Western Hunting & Fishing News July 2023

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Critical Pre-Season Prep: Bows, Boots & Other Essentials

By Ryan McSparran Caribou Gear Outdoor Equipment Co. www.caribougear.com

In order to give yourself the highest possible confidence going into a hunting trip, it helps to have confidence in your equipment. Feeling prepared with your weapon should be at the top of that priority list. Then, things like boots and layering systems require forethought. Spend time well in advance of the season to get these things dialed. That way, in the days and weeks leading up to the season, you can stay focused on locating animals and finding success on your hunt.

PRE SEASON PREP FOR BOW HUNTING

Also, match your practice arrows to field arrows and use field points with a weight that matches the broadheads in your hunting quiver. Just before the season, you should shoot with a few broadheads and arrows that match the hunting specifications to ensure the bow is sighted perfectly for the hunt.

Mix Up the Targets

Leading into bow season, shooting on a near daily basis is essential. Practice like crazy but avoid setting a routine that lacks variety. During a hunt, shooting from different angles and positions is not uncommon.

Practice shooting off a knee, at variable distances and from angles that resemble a tree stand and setup targets in areas with trees and breaks in the landscape. Shooting on a level surface is still great for daily repetitions but utilizing breaks in the landscape shifts the perspective and requires your eyes to focus on the target in an organic environment.

Shoot block targets but also incorporate realistic targets to focus tight groupings on vital organs. If you utilize ground blinds and tree stands in the field, practice shooting from the same positions. Setup your stands and blinds and use them during practice to ensure everything is functioning properly and ready for the season.

Scout and Prepare

It’s never too early to start scouting and preparing. Setup game cameras, clear treestand sites of limbs and debris to create clean shooting lanes and watch from a good distance to pinpoint the perfect hunting locations.

In the west, that means glassing the big country that elk call home and in the whitetail river bottoms that means glassing fields, looking for funnels and building a strategy to intercept animals.

It doesn’t matter what species you are after, early season scouting can pay off big time when the season opens.

Boots And Other Essentials

Bow hunters get first crack at the woods in most states and early archery seasons are just around the corner. Procrastinating through the spring and summer is all too easy and a lack of preparation leads to reduced confidence and accuracy in the field. Get busy and stay ahead of the curve. You won’t regret the early efforts when opening day arrives.

Work Over Your Bow

Before anything happens, your bow should be set up for practice with the same sights, rests, string and accessories that will be used during the hunt. Take this time to consider changes, maintenance and options for the bow itself. Make sure the string has plenty of life left because it must endure a few months of shooting before jumping into the hunt. If you plan on changing to a new string, now is the time. You will have plenty of opportunity to break in the material before the season arrives.

Investing in high quality gear is important and modern equipment can make a serious difference in terms of comfort and performance in the field. Simply making the purchase however falls far short of being field ready. Testing and breaking in boots, packs, clothing ahead of the season is a critical step that will prevent blisters, failures, and general breakdowns when that gear should be helping you push harder on hunts.

Beyond your weapon, here are a few things to consider in advance of the hunting season…

Break In Your Boots

Hunting boots are your lifeline in the field and a pair that fails can ruin the entire trip. An ill-fitting pair of boots will discourage you from pushing over that next ridge and ultimately limits your range and hiking capabilities. Anytime you purchase a new pair of boots, get them out on hikes throughout the summer to help along the break-in period. Even wearing the boots around town will help them conform to your feet.

Photos credit Ryan McSparran

Using new boots is obvious but what about that favorite pair of hunting boots that performed well over the previous season? Materials contract and boots that once fit perfectly can still require a few hikes before they feel just right again. In some cases, it’s as much a matter of training your feet to work in the boots again. Work your favorite pair of hunting boots into a summer hiking routine that will ensure they are ready for opening day.

Don’t forget that great boots will never live up to their full potential with sub-par socks. Never wear cotton in the field. Instead, get a few pairs of merino wool or a merino-synthetic blend socks that are designed for hiking. We personally use Kenetrek boots and socks.

Test New Clothing

New clothing might fit perfectly off the shelf. But that does not immediately translate into all-day field comfort. Every individual has a slightly different body type. Wearing pants, shirts, socks and jackets on a few long pre-season hikes will ensure everything fits and feels great.

