Innehållsförteckning för August 2017 från Outdoor Life

Miles City, MT/ 4:06 p.m. Willow was hot on the trail of a rooster when she encountered a corral fence. A younger, more agile dog might have run around it, squeezed through it, or even jumped the obstacle. But Willow, 12 years old and—if we’re being honest—a litt le portly, simply sat down and waited for editor-inchief Andrew McKean to lift her over. Aft er he photographed the moment, Bill Buckley asked McKean for the same assistance. The request was denied. (Turn to p. 48 for more on Willow.)…

Most great campfire debates will never be settled, but for now, the case is closed on an old favorite: Which breed makes the best hunting dog? The (registered) numbers don’t lie, and earlier this year the American Kennel Club named the Labrador retriever the most popular purebred in the country—for the 26th year running. Now, those numbers don’t specify the best sporting dog, but they are a good indicator. Here’s a look at a few of the breeds OL favored back in the day, long before the Lab was crowned—for now—king. TOP DOGS Although the American cocker spaniel reigned from 1936 to 1952 at the top of AKC’s charts, OL had its own ideas. Dog editor William Cary Duncan pointedly rejected it as a “bona fide sporting dog” in…

This year’s field of compounds features sharp, capable hunting machines, many of which were contenders for the top spot. With a collection this impressive, it’s no wonder the rankings hinged on just a few points between our Editor’s Choice and its closest competitor. Yet, some of these bows stretched the definition of “new.” Several of last year’s flagship models have been tweaked—a lengthened riser here, a fresh camo finish there, a reworked grip or two— and presented as new. Advancements in compound bow technology have come so far, so fast, it’s a bit greedy to expect radical redesigns every year from every manufacturer. Why change a good thing? they’d probably argue. But we’d be less than honest if we said we didn’t find ourselves looking for a bit more innovation…

When I visited Cree River last summer, I fell into the same big-lurefor- big-fish swoon, and cast (with a degree of difficulty) a 1-pound plastic duck imitation that burbled and spit as its eager yellow feet churned on the retrieve. Babcock told me to put away that contraption, which he labeled my “super-silly sputter cluck” (its real name is the Suicide Duck), and handed me a lure so quintessentially Canadian that I thought he was putting me on. It was a red-andwhite spoon, exactly like the classic Dardevle. Painted in the middle of its convex side, however, was a maple leaf instead of a picture of a jaunty devil with horns. I promptly caught a 36-inch pike on that spoon—the $3.99 price tag from Canadian Tire still stuck to its…

S ometimes pheasant, ruffed grouse, bobwhite quail, and woodcock behave perfectly and present upland hunters with dream shots. But most times, the pressure of a dog’s point and flush makes them play all sorts of games. Wild birds learn quickly—it only takes a few dog contacts to turn early-season gimmes into challenging mid- and late-season shots. When woodcock run through the alders, they’re about as graceful—and linear—as a running back busting through a defensive line. Behavior that is predictably unpredictable is part of the fun of hunting wild upland birds. Savvy wingshooters try to up their odds of bagging birds by varying their chokes and staggering their loads to match these dynamic conditions. The majority of wild gamebirds are killed on the first shot. These are closer shots, but they…

You don’t need a Bavarian mountain hound from Poland to blood-track deer. Almost any breed of dog can be trained to follow a blood trail, says Timmens, who judges tracking-dog competitions and has seen Labs, pointers, basset hounds, dachshunds, and even a Chihuahua follow trails. These steps will get your dog into the blood-trailing game. 1. READ UP. Check out Tracking Dogs for Finding Wounded Deer, by John Jeanneney. This is essential reading for anyone interested in tracking dogs. But also make sure that bloodtracking big game is legal in your area. 2. MEET WITH A LOCAL PRO. There are trackingdog clubs all across the country that offer training days and seminars. It’s way easier to learn from a veteran trainer than to figure it out on your own. 3.…

Here’s what veteran trainer Nancy Anisfield recommends for hunting with a hot-rod upland dog. 1. RANGE HIM RIGHT. You decide the range that the dog hunts, not the other way around. Generally, the faster you walk, the farther your dog will range. If you slow down, it’s easier to bring him in closer. 2. WHISTLE OR BUZZ. Sometimes you’ll want the dog to range way out, but you don’t want to be yelling across the prairie for him to come back. So train your hard-charging dog to return on a whistle (which is easier for him to hear than hollering) or to the buzz of his e-collar.…

