Innehållsförteckning för October 2020 från Game & Fish West

With an entire week dedicated to all things deer hunting, #DeerWeek airs Sept. 14 to 20 starting at 7 p.m. ET on Outdoor Channel and Sportsman Channel. Featuring the best deer hunting programming on TV, #DeerWeek will be hosted by Jeff Danker and country music star Tyler Farr. Additional programming will be available for streaming on MyOutdoorTV throughout September, all brought to you by Academy, Old Trapper and Forloh. For a complete schedule, original recipes and more information, visit deerweek.com.…

Partway through the meat-recovery operation, when the backstraps had been carried across the lake and one rear leg was dragged on the shore, Neil stopped and asked if we were going to get hypothermia. We were breaking ice at the shoreline, which meant the temperature had dropped below freezing. That was when I realized how warm I was. Certainly the adrenaline played a part, but I was also dressed in a base layer from Grays Harbor Unders. Except for the parts of my legs actually underwater, I was dry, warm and comfortable despite having fallen down in the freezing water. Amy wore a base layer and good clothes for the conditions. Cousin Neil, by contrast, was wearing blue jeans and a camo flannel shirt. He must have been really cold…

Hunt long enough and you’ll find yourself in a situation where you have to try to follow a blood trail after dark. Doing so successfully is especially critical in hot weather, when leaving an animal overnight will result in meat spoilage. And while blood-trailing is as much of an art as it is a science, and each situation is unique, there are some rules of thumb that will dramatically increase your chances of successfully recovering game. FIRST THINGS FIRST Daylight is running out fast. You’ve been hunting hard for hours. The deer or elk you have been waiting for appears and gives you a shot, which you take. At this very instant many hunters lose focus, and that can make their tracking job much harder. When you shoot an animal…

The best hunters I know are those who cut their teeth in the blacktail woods. Blacktails are secretive and challenging, and hunting them successfully requires a continual building of knowledge that can only be acquired through time in the woods. Conduct youth hunts to suit the young person’s desire and endurance. If they don’t want to hunt all day, don’t push it. You want them to come to love hunting—and nobody loves a death march. Focus on prime morning and evening hours. Rain is ideal weather for hunting blacktails, as it covers movement and knocks down your scent. Make sure your young hunter is well dressed for the conditions. Seeing deer is fun; being cold and wet is not. Carry shooting sticks and don’t rush the shot. Coach young hunters…

Water is one of the most important items in my pack. I fill a hydration bladder and take a filter bottle for backup. If I know I’ll come across streams during a hunt, I’ll drink as much water as I can all day long. If I’m hunting high in the mountains where water is scarce, I’ll ration it. Nothing keeps me physically and mentally sharp like staying hydrated. High-protein, nutrient-dense, high-energy snacks and a sandwich are also always in my pack. Take a knife, a sharpening steel, rope, game bags, a headlamp and extra batteries. October elk are often killed in the evening, and they hold a lot of heat, so they must be boned out and cooled immediately. Don’t be content with simply gutting a bull and returning the…

1. CALIFORNIA (VALLEY) QUAIL: They’re found primarily in the coastal states but also in eastern Washington, Idaho, Nevada and Utah. They prefer broken chaparral, woodland edges, coastal scrub, parks, farms, open oak woodland and streamside growth—but they are skilled at adapting to their environments and sometimes can be found in suburbs, semi-desert situations, piñon-juniper woods and grasslands. They hold well for dogs but are also known to run like the wind. 2. GAMBEL’S QUAIL: Found in the brushy washes and cactus-studded arroyos of the Southwest, they are notorious runners and rarely hold tight, even when using pointing dogs. They love rocky terrain with thick cactus. 3. SCALED (BLUE) QUAIL: These hard-running devils inhabit southeastern Arizona, New Mexico, southern Colorado, west Texas, and parts of southeastern Colorado and western Oklahoma. Along…

We all like to travel and fish new water, but it’s important to remember that some of the places we fish contain invasive species that are easily spread to our home waters. The best way to stop the spread of Didymo (rock snot), zebra mussels, New Zealand mud snails and chytrid fungus is to clean waders, boots, float tubes and pontoon boats with high pressure hot water and a good cleaning agent like Pro-Cure’s Bad Azz foamy soap. Let the gear dry outside for 48 hours between trips.…