The base layers are especially important because they make constant contact with your skin. A base layer that doesn’t fit quite right can form hotspots and cause discomfort on a long hunt. Test everything thoroughly, wash and test again. Also, don’t forget to shoot your bow and practice shouldering your rifle while wearing your layering system and your bino harness. Make sure that nothing interferes with your draw motion or shooting routine...

Wear Your New Pack

Hunting backpacks might be easy to overlook when it comes to pre-season testing. But finding the right fit and adjustments are critical. You don’t want to waste time messing with your pack when you should be glassing or covering ground. This proves especially true on multi-day backcountry hunts that require full days of walking with a loaded backpack. An ill-fitted pack will quickly cause discomfort at the shoulder strap contact points and on the chest and waist strap regions.

Take a few summer hiking trips or ideally, backpacking trips. These trips serve a double purpose by testing the pack while creating an opportunity to play with weight distribution and hunting gear. Anything that proves as dead weight can be removed to lighten the load come hunting season.

If there is rubbing at the shoulder harness or waist belt, make adjustments to the torso length or other areas to ensure your hips are absorbing some of the load. The straps themselves are rarely the problem and training hikes are the perfect opportunity to find the sweet spot while conditioning your body to function with the pack.

Don’t Procrastinate

Don’t wait until the last minute. Start your hunting gear prep now to avoid stress right before the season. If you need suggestions, check out the gear we carry here in the Caribou Gear store at www.caribougear.com

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Using Elk Decoys For Archery And Rifle Hunts

By Ryan McSparran Antler Canyon Outfitters www.antlercanyonoutfitters.com

You might look a little silly trailing behind a big floppy elk decoy but it can be the difference maker in your hunting season. Decoys deliver a major advantage during the close encounters of archery season and they are equally useful during rifle season. During archery, you are typically calling in bulls and setting a decoy puts them at ease and shows the physical presence of a cow. During rifle season, the decoy allows you to hunt thick timber while closing the gap on elk in close proximity. Ultimately, decoys are light, easy to pack along and can play a crucial role in your hunting strategy.

ARCHERY STRATEGIES

You can sit behind the decoy or place it in view to distract from your actual position. Place the decoy in a position that will draw the elk into your shooting lane before he realizes the deception. Pressured bulls often come in on calls but they do not get within range. It’s not uncommon for a bull to come in quietly and spend some time sniffing and judging the risk. If the bull sees a cow on the edge of a meadow, it might push him over the edge and draw him across your lane. The decoy can work as the tipping point during archery season.

CLOSING THE GAP ON OPEN TERRAIN

Another key use for elk decoys is to close a gap when cover is not available. This strategy works equally well during rifle and archery season. Open terrain is especially difficult and elk have excellent vision.

Getting into a shooting position without giving away your location is difficult. Hide behind a decoy and slowing work into position. Make frequent stops like a feeding elk would to avoid alarming the herd. Moving too quickly is suspicious. Use natural breaks in the landscape when possible and consider staking the decoy if you find an opportunity to move undetected. Leaving it staked can hold the attention of other elk while you make a stalk.

MOVING THROUGH THICK TERRAIN

The late rifle season is difficult and the elk are weary. They stick to heavy, timbered slopes where shooting lanes are limited and hiking is difficult. Hunting this terrain also means close encounters are possible and you will have a limited amount of time before the elk spook and disappear out of sight. Stalking these hillsides will sometimes lead to chance encounters where you literally run into each other. Walking behind a decoy will buy you time when you bump into a group of elk. They will see the decoy and sit tight rather than busting out of range. The decoy buys you precious moments needed to setup and take a shot before the elk are gone for good.

Photo credit Antler Canyon Outfitters www.antlercanyonoutfitters.com

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NEVER MISS

The Pros And Cons Of Elk Hunting Alone

By Ron Niziolek

Originally published at GOHUNT.com

Iwascompletely caught off guard when the bull responded to my bugle. He was close! I had spent the last six hours walking a big loop and was back within a couple miles of my truck when I found this “elky” looking place. I finally had a response after 50 lonesome bugles that afternoon. I nocked an arrow and maneuvered silently around the toe of the slope. The stalk was on. I traveled 30 yards when I saw antler tips bobbing my way behind a screen of low pines. It was a decent-sized bull. I drew my Hoyt when he was at 30 yards, but at 25 yards, he stopped and scanned the forest. I mentally tried to will him into the open for a shot, and after a 20 second stalemate, he resumed walking toward where I last bugled. The 15-yard shot was followed by a 60-yard run and a loud crash. Finally, after nine hard days of hunting, I was done. With 30 minutes of daylight left, I sat and admired him for a few minutes before getting to work, taking photos, skinning and bagging the quarters. It was 10 p.m. when I headed out with the first load. It was a long, but greatly satisfying night.

