hi there people , i am a very poor writer and over the years i have tried very very hard to keep a journal , and today as we pack up to move house i have come across no less than 14 different journals , the longest of which lasted a full season.

i also looked through a BUNCH of iphoto photo books and i realise that these are in fact an awesome journal , they are cheap , easy to create and capture the memories , this season i have committed to writing 5 bullet points about each day and then putting these in the photobooks - that wont take more than 2 minutes and will add immensely to the picturebooks -

in this day of easy to do digital media we need to record our adventures for our old age for our kids and for our memories - i wish some of the older hunters had done this , what a read that would be !!!!

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i wish some of the older hunters had done this , what a read that would be !!!!

yeah - but some of us still haven't learned how to write great idea

Ivan,

Do you mind sharing what those 5 bullet points are?

Thanks,

Weatherby Award recipient Hubert Thummler of Mexico kept extensive journals in Spanish, which I speak badly and read v-e-r-y slowly and only with the aid of a Spanish/English dictionary. So when I when I wrote his "Wind In My Face," we worked strictly from his extensive photo albums when I interviewed him.

He would go from photo to photo, describing what he remembered, and I would stop him only when I had a question. My seeing photos of his camps, the terrain, the hunting vehicles, his guides and companions, the animals he collected, and the various interesting sights he came upon resulted in one of the better hunter's memoirs I've worked on, I think.

My point is, the adage that a picture is worth a thousand words was never truer.

Bill Quimby

I hope I'm not being overly pesimistic and I appologise if anyone thinks I am.

I believe in most cases and certainly in mine, our records will be of little interest to future generations. Hunting journals and taxidermy will for the most part be shelved and thrown in the dumpster. The tusks and occasional horn or antler may be retained as curios, the photos will be folded and boxed. Guns will be sold and occasionally hung in a den, absolutely not in a front room. Detailing the minutae of our adventures I don't think will garner more than a passing fancy from even ourselves as we can still remember most of it and even in our senior years theres still life to live that day and the next with not much left for rememberances of the distant past.

I have small files on computer and disk of the pictures of vacations and trips. All available wall space at home and work is covered in photos and taxidermy. If someone is interested, (and most are not,) I can relate to them the circumstances of the events related to the item in question.

My last trip to Zim, Thierry Labat noticed that I wasn't writing in my journal as much as I had been on the trip prior. He gave me a stern look and strongly advised me to get busy. Probably some of the best advise I've received while on safari.

This is a good topic Ivan…and by the way I must respectfully disagree with you about your writing. The material that you have shared with me is very interesting! I too have found that keeping a journal has often been problematic and yet it can be one of the most rewarding efforts after the adventure is over and some time has passed.

The problem of journaling often hits me in various ways. The first is being excited about traveling to a new destination and simply forgetting to write about all the enjoyable and sometimes frustrating nuances that were interesting. So often they become a part of international travel that we can easily overlook them at times.

Other aspects involve the first day in to the destination often becoming blurred with activity. Couple this with being exhausted at the end of the hunting day. After trying to get cleaned-up to eat, having a drink by the fire, sharing stories, coordinating and discussing strategy, filming concerns if you are involved in that aspect, and then trying to find the energy and mental focus to compose and write can often be challenging.

I have so enjoyed reading and remembering things I had long forgotten about on a particular hunt when I later came across an old journal and read the entries. What a rush of long forgotten memories and excitement! A journal is definitely worth doing and something from which we should all consider the benefits.

I found that a good technique for me, that requires minimal effort when being exhausted, is digitally recording voice entries. It is something I can easily do when getting cleaned-up or recounting the day mentally when hitting the sack. I have found that I enjoy using Voice Memos on the iPod touch. You can use the built-in microphone. The great thing is when you sync with iTunes they are automatically downloaded to a playlist in iTunes. You can then enjoy them anytime from iTunes. I find that hearing the actual entry can often add an additional dimension of enjoyment as well.

I really like the iPhoto/iPhoto book idea for those who use an Apple product to organize and manage their photos. I just may have to break down and get that new iPad tablet now. Good suggestion Ivan.

Instead of writing in a notebook, try talking into a mini-casssette or digital recorder that can be carried in a pocket. If desired, the notes can be transcribed after you return home.

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Do you mind sharing what those 5 bullet points are?

they are not the same points each day , an entry may look like...
walked 6 miles round shamashanga
saw tawny eagle catch a monitor lizard
shot an impala for bait
truck stuck for three hours in mud
no elephnat bulls today , 50 cows

that simple , with the photos of the day , if one does this every day you will end up with a great journal of pics and enough words to jog your memory -

scott , i think for me persobnally its shocking when i find an old journal thats ten years old and how much i have forgotten , so selfishly a lot of it is for me and if one day my son or anyone else for that matter would be interested they would be free to have it there -

I used to sit down before dinner, and write some notes on the day's hunting.

A few years ago, I have stopped doing that.

Instead, I carry a camera on me all teh time, and take pictures. Lots of pictures.

They are a good record of what wenyt on during the day.

We average between 15,000-17,000 photos on a 21 day hunt!

