Innholdsfortegnelse for December/January 2023-24 i Game & Fish East

I put the slow-cooker at the end of the long table next to dishes showcasing various other recipes and carefully gave it a stir. A small crowd had gathered, and a few folks were already filling their plates. “Did you make that chili?” asked a friend of a friend, noticing the steam rising from the crock and perhaps catching a whiff of the contents. Like me, she had been invited by our mutual connection to gather after work for a holiday cook-off. “Yep, I did,” I replied. “Would you like to try it?” “What’s in it?” she asked. “Pretty much your standard chili ingredients,” I said, “except I did add a little habanero, and the meat is bear.” “Bear?” she asked with surprise. “I didn’t know you could eat bear meat.…

On a hunt last year, an outfitter told me he would not allow clients to hunt aoudad with the 6.5 Creedmoor, but that he would permit them to use the 6.5 PRC. An aoudad is a goat-like antelope from northern Africa that was imported into Texas in the 1950s, and a big, free-ranging aoudad ram will weigh about 300 pounds. I found the outfitter’s cartridge restriction surprising and puzzling because the difference between the two cartridges is not that much and might best be represented in yards. Yardage probably seems like an odd way to stipulate the differences between two cartridges, but it makes perfect sense when both cartridges shoot the same bullet. VELOCITY AND RANGE The 6.5 PRC has about a 200 fps (7 percent) velocity advantage over the…

Do you know your wildlife commissioner? If I asked about your state senator or congressman, I bet you’d have a ready answer, but few people know who represents them on state fish-and-game commissions. Because of that blind spot, and because wildlife management—like every other area of public policy—is becoming increasingly politicized, wildlife commissions are the newest front in our ongoing culture war. Here are two recent examples. In 2022, Washington’s Fish and Wildlife Commission surprised resident hunters when it voted to end the state’s long-running spring bear season. The hunt had been managed by fairly restrictive quotas and was intended to target black bears in areas with chronically problematic bear populations. Nonetheless, commissioners cited little scientific basis for the season along with vocal opposition to the hunt in voting to…

Cypress Island Lodge (cypressisland lodge.com) is a luxury two-story cabin situated in a highly productive stretch of the Mississippi Flyway near the bottom of Arkansas’ revered Grand Prairie region. It boasts a multitude of bedrooms to accommodate numerous guests, a game room and lounge area, an awesome indoor/outdoor fireplace, and a fully stocked kitchen and dining area. Tyler Hornbeck, his wife Paige and his father own the lodge; Tyler, Paige and their three daughters operate it. The whole thing is a family affair, with Paige cooking up delicious meals and handling much of the business’ administrative side, the girls helping with cleaning and grocery shopping, and Tyler and his brother Collin serving as the primary guides. Most of the properties that clients hunt—some 2,000 acres—are owned or have been owned…

A lot of hunters get puppies late in the year. The present of a puppy makes for a merry Christmas, of course, but there’s usually another reason—to have the pup ready for the next hunting season. Training brings out highly desirable qualities like boldness, drive, intensity, patience, handle and a biddable disposition. Some of those traits are genetic, for sure, but there are 10 things you can do to turn your new puppy into a hunting companion. 1 Make a Vet Appointment Dr. Johnny Myers, an avid waterfowler and Eukanuba Pro Veterinarian, says vaccinations are critical to your pup’s health. “Vaccines pick up where the dam’s colostrum leaves off,” he says. “Colostrum is in the dam’s milk and is produced by her body during the first few days after the…

Despite the fact it was Christmas morning, I could not help but notice the day was unseasonably mild. With the holiday obligations out of the way, and armed with the knowledge that the local lakes were ice-free, it seemed my duty to discover what the day could produce. An hour later I was easing the boat along the edge of a rocky drop-off. The chartplotter screen showed clouds of baitfish in the 25-to 30-foot zone—a good sign. A light breeze rippled the surface. Not surprisingly, I had the lake to myself. Keeping in mind the location of the bait balls, I lowered a 1/2-ounce blade bait to the bottom. Once it touched, I regained a few inches of line with the reel and gave the bait a sharp, upward snap…

I like open-country mule deer hunting like the kind that’s found in West Texas down near the border. It’s dynamically different than the whitetail hunting I do at home in the Alleghany Mountains, partly because I spend a lot of time behind a binocular and a spotting scope, trying to pick a buck out of the black bush and honey mesquite that litters the landscape. Then, once I find a buck, I still need to size him up at distance to determine if a stalk is worth the effort. I did a lot of that last January while hunting with High West Outfitters just outside of Presidio, Texas, only about 10 miles from the Mexico border. The ranch was immense and butted up against Big Bend Ranch State Park. We…

Hidden behind the blind’s branches, burlap and leaves, I watched as the group of five gadwalls angled toward us and started dropping lower. They were locked in on our winding pocket of water, located a few miles from our accommodations at Cypress Island Lodge in eastern Arkansas. Our decoy spread, comprising a smattering of mallards, wood ducks and ringnecks, drew the birds in like moths to a flame. As they pumped the brakes and dropped their landing gear some 20 yards in front of the blind, our guide Collin Hornbeck issued the command to take them. Four of us poked through the blind and unleashed a barrage of steel and bismuth. The outburst shattered the placid stillness of the small, meandering bayou, but we were too focused on the ducks…

