Tabla de contenidos para April 2022 en Game & Fish West

The economy is a hot topic these days, so allow me to relate it to something we can all appreciate while sharing some good news on the subject. A recent report by the Sportsmen’s Alliance reveals that hunters and recreational shooters contributed $149 billion—yes, billion—to the national economy, supported nearly 970,000 jobs and created more than $45 billion in wages and income in 2020. The report, released in February and titled “Economic Impacts of Hunting and Target Shooting,” was produced for the Sportsman’s Alliance Foundation by Southwick Associates and funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Multistate Conservation Grant Program. Those are huge numbers. Here’s another: hunters and shooters generated more than $65 billion in combined retail sales during 2020. Considering how much we all love to buy new…

Most angling situations call for one of the three common varieties of line: monofilament, fluorocarbon or braided. In recent years, technological advances have allowed braided line to expand its range of useful applications while also diversifying the library of different braids that are available. Let’s explore the fundamental properties of braided fishing line and examine how the inherent strengths—and weaknesses—of braided line apply to different presentations. Braided lines are typically constructed from long, tightly woven strands of one of several different polymers, frequently Dacron, Dyneema or Spectra fibers. These are distinctly different from the nylon polymers used to manufacture monofilament and the fluorinated polymer resins extruded into fluorocarbon lines. You may recognize Dacron as the same material used in a wide variety of consumer fabrics. Both Dyneema and Spectra fibers…

Pre-spawn bass fishing can be extremely frustrating, whether you fish the Florida large-mouths stocked in Southern California impoundments or the small-mouths of the Columbia River. But get on the fish just as they school up and are headed to spawning sites and you can enjoy some of the fastest fishing of the year. You might also boat your biggest bass ever. In most lakes and rivers, bass spend the winter schooled up deep, just above the thermocline where the combination of temperature and available oxygen gives them some measure of comfort during the big chill. But as soon as the days start getting longer and the water temperature starts to ease above 45 degrees across much of the West, the fish instinctively start heading toward creeks, flats and shoreline cover…

From early March to early July, the Belding’s ground squirrel is an eating machine. He might eat an insect from time to time, and he might even turn cannibal for an afternoon, but mainly he is a vegetarian. In my corner of the West, the critter we call a sage rat is one of the most significant enemies of the alfalfa farmer or the planter of orchard grass. One study found that in a single day, 355 ground squirrels eat the same amount of forage as one beef cow. Another study proved that 123 ground squirrels per acre will consume 1,790 pounds of alfalfa per acre. That equals 14.55 pounds of green per squirrel over the course of four months. We can do something about it. During one hunt I…

In December 2021, TenPoint made history when it introduced the Nitro 505, the fastest reverse-draw crossbow on the market. With a 400-grain hunting arrow, the bow produces velocities exceeding 505 fps, creating 227 foot-pounds of kinetic energy. Nearly as impressive, the Nitro 505 measures an ultra-compact 6 1/2 inches wide from axle to axle when cocked and 30 1/2 inches long, and it weighs 7.9 pounds (without accessories). TenPoint re-engineered the barrel, string and cables, and cam system to both produce and withstand the extra torque and energy. The bow is brawnier than predecessors but is balanced and easy to handle. The reverse-limb design helps balance the bow by taking the limbs off the front of the rail. Balance is maintained with the center-mounted riser, eliminating any front-heavy feel and…

Tim Brass looks across the horizontal landscape of northern New Mexico’s Rio Grande Plateau, peppered with juniper and mesquite shrubs. The river that named this place is well below us, in a water-scoured canyon, but Brass leads my eye to distant blue shapes out of focus in the shimmering heat. He’s pointing out the island mountain ranges all around us, high mesas and alpine meadows that are defined by their abrupt rise out of the landscape and by the trees and even snow on their higher slopes. They’re not part of the contiguous San Juan or Sangre de Cristo ranges with their long ridgelines stepping to crenelated peaks and manicured ski runs. Instead, these unattached ranges are much like islands in the ocean: small, distinct and swimming in a sea…

We never actually saw the gobbler until he was right in our laps. Along the central California coast, my wife, Cheryl, and I had heard gobbling down in a little oak-studded hollow. We made a big circle, set up 40 yards back from the drop-off’s lip and started calling. When three big longbeards popped over the edge, they were already in range. One ended up riding in the truck. Memo to prospective turkey hunters: If you think you can sneak along through open or semi-open country willy-nilly and not get busted by a turkey’s amazing eyesight, think again. That’s like trying to sneak the sunrise past a rooster. If you can see them, they can see you. And if they see you, it’s game over. Simply stated, you have to…