Started in 1995, the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism’s Walk-In Hunting Access (WIHA) Program is one of the first, biggest and most successful public-access initiatives in the country. While numbers of participating properties fluctuate, there is typically more than 1 million acres enrolled in WIHA each year. Land enrolled can be in CRP, native rangeland, wheat or milo stubble, and riparian or wetland areas. Many WIHA lands in the western part of the state are great for pheasant hunting, and because of habitat overlap, bobwhite quail can be found on many. Same goes for those in the central part of the state. Eastern Kansas walk-in areas often have pretty good quail numbers, with only an occasional pheasant. While paper maps can be found with a little searching, the…

Idaho Fish and Game estimates the state’s moose population at 10,000 to 12,000 animals.The agency issued 560 antlered tags and 74 antlerless tags for each of the 2019 and 2020 seasons. Populations are monitored through hunter success rates, the number of days needed to harvest a moose, antler spread and other information derived from carcasses. When a hunter tags a moose, additional data can be collected. In the field, Neil and I collected blood samples and obtained nasal swabs. We looked for ticks on the animal and did not find any. When we checked in the moose the next day, a game officer extracted a tooth, which will be sectioned to determine the animal’s age. The antler spread was 42 1/2 inches from tip to tip.…

A binocular and a tripod shooting stick are my two most valuable pieces of blacktail gear. I glass while on the move, even in thick timber and brush, searching for parts of a deer. A tripod is far steadier than a bipod or monopod, and doubles as my walking stick. A spotting scope and quality tripod are invaluable for pre-season scouting. While a binocular is best when you are on the move, it’s easier to see game with a spotting scope when you are glassing from a stationary position. I’ll spend hours dissecting prime habitat with a powerful spotting scope, as covering ground with my eyes instead of my feet is more efficient and doesn’t spook game. A wind check bottle allows me to monitor wind direction, and a headlamp…

Classically speaking, quail hunting is as much about good dog work as it is about fine shotguns and covey rises. After all, many a Southern hunting lodge is adorned with oil paintings of stoic pointers locked up on cowering bobwhites. But out West, where running quail species like Gambel’s, scaled (blue) and California quail predominate in a rough-and-tumble environment filled with hazards like sharp rocks, thorny brush and cactus, bird dogs are not only unnecessary for filling your upland vest, they can be detrimental to the effort. “I have clients who bring their dogs, but just as often as not, they cost us as many or more birds than they find for us,” says DuWane Adams of Arizona Big Game Hunting (520-385-4995; azbiggamehunting.com ). In addition to being one of…

The light on the water was the color of pewter and the leaves along the shore glowed orange-gold. We waded this October tailwater carefully, keeping our flies out of the willows and junipers and in the current seams that folded around the rocks. On October tailwaters, a person soon learns that the best way to catch fish in the absence of a hatch is to go small and heavy. For me on this morning, that meant a tungsten-beaded No. 16 Flashback Pheasant Tail and a No. 20 Beadhead Bubble Back. My friend Jeff Perin, a fly shop owner and confessed fly snob, rigged with a Beerhead Baetis with a trailing a Prince Nymph. The trout seemed to throw up their fins in surrender. I caught them on the Bubble Back…

A Kansas license for hunting upland gamebirds costs a nonresident just a little more than $100, which is a bargain in my book. Buy it online before going if possible, because it can be somewhat tricky to get a license from a local agent the day before the opener. Keep it on your person when hunting, as game wardens diligently check hunters to ensure they are properly licensed. Most small Kansas towns have a cheap hotel or two, and nearly all love visiting hunters. Plan ahead and find a room well before your trip, as you’ll likely have a hard time finding lodging if you wait till just before the season starts. Bird hunting attracts lots of outof-towners to local areas. Airbnb and VRBO offer some opportunities, although many owners…

October is National Hunting and Fishing Month. Like “National Hot Dog Day” (July 22) and “International Left-Handers Day” (Aug. 13), this one is as empty as your pickup’s coin tray if you need an excuse to miss an appointment. But use it as a reason to hunt a spot you’ve never been or to introduce a newbie to fishing. Here are some can’t-miss opportunities around the region. They may not all result in a buck on your game pole or fish on your stringer, but they’ll add texture to this best of all months in the West. 1 TILLAMOOK BAY SALMON In case you missed the best chinook salmon bite on the West Coast—inside the mouth of the Columbia River—you have a good consolation prize here in Oregon’s dairy…

