wisely, based on area and time of year. To protect your camouflage camou-flage from fading, wash the clothing inside-out in cold water and hang them to dry. Faded patterns may hurt your ability to blend into the background and new replacements should be considered when this occurs. Careful selection of the pattern should reflect the areas you are hunting. No one pattern will be appropriate appro-priate for all areas and scouting before the hunts will help you be prepared with the "right look" as you head out. Obtain clothing that is comfortable in both warm and cold conditions, since fall weather often provides pro-vides an abundance of both. Please remember that blaze orange is required during the rifle and muzzle-loader muzzle-loader hunts. Check Utah's Big Game proclamation for details. mapping historic and prehistoric pre-historic sites, and helping to restore historic structures. Many events take place in the local area, with Forest City in American Fork Canyon visited regularly each season. Call the following follow-ing offices to learn more about volunteer opportunities opportuni-ties in each area: Ashley National Forest, (801)789-1181; Dixie National Na-tional Forest, (801)865-3700; Fishlake National Forest, (801)896-9233; Man-ti-LaSal National Forest, (801)637-2817; Uinta National Forest, (801)342-5100; (801)342-5100; and Wasatch-Cache Wasatch-Cache National Forest, (801)524-5030. A V I American Fork Afy ,i,, t..J&Bd?my '' iwMajiVAf- ....- , . I Camouflage can make the difference when a hunter needs to get closer to big game animals during the hunt. Identify the number of hunters in this picture to win a Lewis and Clark Dutch Oven from Camp Chef. A random drawing will include all correct answers and the winner will be announced next week. Send answers to backcoun-tryutahmailexcite.com backcoun-tryutahmailexcite.com with the subject reading "Camouflage Contest" or mail your answer to Camouflage Contest, New Utah, 59 West Main, American Fork, Utah 84003. Answers must be received before 5 p.m., Sept. 2 to be entered in the drawing. Upland game season begins Monday As summer draws to an end, Utah wingshooters are preparing for the mourning dove hunt and the band-tailed band-tailed pigeon hunt, the first two upland game hunts of the season. If hot and dry conditions continue, dove hunters can expect a good opener for the 2002 hunting season, which begins Monday, Mon-day, Sept. 2 for the big Labor Day Weekend. Since this year's season begins with a holiday weekend, more hunters are expected to be out on opening day. Typically, Utah averages more than 22,000 hunters who harvest just over 200,000 mourning doves each year. Mourning dove numbers are up considerably this year and reports indicate that good numbers of doves may still be found in the state through the opener, if conditions allow. Mourning dove data collected by biologists biolo-gists from 15 dove "call count" route surveys, conducted con-ducted in May, indicated that Utah's mourning dove breeding populations were up strikingly from 2001. The number of doves heard along routes was up 18 percent per-cent from 2001 and the number of doves observed along routes was up 352 percent. Despite the number of birds currently found in Utah, many could head south early because of a lack of food resources. Countless grain (wheat and barley) fields did poorly this year or were not planted at all because of the lack of irrigation irriga-tion water. In addition, August cloudbursts annually annual-ly push doves on their southward migration. However, How-ever, regardless of what the weather is doing, some Matt is one of seven selected from among 1 1,500 professionals throughout North America in the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) industry to participate in the third annual NATE-Certified Technician Olympics. The NATE Certified Technician Olympics is a competition that challenges participants through timed, hands-on testing. The competition features a series of events that require the technicians to demonstrate their problem-solving skills by analyzing, diagnosing and correcting numerous equipment and system malfunctions in a limited period of time. Citizen Lone Peak New Utah - mourning doves begin to leave Utah during the first couple of weeks of August. These birds begin their annual southward migration migra-tion based on the photoperi-od, photoperi-od, or length of the day. As daylight diminishes in the fall, doves are stimulated to move to their wintering areas in Mexico and Central America. The DWR is prohibited by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (1918) from opening the dove season earlier than Sept. 1 each year and is also prohibited from opening a hunting season sea-son on a Sunday. Because Sept. 1 falls on a Sunday this year, the season will open Monday, Sept. 2. Dove hunters who normally nor-mally hunt in northern Utah and get frustrated due to lack of birds, should give Utah's southern counties a try. Millard, Beaver, Iron and Washington counties in southwestern Utah, and Emery and San Juan counties coun-ties in the southeast, commonly com-monly retain birds until later in the year. Some of Utah's most prosperous dove hunting occurs in the southern parts of the state. The 2002 mourning dove season will remain open through Sept. 30. Bag and possession limits are 10 and 20 respectively. Mourning dove and band-tailed pigeon hunters are reminded remind-ed that they must register in the federal Migratory Game Bird Harvest Information Infor-mation Program (HIP) before going afield for these two migratory species. Registration Reg-istration requirements and the process for obtaining a HIP number are described beginning on page 7 of the 2002-2003 Utah Upland Game Proclamation. HIP COM FORT AIR Thursday, August 29, 2002 - Page 7 numbers may also be obtained through the Internet Inter-net atwww.uthip.com Utah migratory game bird hunters should note that the HIP registration telephone number listed on 2002 hunting licenses is incorrect and will not work. The DWR had to contract with a new vendor to collect hunter HIP data after the 2002 hunting licenses were printed. The HIP registration registra-tion telephone information listed in the 2002-2003 Upland Game Proclamation is correct. To be most effective during dur-ing the season, hunters should keep in mind the daily activity routine of doves. These birds normally feed early in the morning and again late in the day. Doves are almost exclusively exclusive-ly seed eaters and prefer areas with wheatstubble, corn, oats and all kinds of weedy patches. Sunflowers often harbor many doves and provide birds with an excellent source of food and cover. After feeding, doves pick up grit along roadways and then fly to water. The middle part of the day is spent loafing and roosting in dead trees. Although not required by law, it's a good idea to wear hunter orange during the first week of the mourning dove hunt. Ball caps and vests in hunter orange help tremendously in reducing the chances of a firearms accident while afield with other hunters. Respecting private property goes a long way in maintaining future access privileges for hunters. Small things like packing out spent shotgun hulls and other trash when exiting the shooting field are common courtesies. www.guntherscomfortair.com 81 S. 700 E., American Fork 756-9683 |