Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2022 i Game & Fish West

Many hunters wear glasses to enhance their vision and protect their eyes. Using sound amplification devices to enhance and protect your hearing while hunting is no different. Here are several models worthy of field. CHAMPION VANQUISH PRO ELITE The best over-the-ear electronic hearing protection I’ve found is the Vanquish Pro Elite earmuffs from Champion. They’re very comfortable, have two, full-dynamic-range HD speakers and an omnidirectional microphone, minimize wind noise, and are Bluetooth capable. While you’re wearing them you can listen to music or even answer a phone call. They’re also equipped with a 12-hour-run-time, rechargeable lithium battery. Of course, they are, like all over the earmuffs, a bit bulky. $249.95; championtarget.com WILDEAR FIELDEARZ My primary hearing protection are custom-fit in-ear devices from WildEar. You create a mold of your outer…

How much equipment do you need to hunt cottontails with beagles? Not much, but here are a few items that are worthwhile investments for rabbit hunters. BENELLI NOVA: The Benelli Nova pump shotgun is available in 12 and 20 gauge and features a steel frame with overmolded polymer. This durable exterior surface is perfectly suited for hunting in brush, thorns and heavy forest. With a push of the button you can unload the chamber without emptying the magazine, which is convenient when crossing fences or catching dogs. It’s an extremely reliable gun that will serve hunters well in all seasons. $449 to $559; benelliusa.com GARMIN ALPHA 10: Garmin’s brand-new Alpha 10 is a compact handheld GPS tracking device that allows you to track and train up to 20 dogs at…

WINCHESTER LAKE, ID The Idaho Department of Fish and Game plants legal rainbows in Winchester Lake annually. Hatchery trout are the main fishery here, but the 104-acre lake does have smallmouths, largemouths, crappies, bluegills, yellow perch, channel catfish and tiger muskies, too. Winchester State Park is located 38 miles south of Lewiston, 138 miles south of Spokane and 234 miles north of Boise. The lake offers camping, boat launches and day-use amenities in a wooded setting, as Ponderosa pines and Douglas firs surround this pretty lake. The lake and park are accessible year-round. TRINITY LAKE, CA Trinity Lake was created as a component of the Central Valley Project to provide power, recreation, flood control and water for the farmlands to the south. A bit more than an hour’s drive from…

Several states in the West have a combination of good habitat and high cougar populations that make them well suited for hunting mountain lions, if you do your part. As always, consult all state big-game regulations before hunting to ensure you’re staying on the right side of the law. In most cases, it is illegal to take spotted kittens or to harvest a female with spotted kittens. Open seasons vary from state to state. In some areas, the big cats may be hunted year-round. Talk to biologists to find areas with high lion populations and then chat with landowners. Mountain lions are a real concern for many rural residents. OREGON The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife estimates there are 6,700 cougars in the state. Cougar tags are available over…

We don’t always get ideal weather conditions when we hunt, but there are silver linings to those storm clouds. Rain, snow, wind or a mixture of all three keeps many hunters home, which means less pressure on days when the weather takes a turn for the worse. Plus, some big-game species move better when the temperature drops or a front rolls in. To stay comfortable and hunt effectively in these conditions requires gear that’s up to the task, including rifles that can handle moisture without rusting or shifting their zero. Here’s a batch that will hunt hard regardless of the weather, just like you. BROWNING X-BOLT HELL’S CANYON MAX LONG RANGE The popular Hell’s Canyon series continues with an offering from Browning designed to tackle the elements as well as…

GIANT ’21 WHITETAILS We have details on many of the biggest whitetails taken last season. “Big-Buck Stories: 10 Huge Whitetails from 2021” offers inside-the-hunt perspectives. BEER FOR DEER See what goes into crafting a beer for field-to-fork dining and cooking with venison. Read “Deer Beer: Brew a Perfect Pairing for Venison.” TRADESHOW SEASON New firearms, bows and accessories were unveiled at the ATA and SHOT shows in January, and we were there. Check the “Gear” menu for in-depth coverage. SHOOTING WITH AIR There’s a wide variety of air rifles for plinking, hunting and even survival. Watch episodes of “Modern Air Rifle” (under the “Watch” tab) to learn more. GET READY FOR BASS Our exclusive video series, “Crash Course” and “Beyond the Bait,” are must-sees for those who chase bass. Go…