IN THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF PORTLAND, EVERY OTHER BLOCK FEATURES AN ARTISANAL SOMETHING— FURNITURE, BEER, FOOD, SOAP…YOU NAME IT. STRIP AWAY THE EARNESTLY HIP VICTORIAN-STYLE WAXED MUSTACHES AND FACTORY-RIPPED JEANS COATED IN BICYCLE GREASE, AND YOU FIND A KNIFE CULTURE THAT PREDATES COOL, PREDATES EVEN THE HIPPIES WHO SETTLED IN THE AREA IN THE 1960S. IN FACT, BLADE CULTURE HERE GOES BACK TO THE DAYS OF THE OREGON TRAIL. THERE ARE MORE KNIFE COMPANIES OREGON, IN THE PORTLAND AREA, THAN IN ANY OTHER STATE IN THE UNION. IT’S A THRIVING INDUSTRY, WITH MANUFACTURERS EMPLOYING THOUSANDS OF WORKERS ALONGSIDE SMALLER OUTFITS THAT EMPLOY ONLY A FEW. PUT IT ALL TOGETHER AND YOU’VE GOT THE KNIFE CAPITAL OF THE USA. THE PIONEERS It’s spring, and I take a road trip around Portland…

THE ONLY TIME it’s not dorky to win a world championship with a bugle is if said bugle is in reference to the sound an elk makes, not the little brass instrument. By this definition, Bryan Langley is the least dorky man on the planet, by virtue of the Oregon native’s win in the 2017 World Elk Calling Championship. This was the third world championship title for the 51-year-old. So, yes, if you have an elk-calling question, this is the guy to ask. So, we did . TIP Post-rut bulls might not be responsive to calling, but cow elk mews and chirps are a great way to cover footfalls when you’re still-hunting. Q: OUTDOOR LIFE: HOW DO YOU HANDLE QUIET BULLS? A: BRYAN LANGLEY: That’s a tough one. If they…

Beer or deer? In a growing number of states, nonresident college students don’t have to choose. They can get a hunting license and still have some money left over, thanks to laws that allow full-time, nonresident college students to buy resident hunting or fishing licenses. “I’m paying for my own school and all my expenses, so I’m on a very tight budget,” says Kyle Price, an Ohio resident attending West Virginia University. “I probably would not have hunted in West Virginia if I had to pay nonresident prices.” A year’s worth of small-game, deer, and turkey hunting, along with fishing, would have cost him about $300 in license fees. Thanks to the student waiver, Price paid less than $60. He is exactly the type of person that former New Hampshire…

Both Weatherby and Syren USA are gearing up to meet the challenge and demand for rigorously designed, quality firearms for women. Aft er putt ing hundreds of shells and rounds through the Syren XLR5 Waterfowler and Weatherby Camilla over six months of testing and hunting, here are my impressions. WEATHERBY CAMILLA Camilla was Roy Weatherby’s wife, and by all accounts she was a class act. So it is fitt ing that Weatherby’s first women’s-specific rifle carries her name. Aft er range testing, I took the Camilla hunting in Namibia. The Camilla is built around the proven Vanguard Series 2 action and comes with Weatherby’s sub-MOA guarantee. It’s offered in .243 Win., 6.5 Creedmoor, 7mm-08 Rem., and .308 Win. All have a 13-inch length-of-pull, 20-inch blued barrel, 5+1 magazine capacity (4+1…

A FAMILIAR STORY ▸ I read my life almost in duplicate in the story “Alone Together” [June/July 2017]. I felt the author’s pain so well that we could have been twins. Grampa died from booze-induced liver cancer, Dad drank himself to death when he was 42, and my son hanged himself whition. Thank you for sharing the reality of the trauma of a mental illness that so many of us have, or have known in our loved ones. You have done a service by openly addressing a normally taboo subject. Chic Barnett Helena, MT INTO THE LIGHT ▸ I was deeply moved by “Alone Together.” It’s an unusual article for an outdoor magazine, but the author successfully ties his hunting experiences to his relationship with his dad, without denigrating him—yet…

