Innholdsfortegnelse for Spring 2019 i Outdoor Life

NO ONE WANTS TO LOSE a deer, but it happens to everyone who shoots enough of them. Fortunately, it’s now legal in 36 states to use a tracking dog in some fashion to help recover a wounded animal. Some people with tracking dogs stay busy with calls nearly every day of the season. But most are just avid deer hunters who have a blood dog “on the side” that they use to help recover their own animals and provide assistance to buddies in need. SHOP FOR A NOSE There are some standout breeds—bloodhounds, dachshunds, curs, Lacy dogs, Deutsch drahthaars—but your Lab or the star from Bubba’s litter of mutts could also work on a blood trail. A spotless pedigree isn’t required, but a good nose is. And it doesn’t hurt…

NOTABLE FEATURES The fire-control system includes a rod that extends from the trigger back to the trigger housing. The rod pushes on small trunnions on both sides of the housing that trip the sear. To create a closed-bottom receiver that feeds smoothly, a dish-shaped piece of steel is tack-welded to fill the opening where the magazine would normally be. Caliber: 6 CM Capacity: 1 Weight: 6 lb. 9 oz. Trigger Pull: 3 lb. 4 oz. Barrel Length: 15 in. Overall Length: 22.5 in. Price: $1,750 Contact: nosler.com WHEN THE Remington XP-100 was introduced in 1963, the reaction to the single-shot bolt-action handgun was not tepid. Most people considered the ungainly mutt—with its dogleg bolt handle, vented rib, and shark-fin front sight—an affront to civilized sensibilities. Traditionalists wanted nothing to do…

DAVE STROM IS TWITCHY yet focused. He’s dialed in yet always willing to experiment. He’s been fishing the small streams of Iowa’s Driftless Region his whole life, and to call a trout outing a success by his standards, he needs to land a brown measuring 24 inches or better. Strom, 44, has done this many times—his personal best measured 30 inches and weighed 14 pounds. I had the chance to fish with Strom last spring, and his aggressive strategy for trout fishing on small waters was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. He is a master of maximizing trophy opportunities, even when he only has a short time to fish. No matter where you chase trout, adopting some of his plays can lead you to fish of a caliber you may…

I HAVE NEVER CAUGHT A muskie on the fly. Not in Minnesota or New York. Not in Pennsylvania or New Jersey. I tried in Washington State once too. In every location I’ve had looks and follows. I’ve had muskies trail my fly so close that the tail feathers were tickling their nostrils. Never has one opened its mouth to eat, yet the sore shoulders and arms eat away at me regardless. When you’re flyfishing for muskies, you can’t help but feel a little nuts. The method doesn’t let you cover water like you can with conventional gear. You can’t make a fly kick, spin, and vibrate quite like the lures these fish often crush. In many fishing scenarios, a fly rod is a better tool for the job, but this…

I BET SOME OF YOUR BEST HUNTING AND FISHING memories come from the very beginning. It’s true for me. I can recall every detail about the first deer I killed. I remember how that morning smelled—like spilled hot chocolate and burnt gunpowder. My 20th deer? Not so much. Now, if you read this magazine regularly, you know about the decline in hunter numbers, and how it’s critical for us to recruit new people in order to preserve the future of our sport and fund the conservation of wild places. But these stories aren’t about that. These are about those firsts. Memories are as close as you’ll get to your own first few magical seasons, but now as a veteran sportsman or -woman, you can recreate that same excitement, surprise, and…

I’ve caught a lot of fish in a lot of places. None were more special than my daughter’s first bluegill, and it keeps getting better. Seeing her excitement every time that bobber dips and watching her marvel at the colors of each tiny panfish calms me like a stiff drink. Conversely, taking an inexperienced adult fishing conjures the same pit-of-the-stomach fears as a public speaking class. I would like to say that I’ve turned countless rookies into diehards in all my years on the water (maybe I have flipped a switch or two through my writing), but one-on-one, I’ve not flipped any. This is partly because I surround myself with anglers. Most of my closest friends fish hard. My list of non-fishy friends is short, and no one on it…

I’m standing on the shooting line without my bow. Arm outstretched, I’m holding an arrow in my left hand, aiming its point at a target downrange. “Don’t try to burn a hole in the target. Just look at the spot, and hold that arrow on it,” Tom Clum Sr. says. I let my mind go blank and point the arrow at the target. Tom pushes my arm, and the arrow comes smoothly back on target as if it’s moving on its own. “Now try focusing hard and aiming,” he says. This time my movement is much more rigid and choppy as he pushes my arm, and I try to force it back on target. I’ve been at the range for less than an hour, and I’ve already learned my first…

gear@outdoorlife.com The difference between last year’s rod and reel models and this year’s is getting more difficult to distinguish. While there will always be some big advances in tackle from year to year, many upgrades consist of little more than weight reductions, a slight change in materials, and, in many cases, simply some fresh aesthetics or a new style of grip on the handles. None of this makes tackle testing any easier, but we don’t like anything that’s too easy. To bring you a detailed, in-depth look at how the 2019 offerings from some of the biggest—and a few lesser-known—tackle companies stacked up, we devised a four-part test carried out by a five-man crew of lifelong anglers. Naturally, our tests were designed to determine if the rods and reels functioned…

