Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2021 i Game & Fish West

A prairie grouse or pheasant hunt can be over in a few minutes if you find pockets of close-holding birds, but more typically it’s long, warm days covering miles of country. That puts a premium on both mobility and your ability to pack plenty of water. Good boots, a lightweight gun and a vest that can carry plenty of groceries will stand you in good stead. CHIEF UPLAND OVER/UNDER VEST This is a serious vest for all-day hunting. The pockets are modular, so you can attach them to the MOLLE webbing however they fit your style, and you can add pouches for water, electronics and sundries. An ergonomic, front-loading bird bag; rugged hardware; and capacity for plenty of water, shells, snacks and multi-tools make this a hard-wearing companion to cross-country…

October is a time of searching for big blacktail bucks. To do this effectively, invest in the best optics you can afford. A 10x42 mm binocular is ideal—something you can look through and hike with all day. If you really want to take your glassing game to the next level, a spotting scope is a must. Go with the highest magnification and glass quality you can afford and a style that’s comfortable. A well-built tripod is vital, especially when glassing on windy days or from soft ground. If you want to study bucks closer, consider a digiscoping adapter. My binocular of choice is Swarovski’s 10x42 EL Range. My spotting scope is also a Swarovski, an ATX with a 65 mm eyepiece and 65, 85 and 95 mm lenses. It’s atop…

Type: over-under shotgun Gauge, Chambers: 16, 2 3/4" (tested) Capacity: 2 rounds Receiver: aluminum alloy, engraved Safety: tang-mounted automatic with barrel selector Barrels: 28"; vent rib; gloss blue finish Sights: fiber-optic front bead Stock: AA-grade satin walnut; Prince Of Wales Length of Pull: 14 1/4" Drop at Heel: 2" Drop at Comb: 1 1/2" Overall Length: 46 1/4" Weight: 5.8 lbs. Accessories: 5 extended Mobil choke tubes (C, IC, M, IM, F); fitted hard case MSRP: $2,099 franchiusa.com…

FALL FOR BASS What do the pros throw for bass once autumn colors arrive? Get some great advice in “5 Best Baits for Bass in the Fall,” and be ready when the bite turns on. SHOOT WITH AIR Air rifles are no longer just for backyard plinking. In “The Modern Air Rifle,” Mike Seeklander puts them to the test, including the .50-caliber Umarex Hammer. DEER GEAR ... AND HOW TO USE IT With advice you can turn to throughout deer season, “Gear Up & Hunt” highlights equipment, tactics and destinations for the hard-core whitetail hunter. TASTY HARVEST As you fill your freezer this deer season, plan some awesome field-to-table meals with our recipe archive. “10 Most Popular Venison Recipes” is a good place to start. WHITETAIL WISDOM Know how to…

On many state and federal lands, and in all of California, the use of lead ammunition is illegal. Today, there are several non-toxic shot options that, while pricier than lead shot, will do the job quite well. These include shotshells filled with steel, bismuth-tin or tungsten pellets. Remember that non-toxic shot performs differently than lead. Generally speaking, I find that in 12- and 20-gauge shotguns, steel 3s and 4s do well on pheasants, while steel 6s and 7s work well on quail and grouse. Extra velocity is required with steel since it’s lighter than lead and doesn’t carry as much energy downrange. Conversely, bismuth-tin and tungsten shot are denser and heavier than lead, meaning you can drop down in shot size, all other things being equal. Here, 6s and 7s…

The transition from backyard loafing or weekend bumper work to a full-on prairie bird hunt can be tough on even younger, fit dogs. It can be downright unpleasant or even fatal for older or out-of-shape hounds. Jerry Havel, who works with Eukanuba as a field expert and runs Pineridge Grouse Camp (pineridgegrousecamp.com) where he hunts with English setters and a favorite Lab or two, describes the preseason work to get your dog in shape as a gentle slope. “It’s not really a transition so much as an increase in conditioning a little every day,” says Havel. “You’re laying the foundation for fall hunting season, so consistency is very important.” Havel hears all the time from traveling hunters who worry that their pointer that is an ace on plantation quail won’t…

Keep the rod locked and loaded when looking at a piece of water for the first time. Look for the edges where fast and slow water comes together. These are feeding lanes. Is there a line of foam? That’s another feeding lane. If trout are rising, that’s a good clue, but most feeding activity takes place beneath the surface. Is there a shelf where the water is only 12 to 24 inches deep? Light penetration is good in such places and bug life will be abundant. With practice, these first questions can be answered quickly when observing a new spot, but there is more to reading a trout stream. Pick up a few rocks, turn them over and look for caddis tubes, stoneflies and mayfly nymphs. Down along the water’s…

