Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2019 i Game & Fish East

Welcome to the new Game & Fish . We are excited to announce an improved magazine with more regional pages focused on the type of where-to and how-to content you trust us to deliver. The changes are the culmination of many hours of work from our content and design team. We will concentrate on four key regions throughout the country—East, South, Midwest and West—in order to best serve readers where they hunt, fish and shoot. You will find new concepts for columns, new writers, new page designs and more. Game & Fish has been serving readers for 43 years. As we renew and strengthen our commitment to you, we return to our roots and reflect on the foundational elements that launched this magazine. In the words of David Morris, our…

WHETHER you’re prepping for deer season or about to head west on a once-in-a-lifetime elk adventure, having your truck ready is critical to the success of your hunt. Here are seven ways to equip your rig for whatever nature throws at it. FUNCTION TEST First, make sure everything works. Fill washer fluid and test wipers, check the oil, and make sure the air filter is clean. Ensure that both headlights function and that the four-wheel-drive engages solidly. Check tire pressure, and make sure the lug wrench and tire jack are present and functional. If you’ll be pulling a trailer, verify that trailer brake and running light function is proper. Lastly, swing by an auto-parts store and have a technician test your vehicle’s battery. If your battery isn’t strong, replace it.…

IT WAS a land vast and empty, and sighting the giant moose burned adrenaline through me. Flashing whitely below the canopy of evening fog, his antlers cleanly bracketed his massive haunches, leaving a significant gap between hip and the inner edge of his paddle on each side. Long tines flung wide. Mentally suppressing the urge to shout, “68 inches!” I lowered my knee-jerk estimate to a measly 65 inches. A big, big bull, and though it stood far off in a cloud-shrouded saddle it was in huntable country. THE LAND OF THE GIANTS Moose populations are typically estimated in square miles per animal, instead of animals per square mile. They’re solitary, rather than herd animals. Wolves, grizzlies and the harsh environment weed out all but the hardiest, and as the…

Waterfowlers in the Atlantic Flyway (which includes the entire Game & Fish East region) face reduced bag limits for mallards and Canada geese, as well as shortened Canada goose seasons, in 2019-2020. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service approved decreasing the mallard bag limit from four birds to two, only one of which may be a hen. The 2019-2020 season for mallards and other ducks in the Atlantic Flyway, however, remains unchanged at 60 days. Goose hunters are permitted one Canada goose (down from two geese) per day in Delaware, Maryland and Virginia Atlantic population zones, while the bag limit in Maine, Vermont, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey Atlantic population zones is two geese (down from three). Canada goose seasons in all Atlantic population zones are reduced…

SUCCESSFUL BEAR hunting depends on several factors. Topping the list is the availability of natural forage that keeps bears active and out of the dens longer into the fall. Equally important is the weather. Several eastern states experienced reduced harvests in 2018 due to heavy rain that kept hunters indoors or early snows that forced bears to den early. But rest assured, for 2019, there are plenty of bears out there for those willing to put in the time and effort. MAINE With an estimated population of 35,000, Maine is home to one of the largest bear populations in the Lower 48 and the largest in the East. Bears are apt to be found throughout Maine these days, and hunting is allowed statewide, but Aroostook, Penobscot and Piscataquis counties have…

WHILE BIG smallmouth bass are not exclusively the product of big water, there’s no denying that they are often found there. Two of the biggest waters, Lake Erie and Lake Champlain, enjoy the warranted reputation for producing “bubba-sized bronzebacks,” particularly in the fall. LAKE ERIE Accomplished bass tournament angler Deron Eck is home on smallmouth waters of all types, but especially those of Lake Erie, where he’s amassed an impressive record, including top honors in an FLW American Fishing Series event. When September comes around, you’ll find Eck plying the rocky shallows of Erie. “The fish will move into really shallow water during the early fall,” Eck noted. “The key depth is from 15 feet to as shallow as two feet, with boulders being the cover that holds them.” While…

THIRTY YEARS ago, most of the hunters I knew used the holdover method to hit targets at moderate to long ranges. The holdover method consists of knowing the drop of your bullet in inches at certain ranges, and holding the crosshairs high enough to compensate for the bullet’s drop on game. A 180-grain .30-06 bullet, for example, will strike about 25 inches low at 400 yards when sighted in roughly 2 inches high at 100 yards. “Roughly” and “about” are not terms that lend themselves to pinpoint accuracy. The holdover method is fine for shots at moderate distances, but the method doesn’t offer enough precision to reliably hit game at longer ranges. Optics have improved, and now more scopes come with exposed elevation dials that allow you to quickly adjust…