Advantages and disadvantages of hunting solo

There are a lot of advantages to hunting by yourself. The additional challenge and satisfaction, the ability to hunt how and where you want without any time or communication constraints, and the time to truly be alone for self reflection.

50 States for $50 Bucks Learn more at GOHUNT.com/maps.

Decisions can be made or changed on the fly and you will not ruin anyone’s hunt but your own, however, there can also be disadvantages, including the increased cost for fuel, no one to share the workload, loneliness and fear. Despite what many may say, it is much easier to get up and face a long cold walk in the dark with a hunting buddy than by yourself.

Ron with a great solo bull elk. All photos credit Ron Niziolek

Logistics and safety

The logistics of attempting a solo hunt might seem daunting, but with some careful planning, a safe and successful hunt is absolutely possible. You may want to consider a few extra days for a solo hunt. Travel may take longer and be more expensive on your own. One of the biggest factors to be aware of is the additional time it will take to pack an elk, or any large animal out of the woods by yourself.

Safety is a major factor while solo hunting, but there are some key steps to make it safe. Before you head out, let your friends and family know where you are going and when to expect to hear from you. Speak with a biologist or warden over the phone and ask about cellphone service. If there is not any, or if it is limited, think about renting a satellite phone or using a Garmin inReach or Spot X to send and receive messages.

The right mental attitude

A solo hunter must possess and maintain a positive attitude not just for the chance of a successful outcome, but to also to keep yourself in the field. Without a buddy along for company or encouragement, it can be easy to lose focus.

A lack of focus may lead to sleeping in, not hunting in rough weather or worse — giving up and going home empty-handed. I can personally attest to this phenomenon. It happens to the best of us, so be ready to recognize those feelings and hunt hard for as long as you planned for.

(continued on page 38)

Photo courtesy SPOT https://www.findmespot.com/en-us/products-services/spot-x

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How To Kill A Good Buck In Early Bow Season

By Mike Hanback Big Deer Blog www.bigdeerblog.com

Your strategy starts with a working knowledge of a whitetail buck’s home range and core area.

New science reaffirms that the living quarters of most mature bucks are relatively small, especially on lands with good food sources and bedding cover.

Researchers from North Carolina State University fitted adult bucks with GPS tracking collars and found that bucks’ home ranges averaged 400 acres in late summer through early October. Most recently, Clint McCoy, a graduate student from Auburn, tracked 37 collared bucks on a 6,000-acre property in South Carolina. He found that the home ranges of various age classes of bucks, from 2.5 year-olds to 4.5 year-olds, averaged only 300 to 400 acres. One mature buck he tracked lived entirely within 108 acres.

4 Tips to Improve Your Glassing This Season

By Zach Lazzari & Ryan McSparran Kawdy Outfitters www.kawdyoutfitters.com

Skills behind the binoculars are critical for an effective mountain hunt. You may occasionally run into animals while you’re on the move. But the best approach to locating game is by using optics to your advantage. You’ve probably heard it said before, but buy the best glass you can afford. Then put in the time behind the glass to turn the hunt in your favor.

Here are four tips to help improve your glassing this season:

1. Use A Tripod

Hand-holding binoculars is fine and we do it often. But if you’ll be sitting and glassing in one spot for very long, it’s worth getting out a tripod and mounting your binoculars. Most hunters are accustomed to carrying a tripod for their spotting scope anyway. For a few extra ounces, bring the bino adapter.

If you’ve never taken the time to put your binoculars on a tripod, you’ll be surprised at the difference it makes.

It’s like looking through a totally different set of binos. The difference is really that dramatic. You spent the money on high quality binoculars. Take the small extra step to putting them on a tripod. It will take your glassing to a new level. (continued on page 23)

If you go out in the coming days and glass a fine 10-pointer in a field, or get a cam image of a heavy 8 with just stripped velvet, you can surmise he is living and bedding close by. He will most likely be around and huntable in your early bow season in September or October.