Good e-bikes scale steep hills, travel long distances and support heavy loads. QuietKat’s 2021 Apex ($4,999 to $5,599; quietkat.com) does this and more. It has a 750-, 1,000- or 1,500-watt mid-drive motor to climb difficult terrain and take users farther. The 750-watt Apex serves as a Class 2 e-bike, with a throttle-actuated motor that stops assisting when the bike hits 20 mph. Users can remove the thumb throttle to make it Class 1 compliant, too. Bikes use a lithium-ion 14.5 amp-hour (Ah), 48-volt (V) or 17.5 Ah, 52 V battery, depending on the model. I hunted with the 1,000-watt Apex last spring, and it easily tackled everything from steep hills to soggy marshes. And the color display made viewing pedal-assist settings and remaining battery life simple. Other features include fat,…

Across the West this month, the hunting table is set with deer and elk seasons and side dishes of antelope and upland birds. But it’s worth noting a couple of changes. This is the first year that youth hunters in Utah can buy unlimited numbers of bull tags, and Idaho now has a cap on nonresident hunters, which means that residents will have more opportunity, especially around backcountry destinations. If you don’t have a spot to hunt, read on. And while most of the West is distracted with terrestrial and avian game, it’s a great month for anglers, too. 1 PYRAMID LAKE CUTTHROATS Fishing season for the largest cutthroats in the world, the Lahontan cutts of this windswept lake near Reno, opens October 1 after a three-month closure.The weather is…

The text came from my hunting buddy, Chris Stewart, and all it said was “I got it!” I knew exactly what he was talking about. For two years, Stewart had been hunting a specific blacktail buck, and it appeared he’d finally connected with it. Then another text came through: “I totally misjudged it, though!” This was his way of saying he underestimated its size. When I caught up with him later that day, the 154-inch rack more than commanded my attention. “He wasn’t 200 yards from where I’d been watching him all summer, and less than 100 yards from where I saw him one time last season, but couldn’t get a shot,” he said. Stewart is one of the most successful blacktail hunters I know, and he and his family…

Aside from comfortable clothing, a quality pack and an accurate rifle, the most important tools for October elk hunts in the Rockies are calls. I like sharp, crisp, loud bugles and cow calls that will carry through big country and penetrate bad weather. You can influence entire herds with calls, but delivering very aggressive sounds is often the key. Don’t be afraid to use loud bugles, grunts and chuckles. Estrus calls can also be effective. As for Roosevelt elk gear, few things have taught me more about these animals in recent years than trail cameras. I run Stealth Cam DS4K Ultimate cameras on video mode to see and hear how elk are behaving. I’ve had DS4K Ultimate cameras get pounded with rain for months and covered in snow for weeks…

BH October Caddis Bird’s Nest The Bird’s Nest is a classic, and this version of it is purpose-built for late September and October when caddis may be found throughout the water column. Look for current seams and foam lines. Dead-drift this pattern beneath a strike indicator, or you can high-stick it and watch the leader. At the end of the drift, allow the fly to swing, then rise up in the water column. Add another emerger on a dropper to increase the effectiveness. Fish emerger caddis patterns in Nos.12 to 14. Bird’s Octoberfest Caddis No amount of sloppy casting or cluster of 18-inch cutthroats is going to sink this pattern with its foam underwing and tail. The wing presents that caddis fly profile fish see as it lights on the…

The Metolius River, also part of the Deschutes drainage, is a great place to extend your central-Oregon fishing trip. Arising near Black Butte near the community of Camp Sherman, the spring-fed Metolius, which literally begins by bubbling right out of the ground, is a wild trout stream home to gorgeous rainbows and bull trout that feed on whitefish and landlocked kokanee. The rainbow trout regularly run to 20 inches, while the bull trout are big enough to scare you. Most anglers bring a rod rigged for rainbows—a 5-weight is a good choice—and one set up for bulls. A 6-weight is a good minimum for bull trout because a few of them tip the scales at 15 pounds. The river is managed entirely for wild fish. In October, several varieties of…

One autumn morning Shane’s father announced that the family would be visiting relatives in North Carolina in a few weeks. While there, he told Shane, they’d hunt bears. In the time leading up to the trip Shane could scarcely sleep. Ever since he was a little boy he’d heard his father’s stories about hunting bears in the Blue Ridge Mountains. “Let me tell you about the day I became a man,” his father would often say before launching into an epic tale of canines, claws and calamity. Shane devoured every bear hunting article he could find and mulled over every scenario he could imagine. Would he hold his ground if a bear came at him? Would he make a good shot? Would he even see a bear? The weeks flew…