Table of contents for May 2022 in Game & Fish West

USE A SIMPLE DUPLEX RETICLE FOR HOLDOVER. The amount of space between the crosswire intersection and the tapered point on the bottom vertical wire of a duplex reticle can be employed as a reference for holdover. Start by determining this space at 100 yards by viewing a target with a 1-inch grid, and then apply the following formulas. Range Change (NR/OR) x OS = NS NR is New Range; OR is Old Range; OS is Old Subtension; NS is New Subtension EXAMPLE: If the subtension at 100 yards is 3 inches and you want to know the subtension at 350 yards, the calculation would be (350/100) x 3 = 10.5. Magnification must remain the same. Magnification Change (OM/NM) x OS = NS OM is Old Magnification; NM is New Magnification;…

Turkey season isn’t turkey season without its ups and downs. Hunt longbeards long enough and you learn to shrug off the failures because there’s no sense in getting mad. The gobblers don’t care, and it’s a sin to be angry at the world on a sweet spring morning. Still, there are times—usually late in the season or toward the end of a week’s vacation with a tag still unfilled—when the frustration becomes almost unbearable. You want to bite your mouth call in half or carve a four-letter word in your slate or, worse, sleep in the next morning. Why won’t that bird gobble? Why does this bird gobble but won’t budge? How come the toms are still with hens? How on earth did that gobbler see me? What is it…

MOSSBERG 940 PRO FIELD The 940 Pro Field takes some features designed for action shooting and applies them to a hunting shotgun. The clean-running gas system, adjustable length of pull and enlarged controls will all be appreciated by turkey hunters.($903; mossberg.com) ZINK SIGNATURE SERIES V-NOTCH DIAPHRAGM Pro caller Josh Grossenbacher hand-builds this triple-reed call with a heavy latex V-notched top reed and a short-notched lower reed. I got loud with it and loved that the hens hated it. ($9.99; zinkcalls.com)…

Black bears are tough, with leg bones like steel pipes, a scapula like a Roman shield and an unrivaled will to live. Rifle hunters should arm themselves with a cartridge of at least .270, though I prefer .30-caliber loads at a minimum. In close quarters I often go with an old Browning BLR rifle chambered in .358 Win. Make sure to choose premium-quality bullets. Bears move most on the cusp of daylight, so optics that gather a lot of light are essential. Shooting sticks or a rifle-attached bipod will help you get a solid rest when shooting uphill, downhill or across a canyon. In addition to the standard daypack stuff—hunting license and tag, toilet paper, water and snacks, handwarmers, wind tester, headlamp, skinning gloves, maps, etc.—here’s what I typically use…

In my turkey vest, I carry two box calls: a standard one and one built to produce extra-loud volume. Throughout the West, high winds, rain, thick timber and vast country make louder calls very effective. I pack three pot-style calls, along with a dozen strikers. Each call has a different surface—slate, glass and aluminum—and each striker is made of different material, so each call/striker combination produces a unique sound. In addition, I carry as many as two dozen diaphragm calls. From single- to triple-reed calls, each diaphragm creates different sounds, which can be the ticket to calling in late-season toms. I also pack a gobbler call.…

GREYS FIN EURO NYMPH FLY COMBO This first-of-its-kind combo includes everything you need to get started with Euro nymphing, right down to the tippet ring. Just add your favorite tippet and flies. Available in a 10-foot 3-weight and an 11-foot 3-weight. ($225.95; purefishing.com) RIO INDICATOR TIPPET Choose from alternating fluorescent pink and fluorescent yellow or black-and-white sighter material with highly defined hard color changes to create contrast and allow you to see the visual cues needed. ($15.99 for 30-yard spool; farbank.com) LOON TROUT TIPPET RINGS These tippet rings help conserve tippet, give you an easy break-off point and strengthen the connection between leader and tippet of different size. ($10 for 10 rings; loonoutdoors.com) HARDY ULTRALITE LL 10-FOOT-8-INCH 3-WEIGHT This technique-specific rod is for the avid Euro nymph angler who cherishes…