A sking another angler to reveal his hotspot is the ultimate breach of fishing etiquett e, and I was guilty—a heinous blunder at first handshake. Impressively, Dustin Wichterman avoided the clichéd if-I-tell-you-I’ll-have-to-killyou response. Instead, he pointed generally into the hills surrounding our campground in West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle. “Up there. It’s not far, just a short drive,” he says. “I want to show you a few places where we’ve been doing some work.” The “up there” of Wichterman’s narrative were trout streams, approximately 100 “patches” of which lay within the region generally referred to as the Potomac Headwaters. A patch—or a stretch of stream where genetically interconnected populations of brook trout live—can be as short as ¼ mile or measure 10 miles. As the Potomac Headwaters program manager for Trout…

Nine out of 10 bowhunters in the Idaho Panhandle don’t kill an elk in any given year. The country is steep, deep, and brush-choked. But Jim Kane has bowhunted here for 36 years, and has killed 30 bulls. His son Matt is 12 for 14; two of his last three bulls carried more than 300 inches of bone. So what makes the Kanes so successful? It starts with their attitude— confidence and positivity—that focuses their attention on details and pushes them harder, both physically and mentally, through the big acreages of rough public land where they hunt. “Attitude and mental preparedness are more important than calling skills and experience,” says the elder Kane. In addition to that mindset (and some friendly family competition), here are seven other things that the…

We’ve been here a hundred times, you and me, hunting the old slough behind the line of ratt le-branch cottonwoods. We stay away during deer season, but only partly because we both think a big old Milk River buck might show up someday and we don’t want to scare him off. The main reason is that the pheasants don’t pile into the slough until it starts gett ing cold, in December. Aft er the ice freezes the black water, the roosters tuck into the cattails to keep warm and digest crops full of barley and wheat, and that’s where we find them on aft ernoons like this, the wind cutt ing through our coats and fresh tracks in the new snow. We both know where the old roosters are holding,…

To date, 29 states allow the use of dogs for hunting fall turkeys. But before you decide to grab your vest, decoys, and Lab to take a run at some fall flocks, consider these points. 1. KNOW THE GAME. Fall turkey dogging bears litt le resemblance to spring gobbler hunts. In fall, turkeys are typically found in gobbler groups or flocks made up of multiple adult hens and poults. Dogs are used to disperse the flocking birds, which are keen to remain together. Once turkeys have been scatt ered, they will att empt to re-call and oft en gather at the precise point of the flock break. And this is where hunters should be waiting. By matching the tone and cadence of the first re-calling bird, you can oft en…

Worn inside his hoodie or out, MURRAY CARTER’S NECK KNIFE is always within easy reach. It’s a fixed-blade, as opposed to a folding pocketknife with an obvious weak point at the hinge. It provides a unique tactical advantage, should the need arise, but most often, it’s a way to display his craft, to get the conversation started. He ends up giving away many of those knives right offhis neck. It may not be great for the bottom line, but then again, that’s how Joseph Gerber began his business, which started all of this. As a self-defense instructor, longtime Benchmade employee Vance Collver has put some thought into why he carries a modified version of BENCHMADE’S TRIAGE. He likes the blaze-orange color, glass breaker, strap cutter, and blade, of course. “It’s…

Every dog story ends the same way . (Spoiler alert: The dog doesn’t make it.) So why do we do it? Why do we intentionally introduce heartache into our life when we introduce a puppy into our home? The easy answer is that the rewards—in companionship and hunting success with a canine partner—far outweigh the regret. Besides, if you are a dog person, not having a dog in your life is unthinkable, even though you have a pretty good idea of what will happen 12 to 14 years into the relationship. I suppose I knew how Willow’s time with me and my family would end when she joined us as a pup. But those early days seemed blissfully endless. My kids were young, and they grew up with a puppy…