Every hunting season, I think about my friend Chris, whom I met through a monthly poker game. As we got to know each other, he started asking me questions about hunting. He wanted to know how I did it. Where I went. What it was like. Chris was in his early 30s, had never hunted or shot a gun, and had never been friends with any other hunters. But he was interested in it and had no clue how to start. We talked about it quite a bit, and I told him that I’d take him out. But I was busy at work. I had my own hunts and they didn’t seem like the right opportunities. Or was it that I didn’t want to give up my precious time in…

BROOMFIELD, CO WRITE US! IF WE USE YOUR STORY, YOU’LL GET THIS BOOK! “This Happened to Me” has been a fixture of OL since 1940. We’ve compiled our readers’ most hair-raising misadventures in a single volume. You can pore over the 183 pages of this action-packed book knowing you’re in good company. Copies are also available for purchase at outdoorlife.com/THTMBook. » We publish true adventures. Send yours to THTM@OutdoorLife.com. Only those used will be acknowledged.…

A GENERATION AGO, the gateway to the West for a big-game hunter ran through pronghorn country. Doe/fawn tags were abundant as antelope herds flourished on public land, and it was a good bet that everybody in a hunting party would at least get a shot and would probably make meat. But over the last decade, pronghorn tags have been harder to draw as populations have declined in most states. The new gateway hunt? Elk. Specifically cows. Across the West, elk herds are booming, and the best tool wildlife managers have to keep wapiti in check with habitat is cow tags. There have never been as many antlerless elk permits available as states will issue this year. Access is generally better for cow hunters than it is for bull hunters, and…

ONE OF THE MOST incredible sights you’ll ever see is a school of menhaden—known as bunker along the New Jersey coast, where I fish—getting hammered by heavy striped bass. These protein-rich baitfish aren’t little minnows. They’re 12- to 14-inch filter feeders that can weigh a pound or more. When a 20-yard circle of scared-to-death bunker take to the air in unison, you know the bass beneath them aren’t going to be little. The same applies to landlocked freshwater stripers across the country—if a huge gizzard shad is getting nervous, it’s probably not a little fish that’s about to take a shot. Some might assume that fishing these large live baits is mindless angling, but there are actually a few tricks for upping your success. IN THE ROUND When my friends…

1. THE ROD At minimum you’ll want a 10-weight rod, though many muskie nuts lean on 12-weights. Make sure it’s a good caster for delivering those meaty flies. But more critically, make sure it has the strength and backbone to drive hooks and muscle fish to the net without snapping. 2. THE REEL Most muskie fights will be short and very sweet, and will happen pretty close to the boat, so you don’t need a drag that can stop a tuna. A reel with a midrange price tag that’s the appropriate size for the line and rod will suffice. 3. THE LINE To help get bulky muskie flies down and keep them there, you want a sinking line. A slower intermediate sinker will get you by in most scenarios, but…

IT STRIKES ME, NOT FOR THE FIRST TIME, THAT MY FRIENDS WILL NEVER SOUND OR ACT LIKE MOST HUNTERS I KNOW. When I moved to New York City to work for Outdoor Life, I was prepared to defend hunting. I was unprepared, however, for even casual acquaintances to ask if they could join me in the field sometime. Sure, you can find anti-hunters, antigun activists, anti-you-name-its in NYC. But there’s also a rod and gun club full of the crustiest hunters I’ve ever met six blocks from my apartment, and a 100-yard archery range out by JFK airport where trad bowhunters from Queens and Brooklyn shoot every weekend. Hunting itself isn’t trendy in the city. Or at least, it isn’t yet. But the field-to-table movement is, and for all the…

Gerald Giebink is 23 years old, and he has no idea what to do next. He just graduated from college in his hometown of Billings, Montana, and he’s been unable to land a job for the worst and most universal reason: prospective employers tell him he’s inexperienced, but they won’t give him the chance to get the experience they require. He’s living back at his parents’ house, taking shifts at Home Depot for spending money, and restlessly planning for a future that doesn’t have a clear place for him. Maybe that’s what made him ripe for a news release I distributed to Montana newspapers last year. It was an invitation from my local sportsman’s club for beginning hunters in my part of the state to match up with an experienced…

Perhaps you’ve seen one of those How to Reload pamphlets with a cover that shows Dad, Mom, Gramps, and the kids standing around a spotless bench, grinning from ear to ear with an enthusiasm usually associated with winning the Mega Millions jackpot. I can tell you one thing for sure—they weren’t reloading for a precision rifle competition. When you sign up for a tactical field match, you can count on a lot of trigger pulling. For most two-day matches, it’s suggested you have 200 rounds, and that doesn’t include what you burn up in practice before the first stage. The high round counts, the challenging targets, and the real-world shooting positions are what make these competitions fun. But once the sport gets its hooks into you—whether you shoot the Precision…