Best Food Sources

In late summer whitetails are genetically programmed to set up their core areas near nutritious food sources and with heavy bedding cover close by. This way bucks can pile on the pounds (up to 20 percent of their body weight now through September) while only moving short distances.

Finding shooter bucks now is all about zeroing in on the best food sources. The top four: alfalfa, soybeans, clover and corn. If you have any of these fields on your hunting land, or if the crops are planted on neighboring properties, you will have bucks in your woods to hunt.

In September, It’s fairly easy to glass, locate and pattern bucks that come to feed in the alfalfa and beans fields. But setting up to put an arrow into one of those bucks is not so easy. Even though they have not been hunted for nearly a year, big, mature bucks are unpredictable, and many are largely nocturnal even in the early season.

Take, for example, one of the 4 .5-year-old bucks that researcher Clint McCoy tracked in South Carolina. The old boy set up in a core area where he only had to move ¾ of a mile to eat in a soybean field. Clint’s data showed that he never got to the field before 9 p.m., and he was always back in bed before sunrise in the mornings.

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Photos courtesy Kawdy Outfitters www.kawdyoutfitters.com

“There was only one option for a hunter to take advantage of this buck’s predictable feeding pattern: squeeze in as close to the buck’s bedding area as possible,” said Clint. “Although he never approached the bean field before dark, (the buck) was typically up and moving 30 minutes before the end of shooting light.”

Clint surmised, and rightly so, that the only way a hunter could have a chance at a deer like this was to take a risk, play the wind, push in with a tree stand closer to the buck’s bedding area and set up along the route to the beans.

When you hunt around fields in the early season, hang most of your stands on the edges, or just back in the brush along trails. But if you’re hunting hard and not seeing a big deer before dark, don’t be afraid to get aggressive and push in closer to his bedroom. Again, it’s risky.

Nuts for Bucks

If you hunt where oak trees grow, one day in early September you might notice a major shift in the feeding patterns of deer. If and when acorns, which are rich in carbohydrates and fats, start falling, most deer will leave the fields and move back into the woods to gobble the nuts and pack on more fat reserves for the rut and winter.

Or, you might not see a noticeable change in movement.

It all depends on whether it will be a good or poor mast year in your area. Now is the time to find out by walking your woods and doing a rudimentary “acorn survey.”

A lot of green nuts will already have fallen, so look around. As you hike ridges and bottoms, glass the tops of large oak trees. If you spot clusters of new acorns near the ends of limbs (15 or more nuts per branch for a white oak, and 20 to 25 or more for a red oak) it will be a good mast year. Zero in on a few of those big productive oaks near brushy funnels, and plan to hang stands nearby for super bowhunting in a month or so.

Conversely, if your scouting reveals few green acorns in the treetops, you know mast will be poor. Better to stick to stands in and around the edges of fields in hopes of getting a crack at a big buck early.

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Photo courtesy Mike Hanback Big Deer Blog www.bigdeerblog.com

Understanding Hunting

In Grizzly Habitat

By Jake Horton

Originally published at GOHUNT.com

Grizzly bears were listed on the threatened species list in 1975, but, in today’s world, there are thousands of grizzlies living in the lower 48. Yet, there are only sizeable populations in three states. Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho have grizzly bears with numbers growing year by year as they thrive in this ecosystem without any natural predators. Grizzly bears affect the deer and elk population, our hunting location choices and our backcountry experience in a lot of different ways. Here is a breakdown of how these bears affect hunting and what changes you might have to make the next time you consider hunting in grizzly country.

BIOLOGY

Before diving into the effects grizzly bears have on hunting, let’s talk briefly about their biology and behavior. Grizzly bears are a brown bear that inhabits North America from Alaska to Wyoming. They can weigh up to 700 lbs and eat rodents, insects, elk calves, fawns, livestock, trout, grasses and anything that might cross their path. Grizzly bears can run up to 40 mph and have a home range as extensive as 2,000 square miles. For a size comparison, grizzly bears are typically up to two times larger than a black bear. Grizzly bears are a true apex predator that seems to fear nothing.

GRIZZLY EFFECTS ON ANIMAL POPULATIONS

In general, a grizzly bear will not take down a healthy adult elk, deer or other similar-sized animals. Adult animals are wary of grizzly bears enough to keep their distance and they can run just as fast — if not faster — than a bear. However, it is essential to note that grizzly bears do have a negative effect on ungulate populations. Grizzly bears prey on the calf and fawn population in the spring of every year. It is a typical sight to see bears following around a herd of elk, waiting for them to have their babies so they can eat the afterbirth as well as the newborn baby. This is a natural process; however, it can affect animal populations, especially as the grizzly bear numbers continue to grow.