MATHEWS FOR TWO YEARS now, the Mathews Halon has been one of the best bows in the game. The Halon 32-5 is a longer version of 2016’s Halon in a 5-inch brace height (also available in 6- or 7-inch brace heights). The resulting rig is more stable and a bit heavier, and it launches arrows nearly perfectly. Everything about this bow feels right, and we all appreciated the easy draw and comfortable grip. Testers lauded the Halon 32-5 for its consistency on the 3D range; meanwhile, it turned in speeds of 338.5 fps (the fastest compound tested). The Halon 32-5 was just as smooth as its slower peers, proving that a speed bow can also be an enjoyable shooter. The bow is an excellent allaround hunting rig, but we knocked…

The market for crossbows continues to grow, as state aft er state allows their use in archery deer seasons. But following years of evolution, it appears crossbow manufacturers have reached an innovation plateau. Submissions to this year’s test are not only strikingly similar to last year’s models, they are relative clones of one another, achieving comparable speeds and sporting similar features like cocking and anti-dryfire mechanisms. This replication is understandable when you learn that a handful of companies manufacture bows for many of the brands that slap their name on them. Barnett , for instance, not only produces its flagship Ghost 420, but it also made this year’s bows branded by Cabela’s and Browning. That is not to say that there’s nothing new in the world of crossbows. Our testers…

Working dogs are on the front lines—literally—of almost every bird hunt. The safe return of your canine companion defines a successful hunt, whether you bagged any birds or not. Spend enough time behind your dog, and you’ll eventually have to steer him around or through danger. Here are some common—and uncommon— ways you might endanger your dog in the field. 1 SEND HIM INTO AN ICY RIVER Most waterfowling north of the Mason-Dixon Line takes place in freezing weather. Lakes can be wholly or partially frozen, and rivers can run fast with frigid water. Keeping your dog out of trouble in cold water starts with restraint: Don’t shoot birds if they might drop in strong, swirling current. If you must send your dog into swift water, scout a downstream extrication…

Scratch hunts as if every day were his last, perhaps because he has already faced offwith the Grim Reaper—twice. The massive German shorthaired pointer weighs 75 pounds and can easily rest his head on the dining room table. His lanky, long legs are always reaching as he runs all-out, to hell with trees, briars, barbed wire, or other dogs. Scratch’s owner, Nancy Anisfield is the polar opposite of her dog—calm, levelheaded, and a careful hunter. But she lets Scratch run big. He’s a three-ring circus of trips, stumbles, cuts, and head bumps. On his very first quail hunt, the 11-month-old Scratch was run over by a Jeep. It was one of those fancy big rigs that some quail plantations use, with platforms for hunters and boxes for the dogs. But…

Time is a peculiar thing indeed. It can crawl along ever so slowly, or race past in a blink And sometimes, it seems to do both. Such is the case with bow season. Just yesterday, it seemed so far off. Today? It’s practically here. Are you ready ? If you’ve allowed the archery opener to creep up on you, rest easy—all is not lost. There’s still time to get yourself in shape for your best bow season ever. But you need to get started— right now. TUNE IT The first task to address is a critical one. To get your entire rig into shooting shape, you must also focus on your broadheads. We’re not talking about a fullscale tuning session here. Instead, the goal is simple: Hit the target where…

97% of the jobs in cutlery and handtool manufacturing in Oregon are in the Portland area. These statewide stats are essentially Portland stats, says Nick Beleiciks, an employment economist with the Oregon Employment Department. oregon’s knife industry $138 million in wages 36 companies 2,200 people employed $63,000 annual salary oregon’s fishing industry $17.2 million in wages 136 companies/individuals 266 employees $65,000 annual salary oregon’s wineries $100 million in wages 295 companies 3,000 employees $33,000 annual salary…

IT WAS ONE OF those rare setups that come along only so often The majority of oaks had dropped their bounty in late September, but one gnarled white oak had held its acorns just a bit longer. Those falling nuts were now drawing deer like an ice cream truck draws neighborhood kids. TIP Whether you have fixed or adjustable sights, use a permanent marker to note the location of each pin aft er sighting in. This will assure you at a glance that your sight hasn’t moved. I’d situated a treestand in the only available option—a slightly leaning cherry tree that was 44 yards from the base of the oak. After settling into the stand, I set the dial on my single-pin sight for 40 yards and waited for the…