1 PANFISH/TROUT St. Croix Legend Elite Panfish/Abu Garcia Elite Max The Elite Panfish might be pricey, but it’s an amazing perch, bluegill, and trout rod. It’s got a perfectly honed action for panfish and features high-end Torzite guide rings in titanium frames and super-grade cork. Abu Garcia’s Elite Max is the perfect match for the rod. Seven ball bearings provide fluid action, and a smaller spool size is well-suited for lighter lines. rod, $360; reel, $70 2 CATFISH Team Catfish Thunderstick/Penn Spinfisher VI Live Liner Team Catfish has added a 12-foot heaver to its popular Thunderstick line. The extended length of the professionalgrade rod maxes out casting distance and provides supreme control when fighting fish. For catfishing, a stick like this needs a baitrunner, and Penn’s Spinfisher VI Live Liner…

fishing@outdoorlife.com It may have been spring according to the calendar, but the weather must have had its dates mixed up. Steam rose from the tiny Cape Cod pond, vaporizing into the 33-degree April air. According to my friend Jim Fee, who was sitting at the other end of our rickety 10-foot johnboat, this cold snap shouldn’t matter. Herring from the surrounding bays were migrating up tiny creeks into this pond, and the bass—which grow as big here as they do in Texas or Florida—would be tuned in to their arrival. The window is small, lasting only a few weeks during the overlap between the herring push and the need for pre-spawn bass to fatten up, but Fee never misses it. It’s the one time of year it makes sense to…

Harold Knight once told me that, back in the day, if you messed up on a turkey, you “thought about it a while” because you might not get on another bird for a few days. The legendary call-maker was a turkey hunter back when there weren’t many turkeys to hunt. But the thing is, I messed up on my share of gobblers just last season—when there were a lot of turkeys to hunt—and I’m still thinking about them. In fact, in 25 years of turkey hunting, I can’t remember a single season during which I didn’t somehow blunder my way right out of a bird or two. We’re betting that if you’ve spent any time at all chasing turkeys, you’ve probably messed up on a few toms too. Mistakes happen.…

We’re busted again. Fru Louis points at the flash of a white tail flagging through the brush and whispers excitedly, “There’s a deer.” More accurately, it was a deer. Now it’s just the sound of branches snapping and alarm snorts. My new hunting parter is unfazed, but I grind my teeth a little. Things are not going as planned. Fru is a 30-year-old software engineer who immigrated to the U.S. from Cameroon when he was a young kid. Now he and I are sitting in a natural ground blind along a flooded river-bottom in the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, on the first morning of a state-sanctioned mentored deer-hunt program. So far, Fru and I have managed to blow out every whitetail in the area. We had scouted this spot…

I’M LEANING AGAINST A TREE IN A STAND OF WHITE OAK, SUGAR MAPLE, HEMLOCK, AND BEECH TREES WITH A MARINE CORPORAL IN HIS MID-30S NAMED NATE. We’re quiet, still, and hyper-vigilant of our surroundings—we’re searching hard for any movement in the woods before us. And for the first time, deer hunting strikes me as a proxy for military guard duty. It’s late fall in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts. Along with a handful of veterans from around the state, Nate and I are on the last hunt of the year led by a group called New England Adventures (NEA). Founded by an Iraq War vet named Todd Crevier, the organization sponsors year-round hunting and fishing expeditions for veterans and their families. It’s not snowing yet, but it might, and we’re…

Our testing was a multipart process carried out over the course of a month, with each portion specifically designed to evaluate different aspects of a rod and reel important to anglers. First, we fished all the rods and reels from a boat in a bass lake, then from shore at a bass pond, to gauge how they performed in real fishing situations when paired with the lures that matched their factory ratings. Next, we marked out a field in 25-foot increments to 150 feet to test casting distance. To rate accuracy, each tester made a series of casts using low-hanging limbs and laydowns as obstacles and targets. After the first two rounds of field-testing, all the reels were subjected to a drag test using a 2,900 rpm drill. This was…

Joe Cermele Cermele is OL’s fishing editor and has targeted countless species all over the globe with a wide range of techniques. Mark Modoski A veteran gear review writer, Modoski’s passions are big catfish and muskies, but he’s chased myriad freshand saltwater species. James Buonanno Jr. Buonanno is a true trophy hunter with a passion for throwing big baits for big large-mouths. He’s also a devout N.J. surfcaster. Matt Parylak Parylak is a smallmouth wizard versed in many techniques. The Delaware and Susquehanna rivers are his playgrounds. Matt Andreula A lifelong angler, Andreula has chased everything in freshwater. These days he’s considered one of the best muskie anglers in N.J.…

A PLACE FOR HONEST OPINIONS, VALID COMPLAINTS, AND FRIENDLY DISCUSSION ABOUT HUNTING AND FISHING The term “ambassador” has been taken over by the outdoors industry and now is spreading like a brushfire. In my position, I get this question from hunters and anglers all the time: “How do I get to be an ambassador?” What the heck are these folks looking for? Basically, to turn their hunting and fishing into a kind of gig, where a company wants to be associated with you, gives you gear, maybe brings you to an event, and, of course, expects to see its products and brand message all over your social media feeds. (You do have lots of friends and followers, right?) Being an ambassador implies influence and status, although most often the role…