Swim Jig. The PowerBait jig lineup features silicon skirts infused with scent, which is released into the water column to attract fish and make them hold on longer once they bite. Additionally, control reels were installed on rods not paired with a test reel. Abu Garcia Jordan Lee JLEESP30 and Lew’s TLC2000 spinning reels, and Abu Garcia Jordan Lee JLEE-HS and Lew’s KVD baitcasting reels were utilized for this purpose. All reels were spooled with SpiderWire UltraCast x8 30-pound braid and a variety of Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon line. Pure Fishing and Z-Man generously provided our test team with a selection of lures and baits to use during testing. These were some of our favorites. Berkley’s PowerBait Speed Boss Worm is a large-profile bait that the Bienville bass inhaled whether…

STEP UP YOUR GAME May is a great time to be an angler almost everywhere. Tune up by species with expert tips, trending techniques and gear under the “Fishing” menu. GREAT CATFISH BAITS Flathead catfish can be finicky about what they eat. “6 Best Baits to Catch Big Flathead Catfish” looks at natural offerings the brutes can’t pass up. RECIPES BY THE DOZEN Whether you still have venison in the freezer or are planning for a successful harvest this fall, “12 Most Popular Venison Recipes” gives you tasty options. SPECIAL TREATMENT Check out our new “Special Collections” area for popular exclusives like “Crash Course” how-to videos, “Big Bucks” field reports and much more. TEXAS-SIZED BASS The Lone Star State has been on fire with double-digit largemouths this spring. Read “17.06…

The black bear is an inherently fascinating big-game animal, given its curious proclivities and the mythology and mysticism with which we, as hunters, associate them. Those bears that exhibit a color-phase coat take our fascination to a whole other level. Of all the North American big-game species, black bears are the undisputed champions of color phases. No other game animal comes in so many different hues—cinnamon, brown, blonde, chocolate, blue-gray, white and, of course, black. Some individual bears may even exhibit multiple colorations, such as a cinnamon body with dark brown or black legs. As such, color-phase black bears are among the most captivating and highly desired trophies pursued by hunters. But there’s a problem if you want a color-phase bruin: You could hunt bears for the rest of your…

Compared to the last three days, this morning is like attending a concert. My seat is near the top row of the amphitheater, a small stool jammed in the back corner of a blind positioned near the top of a hill in southcentral Ohio. The stage is the river bottom and the fields adjacent to it. The performers are the gobblers. Sounds like at least three of them, and they are hammering. It sure is better than the faint couple gobbles of the past mornings. I glance at Adam Hansen, who is running a camera beside me, and can tell he’s excited. Maybe nervous. This is the most gobbles we’ve heard all week, and we need to kill a bird to film a series of cooking videos with Camp Chef.…

It was a typical late May in central Idaho—sunny and warm days, chilly nights and an impressive snowpack up high. The beautiful cinnamon-color black bear was feeding along the snowline, devouring the new green shoots sprouting up as the snow retreated. The ground was soft and the wind right, so I climbed ahead and above the bear and let him feed right to me. At 35 yards the shot was a gimme, and my arrow blew right through his chest. What followed was the usual—hours of skinning, boning meat and packing it all back to my truck in the dark. It took two trips. The next day, I slept until noon. Spring black bear hunting prospects throughout the West are excellent, with bear populations high in most states and competition…

My friend Don Budd and I had spent a long, fruitless morning chasing walleyes on Wyoming’s Wheatland Reservoir No. 1. Neither of us had fished the reservoir before, but I thought if we pulled crawler harnesses behind bottom bouncers we could cover water, learn the nuances of the reservoir and find some walleyes. The tactic worked to a degree. We caught a few decent perch and we couldn’t keep the catfish off our hooks. The walleyes, however, were a no-show. Feeling frustrated, we decided to shift gears. We put away the trolling rods and dug out some spinning outfits. I’d heard there was a burgeoning smallmouth bass population in the reservoir, so we decided to probe the rocky face of the dam by casting jigs and assorted plastics. Not long…

Turkey hunters must be able to hear turkey sounds and know where they originate. If you’ve endured years of loud gunshots, though, those calls may be growing fainter and fainter. Or, if you can hear well, you may still want to boost your capabilities. TETRA Hearing’s Turkey AmpPods ($849–$1,099; tetrahearing.com) address both. Made by audiologists and turkey hunters, AmpPods hearing devices use TETRA’s patent-pending Specialized Target Optimization (STO) technology to target and enhance gobbles, clucks, purrs and other turkey sounds. TETRA scientists analyzed the acoustical signatures of turkey sounds to identify the frequencies these devices should isolate and amplify, while keeping other sounds at natural levels. With built-in AlphaShield Compression technology, AmpPods also shut off instantly upon detecting a gunshot or other damaging sound. AmpPods come in two levels: 75…

