Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2024 i Game & Fish West

We had done everything right to tip the odds of bagging a public-land gobbler in our favor. We had scouted and found a bird that required a walk of more than a mile from the nearest access point to reach. We patterned our shotguns and practiced shooting at turkey targets from a seated position and using a tripod for support. We had the don’t-move-a-muscle-talk. We got up extra early on opening morning despite the drizzle and hiked in well before first light. And as we moved the final 100 yards to our chosen spot, my 12-year-old son and I shared the disappointment of discovering another hunter had already set up a blind there. “What do we do now, Dad?” Jacob asked. I took a deep breath and tried to hide…

Metals play an integral role in every angling pursuit. From the gears and housings of reels to the line guides and hardware of rods, from tools and fillet knives to prop blades and trailer frames, anglers handle and use metals on every trip. No application of metals in fishing is more controversial, however, than its presence in lures and terminal tackle. The primary concern in this arena stems from lead—the most widely used metal in tackle—and the harmful effects this metal poses upon ingestion, primarily by diving ducks, swans, loons and raptors. There are emerging alternatives to lead, but their application and acceptance remain comparatively limited. Lead has been used in fishing—first for sustenance and later for sport—for thousands of years. Archeological discoveries have identified lead weights used in fish-entangling…

We crawled to the steep overhang, raising our heads just enough to confirm the football-sized rainbow was still finning lazily under an alder at a bend in the tiny stream. He sipped leisurely as helpless mayfly duns drifted into his lair. I’d drawn the long straw and made what would probably be the only cast, a bow-and-arrow shot that threaded the gap between water and overhanging branches. The fly landed with a splat and the fish darted upstream. No bragging rights on that one. But the lesson—once again—was that at certain times, especially in spring, trickles are a better bet than torrents. Small streams aren’t just smaller versions of the rivers they feed. In spring, they may be your best chance at a big fish, or any fish at all,…

The water was big and brown, the willows flooded past the shoreline. It was not likely to matter to the catfish. If anything, they probably like it better when they can scoot up into a cow pasture and retreat to the river again when the sun rises. Cousin Neil turned the North River sled in a wide arc and triangulated: a point of rocks on this side, a gravel bar on the other, upstream of an overhanging tree, a skosh closer to the Oregon bank than the Idaho side, just out of the main current. It was a matter of minutes before Cousin Matt caught a fish and then a few minutes more until he caught another, both 15-inchers. After that we didn’t catch another cat under 20 inches. Channel…

Grand County, 70 miles west of Denver on the western side of the Continental Divide, offers sportsmen a gateway to the scenic Rocky Mountain National Park and its Trail Ridge Road, the highest fully paved road in the U.S. This “Highway to the Sky” climbs some 4,000 feet and takes about 20 minutes to reach the summit of the Continental Divide. It offers some of the park’s most spectacular sightseeing and wildlife viewing. The Winter Park Flyfisher (fraserflyshop.com) in Fraser has been offering customers updates on river conditions and great gear including rods, reels and waders for more than 16 years. Those at the shop are more than happy to help visitors locate productive trout waters. Owner Jeff Ehlert and his guides offer a variety of trips, including walk-and-wade outings…

LIVE FROM THE TURKEY WOODS Turkey hunting is about to be in full swing throughout the country. Check on gobbler activity in your region—right now—with our “Regional Strut Update.” The report turns out pertinent turkey intel every week through May. TACKLE TEST REWIND The May 2024 issue of Game & Fish will feature our popular Tackle Test, an evaluation of the latest bass-fishing rods and reels. Until then, catch up on previous reports under “Special Collections.” FASTEST CROSSBOWS Arrow speeds of 500 fps are becoming common in crossbows; TenPoint’s TRX 515 produces 515 fps. The new rigs are ultra-accurate, too. Catch up on speed in “ Lightning - Fast Crossbows for 2024.” HOT NEW SHOTGUNS From sub-gauges to over-unders, there were plenty of new shotguns for turkey, upland bird and…

I’m sure the other turkey hunter didn’t see me. I had max concealment with full facemask and gloves, season- and terrain-matching camouflage covering every extremity, and I was tucked into the trunk of a massive white oak that obscured my outline. I didn’t spot the man until he walked into the clearing and stopped short when he saw my hen decoy in the open. The hunter froze in the pre-dawn light then crouched, as though his abrupt presence might be forgiven by the hen. Next, he shouldered his shotgun at my decoy, maybe thinking it was a jake or maybe anticipating a longbeard would be sharing the clearing. My first tendency was to remain frozen against the tree, hoping he’d realize his gaffe and move on. Then I worried that…

Zero for eight so far ... great start!” came a text at the end of opening day of turkey season last spring. I called my longtime hunting buddy and one of the West’s top turkey guides, Jody Smith, to get the scoop, figuring he was going to tell me that multiple clients had all missed shots. Instead, what I heard from a frustrated Smith left me shaking my head. “All the misses were from one guy shooting his brand-new 28 gauge with TSS loads,” he said. “I called in four toms in different spots, and all the shots were inside 20 yards. He fired eight shells and didn’t touch a bird.” Other guides I’ve known for years echo the same stories of hunters missing turkeys because they’re unaware of how…

