Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2024 i Game & Fish West

Anyone who is hunting elk has plans well underway by August. Drainages, slopes and basins that show promise have been noted and scouted, either in person or via app. Access and camping spots have been identified. Used gear has been checked and new gear has been ordered. Bows and rifles have been shot, tuned, zeroed and adjusted. Drives—especially those that cross the county—have been planned. Vacation has been confirmed. OK, maybe there are a few tasks left on the to-do list, but a large amount of time and effort has already been put forth into making sure the hunt comes together as planned. But then what happens when life gets in the way? Maybe it’s work, maybe it’s family, maybe it’s just plain bad luck that you crack a tooth…

With bow season just a month or so away for many whitetail hunters, preseason scouting efforts are in full swing. Because of this, I’m far more likely to fill a few tags this fall. There’s an important distinction to make here ... my success will not come because of my preseason scouting efforts. It’ll come as a result of yours. I have no preseason plans aside from continuing to spend the last few weeks of summer chasing smallmouth bass around. My preseason whitetail scouting efforts will be minimal. And that’s by design. STAY OUT OF THE WOODS After spending a couple of decades preaching the merits of the importance of preseason scouting, I’ve finally wised up and looked objectively at the results of those efforts. In those seasons when I…

Imagine this scenario: You are tracking a wide and heavy mule deer buck over a low ridge somewhere in the sagebrush ocean of public land in eastern Oregon. The minute you crest the ridge, though, you are greeted not by the buck of your dreams within rifle range, but rather an industrial complex of high-tension power lines, chain-link fences and access roads. The buck has vanished into a labyrinth of modern machinery. It’s not a gas field or a mine; it’s a solar farm, converting the abundant sunshine of the prairie into kilowatts. But to a public-land hunter, the effects of a shallow-gas well, a wind farm or a solar installation are the same. Each fragments habitat, introduces invasive weeds, promotes off-season travel and shatters the pristine experience that our…

What do you mean you don’t have time to come out and scout with me?” I asked my hunting partner who lives in the Midwest and had drawn a general-unit elk tag with me. While his whitetail scouting at home primarily revolves around an army of trail cameras, general-unit elk hunting demands more significant commitment. Elk may be patternable enough to justify the use of trail cameras, but even that requires a boots-on-the-ground, preseason scouting mission. General-unit elk require a scouting plan, a hunting plan and a camping plan, and the hunting plan, especially, requires multiple backups, as elk rarely adhere to a food-plot lifestyle once human scent begins wafting through the woods. A lengthy explanation of this failed to persuade him, and I soon gave up the deliberation. Instead,…

Science has repeatedly shown that humans have a clear negativity bias. Our brains process negative emotions differently, and we tend to remember bad experiences more vividly than positive ones. The death of a loved one. The end of a relationship. Moments of extreme physical pain. Financial blunders. Trying setbacks. Abject failures. All are recalled more clearly, and longer, than happy moments or successes. Perhaps this explains why, crouched behind a rolling hill in northeastern New Mexico, I was still hung up on a bad shot I’d made on a pronghorn buck two years prior in Wyoming. That had been my first pronghorn hunt and my first time hunting big game in vast, wide-open terrain. I’d stalked a decent buck for some time, even crawling on hands and knees the last…

In 1985 a West Virginia high-school shop teacher named Melvin Forbes introduced a bolt-action rifle weighing less than 5 pounds to the world. Between then and 2022, Forbes handcrafted and sold more than 7,000 of those rifles and set the bar for rugged, lightweight hunting rifles so high that no other maker—factory or custom—could touch it. But as Forbes aged, he knew he could not continue, so he sold his knowledge and the rights to his New Ultra Light Arms (NULA) rifle to Bill Wilson of Wilson Combat. The company tweaked the design and now offers a modernized version that builds on Forbes’ legacy of lightweight performance. The Wilson Combat NULA Model 20 is a push-feed bolt-action design perfectly sized to the cartridge it’s intended to fire. There’s no excess…