Feeding along the edge of a Douglas fir forest, the buck never knew we were near. “Hand me the shooting sticks,” whispered my dad, Jerry. He proceeded to make a perfect shot with his .260 Nosler and was notching his tag moments later. “I thought you wanted a big buck this season,” I said, smiling as we walked up on the young 1x3 Columbia blacktail. “So did I, until last night when Mom told me we were out of venison,” he said. Dad, who turns 80 in two months‚ took that 1x3 four seasons ago and has taken young bucks every season since. If you’re looking to put meat in the freezer, setting your sights on any legal blacktail, rather than strictly a trophy-class buck, is the place to start.…

With 15 minutes of legal shooting light remaining, the bull I’d been chasing all day finally emerged from the timber. I had initially spotted him at first light when he aggressively bugled at every call I threw out. Though the bull was quick to challenge my calls, he wouldn’t budge. However, even at 800 yards I could see he was a bull I wanted to target. Due to the rugged canyons along the Snake River, it took me most of the day to reach him as I moved through multiple massive draws and around ridges. During the midday hike, temperatures climbed into the 70s, and two herds of elk worked their way into expansive, timbered valleys through which I advanced. I called and moved, moved and called. By late afternoon…

Using “enough gun” is important in dog-less quail hunting. After trying everything from 20- and 28-gauge over/unders to 12-gauge pumps and autoloaders, and chokes ranging from improved cylinder to full, I have settled on a 12-gauge with a modified choke. Your barrel needn’t be long. I prefer the same 21-inch barrel I use for turkey hunting, which makes for fast handling and easy maneuvering through thick brush. Just as important is your shell selection. These birds are tough and flush wildly—light loads combined with open chokes is a formula for crippling. My go-to shell is a sporting clays load with 1 1/8 ounces of No. 6 or 7 1/2 shot traveling at 1,350 fps. On days when the birds flush more wildly than normal, I use Federal Premium Upland loads…

Bob Quigley left a legacy of great fly patterns that many of us have fished over the last decade or more. Because of his ground-breaking work, we look at trout flies in a different way than we did before he started tying. Quigley’s Film Critic mimics a mayfly nymph caught in the surface tension, its legs dangling beneath and its shuck not fully shed. It’s the moment when a mayfly is most likely to be sipped by a cruising rainbow. It comes in various colors, but this one imitates the blue-winged olive. Tie this Film Critic with brown thread on a No. 16 or 18 Tiemco 2487. For the shuck, use copper Z-Lon and two mallard fibers. Build the body with brown Antron dubbing and rib with red Ultra Wire…

In the small town of Hartsel northeast of the Dream Stream, you’ll find gas, some groceries and fishing supplies. There are two restaurants in Hartsel—the Hopp (pizza) and the Highline Café and Saloon. Aside from lodging at the Chapparal General Store, Woodland Park (45 miles) and Buena Vista (30 miles) have excellent accommodations, shopping and emergency facilities. I always recommend using a good guide as a way to learn the ropes on new waters, especially if you’ll be fishing for several days. Colorado is blessed with many expert guides, and I recommend the following for a visit to the Dream Stream: Trout’s Fly Shop, Denver (877-464-0034; troutsflyfishing.com) Blue Quill Angler, Evergreen (303-674-4700; bluequillangler.com) The Peak Fly Shop, Colorado Springs (719-260-1415, thepeakflyshop.com) ArkAnglers, Buena Vista (719-395-1796; arkanglers.com) Landon Mayer (landonmayerflyfishing.com)…

Hunters have lots of options come fall that don’t include members of the deer family. Upland birds, early migrating waterfowl and small game are all on the table—or they will be with the right setup and some luck. The new shotguns and rimfires now available to hunt these species are as varied as the birds and animals themselves. Be it a weatherproof workhorse 12-gauge or a super accurate .22 LR, each firearm in this roundup offers features that hunters will appreciate. The hardest decision may be choosing what to hunt with them, but luckily the best part of the year is only about to start. SHOTGUNS SAVAGE RENEGAUGE FIELD The American-made Renegauge is the first semi-automatic shotgun to wear the Savage name, and the company’s engineers spent nearly eight years…