HUNTING SELECTION

When it comes to selecting an elk or deer hunt in Montana, Wyoming or Idaho, the number one concern from many hunters is grizzly bears. Some hunters refuse to even hunt in an area with grizzly bears out of fear for their lives. Though bear attacks do happen, they are not that common. And they can be gruesome when they occur. I understand why some hunters would not want to hunt in grizzly territory; however, that means that there is less competition there, which is why I still hunt in these areas. Most hunters need to decide if they are willing to hunt in grizzly country or not. If the answer is no, then that is fine, but you have a few more things to consider and understand if the answer is yes.

CALLING CONSIDERATIONS

When hunting in grizzly country, I always make sure I pay a little extra attention to what I am doing. For example, when I am calling, I always make sure that I am ready for an elk to come in while simultaneously on the lookout for a bear. It is better to be over-prepared than underprepared in that situation. On the same note, when I am stalking, I am always trying my best to be quiet and slow, but I also am on the lookout for an unsuspecting bear. The last thing you want is to startle a mother bear with cubs or an aggressive boar.

BACKCOUNTRY CONSIDERATIONS

When camping in the backcountry, it is always important to distance yourself from aromas, meat, food and even pots and pans. Bears have excellent noses and will come in to investigate new scents. I would prefer they investigate my camping supplies hung in a tree 100 yards away instead of exploring my tent. Carrying a firearm and bear spray is also essential and it is important to take to your tent with you.

When thinking about grizzly bears, I am impressed with their abilities. After all, they are animals that can grow up to 700 lbs by eating the plants, animals and bugs that cross their paths. Then they hibernate for five to seven months a year only to do it all over again for up to 25 to 30 years. Though I am impressed, I also am fearfully respectful. Grizzly bears are dangerous predators that can really hurt you, so if you do not give them the respect they deserve, you can pay the price. This fall, understand how bears may affect your hunting and use your skills and know-how to be bear aware and kill an elk or deer in bear country.

No Man’s Land Summer Crappies

Northland Fishing Tackle www.northlandtackle.com

I’ve found that most people who casually fish for crappies have a sort of seasonal affective disorder for the species, being entirely giddy for spring runs to the shallows and generally depressed regarding the prospect of catching one after the early-season boom. Or maybe you’re just into fishing for them while the fishing is good, which most certainly isn’t a bad thing. It may surprise you to hear that the fishing for summer crappies right now can be really good. As in “great,” you just need to fish for them differently.

Summer crappies are notoriously difficult to find, as they truly seem to be nomadic in nature, occupying different depths, relating to different cover, and many times targeting a variety of forage in differing parts of the lake. A few summers ago while on the same lake, fishing the same day, I caught crappies in 5 feet of water in lily pads, in 10-15 feet of water slow-rolling small plastics over deeper weed edges, and in 20+ feet of water pulling crawler harnesses for walleyes. This would seem like a good thing, right? Being that they’re everywhere, they should be easy to catch. Yes and no is typically the answer to that question, with onesies and twosies often being the order of the day.

One of the better patterns I’ve observed in recent memory is actually something a good friend, and fisheries biologist turned me onto. We dropped into a small and relatively clear Ottertail county lake around 7 PM that evening, looking to fish some crappies that he recently had been getting into. The boat stopped past the weedline. Thinking to myself that we’d missed our intended target, my first cast was a bomb, back to the shelter of weeds, while Brandon’s was out into the open water. He engaged the trolling motor, and within a minute had missed two and boated one.

We fished from the weedline out, towards the middle of the lake, with continual clumps of bait and fish graphing 5 – 15 feet down in anywhere from 12 – 30 feet of water. This clutter was the bait our fish were feeding on and is very easy to overlook on your sonar, however, whenever it was on the screen, we were popping fish on a consistent basis.