School had been in session for a couple weeks, and most evenings the conversation at the dinner table centered on classes and activities. After Shane’s younger sister expressed her excitement and trepidation about trying out for a singing role in the middle-school play, it was Shane’s turn to tell about his day. “Kevin Watson and Danny Simmons got suspended for fighting in the bathroom,” said the high-schooler. “Oh yeah, and I got into a pretty good argument with Mrs. Hanson during biology class.” “Shane!” snapped his mother. “You shouldn’t argue with a teacher! Are you in trouble?” “No, Mom. It was really more of a debate. She brought it up, and I couldn’t let it slide. She said in modern times with grocery stores full of food, there’s no good…

DOVE HUNTING SUCCESS If you’re going on an early September dove hunt, read Keith Sutton’s advice on how to set up in “Choose the Best Hunting Spot at a Dove Field.” BOWHUNTING’S OPENING BELL Early fall delivers opening day for whitetail bowhunters. To fill an early-season tag, give Adam Moore’s “Fab Four Opening-Day Strategies for Deer Season” a careful read. ICAST INTEL To get an inside look at the best new fishing tackle and gear before it hits the shelves, see our online stories, videos and social-media channels for coverage from this year’s ICAST trade show. CICADA CIRCUS How did this year’s cicada emergence affect the fishing? Lynn Burkhead chronicles the event in “Here They Come: Cicadas Arrive to the Delight of Gamefish, Anglers.” NEW REEL OPTIONS In our “Tackle…

Made it with 10 minutes to spare. Glancing up from my watch, I soon located the craggy rock pile I had discovered on an earlier exploratory hunt into the basin. It would be my base to watch the nearly vertical, open slope above for signs of elk at first shooting light. Adding another layer and gulping down an energy bar finalized my setup as I settled prone with my rifle nestled in my backpack and pointing upward. After a few zaps with my SIG Sauer KILO6K HD rangefinding binocular, I felt confident that no shot would extend more than 450 yards. Relaxing my eyes for a moment, I lifted the binocular back to my eyes to begin scanning through the gray haze of daybreak. That’s when I saw the first…

The two-panel gate latches shut in the middle of a cattle guard and is buttressed on both ends by 12-inch iron posts, both of which are filled with concrete. There are holes cut in the center bar of the cattle guard, and into those go a pair of bolt-action-like latches, one for each gate panel. The latches are made of welded steel and are heavy enough to mash a thumbnail. Once the gate panels are latched to the cattle guard, they’re then secured together by a cross latch, and further still by a logging chain that’s held together with a combination lock the size of a horse hoof. Cattle often linger just behind the gate, and they seem entertained by watching people try to open it. I’m a member of…

Think back to the first bass you ever caught and the moment likely elicits memories of thrill and excitement as the outcome of the battle remained in doubt for several seconds. Such is one of the many appealing qualities of one of the hottest trends in bass fishing today: bait finesse system (BFS). For the uninitiated, BFS is a means of presenting lightweight lures, sometimes less than 1/8 ounce, with highly specialized baitcasting reels and light-action rods designed to handle extremely light lines. Originating in Japan among bank anglers fishing for trout and panfish with micro lures, BFS eventually found its way to the western U.S., where many anglers fish for bass in pressured or ultra-clear water. The trend continues to grow in popularity, with tackle manufacturers rushing to fill…

After you decide where to focus your hunting efforts within an elk unit, you need to find the perfect camp location. One positive to public-land hunting is that you can primitive camp almost anywhere on Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management parcels. Review local rules and possible restrictions, such as open campfires, but most tracts allow camping within a few feet of access roads or trails, plus there are unlimited backcountry camping opportunities. GET WITHIN STRIKING DISTANCE: Based on your scouting information, set up camp close to the elk, but not too close. You obviously do not want to camp in their bedroom, but a primitive camp within a mile or two of a hot elk location sets you up for a short hike to the action. If you…

