ScoutLook Weather.com weather forcasts & info for outdoorsmen

I cant remember where I saw the blurb about it, but a few weeks ago one of the e newsletters I get mentioned a new weather site called ScoutLookweather.com. I didnt have time to check it out right away, but with the inconsistency that I get to actually go afield any time I can get an edge on what the weather is going to look like… I am all for it. Later that day I did take time to hop over to the site and check it out. I remember not having a lot of time, but wanted to check it out so that if it was “just another weather site” I could forget about it and free up some of the limited mental space I have.

Once I got time to click on over to ScoutLook I could tell that this may actually be useful for us outdoor junkies! It didnt take long for me to waste several minutes (probably the better part of a half hour-45 minutes in reality) and realize that I was going to have to get back to work. However I new that I needed to check back on it later. Well later came in several short visits just checking out forcasts and checking those against the weatherbug I alwasys have running in the toolbar. So far (remember this is only about 2 weeks in) the forecasts seem to be pretty reliable.

Now this site has me checking back for several reasons, not just the weather updates. ScoutLook actually has tools to help us prepare for our time outdoors. Each page of the site has 2 rows of buttons at the top. The upper row has 3 buttons for Detailed Forecasts, ScoutMaps, and ScoutPics. Detailed Forecasts is self explanitory, ScoutPics is just another place for us all to post our pics and share some fun, but ScoutMaps is one of the cool things I like about ScoutLookweather.com. When you click on ScoutMaps you can create, look at, and track the wind speed & direction of any SPECIFIC area you want. I just was playing around with this feature. I actually uses Google Earth maps and you can zoom right in on an exact spot, mark it, and track it, almost like putting a way point into a gps. It even breaks down into things like a ScentCone for hunters to better judge the wind from their blind or stand, and DriftPoint to help anglers measure the wind drift for boat control!

Another feature I am excited to see them roll out is the supposed upcoming LogBook. This would be a handy dandy thing to be able to keep an online log of our time outdoors, in a place we can post up pics, and track the weather & wind in several different locations. With ScoutLook you could keep track of several different spots like your home hunting territory, your place up north, that honey hole on your favorite lake, and be able to do it all from the same website without having to login 8 different times to find the info.

I might just be a psuedo tech junkie, but I know that my time on the water & in the woods is precious. So if I can track a few different places and not have to put a lot of work into it, I am all for it. I dont really know long ScoutLook has been around, but from where I sit (at the bait shop) this looks like a promising venture. The site loads fast, is well layed out, easy to navigate, and I have already create my account and put in our hometown & Athelstane, WI because that is where I am spending the next 5 days! Peshitgo river… Here comes the Squirm Family!

 

 

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“Surviving” Outside

On Saturday I was packing Nightcrawlers and cleaning up in shop when I asked my Twitter & Facebook friends to recommend a new outdoor podcast for me to listen to and put on in the shop. Before I got any suggestions I found The Outdoor Podcast after doing a little searching for something outdoorsy, but was not specifically dedicated to fishing or hunting. This was a fun & refreshing listen, and not at all like what I am about to write!

As I searched I found a lot of the sites I was looking at for camping,hiking, or just hanging out outdoors seemed to have some reference to “survival” or self-reliance. If you are just surfing the web looking for  camping and hiking blogs or podcasts and only taking a topical glance at the names and “about” info many can make hanging out outdoors pretty scary! Survival, wilderness preparedness, camping necessities, all of these sound like good things, but if you just take a quick glance as I am sure a lot of new comers & those looking at our sports for the first time could easily get scared with just a “once over” of the “highlights”. Many of the sites I looked at made it sound like if you are heading outside for more than an hour or two and you’re not going with a larger group of people or to meet family friend or colleagues, your morning hike or afternoon getaway will only lead to you being stranded, injured, and lost with no one  coming to look for you for days on end! Is this really where we have gotten to? If you head outside without specific written agendas and your entire family knowing where you’re going, and checking in at every trailhead or creek bank, you’re going to end up needing every survival skill God could bless a person with?

Now please don’t get me wrong. I certainly agree that you NEED to be PREPARED for ANY trip outdoors. You should always let someone know where your going and when you plan to return. I even recommend letting people know which trails or treestands you will be using if you can. I think you should be prepared to stay longer than you plan on, just in case! But if you are new to the outdoors, trying to do some research to see what it’s all about, or if it’s something you might like to get involved in, the things that come up on the first few Google & Bing pages could be intimidating. Being an outdoorsman & outfitter I found some of the sites informative & fun. I just worry that many of us have forgotten that not all of our audience are seasoned sportswomen or outdoor junkies. If we keep posting all the technical/advanced word and techniques we could be turning newbies off, and I am certain that we don’t need or want that. I hope we have not gotten to the point that ANY outdoor activity that is not a “conventional” sport is sure to lead to someone being lost, alone, and doomed.

That’s my rant for today. I want to leave you with a question: If you were going to direct a friend or family member to an outdoors site, blog, or podcast where they could learn about your favorite activity what would it be?

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