This technique is a slow trolling one, with depth being controlled by speed, size of bait, and length of the cast. “How far should I cast,” I asked Brandon? “A good cast behind the boat, and then one pull of line off the reel,” he said. Precise. In a very vague and general sort of way. This told me that I needn’t be too fussy at least that day. Jig size proved to be a bit more important. We both had 1/16 oz boot-tails like the Mimic Minnow Shad varieties, at least at first. After getting the feel for it, I was putting some serious heat to the fish early, with my buddy doing far better during the latter half of our evening. The later comparison showed he was using a 1/32 oz jig, thus covering that 5 – 10 FOW region far better as fish moved up in the water column later in the evening. When we were marking fish more in that 10-15 foot depths earlier that night, the 1/16 oz jig I was using got down and in their face far better.

From there, you keep the jig moving, subtly. Pull too aggressively, and you simply miss fish or they miss you. Not moving it at all seemed to produce short strikes and fish that didn’t fully latch on. You want them to react in a quick and decisive manner, taking the bait fully into their mouths, and keeping that bait moving with short pulls seemed to accomplish that task. If you hook up on multiple fish in the same location, you can always stop and cast. The only problem with that is that different baits count down to different depths, and retrieves rarely are consistent enough to keep you at the same depth, which makes the trolling part of this pattern work so well.

The Perfect Beer Cheese Wild Game Burger Recipe

By Stefan Wilson Originally published at GOHUNT.com

STEP 2: MAKE BEER CHEESE

To make the beer cheese, begin with a medium saucepan and add two tablespoons of butter. Once butter is melted, whisk in two tablespoons of flour until fully mixed and light brown.

Slowly whisk in half of the bottle of beer until mixed well. Let the mixture slowly warm, stirring occasionally. Once the beer mixture is warm, begin adding grated cheddar, stirring to melt.

Continue adding cheese until thickened.

Photos courtesy GOHUNT.com

If you are like me, nothing beats a good burger. The variety of flavors and textures creates a classic eating experience perfect for warm evening cookouts. There are quite a few beer cheese recipes out there, but this is my version of this outstanding combo. If you have ever wanted to try something new with your elk or deer meat, give this recipe a try!

Ingredients

STEP 3: GRILL ONIONS

Remember: Once the cheese cools, it will thicken slightly so don’t make it too thick too soon. Add one teaspoon of Frank’s Red Hot Sauce and black pepper to taste (about a quarter to a half teaspoon). Leave simmering, stirring occasionally, to prevent scorching the cheese.

To prepare the onions, slice one medium onion into thin slices. Add one tablespoon butter to skillet on medium heat. Once butter is melted, add onions and a dash of Worcestershire sauce. Stir occasionally to ensure onions are browned all over and slightly crisp.

STEP 4: GRILL PATTIES

You can cook the patties over an open flame or in a skillet. I prefer a skillet because I find that hand-formed patties do not hold up as well on an open flame grill. Your experience may be different, though, so do whichever you prefer. Cook patties to desired level of doneness.

Here is the list of ingredients you will need for this recipe:

� 1 lb. ground elk/deer

� Kaiser rolls or sourdough pretzel buns (I highly recommend using pretzel buns)

� Kosher salt

� 1 sliced onion

� 3 tablespoons butter

� 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

� 1 bottle of beer (lagers and ambers work well, but feel free to experiment with your favorites)

� 12 oz. grated medium cheddar cheese

� 1 teaspoon Frank’s Red Hot Sauce

� Freshly ground black pepper to taste

� Worcestershire sauce

Directions

STEP 1: FORM PATTIES

Take ground elk/deer meat and separate into three to four equal size patties. Place in refrigerator until ready to grill.

STEP 5: BUILD THE BURGER

Now it is time to build the masterpiece. Begin with the bottom bun from your kaiser or pretzel roll (again, I highly recommend the pretzel roll as it complements the taste of the beer cheese well, but if you do not like sourdough or if the store is all out of pretzel rolls, go with the kaiser roll). Spread Dijon mustard on bottom bun to round out the flavors of the burger.

Next, place your grilled patty on the bottom bun and then pile the grilled onions on top.

Next, drizzle beer cheese on top of onions so that it runs all over the burger. It should be thick enough that it does not just run right off, but thin enough that it is easy to drizzle. If it comes out like honey, it is too thick and can be thinned out by adding beer; if it is thin like milk, thicken it with more cheese.

STEP 6: FRIES AND ENJOY

Fry or bake some sweet potato fries to go with the burger and be sure to wash it down with another beer from the six-pack you bought.

