Indholdsfortegnelse for April 2016 i Outdoor Life

Ahoskie, NC/ April 11 / 9:47 a.m. Greg Hayes will never forget the morning he spent calling turkeys with his 7-year-old son, Gannon. A few yelps lured a tom in from 700 yards, but the bird busted the duo at 30 feet. Trouble was, Gannon was facing the other way. “I wanted my son to shoot,” Hayes says, “but I didn’t have a choice. I threw my gun up and shot.” But Gannon was ecstatic. It was the first turkey he’d seen his dad kill, and the 65-pound kid hoisted the 21-pound gobbler so his uncle could capture the moment.…

My late father-in-law, Neville, was a mischievous old devil. He was also a fanatical fisherman who spent much of his working life close to the mighty Zambezi, a river in Mozambique that provided him with numerous memorable fishing experiences. I spent many holidays hunting there, camped on the banks of this impressive waterway with my wife, Catherine. It was prime big-game country, and with it came challenges from scavengers attracted to our camp by the smell of drying biltong and salted trophies. The location also offered fantastic fishing opportunities and, on one trip , Neville requested an impala heart on the pretext of using it as bait to catch a vundu, a massive kind of catfish. After dinner, while we sat around the campfire, Neville prepared his tackle and wandered…

Why, with long-range hunting all the rage, would anyone commit to using a handgun for hunting big game? The answer is simple: Handgun hunting presents its own challenges, and demands more of the hunter. Rifles and muzzleloaders offer better accuracy at greater distances, but for anyone willing to put in the time and effort practicing with their firearm and closing the gap on game, handgun hunting offers a thrill all its own. It helps to have good equipment and good coaching, and on my first dedicated handgun hunt, I had both. I was attending a Thompson/Center media hunt in south Texas, and with four deer tags to fill, I was interested in trying out the company’s newly reintroduced Contender pistol. Paul Pluff, director of marketing communications at Smith & Wesson,…

Remember when you used to line up beer cans on the fence and blast them? I’ll bet that’s how you learned to shoot. You weren’t as concerned with punching one-hole groups as you were with knocking those darn cans over quicker than your buddy. Fact is, the shooting bench doesn’t forge great riflemen, and paper targets have little to do with improving shooting skills. Reactive targets reveal if you hit or miss instantly, so you can either confirm good habits or know if you need to work on your fundamentals. Plus, any target that spins, gongs, pops, falls over, or blows up is just plain fun to shoot. I’d argue it’s fun that forges great shooters. HERE ARE SEVERAL REACTIVE TARGETS THAT WILL MAKE YOU A BETTER SHOT. 1 DIY…

Autumn Veatch had given up. She had just endured a frigid and painful night alone in the North Cascades without shelter, dry clothing, fire, food, or first-aid. No one knew where she was—herself included. She had blistering second-degree burns on her dominant hand, and her body was bruised and sore. The day before, she’d watched her step-grandparents die. So the 16-year-old curled up on the damp earth at the base of a conifer tree. It seemed as good a place as any, she decided. This is where she would die. FLIGHT LOG Some 16 hours earlier, Veatch had climbed into her step-grandparents’ prop plane in Kalispell, Mont. It was Saturday, July 11, 2015. Although the family originally planned to drive Veatch home to Bellingham, Wash., her step-grandfather, Leland Bowman,…

When Greg Matthews glimpsed a large brown animal moving through the timber on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula, he snapped the release onto the string of his bow. Forty yards behind him, Greg’s brother Roger was blowing a moose call, hoping to coax a bull into bow range. As the dark form moved into the open, however, Greg realized he had a real problem. It wasn’t a moose that had responded to the call, but a grizzly sow with two sub-adult cubs behind her. Greg had wanted to shoot a moose with his bow, but he had brought along his .300 Winchester Magnum rifle just in case. Now that rifle, loaded and safetied, was leaning against a tree beside his right leg. The bear stopped at the junction of three game trails,…

YOU ARE certifiable if you think I’m goin’ back down into that hellhole for this turkey.” My buddy John was gasping to catch his wind, wiping a steady stream of sweat from the end of his nose. I was doing no better and was very much inclined to agree. We had just spent most of the morning making our way into a precarious “blue gorge,” as John called it, pursuing a contrarian gobbler. The steep hollow was full of house-size boulders and more than a few rhododendron thickets. It made a wonderful place for the turkey to play what seemed to be a demented game of chess. Now, just as we tried to stagger back up the mountain and leave the gobbler’s fun house, a faint gobble drifted up from…

▶ OL is the only general hunting mag that took the chance that not everyone hunts deer. I’ve run hounds for 30 years, and “Nothing But a Hound Dog” [Feb./Mar. 2016] was a pure joy to read. In six paragraphs the author summarized what wells in the hearts of houndsmen every time our dogs open on a track. Thanks for stepping away from brother whitetail and giving us a nod. Can we make this an annual thing? Matt Minnichsoffer Lindstrom, MN ▶ I’ve never felt compelled to write in until I read “Those Dam Cats” [Fishing, Feb./Mar. 2016]. I can’t fathom the suggested tactic of boating toward a low-head dam. This is unbelievably dangerous. After 25 years in water rescue, I’ve witnessed many get in trouble around low-head dams. It…