I've kept journals off and on for most of my life. the daily ones are simple and about what interested me at the moment. My hunting journals are in some cases pretty lengthy. The one from my African trip is 96 pages for 11 days.
My inspiration was my Grandfather, who kept a diary from the time he was sheriffed in the early thirties until his death in the early sixties. There are a few years missing when he had no money to buy a diary or even paper. I have most of his diaries and often read them. They seldom say much more than the simple things of the day. It rained, we planted potatoes, made hay, someone stoped by, cleaned the church, or dug a grave for so and so. But they hold my attention. Some of you might be surprised how interesting your day will be to your Grandchildren or Great Grandchildren. I suggest you print them if you keep them electronically. I lost a couple years of journals when computer sytems crashed and discs went bad. Remember floppy discs. Paper is a lot easier to keep in order than a bunch of electrons. One thing I've learned is keep them simple and writing short or you'll give up.
Bfly

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We average between 15,000-17,000 photos on a 21 day hunt!

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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I used to sit down before dinner, and write some notes on the day's hunting.

A few years ago, I have stopped doing that.

Instead, I carry a camera on me all teh time, and take pictures. Lots of pictures.

They are a good record of what wenyt on during the day.

We average between 15,000-17,000 photos on a 21 day hunt!

thats awesome saeed , how do you store/display them - i have the pics in files on my computer with year and client name and of course just by diosplaying them in date order you get a pretty good idea of what happened each day -for this i carry avery small pocket camera in my pocket at all times , of course they get dusty, damaged and are useless after a few hunts but the memories you get from having the camera so handy are priceless!!

I store all my photos on home built desktop computers.

I have all the photos backed up on at least 3 external hard drives.

The computers have 34 inch high resolution monitors for viewing.

Like yourself, I keep photos sorted by year-month. Any special occassion is stored within that year - like a safari or a holiday.

Last year I took two Sony Vaio Z series laptop computers. These have an i7 CPU, SSD, a battery that lasts about 8-10 hours, and a 1920x1080 screen.

I used one for my normal compuet work - copying photos, displaying photos, Internet etc.

The other one I used to do a backup of our daily videos onto external hard drives.

I had 3 digital cameras last year.

A Canon 7D with a 70-200mm 2.8 lense, a 2X converter to use for the above lense, and a wide angle lense.

This camera normally stays in the truck, and any opportunity for photos while in the truck I try to use it, or at the camp or water holes.

I also had a Panasonix FZ100 bridge camera. This had a 20x zoom lense, and generally gets used while we are driving around.

I carried a Panasonic TZ20 in my pocket all the time. The bulk of our photos is taken by thsi camera as we hunt.

I've been keeping online journals of all of my hunting activities for the last dozen years. Every time I've gone hunting, I've written it up and posted it on my website.

True, I've only been to Africa once, and most of my journal entries have been about deer hunting, but I still love to go back and read over those old memories of times afield. I'm hoping that one day my son and soon-to-be-born second child will enjoy reading them when I'm gone.

I have some early "short" journals from family memeber's,and cherish them.
I have keep a "hunting / fishing" journal for the past 30+ years.
Combined with lots of photo's ( thou not as many as Saeed)
And a collection of each and every hunting /fishing license I've ever had, and all of my father and grandfathers.
I place Great Value on these writings, However
basic the writers abilities.
There will come a day when these writings represent a way of life long lost and a window into time and place that no longer exists.
I don't know if the writings of Bell,Ackley or
Patterson started as personal journals, But they carried a young boy from "small town Wyoming" away on the dreams of adventure and led me down the trail that could later be decribed as "my life".
Not comparing my life or "chicken scratch"
to those mentioned But on the other hand
would love to have 30 yrs of my grandpa's or Great grandpa's wanderings down on paper.

Ivan,
thanks for the kick in the mental keester. I like your method of making a short list of daily observations. I have also had the opportunity to speak about my trips to various local organizations such as Rotary. (Living in a small town people anyone who does something semi-adventureous is an immediate guest speaker) Again I get to relive the entire experience and explaining to people our world is very small and regardless of location we share many things in common.

I have a friend that I hunt with in Alaska who carries a small digital voice recorder and every night in camp he records the happenings of the day. He also carries the little recorder while hunting to describe things he sees on the spot in the field along with a digital camera he records just about everything. He transfers all the sound and pictures into his laptop and puts together an article for every hunt in a WORD publisher program, and burns them on disks.

I’m one of those who carries a camera every where I hunt, and never take a picture much less record every day. Unfortunately because of that I have only recorded 69 years of my hunting to a faulty 75 year old memory! That is unfortunate because I have seen some things it that 69 years of hunting on my own since that age of six years !

Ivan is right, we should all be recording everything we can in our hunting for the folks in the future who may know hunting as only a past time experienced by their ancestors!

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The biggest problem for me on keeping a journal on safari is:
I'M ON VACATION!
I don't even start thinking about writing till a couple of months or so after I come down from the Safari High I've been on.
Maybe I can sucker my wife into it for me.

Great topic and I have to look into that "iStuff" since I am a PC guy.

I have gotten into the habit of bringing my netbook (and previously a laptop) wherever I go and spend a few minutes writing a few of the details of the day whenI am winding down at night. Helps me relive the experiences and it doesn't take too much time. And frankly, I enjoy capturing the memories.

I also always have a pocket camera with me and one of my cell phones - which nnow take amazing photos themselves. Not for communications since the don't work, but to take photos and be able to share them easily when I do have service.

As far as who will want/read it later on - my daughter LOVES the leather-bound, picture-laden adventure stories she gets to read of her dad and grandfather. Im sure my son will feel the same. My father and I both relive the adventures ourselves whenever we page through them.

I make daily notes when I get the opportunity. I also write entries at bedtime as I am winding down. In both cases these notes are enough to jog my memory.

I often re-write in more detail on the flight home and while killing time in the airport. As others have mentioned, going back and reading old hunt entries brings back so many forgotten details it amazes me.