Tailormade For Walleye Wins

Part 1 - Part 2 Page 18

Northland Fishing Tackle www.northlandtackle.com

Flying off the shelves, Northland’s Tungsten Short-Shank Jig brings a new level of stealth, sensitivity, and sonics to walleye jigging.

Northland’s Fire-Ball Jig forever changed jigging with live bait. Its perfectly round head, clever hook angle, line-tie placement, prolific paint jobs, and added bottom-side eyelet for a Sting’r Hook have made it a gamefish nemesis for decades.

But perhaps more than anything, it’s the jig’s noticeably short-shank that catapulted the Fire-Ball into instant legend status. Why? The short-shank natively pulls the head of the minnow–or leech or ‘crawler chunk–snug to head. The result is a more compact, natural-looking presentation that causes fish to want it all, all at once.

So, the efficacy of the short-shank is proven. With a shorter hook shank, the jig makes fishing minnows, leeches, ‘crawlers, or other live bait easier and more effective. Hooksets are immediate and typically secured nicely in bone.

Following in these footsteps, Northland recently introduced the Tungsten Short-Shank Jig, a workhorse that is sure to replace many other jigs in anglers’ tackle boxes. Made from heavyweight and eco-friendly tungsten, the jig is 30% denser than traditional lead jigs.

What’s tungsten mean for walleye anglers?

First, tungsten offers sensitivity that far surpasses lead. Tungsten jigs telegraph every bottom nuance and the slightest nudge or bite from fish, especially when coupled with braid, a fluorocarbon leader, and a fast to extra-fast action spinning rod. The tungsten jig itself becomes a fishfinder of sorts—an indicator whether you’re fishing hard or soft bottom, weeds, rocks, or sand.

The new Northland Tungsten Short-Shank Jig also features a sticky-sharp, premium Mustad Ultra Point wide-gap hook that hooks fish in bone, not skin.

And dual hook keepers lock on soft plastics or live bait. Red “T” eyes easily identify the jig as tungsten and draw in visual feeders like walleyes, perch, and smallmouth bass. Another benefit of the Tungsten Short-Shank Jig is you can get away with using a smaller size jig for added finesse. Compared to lead jigs, tungsten jigs are a ¼-ounce smaller by volume comparison.

Photos courtesy Northland Fishing Tackle www.northlandtackle.com

Northland’s new Short-Shank Tungsten Jig

“Most walleye anglers understand that tungsten is smaller in profile than lead. So, not only is an 1/8th ounce tungsten more compact than an 1/8th ounce lead jig, you can get by with a much lighter jig to achieve a similar fall rate.”

Huynh elaborates: “For example, a ¼-ounce round-ball lead jig would have about the same fall rate as an 1/8-ounce Short-Shank Tungsten Jig for two reasons: first the tungsten’s density-by-weight; and second, the jig’s hydrodynamic pill-shape design. My thought is you actually end up minimizing the bait size two times by going with tungsten. The first is sizing down in weight and the second is reducing the jig’s overall mass/size profile,” adds Huynh.

Back in Black

Social media has made it known that Huynh fishes two main jig colors on the walleye trails: black and unpainted. “After fishing an assortment of black and unpainted lead jigs on tour for the past few years, I was very vocal with Northland product designers about the need for a black Short-Shank Tungsten jig,” says Huynh.

Common sense would dictate that black jigs should be harder for walleyes to visually locate in both clear and turbid water conditions. Some might say that it’s the profile of a black bait that makes it effective. However, when a bait is viewed by fish from below, other colors cast silhouettes, too.

Huynh explains: “If you have a frog sitting on top of the water—or a shiner swimming above a walleye—they’re both going to cast a black shadow. However, when it comes to black baits, there’s less hardware to identify—no shocking colors or flash—and what you get is pure silhouette, which might be less spooky to big, well-educated walleyes that have been in the system 15 years or more.”

Fellow Northland Pro and veteran Devils Lake walleye guide, Jason Mitchell, appends: “Going back to my guide days on Devils Lake, I’ve always been a fan of black baits. When we film underwater, black is one of the most visible colors on camera. And, as crazy as it sounds, black produces a lot of walleyes when the algae blooms and waters stain up in the Dakotas during summer.”

Mille Lacs Lake guide and Northland Pro, Brad Hawthorne, adds: “During testing last year on Mille Lacs, it didn’t take long to figure out that the black Tungsten Short-Shank Jig offered something special. My clients got bit right away in the morning and we didn’t have to transition into the afternoon and evening colors Mille Lacs is known for. Black catches fish around the clock—from dawn ‘til dusk— and excels at night, too.”

