Indholdsfortegnelse for August 2023 i Game & Fish South

With temperatures in the 90s or above in many parts of the country, August seems like a long way from hunting season. Those of us languishing in the heat and humidity of the dog days can barely muster the gumption to hang a trail camera. But if you live or hunt in the West, you know August signals the start of pronghorn season in several states, despite the sweltering heat. The early openers are just more reasons to like this unique, but accessible, big-game animal. A summer vacation built around a hunting trip certainly sounds appealing. With some planning and a little luck in calendars lining up, parents can take kids on a pronghorn hunt before the school year starts. Although a lot of hunters call them speedgoats, pronghorns are…

Truth is, none of us probably has as much time as we’d like to spend in the woods, and as life gets more and more hectic, that time seems to dwindle to even less. I’m certainly right there with everyone else. My hunting time is easy to summarize: weekends and one week of vacation time each year. That’s it. There’s no wiggle room, no variance. What’s odd is I still have the same goals, drive and expectations I had when I was able to spend much more time chasing bucks with a bow. I’m going to hunt at least three states this fall, and I have every intention of filling every buck tag I have available. To do this, I make sure I waste as little time as possible. The…

The term “perfect storm” describes a combination of things converging to create a unique event. Sometimes, the perfect storm produces a memorable fishing trip. Some years ago, the hot summer on Lake Amistad in Texas was interrupted by a tropical system whose rains trapped swarms of terrestrial insects in newly flooded desert brush. This, in turn, attracted hordes of bluegills onto the shallow flats to pluck away the kicking insects falling from the brush. The final link in the food chain arrived shortly thereafter, as bass in the 3- to 5-pound class began feasting on pods of bluegills, as well as the hollow-body frogs my friends and I worked through the South Texas mesquite and prickly pear cactus. The result was the best afternoon of topwater frog fishing I’ve ever…

Anglers without their own boats can find many places to fish or crab along the Mississippi coast. Public beaches run nearly the entire length of the coast. Anglers can also fish off piers and seawalls. On warm nights, sportsmen wade the shallows to gig flounder. Numerous trails offer hiking and bird watching. Visit the Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge (1) near Gautier or the Davis Bayou Area of the Gulf Islands National Seashore (2) near Ocean Springs. History buffs might want to visit Fort Maurepas Park (3) (msgulfcoastheritage.ms.gov) in Ocean Springs and see a replica of the first French fort built on the Gulf coast in 1699. While in Ocean Springs, pay respects at the Mississippi Vietnam Veterans Memorial (4), which honors Mississippians who gave all in that war.…

Founded in 1971, CVA has become an industry leader in the development of technologically advanced in-line muzzle-loaders. Over the last decade, CVA (part of the BPI family, which also includes Bergara, PowerBelt and others) has climbed to the top of the muzzleloader market and is now America’s top-selling muzzleloader brand. Building on its reputation for providing customers with guns and accessories at the best value, in 2019 CVA launched its first centerfire rifle, the Cascade. Earlier this year, CVA introduced the upgraded Cascade XT (X-Treme). CVA notes the XT is designed to be “precision-oriented” with key features to make it a multi-purpose rifle for a variety of hunters. For example, a heavier fluted barrel (No. 5 taper) improves the balance of the rifle and allows multiple shots to be taken…

It’s a scorcher out there, but if you can endure the sizzle, August can be a great month to be outdoors. In coastal waters from the North Carolina beaches to South Padre Island in Texas, wading for redfish and speckled trout is a good way to beat the heat. It’s also time to head offshore as giant yellowfin and wahoo invade the oil rigs out of Venice, La. Mahi-mahi are hanging in the big offshore drifts of seaweed on North Florida’s Hundred Fathom Curve, too. Hunters don’t have to stay cooped up either. In many states, mornings and evenings make for some hot squirrel hunting. For more excitement, find a mud hole and set up there for feral hogs. In short, August is a great month for outdoorsmen willing to…

Avid anglers across the country know Lew’s is dedicated to designing and crafting some of the finest rods and reels available. What they may not realize is Lew’s also places unwavering emphasis on supporting American veterans. In 2013, Lew’s launched its American Hero Speed Stick rod series. The series was designed to honor military veterans and maintain the promise to never let them be forgotten. A decade later, the Lew’s American Hero program includes more than just a product line. It embodies a commitment the brand has made to support organizations that help veterans in their return to life after their military service. The American Hero program focuses mostly on those groups that incorporate fishing as part of the transitional process. Through the program, Lew’s has provided equipment to veteran…

