Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2021 i Game & Fish West

Most turkey hunters—myself included—are often guilty of putting too much emphasis on gear instead of woodsmanship when it comes to tricking gobblers into gun range and getting the job done. However, certain hunting scenarios undoubtedly require the proper equipment to stand a chance. This was one of those hunts. While the circumstances were unique, keep in mind the following setup is viable for any turkey hunter—especially young or inexperienced hunters who might be sensitive to recoil. SOFT SHOOTER With Mike Mattly’s broken arm, he needed a turkey gun that would allow him to shoot one-handed and adjust for the odd-angled shots that turkeys often present. The combination of a 20-gauge Mossberg SA-20 Turkey ($706; mossberg. com) and Aimpoint Micro H-2 ($745; aimpoint.com) proved to be perfect. The shotgun was lightweight…

If you’re struggling to see what’s under the water with your own eyes, you might try an aquascope, also known as a bathyscope. The Flogger from LureCraft is a popular version that looks a lot like a funnel or old-fashioned megaphone. You simply place the large end against the water’s surface and look through the small end as though it’s a telescope. This reduces glare and surface disturbance to give you an unimpeded view of what’s going on beneath the waves. Of course, the Flogger won’t help much in dingy water, and when the beds are extremely shallow you won’t need it, but an aquascope can offer a much-improved perspective on the spawning process, especially when the bass are deep enough that having a boat right above them doesn’t push…

If you accept the proposition that wild turkeys split the difference between upland birds and big game, then you understand one of the central tensions of a hard-core turkey hunter: you work upland ground hard for a single shot, but once you make it, your season is over. If you are willing to buy tags in two or more states, you can take multiple gobblers in a single spring season—and if you hunt along the right borders between the right states, you won’t have to travel far between hunts. If that sort of abundance speaks to you, then consider this story your playbook for extending your spring turkey season by hunting one or two other states in a short span of both distance and time. Not only do they extend…

Dr. Todd A. Kuhn is Game & Fish’s South region editor. He holds a Ph.D. in environmental engineering and has 18 U.S. patents for outdoor gear. He’s been fishing for more than 50 years. Capt. Jamie Harris, a fishing tackle gearhead in the truest sense, has been fishing for more than 40 years and guiding for 20 years. He is considered a master of Florida’s St. John’s River and Mosquito Lagoon. Ken Duke is a regular contributor to Game & Fish and is the managing editor of Fishing Tackle Retailer. He has authored several books on bass fishing, and his work has appeared in more than 50 publications. Lee Sisson is a living legend in the bass fishing world. Working with Bagley Bait Company in the 1970s and ’80s, he…

Berkley and Rapala generously provided our test team with a wide selection of lures and baits to use during testing. Here are some of our favorites. BERKLEY HIT STICK Easy to cast for both distance and accuracy, the Hit Stick achieves the high-speed roll of a balsa bait without sacrificing consistency or durability thanks to Berkley’s FlashDisc technology. BERKLEY POWERBAIT MAXSCENT HIT WORM MAGNUM With an ultra-realistic texture, supercharged scent and soft-yet-durable material for a lifelike action, the MaxScent Hit Worm Magnum fools even pressured fish into biting and not letting go. We rigged our soft plastics with Berkley’s Fusion19 hooks, featuring surgically-sharp points and SlickSet coating for reliable penetration and positive hook sets. BERKLEY WAKEBULL The WakeBull entices surrounding fish with an attention-grabbing tail wag at any speed, plus…

Finally, a month in which we don’t have to talk about ice! For trout anglers,April is the time to beat runoff and match early mayfly hatches, but streamers and egg patterns will catch the biggest spawning rainbows, especially in tailrace sections of the West’s most celebrated rivers. Gobbling activity increases with the warming temperatures, and in northern states, lower-elevation black bears are starting to emerge from their dens. For reservoir anglers, big pike are coming shallow to spawn, crappies are hitting tube baits and large-mouths are moving toward beds. 1 BLUE-RIBBON TROUT This is possibly the best month to target bruiser rainbows in Colorado’s blue-ribbon trout streams. The water is clear and cold, insect hatches are bringing trout to the surface, and there’s enough fishable water to spread out the…

On long hikes away from the road, pare your gear down to only what you’ll need. For me, that means: • Daypack or turkey vest• Hunting license and (if required) turkey tag• Toilet paper and paper towels in a zip-top bag• Jake and breeder hen decoys and stakes• Binocular and laser rangefinder• Shotgun and shells (or bow and arrows)• Sharp knife• A few calls• Inflatable seat that I carry via shoulder strap• Ample supply of water and snacks• Cell phone with hunting app or maps of the area• Spare gloves and an extra facemask• Lightweight waterproof jacket• 2 mm garbage bag to carry out my turkey…

There were three of us in the boat—my fishing buddy Jarod Higginbotham, my father and me. We were anchored high on a riffle, fishing a bend in the river for spring chinooks. Salmon were rolling low in the hole, but we struggled to reach them. “You guys back the divers down as far as you can, I’m going to toss out a glob of eggs on a float rod,” said Jarod. The tributary to the Columbia River we fished was clear, and rather than drop the drift boat down and risk spooking fish, dad and I let our divers and baits run farther out while Jarod cast eggs dangling beneath a big float. His bobber splashed water we’d not been able to reach and was carried into the eye of…