“Over there—12, 12 o’clock, 30 yards!” shouted our guide, Smokin’ Joe Demarco. In unison, three baits were airborne. And just as quickly, a trio of hooked up bull reds broke from an acre-wide pod of fish and headed off in different directions. It took more than 30 minutes, but each was netted, quickly photographed, and then released. This continued for three days, the big bull redfish of Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, challenging the limits of fishermen and their gear, the rods and reels of the 2016 OL Tackle Test. The battles determined which gear was up to the task. Much to our surprise, a number of never-before-seen, value-priced offerings stood toe-totoe with much higher priced tackle. Here’s what we discovered after torturing the best new freshwater rods and reels in the…

As a rule, Braxton Rocha isn’t afraid of sharks. He never was while growing up on the Big Island, and he probably never will be. But there are exceptions to every rule, and for about 10 minutes last September, Rocha was terrified of one particular shark. BAD OMENS Rocha has been spearfishing Hawaii’s waters since he was eight. By now, the 27-year-old can read the ocean’s moods as if they’re his own. That’s why it’s surprising he and his best friend, Shannon Pasco, were free diving off Upolu Point on September 20, 2015. With overcast skies and rain-murky waters, conditions were far from ideal. The pair had been fishing for 45 minutes when Pasco’s speargun broke. He swam closer to shore while Rocha searched for parrotfish, both violating their…

Not all those who wander are lost.” That oft-quoted line from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings pretty well describes a certain type of outdoorsman. Maybe it’s a military sniper who relies on evasion to stay hidden and lethal. Or maybe it’s a surveillance professional, a paid spook who deliberately keeps a low profile in order to spy on his target. Or maybe it’s your friend who wins every paintball war because of her ability to melt into the woods and ambush her enemies, including you. I honed my own evasion techniques during a 22-year career spent in really uncomfortable places while training British special forces, including the RAF’s elite Mountain Rescue unit. What I’ve learned is that it’s not easy to stay hidden, at least over a long…

TIP Pay attention to the precise location of roosted gobblers. If you hear a tom in an unexpected locale, hunt him. It’s likely to be an easier-to-call satellite bird looking for hens. THE OLD-TIMERS who took me on my very first turkey hunts in the hard-hunted states of West Virginia, New York, Massachusetts, and Tennessee preached a spare-and-rare approach to calling. Bringing that mindset back to my home country in the Upper Midwest and Great Plains was a good idea—sometimes it even worked . But there were plenty of occasions when soft and subtle failed. Whether the country was too big, the wind was too strong, the toms were too aloof, or the hens were too plentiful, it was awfully tempting to break the rules and call loudly and often.…

NOTE The land values and budget used in this example assume average prices for prime deer hunting ground in the Midwest. Prices will vary by region and property. Whitetail hunting is divided between the haves and have-nots. Rich guys buy and lease the best properties or book hunts with expensive outfitters while Joe Six-Packs are left to grind it out on public land. It doesn’t have to be that way, at least according to Dan Perez, CEO of Whitetail Properties. Perez is a baron of whitetail country. His real estate company specializes in selling prime hunting land. Perez might deal mega-farms to millionaires, but his real passion is working with regular guys to buy property they never thought they’d be able to afford. His message: You don’t have to be…

Once black bears find a steady supply of live meat, they turn away from grass and carrion. If you find calving sites for elk and moose, black bears won’t be far away. Elk and moose have diff erent preferences for calving sites, but hiding cover is an important component for both. Elk in the Yellowstone area tend to calve in sagebrush on southern slopes that are free of snow and are further along in the green-up process. Elk in Washington prefer to calve in riparian areas. Moose generally move to their lowest elevations of the year just before calving season. They select moist pine and spruce forest to give birth and remain there for less than a week. Spring bear hunting in these calving zones calls for either spot-and-stalk approaches…

How near the end were you, really?” It was a hard question to ask John Sain, but I had to know. Sain is the man on our cover. His tale of hopelessness and perseverance anchors our feature about survivors. As you can read in the story, which starts on p. 38, Sain broke his leg while scrabbling over deadfall timber in pursuit of an Idaho backcountry bull elk. Alone and crippled miles from a trailhead, he crawled for the better part of four days until he was found. I had a chance to sit down with Sain a couple of months ago, and the pain and punishment of his ordeal lingered in the hitch in his gait and a wince in his eyes. “I knew it was over,” he told…

✖ 13 FISHING ARROWHEAD LINE GUIDE Baitcasting line guides aren’t sexy. In fact, most are quite mundane. The 13 Fishing Arrowhead line guide is oddly shaped, letting the line lay uniformly on the spool. This translates into fewer backlashes. ✖ IMPROVED WINN GRIPS If you’re a golfer, you’re familiar with Winn Grips. Many anglers, however, have yet to try these polymer handle wraps on their fishing rods. Winn continues to improve them, providing better handling, sensitivity, and eye appeal. Even our corkloving testers liked them. ✖ 13 FISHING PALMING PLATE Concealing casting controls under the palming plate is nothing new, nor is retaining the door. However, 13 Fishing has improved the design with a spring-loaded post that lets the plate swing up and out of the way of the delicate…