February is the month that really expresses the variety—climates, regions and sporting opportunities—of the West. While the interior Rocky Mountain states are in full ice-fishing mode, southern California bass anglers are targeting football-shaped spawners right now. Up the coast in Oregon and Washington, this is the month for winter steel-heading.The prairie and foothills regions are home to coyote-hunting derbies, and in Utah’s desert mountains, chukar hunting is just winding down. Buckle up because there are plenty of reasons to get outdoors this month … and it’ll be over before you know it. UTAH CHUKAR, ARIZONA QUAIL This is the last hurrah for Rocky Mountain wingshooters. Hump up just about any mountain range in Utah’s West Desert for coveyed-up chukars through the end of the season on Feb. 15. Or get…

Western bass anglers have plenty of places to fish in February, but few produce as as well as these three, each of which has its own unique drawing card. CLEAR LAKE, CALIFORNIA: The 43,785-acre natural lake has been a solid producer of numbers and lunkers for a long, long time. It’s not as deep as the canyon-type reservoirs that are common in the West, so “deep” isn’t quite as deep here. What Clear Lake offers in abundance is a legitimate shot at some truly big bass. Problem is, they’ll be cold, so you’ll need to slow down and drag a free rig to get their attention. LAKE HAVASU, ARIZONA: Havasu has gotten a lot of attention on the national tournament scene in recent years. Lots of limits and bass averaging…

The Fort Peck Pike Pool is not sanctioned by the state’s gaming authorities. But its pot can be substantial, and the winner is praised and reviled in equal measure by the other fishermen in the running—especially if the winning fish breaks the 25-pound mark. It’s a big-fish pot, and the winner takes the antes of all the also-rans, which includes a good number of seasoned veterans who have been fishing Fort Peck Reservoir every season for the last 50-plus years. In other words, these folks know big walleyes and pike, but they reserve a special admiration for any water wolf over 25 pounds. Some years, the winning pike pushes 30 pounds, and some think that it will take a 40-pounder to win the kitty in the coming years. FORT PECK’S…

Throw these baits during the first trips of the season. Spring provides renewed opportunities for multiple species, but like any other time of year, certain presentations will be more productive than others. Get your season off to a memorable start by using the following baits. PANFISH 2-Inch Big Bite Baits Crappie Minnr on 1/16-ounce jig This extremely versatile soft-plastic offering can be cast and retrieved, fished vertically or even slow-trolled behind the boat. bigbitebaits.com Rapala Ultra Light Rippin’ Rap An excellent choice for covering water and triggering the largest fish in a school, this compact Rippin’ Rap shines in the often-turbid waters of early spring. rapala.com BASS Z-Man ChatterBait Extract early season bass from wood and weed cover by dressing this vibrating jig with a soft-plastic fluke or boot-tail minnow…

The snow was falling gently, looking almost out of place in the pre-dawn gloom. I had checked a few raccoon traps and found them empty. The coons, no doubt, had spent the night holed up rather than slopping through the snow. However, as I parked my pickup along a dry creek, I was met with an unmistakable smell the moment I stepped out into the cold. My flashlight confirmed my nose as it lit up a wonderfully furred striped skunk caught in a body grip. The morning was looking a whole lot better. Fur trapping provides a wonderful opportunity to get into the fields and forests during the winter months. I used to think that, as a bowhunter, I had a firm grasp on the nuances of wildlife in their…

Every week he called me, and each time it was the same thing: He’d caught a limit of big holdover rainbows and had more big fish break him off or throw the hook midway into a spectacular jump. His pictures held the proof: big trout, some stretching the tape beyond 24 inches. My dad and his friends were enjoying some of the best trout fishing of the year last February—a month when most anglers are either struggling to match tiny mayflies or midges on rivers or are tying flies in front of a roaring fire. A lot of Western trout lakes and reservoirs do not ice over, and all that water is just begging to be fished. Some of it holds huge trout that are hungry and itching to smack…

Mason Payer sat on his pack, hidden in a small group of Christmas tree-sized firs in the Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness. Positioned near the top of a ridge overlooking a small meadow, he was set up for an evening elk hunt, hoping a group would come in to feed before dark. Instead, after some time, he was visited by a completely unexpected guest—a mountain lion. Payer was beyond excited. He’d finally seen a cougar in the wild—something most never witness in a lifetime of hunting. Even better, because he buys a lion tag each year on the off chance he sees a big cat while hunting, he had a legal tag ready for the occasion. Almost as quickly as the cougar arrived, however, it melted back into the trees. Payer slowly…