Color-phase bears can be easily identifiable if the light is right and you have a reasonably clear view of the animal. Obviously, blonde bears are the most striking, but in lowlight situations they can look much darker. However, there’s usually no question when you see a blonde since its fur is so recognizable. Cinnamon bears have a very distinctive reddish/rust color, which is very easily spotted.The distinction between brown and chocolate bears is difficult to determine in some bears because the coloration can vary slightly. Basically, a brown-colored bear can be compared to the color of fresh coffee grounds, while the chocolate is much darker, similar to a brownie or a chocolate bar. Since prime bear-hunting time is the last hour of the day, you can be fooled by the…

Mention cast-and-blast destinations to many Westerners, and pictures of steelhead and chukar leap to mind. Or maybe fly-fishing for trout in between elk hunts. But there are equally productive cast-and-blast options in the springtime, and May is the best month to combine red-hot fishing with great turkey hunting. This is also the month to catch the first summer steelhead nosing into coastal rivers.And now is the time to catch stocker trout. As we learned toward the end of last year’s hot, smoky summer, there might not be much water come August, so take advantage of fishing opportunities at the front end of the season. OREGON TOMS AND SMALLIES The smallmouth-and-turkey pairing shines in southern Oregon, where the Umpqua River is pumping out 100-bass days. Bigger fish will take finesse-type plastics…

Out West, it is legal to bait spring black bears in several states. If you decide to give it a try, be forewarned: Successfully baiting bears is more than just throwing a few doughnuts on the ground. It is very hard work that requires a weeks-long commitment before the season opens. There are also a lot of restrictions placed on where and how you can bait and what constitutes legal bait, so be sure to check with the state regulations before giving it a go. Some states allow hunting bears with hounds. I’ve done it a lot and love it, but it is a specialized game, so if you want to give it a try, you’ll need to enlist the services of a houndsman. I’ve hunted with Table Mountain Outfitters…

The yelps from my diaphragm call sounded sweet, but the tom I’d been serenading in the timber showed no interest. Then, a hen the old gobbler had been following let out a series of raspy yelps followed by three clucks. Immediately, I mimicked the hen’s sounds. She answered back and I repeated that sequence. Before long, she came through the timber with the tom in tow. I dropped him at 15 yards. Had it not been for my ability to create multiple sounds, I doubt I would have killed that bird. With spring turkey season winding down throughout the West, understanding turkey talk is key to filling a late-season tag. THE YELP What It Is: The most commonly heard sound in the turkey woods is a hen yelp. Toms yelp,…

A wet, soupy fog hung over the phosphate pit, socking us in and rendering the big outboard useless. The trolling motor, however, whirled away, churning up a silty cloud as we eased off the muddy, makeshift ramp. Our guide, Dean Jackson, gestured with two fingers toward open water. “We’re going to target bass in the deep grass beds. Cast as far as you can, let it sink to the bottom, jerk it up then crawl it back,” he said. The baitcaster sang as the braid hummed through the guides, the black-and-blue bladed jig racing out then plopping down. The bait fluttered on the fall before settling in the vegetation 25 feet down. I snapped the rod to attention, breathing life into the vibrating bait. Three turns into my first retrieve,…

There isn’t a lot of extra room on a kayak, and an inflatable PFD makes a lot of sense. The Mustang Survival MIT 100 features a streamlined design for comfort and safety in calm water conditions. A manual inflation cord lets you deploy it by hand if the need arises. The MIT 100 provides up to 28 pounds of buoyancy and keeps the wearer face-up when inflated, and its simple one-fold design makes re-packing a snap. ($139.99; mustangsurvival.com) Lithium-ion batteries such as those from Lithium Battery Power are ideal for kayak power-supply needs, whether you’re fueling an electric trolling motor, lighting up a sonar unit or recharging a cell phone. The weight savings over traditional lead-acid batteries is significant. Lithium batteries require very little maintenance (no water levels to check)…