If someone mentions Colorado fishing, it’s only natural to automatically think of trout. The Centennial State is home to some of the most famous trout waters in the world—the North and South Platte, Gunnison, Frying Pan, Roaring Fork, Arkansas, and Colorado rivers, plus reservoirs like Blue Mesa, Spinney and Delaney Butte to name but a few. It’s no wonder Coloradoans are trout crazy. However, a growing cadre of anglers are discovering the outstanding opportunities that smallmouth bass provide in the state, despite the fact the species is not welcome in the state’s waters by fisheries managers nor the majority of Colorado’s fishing community. On some waters, you are encouraged to kill every smallmouth bass you catch, and there’s no limit on how many you can take. Still, smallies flourish in…

The 600 series is a new generation of rifles from the Czech Republic-based gunmaker CZ that combines innovative technology, top-notch materials and creative design. One of five variations in the line, the CZ 600 Alpha features a cold-hammer-forged barrel, aluminum receiver and polymer stock, resulting in a durable hunting rifle. The lightweight receiver balances well with the semi-heavy barrel, making the 600 Alpha a capable rifle for a variety of hunting scenarios. Several innovations contribute to the 600 Alpha’s accuracy and handling in the field. First, the bolt locks into the barrel and not the receiver, meaning pressures during firing do not act directly on the receiver. This gives CZ the option of making the Alpha’s receiver from aluminum instead of steel to reduce weight and optimize balance with the…

The day Shane turned 16 he thought all his problems were over. He could finally drive. Turkey season had just opened, and Shane, blessed with a hand-me-down truck from his father, was keen on taking full advantage of his newfound mobility. The lamination of his driver’s license had barely cooled when Shane bragged to his buddies at school that he was going to drive himself to his favorite turkey spot Saturday. He no longer had to tag along with his father to hunt Mr. Johnson’s farm. “Let me go with you,” begged Craig Smits, who suddenly acted like Shane’s best friend. Shane had known Craig since grade school, but he’d never heard Craig speak of hunting before. “I’ve been watching turkey hunting videos, and I bought a call,” said Craig.…

Shooting at longer distances has become popular, and many hunters like the idea of having added reach. This preference has spawned a new breed of precision rifles light enough to carry into the backcountry. It’s also produced a new strain of variable-power riflescopes that help make getting hits at longer distances easier. However, most of these rifle-scopes are much heavier than conventional designs. Consider that the top three deer hunting riflescopes recently named in an online list had an average weight of 27 ounces. But are scopes this heavy necessary for most hunters? In his 1970 book, “The Hunting Rifle,” celebrated gunwriter Jack O’Connor wrote, “I rather doubt if more power than 4X is needed for any big game hunting under any conditions.” To an extent, Jack was right, but…

My first snipe hunt is to this day one of my fondest childhood memories. I was a pre-teen rising through the ranks of Boy Scouts and found myself on my first extended weekend away at camp with the entire troop. “Take this brown paper bag and sit quietly under this tree,” the older Scout whispered as I carefully crawled into a comfortable position and prepared myself for a long wait. “Shine your flashlight on the ground and click it on and off to lure in a snipe,” he added. After a few practice sets, I was ready for a wily snipe to run in for me to bag. The older Scout must have felt the same because he soon slinked off to “flush a snipe my way.” I hunted intently…

You got a one-week pass from the spouse. Vacation days have accrued. Time to go there. But where is “there?” Whether its Montana pheasants or New England whitetails, a nine-day bucket-list journey or half a weekend, your success on publicly accessible land depends in large part on starting in the right place. Rather than wandering perplexed and wasting time, have a plan to map out your quest. More public land is present in some states than others, but you’ll likely have lots of options. Public land is just that: the Bureau of Land Management or Forest Service, a state or county agency, or other government entity manages it on our behalf. It is, literally, ours. This includes many wildlife refuges, wildlife production areas and wildlife management areas where we’ve got…

I was raised a crappie fisherman by a diehard crappie fisherman in my native Ohio back in the 1970s. There, crappies were a spring thing, complete with yellow-flowered flooded willows, red-and-white round bobbers, cane poles, No. 4 Eagle Claw hooks and 2- to 3-inch “crappie minnows.” In 2015, I found myself once again a resident of Washington State. And while silver salmon, lingcod and black sea bass indeed have their appeal, I longed for the tug and tussle of a slab crappie … not to mention a big old fish fry with Señor Crappie as the guest of honor. Trouble was, I didn’t know where to look. I didn’t even know if western Washington had crappies. Or, for that matter, if the western edge of the U.S. was home to…

It wasn’t five minutes after boarding our guide’s skiff when a fat brownie sucked in my fly as it swept along an eddy edge. A battle ensued as the fish moved away downstream into the swift run. The stubborn trout jumped a couple of times while running in and out of the current as I hung on. A couple of whitewater rafts with jovial paddlers whooping it up quickly moved by on the opposite side of the river. The fish surfaced again in the shallow riffles, and I pressured it toward the boat. Guide Jeff Ehlert oared us toward the edge of the slower-moving flats as the brownie tired. The 17-inch trout made one last turn at the surface before I pulled it into Jeff’s waiting net. We took a…