You know the score. The last three weeks have seen nothing but scorching, 95-degree temperatures with just an occasional thunderstorm to cool things off in the evening. Those thick slabs you caught back in the spring seem like a distant memory. To make matters worse, recreational boaters are whipping the surface of your favorite crappie lake to a froth, sending the fish deep and turning them tight-lipped. Let’s face it, summertime crappies can be tough customers. But by recognizing weather patterns conducive to catching crappies, you can predict their behavior even during the hottest of summers. By recognizing these key patterns, you can capitalize on peak feeding times and catch more crappies on your home waters. PHOTOPERIOD PLAY It is certainly no secret that crappies are notorious low-light feeders and…

The dark form that slid from beneath the clump of overhanging willows to inspect my fly was impossibly long. For the few moments that I watched it hang in the gentle current, my mind almost wouldn’t let me believe it was a trout. The flow in which I stood wasn’t much wider than the length of my rod, and on top of that, Brooks Hansen and I had spent most of the morning with nary a confirmed sighting of a cutthroat. And yet, when the fish turned in the clear water to go back to its lair beneath the willows, I swore I saw a rose-colored gill plate and big black spots on its tail. “Did you see that!” I gasped. “What was that?” “Huge fish,” said Brooks, just as…

It could be argued that the origin of the modern precision rifle cartridge was in the late 1970s when Dr. Louis Palmisano and Ferris Pindell created a cartridge and named it the 6 mm PPC. It was based on the .220 Russian cartridge. Palmisano and Pindell reduced the body taper of the case, gave it a 30-degree shoulder, and necked it up to 6 mm. It became very popular for benchrest competition, and some have gone so far as to claim it the most accurate centerfire rifle cartridge ever created. About 45 years later, Hornady introduced the 6 mm ARC cartridge. The 6 mm PPC and the 6 mm ARC are dimensionally very similar. The primary difference is that Hornady specified a rifling twist rate of one turn in 7…

It was mid-afternoon by the time the shooter buck I’d been watching finally moved over a ridge, giving me a window to commence a stalk. Fifteen minutes later I was glassing from where I’d seen the buck and its harem disappear, but there was no sign of them. Then, more than a mile away, flashes of white caught my eye. Setting up the spotting scope, I watched smaller bucks chase does in circles through the sagebrush. Moments later, my buck stepped into view. The pronghorn was easy to recognize, and just the sight of it made me gasp. Its body dwarfed those of the inferior bucks in the group, and its black face almost shined. But it was the right horn that jutted 90 degrees to the side of its…

There are several reasons why docks are attractive to bass. Mainly, it’s because that’s where their favorite snacks—frogs, crawfish, bluegills and other pan-fish—reside in hot weather. Shady docks also provide late-summer cover for bass that have moved into the most remote reaches where standard casting methods can’t reach them. However, if you know how to skip a hollow-body frog, you can deliver a tempting treat to these reclusive bass. DOCK SELECTION Before skipping a frog under a dock, you need to decide which dock to fish. Not all docks are created equal in terms of their appeal to bass; some hold fish, while others are barren for one reason or another. Here are a few factors that might help you narrow down the possibilities. Topography The topography under a dock…

Walk through the fishing section of your local sporting goods store and you’ll find hundreds of artificial lures made to coax bites from your favorite freshwater fish. Black bass lures are especially plentiful, and depending on where you shop, you could also find lures for walleyes, crappies, trout, pike, salmon, bluegills, stripers and more. What you won’t find are lures for catching catfish. Some manufacturers sell soft-plastic “catfish worms” or “bait pods” designed for fishing with soft stink baits, but these aren’t intended for repeated casting and retrieving. Instead, you slather them with dip bait or fill them with a squeezable tube bait, then cast to a good spot and wait for a bite. There’s little chunking and winding involved. This lack of catfish-specific artificials might lead one to believe…

Situated between the legendary Gulf waters of Alabama and Louisiana, and often overlooked by vacationing anglers, the Mississippi coast provides outstanding action for various saltwater species, including speckled trout, sand trout, redfish, flounder, sheepshead, black drum, Spanish mackerel, bluefish and many other species. The Mississippi-Alabama Barrier Islands Archipelago, including Cat, Ship and Horn islands among others, mark the ill-defined boundary between the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi Sound, which runs from the Louisiana line in the west to Mobile Bay in the east. Cat Island, the island farthest west in the archipelago, derived its name from French explorers who sailed through the area in the 17th century. These Europeans spotted numerous odd, ring-tailed “felines” on the island. Of course, we now know these “cats” to be raccoons. THE ISLAND…