Indholdsfortegnelse for September 2023 i Game & Fish South

I still get chills when I remember my first encounter with a bugling bull elk at close range. Hunting northern New Mexico with a muzzleloader, I shadowed my guide, Troy, through the cedars as he occasionally blew a cow call. The day wasn’t an hour old when a bull responded just down a low ridge, and we hustled, quietly with the wind quartering across our foreheads, to close the distance. We had gone 300 yards or so and then stopped to listen. Hearing nothing, Troy hit the cow call again, and the bull screamed in our faces. The response was so loud that it seemed like the bull was standing on our toes. I had heard plenty of gobblers sound off within mere yards before, but this was something else.…

I was two days into a seven-day archery elk hunt in the Montana backcountry. On the first morning I had found rubs running along one particular ridge, more than I’d ever seen before or since. The mid-September conditions were hot. By 8 a.m. the thermals were rising, forcing me to keep the high ground above the elk. All the rubs were below me, some more than 100 yards down the hillside. They were easy to see with a binocular in the sparse, young pine forest. I’d hunted the entire length of the ridge, well over 2 miles of it, multiple times. With so many rubs, I moved slowly, calling when it felt right. I never heard a single bugle. After two days of this, I decided to drop down the…

Polarized fishing glasses are considerably more than a fashionable accessory—they are designed to help you catch more fish. But many anglers do not know why they need good eyewear. Polarized sunglasses protect the eyes from glare and damage from the sun’s ultraviolet rays. They also help us see what’s under the water and guard our eyes from dust and debris. Plus, they protect us from lures zipping through the air after being dislodged from a snag or following an overzealous hookset. There are several decisions you’ll need to make in order to choose the pair of polarized glasses that will best suit your needs. The most important of these concern lens material, tinting and frame style. If you’re shopping for new on-the-water eyewear, here are some points to consider in…

As coastal waters begin to cool in fall, flounder become more active, feeding up for the spawning run they’ll make to nearshore reefs, rocks and wrecks outside coastal inlets in late October, November and December. This makes September one of the best times to connect with what is arguably the most delicious fish in inshore waters. Southeastern coastal waters have two common flounder species: the gulf flounder and the southern flounder. Gulf flounder have multiple ocellated spots on their blackish brown backs and rarely exceed a couple pounds in weight. The IGFA all-tackle record, caught in North Carolina’s Bogue Sound in 2011, weighed 7 pounds, 2 ounces. Southern flounders’ backs are most often a muddy brown, but they have five faint brown spots with no white circles surrounding them. They…

If you want to extend your trip, or if you intend to bring the family along, be sure to spend a few nights in San Antonio. It doesn’t get the fanfare Dallas, Houston or Austin receive, but San Antonio is one of the most vibrant cities in the country—minus the crowds and traffic that plague other metropolitan centers. The Riverwalk, lined with shops and restaurants (the Mexican cuisine here is unparalleled), is a must-see attraction. You can spend an entire day there or just a few hours. Take a boat ride or enjoy one of the many festivals or parades that take place throughout the year. Because of the heat, the Riverwalk is a little sparser this time of year, but for a hunter who enjoys solitude, that’s not such…

Unless you’ve been under a rock for the past few years, odds are you’ve caught wind of the tree-saddle movement. If you believe even half of what you’ve likely heard about these odd contraptions, you’ve probably been led to believe they are the single-greatest invention since the digital trail camera. Admittedly, I’ve used saddles for a while and, in fact, employed one long before the current saddle hoopla took root. After several seasons using a saddle setup in a handful of states, I definitely have an opinion based on experience. And? They’re just OK. Surprised? Well, I am quite certain my less-than-enthusiastic opinion on them will raise a few eyebrows from the die-hard proponents of saddles. However, that’s just the way I feel about them. In some situations, saddles are…

I rolled into a camp after midnight one season. I pitched a small tent next to my truck and tried getting some sleep as it had been a long drive. About 3 a.m. bugling bulls awoke me. I couldn’t get back to sleep, anxiously awaiting sunrise. I hunted all day and didn’t see or hear an elk. The same thing happened the following night, and again I hunted the area and didn’t see an animal. On the third night I got up when I heard the elk. I followed them and could even see them in the glow of the full moon. I learned those elk were traveling 3 miles every night to feed, returning to their bedding area in the middle of the night. Over the years I’ve scouted…

The greatest game dog I’ve known was Nimrod of the Limpopo. His exploits recovering game and fighting with leopards and baboons made him a legend in South Africa’s Limpopo province. I was fortunate to share the field with Nimrod on three safaris. He was a big dog, a crossbreed with some bulldog, some pointer and probably a little Rhodesian ridgeback mixed in. He was relentless on a blood trail and could bring down wounded game as large as wildebeest. Though I didn’t need his services, I never knew of him to fail when supporting other hunters. Nimrod was a one-in-a-million dog, and I doubt another like him will ever follow a trail. Game dogs the likes of Nimrod are not used very often nowadays, especially here in the states. Even…