Turkey hunters who cover lots of ground and want to keep things simple should consider joining the .410 revolution. The small-bore shotgun—and the excellent loads now offered for it—is becoming increasingly popular for spring gobblers. Downsizing your turkey gun doesn’t mean you can’t go long, thanks to a new generation of shotshells that packs a punch in a small package. The best of the lot is Federal’s Heavyweight TSS, a tungsten load that crams 13/16 ounce of No. 9 shot in a .410 shell and is capable of dropping toms out to 40 yards. Even better, the non-lead load is legal in California and other jurisdictions that prohibit lead ammo. Mate the TSS with Mossberg’s Model 500 pump-action shotgun in the .410 chambering. The relatively new turkey model features an…

Abu Garcia Veritas PLX The Veritas, with its distinctive bright white paint job, is delightfully lightweight, with a great reel seat and handle. The 3M Powerlux 100 blank is particularly sensitive for an econo-priced rod. A high-modulus blank matched with advanced resin blends lend to the rod’s performance. The medium-heavy action will manage baits up to a full ounce without hiccups. ($99; abugarcia.com) Academy H2O XPRESS Tac-40 This top-of-the-line store brand bait-casting rod is particularly lightweight, with an all-carbon, monocoque split-grip handle. Rated as having a fast action and medium-heavy power, the 7-foot-1 rod will appeal to anglers who like fishing stick worms on casting gear. ($129; academy.com) Denali Ryker Series The Ryker from Denali is a value-priced, fast-action casting rod sure to find favor with many. An IM6 graphite…

13 Fishing Concept C2 The Concept is built from carbon fiber, resulting in a wispy, 5.8-ounce overall weight and excellent corrosion resistance. Our 8.3:1 test model gobbled up line on the retrieve and casted exceptionally smoothly. The Concept is a bit longer than most modern baitcasters, making it a good fit for anglers with big hands. ($230; 13fishing.com) Academy Sports HD Ethos This store-brand reel delivers quality at a great price. The Ethos features 10 bearings, a carbon-fiber drag (20 pounds) and dual casting controls. A one-piece aluminum frame and oversized handle with large knobs add comfort to excellent performance. ($79; academy.com) Bass Pro Shops Extreme EMX The Extreme line has been a BPS mainstay for years, and this one is as smooth as its predecessors and packed with features.…

The 12-gauge Remington 870 Super Magnum and .660-constriction choke I most often use to hunt turkeys is representative of an average turkey gun, which is why I chose it for this test. I set it on a bench in a recoil-absorbing rest and shot three rounds of each load at 30, 40, 50 and 60 yards (there is enough variability from shot to shot that single-pattern tests can be misleading). I fired only one shot from each load at 20 yards, because anything will kill a turkey at that range and I was interested to see the total spread of each shell at that distance, where super-tight patterns can lead to a miss and some extra pattern spread is an advantage. I shot blank sheets of paper, then drew a…

Spin it however you want, but death is the definitive prerequisite of a “successful” hunt. Sure, we make it a goal to enjoy the entire hunting process and find fulfillment in every aspect of the hunt, but the ultimate goal demands killing an animal that we dearly respect. This irony is often difficult to describe or wholly understand, even among hunters, but in these muddy waters one thing is abundantly clear: Hunting gives us an extreme appreciation for life and living it. Waking up to sunrises with your back against a tree. Admiring the night sky as a campfire crackles at your feet. Hearing Ol’ Tom rumbling through the hardwoods. Or simply watching a robin peck for worms after a fresh rain. Hunting provides a front-row seat at Mother Nature’s…

The Game & Fish Tackle Test utilizes a comprehensive scoring system to evaluate each rod and reel across numerous criteria. Scores are tallied after each day on the water. Once all the numbers are crunched (and after some heated debate), winners in each category are crowned.The Editor’s Choice award is bestowed upon the product in each category with the best overall score, while the Great Buy goes to the products that represent the greatest value. Test rods were equipped with Abu Garcia Revo S (REVO04 S-HS) reels with a 7.3:1 retrieve ratio for an apples-to-apples comparison. Test reels were paired with multiple test rods for an across-the-board evaluation using various rod actions. Reels were fished with both braided line (Berkley x9) and fluorocarbon (Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon).…

Ice clung to their gun barrels, and the old Lab’s teeth chattered like a railcar. Three men and one boy hunkered with their collars up, chins tucked like prizefighters and hands buried in coat pockets. The thermometer said 10 degrees, but it was closer to minus 10 on the shallow, windswept water. Shane elbowed his father sitting next to him in the blind and asked what time it was. “It’s about 8. You in a hurry?” “No,” said Shane. But he had a secret he could never tell. His toes were so cold—well past numb and back around to searing pain again—that he thought they might actually feel better if he cut them off with his knife. Yet he didn’t dare mention any of this because no one else had…