IT’S LIKE a scene from an action movie: The silent invaders slip in undetected, leaving a wake of destruction. But this isn’t Hollywood, and invasive species are a threat that’s all too real. Have non-native species invaded your favorite fishing or hunting spot? Chances are you’re impacted by them whether you’re aware of them or not. They’ve invaded public waters, wilderness areas, national parks, forests, refuges and backyards. Invasive plants, animals and pathogens are changing the landscape. And, they cost us billions of dollars to treat and repair the damages they cause. For hunters and anglers, invasive species have huge impacts. Displaced game species often can’t compete, are driven into marginal habitats and suffer. Some invasive species are even pushing native plants and animals to extinction. INVASIVE IMPACT Zebra and…

➔ MEAT SACKS: Kuiu & Caribou Gear ➔ BACKPACK: Dana Design Overkill ➔ CLOTHING: Sitka Gear ➔ BOOTS: Muck Pursuit ➔ TENTS: Mountain Hardwear & Big Agneso ➔ SLEEPING BAG: Mountain Hardwear -20 Wraith ➔ SLEEPING PAD: ExPed DownMat ➔ RIFLE: Winchester Model 70 customized by Rifles Inc. ➔ CARTRIDGE: .375 H&H Mag. handloaded w/ Hornady DGX Bonded bullet ➔ SCOPE: Nightforce 2-10x44mm NXS ➔ SPOTTING SCOPE: Leupold Gold Ring 12-40x60mm HD ➔ BINOCULAR: Swarovski 10x42mm EL Range ➔ BINO CASE: Badlands ➔ STOVE: Jet Boil ➔ WATER FILTER: Katadyn ➔ EMERGENCY DEVICE: Garmin inReach Explorer Size: 2.75”x6.5”x1.5” Battery: Rechargeable lithium ion Weight: 7.5 oz. MSRP: $400…

STEEPLYANGLED shots are the bane of all archers. But rest assured, with some practice you can master these shots if you follow these guidelines. FIND A SPOT The first thing you’ll need to do is find a place to practice. In most areas there are walk-through 3-D courses that offer elevated shots allowing you to work on your acute angles. Alternatively, you can hang a stand and shoot from there. If you choose this route, remember to wear your full-body fall-arrest harness and use a lifeline as gravity doesn’t take a break and you can’t fly—so don’t risk it. THE SHOTS What shots should you be practicing? The best answer is anything within range. Start close, within 10 yards or so, and make a mental list of what you need…

IF YOU’RE looking to catch a giant smallmouth, then you need to see about a visit to Lake Erie. From Michigan to New York, it’s filled with schools of 3-, 4-, 5- and even 6-pounders. Major League Fishing (MLF) angler Dave Lefebre catches plenty of them within sight of his Erie, Pennsylvania, lakeside home, where he leaves his big lures. Size isn’t the only thing that smallmouth swimming in the shallowest Great Lake share. “They are getting smart,” Lefebre said. Lake Erie’s reputation for bruiser bronzebacks has attracted plenty of local and visiting anglers. And rare is a summer that doesn’t see at least one national tournament launch somewhere on the lake. All that fishing pressure has affected the small-mouth, making them tougher to catch. It has affected Lefebre, too.…

IT’S ON almost every angler’s bucket list, a trip to the world’s largest freshwater “fishing hole,” the Amazon River Basin, to catch the world’s most awesome gamefish, the peacock bass. While there are peacocks closer—South Florida, Puerto Rico and even Hawaii—the grandest of the 15 species of peacock bass are native to this basin. That’s where the three-bar speckled peacock ( Cichla temensis ), which grow to about 30 pounds in small blackwater lagoons, hang out. The Basin spreads across five South American countries, contains one-third of the world’s remaining rainforest and drains an area two-thirds the size of the United States. In Brazil alone, the 4,000-mile river with more than 7,000 tributaries encompasses 75 percent of the country geographically. Brazil has eleven major tributaries that are all larger than…

FERRIS BUELLER had his day off. Things seemed to work out pretty well for him, the destruction of a Ferrari 250 GT California aside. A Cubs game, his best friend’s epiphany, relationship building with the girlfriend, lip-syncing to a Beatles recording on a parade float in downtown Chicago. Throw in a free, fancy lunch and sticking it to the man, and what else could a guy ask for (aside from his own car)? But what about you? When’s the last time you played hooky? I don’t mean “working from home” or sneaking off to an appointment or staying home to get caught up on chores and Netflix shows. I’m talking selfish-as-all-get-out, all-about-you hooky. It really doesn’t matter if it was last week or last year, because we’re resetting the odometer…