Not many things are certain in duck hunting, except for one: As the season progresses and the weather gets colder, diver and puddle ducks move south and/or to open water. With inland marshes, swamps and waterways frozen over, puddle ducks have no choice but to seek the bays and big water more often frequented by diving ducks. Here, divers, such as scaup (bluebills), redheads, canvasbacks and goldeneyes, offer great opportunities well into winter, and when puddle ducks are frozen out of their preferred waters, they often join up with the divers. When concentrated, ducks are simpler to target, but success in big, open water does not come easy. Hunting deep water brings its own unique circumstances and methods. It takes some specialized equipment and techniques far different than the ones…

Though hunting in general has its challenges, not all types of hunting present the same degree of difficulty, and not all hunters appreciate or desire the same level of challenge in what they do. Whitetail hunters, for instance, can put as much or as little into their efforts as they wish, particularly knowing dumb luck can sometimes reward the least skilled or the hunter who puts in minimal energy and thought. I’ve seen guys who shower with scent-free soap before putting on hunting clothes that have been stored in a scent-free bag leave long before sunrise, only to return after dark empty-handed and grumbling about the lack of deer. Meanwhile, I know old men who sit on a 5-gallon bucket at the base of a tree with a scattergun and…

The Lower Niagara River is a world-class fishery all year long, with the spring and summer months prime time for football-shaped smallmouths that have made Lake Ontario a favorite stop on bass tournament trails. From November through March, it’s all about steelhead, lake trout and brown trout. Lewiston, N.Y., is very angler friendly. An excellent lodging choice is the Niagara Crossing Hotel and Spa, right on the river. Just a few yards from the hotel is The Griffon Brewery and Gastropub, where you can duck in for lunch or an early dinner during the middle of a fishing trip. As with most restaurants in the area, you’ll find excellent buffalo wings on the menu. Before launching the boat, pick up a sub sandwich from the deli at the Tops Friendly…

In 2021, Savage Arms introduced its first straight-pull bolt-action rifle, the Impulse. With the release of the Impulse Mountain Hunter, the company continues to push the envelope of innovation and accuracy. In addition to its unique straight-pull action, the Impulse Mountain Hunter features a Proof Research carbon-fiber-wrapped, stainless steel barrel and a durable polymer AccuStock with AccuFit capability. An aluminum receiver with an integral 20-MOA Picatinny rail allows for a variety of optics. Finally, the Mountain Hunter is equipped with the Savage AccuTrigger. The culmination is a lightweight, rugged, user-adjustable rifle designed for tough hunting conditions. While the straight-pull action has been a staple in European rifles for more than 100 years, it’s a newcomer to the American gun market. The premise of its design is speed. A traditional bolt…

There is no shortage of good things in the world today. Thanks to the advancement of technology and manufacturing, good is everywhere. Good is the new average. Good is the new standard. Good is the price of admission. There’s nothing inherently bad about good. It’s only that it is so plentiful and, as a consequence, unremarkable. From this day forward, we declare good to be our enemy. If good is the enemy of great, then we will work tirelessly to flush good from our thinking and our rods. Starting now, we no longer accept the terms of good’s offer, no matter how easy, agreeable, practical, cost-effective, or effcient those terms may seem. Good has no guts Good doesn’t want to push the envelope. Good just wants to lick the stamp.…

Back in the not-too-distant past I thought all land-clearing was detrimental to deer and wildlife populations. No doubt I inherited some of this attitude from my father, who took a natural approach to land management. He figured wild animals prefer wild habitat, and so, with the exception of mowing trails from time to time, he never touched it. For 20 years, neither did I. But then after finding an aerial photo of our family land from the early 1980s, I realized it was almost unrecognizable from what it is today. Back then it was broken ag land: crop fields with brushy draws running alongside them and hardwoods in the creek bottoms. There was good deer hunting then, as there is now, although there were certainly more quail then. Today this…

I’ve hunted with the same buddy for about 20 years, and thought I knew him pretty well, so it came as a surprise when he told me over coffee how he hated hunting the late deer season. “Well, ‘hate’ is probably too strong of a word. It’s just not my favorite time,” he said. “It’s cold and wet, there are fewer hunters in the woods to help keep deer moving, the rut is long over and after two months of hunting it’s tough to find deer. It’s like they simply disappear.” I took a sip of coffee and replied, “I like tagging out early, too, but those are exactly the reasons I don’t mind hunting the late season at all.” I didn’t feel I had to explain things further. Hunting…

Selecting an outfitter for a mule deer hunt is a big decision, and gathering background information is important in making a wise choice. Here are some questions to ask that will provide you with pertinent details. 1. What’s your success rate, and can you provide references? Don’t ask how many clients have taken deer, ask how many have taken deer like they wanted. Also, ask for recent references, not just references in general. 2. Tell me about the food and lodging. If the hunting is magnificent, bad food and poor accommodations are tolerable. If the hunting sucks, good food and comfortable accommodations can help make up the difference. Talk about the kind of food you like to eat and be sure to discuss any allergies. 3. What methods do you…

Since he was 12, Shane had shot a youth model Savage chambered in .243 Winchester. Now that he was four years older, he felt the rifle was too short for him. He wanted a man’s rifle in .270 or .30-06, a brand-new Browning A-Bolt, Remington 700 or, his dream gun, a Winchester Model 70 Featherweight. Christmas was right around the corner, and so began his not-so-subtle lobbying campaign. “Last time I shot my rifle, Dad,” said Shane one evening at the dinner table, “the scope whacked my forehead.” “Yeah, I remember,” said his father. “You’re lucky it didn’t cut you good. We’ll have to slide the scope up an inch for you.” “Dad, I’m 5-foot-9 now. I love my rifle, but it fit me perfectly when I was 4-foot-9.” “It…