Christensen Arms was founded in 1995 by Dr. Roland Christensen, an aerospace scientist, and initially focused on utilizing carbon-fiber materials to create lightweight, high-strength components for the aerospace and medical industries. Driven by his passion for firearms and a desire to revolutionize the industry, Dr. Christensen turned his attention to applying carbon-fiber technology to rifle barrels. In 1997, Christensen Arms introduced its first carbon-fiber-wrapped barrel, setting a new standard for accuracy, weight reduction and heat dissipation. This break-through technology quickly gained recognition and established the company as a pioneer in the field. Eventually, Christensen Arms expanded its product line to include complete rifles based on its success with barrels. These rifles featured state-of-the-art stocks and precision components to offer shooters outstanding performance and accuracy. The combination of aerospace-grade materials and…

I doubt we know who first uttered the words, “The .308 is great.” I first heard them from outdoor writer John Barsness. We were in a hunting lodge near Uvalde, Texas, and he was advising a young man on what cartridge to have his first custom rifle chambered in. Since then, I’ve unapologetically stolen those words when offering similar advice. But I’m told the great gun writer John Wootters once wrote something similar in an article about the .308 Winchester. Regardless, those four words are a declaration that is undeniably true. I believe the .308 Win. is the best general-purpose big-game rifle cartridge. You probably don’t agree, and this is partly because cartridge selection is a very personal thing; it’s how we all individualize our hunting tools. Often, relationships between…

Pity the recent hunter education graduates this month, brand new hunting licenses in their pockets and gleaming new shotguns on their shoulders. They are over-ready to use both in the dove seasons that open in 41 states on Sept. 1. Why should you pity these particular humans? Because the dove opener, the day that may send more American hunters into the field than any other day of the year, is so fraught with expectation and disappointment that few new hunters come out of it unaffected. For some, the fast action and communal spirit of wingshooting cements a lifelong passion for hunting. But for other beginners, it’s just too chaotic for their liking, and they associate all other methods of hunting with the cacophony and undirected energy of a dove field.…

What a perfect month to celebrate National Hunting and Fishing Day, which always falls on the fourth Saturday of September. Big impoundments are beginning to reawaken as bass gorge on shad and bluegills. The latter are likewise on the move, feeding on insects falling to the surface from shoreline greenery, primed for a popping bug flicked their way. Bow seasons open in some states, with dedicated hunters climbing their favorite tree as their Thermacell hisses on high. Dove hunters are busy snapping caps at doves in their annual ritual of load, aim, shoot, cuss, repeat. But don’t worry: Your aim will improve as the best of the fall season is about to begin. 1 SALTY CATCH CLUB Life membership in Florida’s Saltwater Fish Life List awaits anglers who qualify by…

Soft-plastic rigs for bass have a variety of interesting names. “Wacky,” for example, is an apt descriptor of a wacky rig’s unusual appearance. The Japanese word “neko” translates to “cat,” which describes the way the rig of that name prowls the bottom. The Ned rig is, well, named for a guy named Ned. One might assume the Carolina rig to have come from either the Palmetto State or the Tar Heel State, but its origin can’t be pinpointed to either with great certainty. To further complicate matters, the Carolina rig first gained national attention when an Alabamian named Jack Chancellor won the 1985 Bassmaster Classic with the technique on the Arkansas River. On top of that, he referred to the technique as the “do-nothing rig,” which is now an entirely…

Texas was once the epicenter of snow goose hunting. In the 1980s and early ’90s, hunters from across the four flyways flocked to the coastal prairie towns of Garwood and El Campo to sit amongst large white windsocks affixed to wooden dowels with legendary guides like Jimmy Reel as white geese by the hundreds and thousands churned into the rice fields below. But then Texas farmers lost the water rights needed to grow their rice crop and production shifted east into Arkansas and Louisiana—along with the snows. The mass exodus of snow geese was followed by a blue-winged teal boom. Some of the earliest birds to migrate south, bluewings have become a staple of Texas hunting culture because the state, particularly the coastal prairie and Gulf Coast, holds more than…

Terry Moore and I were working a brushy pocket in western South Dakota. There were tracks going in, and the wind was into the cover. Something was bound to happen. Yep, sure did. I was on the downhill side when the buck exploded. A gorgeous four-by-four headed for the skyline but didn’t make it. I dropped him on the open hillside. An hour later, Terry shot a big-bodied, heavy-antlered three-by-three. We both used familiar rifles built by mutual friend Lex Webernick at Rifles, Inc. Terry’s was in .280 Rem.; mine in .300 Wby. Mag. Neither shot was far. You could say that Terry’s choice was better than mine. I wouldn’t argue, but regardless of chambering, there is never anything wrong with using a favorite rifle that gives you confidence. I…