THE AIR draped over me like a warm, wet bed sheet as I inched my way into the darkness above. Halfway up the loblolly pine I paused, laboring to catch my next breath. The heady funk of bug spray filled my lungs and stung my eyes, challenging my resolve to continue my ascent aboard my climber. Determined, I flicked the trickle of perspiration from the tip of my nose and pushed myself higher. I still vividly recall the excitement of that morning many decades ago. For months, I’d spent every spare minute in the backyard lobbing arrows into a makeshift Styrofoam target from my new Fred Bear Whitetail II compound. It was on this day, my first in an elevated treestand, that I was confident I would harvest my first…

THE TOWN of Vineland, N.J., is tucked away in Cumberland County. As fishing towns go, it’s hard to beat Vineland’s geography: It’s just 52 minutes to Ocean City and exactly an hour to Cape May, the gateway to perhaps some of the best striped bass fishing in the world. It’s a great place to live if you’re a saltwater captain, but it’s a seemingly odd place for a professional bass fisherman. It just so happens that “Jersey Boy” Adrian Avena is both. One of the 80 anglers competing on the Major League Fishing (MLF) Bass Pro Tour, Avena has made his living for eight years catching smallmouth, largemouth and spotted bass from March through September, and running charters out of Cape May from September through Christmas. We sat down with…

THERE ARE those that disagree, but for me, really effective moose cartridges start with the 7mm magnums—and the various .30s and .338s are much better. When aggressive bears are a potential problem, the .375s are outstanding. Whatever cartridge you choose, pair it with a tough, controlled-expansion bullet that is heavy for its caliber. The smaller the caliber, the more critical this is. For this hunt, I chose Hornady’s new DGX Bonded soft-nose dangerous-game bullets, which feature a robust tapered jacket and core-to-copper bonding, combining controlled expansion with excellent weight retention. They flawlessly drive deep and straight, wreaking havoc on vitals and bones. My handload pushes them at 2,550 fps. I zero my go-to .375 H&H handload (a 250-grain Hornady GMX at 2,740 fps) at 200 yards. To my delight the…

I LOVE November. There’s the bite of a north wind and the sound of a deep grunt. It’s a spectacular time to be in the deer woods. What I don’t like is how unpredictable the month can be. Rut action can be red hot one day and ice cold the next. Your one glimpse of your target buck may be of him running a doe at Mach 10 past your stand. Days later he will be locked down with her, and you may not get back on him again until the late season. The rut, while thrilling, is unpredictable. The early season is just the opposite. Deer movement during September and early October can be as predictable as the moon phases. I like predictability. I like watching a group of…

THE FLY line shot out on an irregular tangent, the leader hinging and my bushy dry skittering across the surface before being swallowed by chop. The wind was irritating, and it also induced shivers. I’d been anticipating this outing all week, guessing it would prove the last dry-fly opportunity of the season. But September in trout country can be fickle, evidenced by the chilly, blustery weather that can suddenly overtake an area. I stubbornly tossed the dry a couple more hours, hoping action would improve as the sun firmly established itself. But the bone-chilling gusts continued. Dry-fly season had officially closed. But I had a full day free of work at my disposal and was on cherished trout water. I wasn’t about to give up. A change of gears was…

TESTING NOTES Bows were tested at these specs and with this equipment. Draw Weight: 70 lbs. Draw Length: 29” Shooting Machine: Spot-Hogg Hooter Shooter Arrow: Gold Tip Airstrike Field Point: 100-gr. Saunders Total Arrow Weight: 385 grs. Fixed-Blade Broadhead: 100-gr. G5 Striker V2 Mechanical Broadhead: 100-gr. G5 DeadMeat Bow Press: Last Chance Archery Bow Scale: X-Spot Portable Bow Scale Chronograph: Competition Electronics ProChrono Pal Microphone: Rode High Definition Mic PRIME LOGIC CT5 35” axle to axle, 6” brace height, 4.5 lbs., 340 fps My favorite feature is the bow’s direct-to-riser grip. It features a narrow throat and flat back, which reduces torque. The grip is comfortable and melts into the palm-swell area. The riser is long and balanced. At full draw, the bow sits like a well-trained Labrador. I could…