I n many places, from gun rooms to hunting camps, the number of long guns exceeds the available rack space. For less than $50 in materials and two hours of work, you can construct a rock-solid 18-gun stand that holds every long gun securely but gives you quick and ready access. Scopes are easily accommodated, and the rack fits in the footprint of a garbage can. All materials are easily procured at a typical hardware supply store. Two principle parts are the 5/4-inch-thickness rounds. The rounds are sold pre-cut to size and provide a very affordable and time-saving alternative to making them yourself. MATERIALS • One 1¼" x 24" diameter wood round • One 1¼" x 18" diameter wood round • Two 4" diameter PVC toilet flanges • One 4"…

John Sain had waited all year to chase rutting bull elk at a familiar public wilderness area north of Boise, Idaho. An access trail he wanted to use had been closed due to wildfires, but it finally opened again by mid-September, and Sain headed out on his own. “I got all my stuff together and hiked in about 5 miles that evening,” says Sain, a veteran backcountry elk hunter. “I set up my camp, had something to eat, and crawled into my little tent.” He was in good shape, and his gear was ready for the hunt ahead. Sain struck out early the next morning, and it didn’t take him long to get on a bugling bull. Wildfires had ravaged the area 20 years prior, so the weakened trees were…

PSYCHOLOGIST JOHN LEACH, a specialist in human responses to emergency situations, developed his “10/80/10 rule of survival” after examining a variety of crises and human reactions to them. According to Leach, 10 percent of people facing an emergency control their fears and act rationally. Eighty percent find themselves stunned and relatively unprepared to respond. The last 10 percent, Leach concluded, become hysterical, unable to cope with the situation at hand. To ensure you land in that top 10 percent, you should first understand the physiological processes your brain and body undergo during an emergency. THE SITUATION You’re hunting the backcountry and you’ve become separated from your party. A big storm is blowing in. Alone and lost, you realize you won’t make it back to camp before dark. HOW YOUR BODY…

The lore of the wilderness has seeped into many different facets of modern life. From movies, TV shows, and even cartoons, we may think we’ve picked up some handy tips about how to survive in the wild. But does pop-culture wisdom really pan out? Not always. Here are 26 common outdoor survival myths that are retold so often, you might already believe them. MYTHS ABOUT THE COLD 1 RUB FROSTBITTEN SKIN Don’t. Ever. Frostbite occurs when ice crystals form in your skin and other tissues. Rubbing the injury causes more tissue damage as the ice crystals lacerate new cells. Instead, treat the victim with painkillers as you slowly rewarm the tissue—frostbite hurts! 2 DRINKING LIQUOR WILL WARM YOU UP We’ve probably all seen the cartoon depicting a Saint Bernard…

SPRING GOBBLERS NEVER seem to come to your calls quickly enough and always seem to run away from them like a scalded cat. In actuality, they’re simply going about their daily routine. Learn what that routine is and you can intercept them along the way. ▶ DAWN For a dawn attack to work, you need to have scouted and identified the exact location of a consistently used roost. You must also know the landing zone of birds in that roost. Fidgety hunters should stake a commercial ground blind within shooting range days or weeks in advance of the season. Accomplish that chore while turkeys loaf elsewhere. Set it so the rising sun doesn’t illuminate the inside of the blind. Move into ambush position at least 30 to 45 minutes prior…

Your 40-acre property is in prime whitetail country and sells for $3,800 per acre, costing $152,000. You have great credit and put 20 percent down, which is $30,400. You’re now financing $121,600 on a 25-year loan at 4.5 percent interest. Your annual payment will be $8,112 (including interest). Of your 40 acres, 24 are agriculture. You have average soil and get $300 per acre for leasing the ag ground, earning you $7,200 cash rent per year. You end up paying $8,112 – $7,200 = $912 annually. After 25 years, you will have paid about $53,000 for the property, which will now start turning a profit. At a 5 percent compounded appreciation rate, the property will now be worth about $514,000.…

DID YOU KNOW Stevens’ 320 shotgun (see below) traces its lineage back to the Browning-designed 520 and 620 pump shotguns. 1 DUPE Ultra-portable dekes PRIMOS GOBBSTOPPER DECOY COMBO • Fold-up turkey decoys should travel unnoticed in your vest until you need them, then look like the real thing when you pull them out. Primos’ Gobbstopper Combo meets three critical criteria: They’re lightweight and fold up compactly. They’re versatile, mimicking a three-position hen and a three-quarter-strut jake. And the high-def paint scheme is realistic. Mesh carry bag is included. ($40; primos.com) 2 LOCATE Polycarb crow caw FLAMBEAU MAD SMOKIN’ SERIES LOCATOR CALLS • Get that tom to gobble with one of these new, aff ordable, and easy-to-blow locator calls. Flambeau’s new Smokin’ Series features a crow call, an owl hooter, and…