Ken Mah picked me up at Paradise Point Marina in Stockton, Calif., and told me to hurry up and load my gear because he needed to go punch someone. A retired Correctional Safety Fugitive Apprehension Team member, Mah’s a capable guy, but really, he’s not like that—unless you’re a largemouth bass. About an hour later, the pro from Elk Grove, Calif., proved as much by hauling a 7-pounder through a bucketful of matted hydrilla. The highly effective punching technique worked that day and it will work most any day of the year on the Western gem known as the California Delta, as will multiple techniques. “The Delta is a labyrinth of waterways with many different habitat features,” says Mah, who has won multiple tournaments on these waters. “This is a…

Hornady introduced the 6.5 Creedmoor in 2008 and only a handful of long-range competitors really cared. But in 2014, after the movie “American Sniper” came out, Chris Kyle was vaulted to John Wayne status, and instead of a cowboy hat and a six gun, everyone wanted a sniper rifle and a tattoo. Today, the Creed is phenomenally popular, and that movie, along with those aspiring to have sniper-like skill, have influenced our hunting rifles and the way we use them. Some of these influences have been good. Others, not so much. GOOD GIFTS One benefit long-range shooting has brought to the hunting rifle is the adjustable length of pull, which is now quite common. Steyr incorporated it into the Scout Rifle in 1997, but custom builders have been crafting rifles…

My first hunting dog had ectro-pion—saggy lower eye lids that caught every seed, leaf, stick and bug that he ran past. I quickly learned to do an eye check and lid dump frequently in the field. Fortunately, he was tolerant of my ministrations, and I didn’t do anything stupid to endanger his vision. I’m sharing the following tips so you don’t do anything stupid around your dog’s eyes, either. After his nose, a hunting dog’s eyes are his most important sensory organ. Eyes keep him from running off a cliff, help him mark shot birds as they fall and guide him to you when you call him back. Taking care of them helps ensure that your dog will have good days afield for the rest of his hunting career. How…

Quiet, still and crisp is the morning as the sun crests the horizon, reflecting off the tarn and turning the surface into a cauldron of orange. Fog roils into the atmosphere. Slipping the kayak into the water, I take a seat and start paddling. The water dripping off the paddle onto my legs is chillingly vitalizing. The lake’s surface wrinkles as rainbows and brook trout begin to rise. I exchange paddle for spinning rod and zip a spoon into the center of a ripple. Counting to three, I let the lure sink and then begin the retrieve. The rod tip bounces a couple times, and soon I’m netting the day’s first brookie. Trout fishing from a kayak is a buoyant experience in more ways than one. It doesn’t take a…

Suppressors—now legal for hunting in 41 states—are becoming increasingly popular for big-game pursuits. Beyond reducing noise (and corresponding noise complaints) and protecting the shooter’s hearing, they also offer other benefits, like reducing recoil and flinch due to muzzle blast. Among the latest suppressors developed for hunters is Savage Arms’ new AccuCan series, which comprises three models—the AC22, AC30 and AC338—and covers most popular hunting calibers. The rimfire-rated AC22 works with .22 LR, .22 WMR and .17 HMR, while the AC338 handles up to .338 Lapua Mag. and .338 Win. Mag. The AC30, which I used in New Mexico, is rated for .300 PRC, .300 Win. Mag. and .308 Win., among others. The AC30 performed exceedingly well in New Mexico. While the suppressor didn’t make shots whisper quiet—that level of sound…

Many big-game hunters, particularly those who frequent open country with a rifle or any type of country with a bow, consider both a binocular and a laser rangefinder to be essential equipment. An animal must first be found, and then the distance to it accurately determined, before a shot can be taken. Optics do a much better job of revealing game and measuring range than the naked eye. Since both will be on the trip and used almost simultaneously at times during the hunt, it makes sense to combine a bino and a rangefinder into one unit. A rangefinding binocular streamlines gear and eliminates fumbling from one optic to the next in those tense moments of preparing for a shot. Hunters can go from finding an animal or confirming it’s…