Following a night of heavy rain, I questioned heading out on opening day. But I hadn’t missed a turkey opener in years and wasn’t going to let wet conditions stop me. By the time I made it into the foothills, it was windy, cold and raining hard. I pushed on. My first two setups didn’t get a gobble. Contemplating heading home as the wind picked up, I decided to hop across the draw and over the ridge I’d been calling to. When I reached the other side, it was still raining, but calm. I hiked lower into the ravine to escape the wind, then set up a decoy. Nestled against the base of a fat fir tree, I got multiple gobbles before finishing my first calling sequence. Instantly, three toms…

Despite the uncertainty and continued disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show made its return to Las Vegas, Nev., this year during the week of January 18-21. The event, produced by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, brought together thousands of firearms, ammunition, optics, apparel and outdoor gear companies to introduce the year’s new products. After the cancellation of last year’s live show, Game & Fish editors were eager to gather with manufacturers for a week of learning about—and trying out—new gear. We joined fellow editors from other Outdoor Sportsman Group brands, such as Petersen’s Hunting and Guns & Ammo, to report on what we found. Our coverage comprises the SHOT Show New Product Premiere, an in-depth look at the latest trends in hunting and…

Most hunters know that conventional bullets have two main components: a lead core and a jacket of copper or gilding metal. Mono-metal bullets are different; they do not have a jacket or core, but instead are made from a single metal or alloy. This homogenous construction offers distinctive performance, but it also causes misunderstanding among hunters used to cup-and-core bullets. Mono-metal bullets are excellent choices for big game, so let’s clear up some of this confusion by looking at what they do and how they do it. For modern centerfire rifle cartridges, the metal in mono-metal bullets is generally copper or gilding metal (copper alloyed with a small amount of zinc). But technically, bullets made entirely from lead, including hardcast lead, are also mono-metal bullets. Of course, bullets made from…

The Kentucky long rifle, most likely developed in Pennsylvania, is a thing of legend. Sleek, beautiful and accurate, it has had a colorful and romantic history. Common in calibers from .32 to .60, it was and is a proven performer. The so-called Kentucky rifle morphed into several “schools” of building, each possessing its own uniqueness in appearance and embellishment, but all remaining flintlocks. I have two. One is a .32-caliber Tennessee-style rifle (above); the other a .54-caliber York-style piece. Both are built with left-handed locks. The .54 is employed for deer and other big game, while the .32 is strictly a small-game proposition. In both I use only round balls. The rifling twist is designed for these projectiles. My hunting load for the .32 is 30 grains (measured by volume)…

Technology can be a wonderful thing, and for hunters, a smartphone hunting app that can produce instantaneous satellite imagery and topographic maps can be a godsend when quickly trying to determine where to set up. If you’re in unfamiliar country and get a gobbler fired up, you can quickly check the app and see where there might be a pinch point, gully, creek or river course, standing timber and edge cover you could use to hide as you close the gap before setting up for a shot. HuntStand, onX Hunt and even Google Earth are worth a look.…

I have a recurring dream that always starts the same way: I’m standing on the bank of a small stream that I know is home to big trout. It’s springtime, there are bugs everywhere, big browns are coming to the surface to slurp them up and I make one perfect cast after another—only to be refused time and again. Then, finally, I move a big one. He eats and the fight is on. I see him in all his spotted, golden glory for a brief second before he runs downstream and is gone. My personal best becomes my personal nightmare, and he haunts me. Fishing small streams can be as technical as it gets for an angler. Beautiful water teems with trout exactly where they’re supposed to be—under a fallen…

After back-bouncing eggs through prime spring chinook water without a bite, I rowed the drift boat upstream and let out the plugs. As soon as the inside rod hit the main seam, the rod tip buried. My son was soon locked in battle with a hard-fighting, acrobatic summer steelhead. After boating that fish we ran through the hole again, this time picking up a springer at the lower end. Both fish came on back-trolled K15 Kwikfish, confirming that plugs can outperform eggs and that they still have a place in every salmon and steelhead angler’s bag of tricks, whether fishing from a boat or shore. Plug fishing for salmon and steelhead peaked in the early 1970s, when casting and retrieving was a popular approach. By the early 1980s, plug fishing…

There was a tinge of smoke in the air when we walked out of the Westin Monache Resort amid California’s Sierra Nevadas and jumped in guide Scott Flint’s SUV. The wildfires were several miles away from Mammoth Lakes. We were in no danger, but our experienced guide suggested we start our day a couple of canyons over from the one we had fished the previous day. “The winds will be light today, and I checked the status of all the fires in a 50-mile radius of Mammoth,” Flint noted. “We shouldn’t have a problem in at least three of the five nearby canyons. But, rather than hike down 300 feet as we did yesterday, let’s start out on a small lake to the north that is full of brookies.” He…