Hawthorne continues: “I think that a black jig puts the focus on the live bait itself—which is what the fish are after anyway, not the chunk of metal it’s attached to.”

Widely available, the new Short-Shank Tungsten Jig comes in three sizes and ten colors—1/8-, ¼-, and 3/8-ounce with size 1/0, 2/0, and 3/0 hooks respectively. Proven, fish-catching patterns include Gold Shiner, Firetiger, Parrot, Bubblegum, Glo Moonlight, Sunrise, Parakeet, Glo Watermelon—and the recent addition of Black.

The jigs are available in two packs with an MSRP of $6.99. Higher quantity packs will be available soon, to include: 1/8-ounce Tungsten Jigs five per card for $18.99; ¼-ounce in a pack of five for $19.99; and, 3/8-ounce in a pack of four for $19.99.

States Set 2023

Columbia River

Summer/Fall Salmon And Steelhead Seasons

Oregon Dept. Fish & Wildlife https://www.dfw.state.or.us

Oregon and Washington fishery managers recently finalized seasons and regulations for 2023 Columbia River summer and fall recreational salmon and steelhead fisheries. Detailed regulations are available at https://www. dfw.state.or.us/fish/OSCRP/CRM/index.asp (see Summer and Fall Columbia River Recreational Fishery Regulations).

Forecasts for summer and fall Chinook, sockeye, and coho will allow opportunity for anglers to target these fish. However, added protections are necessary for ESA-listed Lower Columbia River (LCR) fall Chinook and summer steelhead.

The forecast for summer Chinook is 85,400 adult fish, which is larger than last year’s actual return, and the forecast for sockeye is 234,500 fish, which is higher than last year’s forecast but significantly less than last year’s record return. For the summer season, retention of adult hatchery Chinook, hatchery steelhead, and sockeye will open June 16 and is expected to continue through July 31 from the Astoria-Megler Bridge upstream to the Highway 395 Bridge in Pasco, WA. The bag limit is two adult salmonids, but only one may be a hatchery steelhead, and all sockeye are considered adults.

(continued on page 38)

Robert T. with a Columbia River hatchery Chinook salmon caught in late August 2022.

Photo by Barrett T.

www.northlandtackle.com

Tungsten Hums A Fish Attracting Tune

Part 2

Northland Fishing Tackle

www.northlandtackle.com

Northland’s Tungsten Short-Shank Jig produces positive auditory cues that simply catch fish.

Bait materials have different acoustical signatures underwater. Put on a mask and snorkel and you’d notice right away—if you could hear over the din of today’s sonar, that is.

In short, tungsten’s tune attracts fish—at least more than standard lead-heads and weights—which bass anglers have known for years, dragging tungsten bullet weights on Carolina rigs over hard bottoms or flipping noisy, tungsten-tipped Tokyo Rigs in and out of all kinds of cover—or the simple replacement of tungsten for lead when casting or flipping a Texas Rig. Years of bass tournament weights prove that tungsten just performs.

“It’s pretty basic,” says Northland pro and tournament walleye angler Tom Huynh. “When two tungsten jigs bounce off each other in your tackle box, a high-pitched ‘tink’ is produced, which is very different from the ‘thud’ of lead touching lead. It’s almost akin to the sound of a brass rattle, like what bass anglers slip into tubes.”

Now imagine the sound tungsten makes as it scrapes sand and bounces along rocks underwater, which 10th grade Physics tells us carries sound waves between three to four times farther than in air.

Northland pro and fishing favorite Jason Mitchell nods: “There’s a noise component to tungsten that lead just doesn’t have, and I’ve watched it attract walleyes over numerous scenarios on forward-facing sonar. They’ll come in from a far distance away to investigate what’s going on when that tungsten jig is banging hard-bottom.”

“Case in point: Last season I was on some rock structure loaded with walleyes, but couldn’t get a bite with anything I thought would work.

Discouraged, I finally grabbed a slip-bobber rod and started lifting the Tungsten Short-Shank Jig 4- to 5-feet above the fish, then letting it free-fall and crash into the rocks, repeating the process until I got bit. I watched it all on the screen. The more I pounded the bottom, the more interested the fish got in eating.”

Mitchell continues his tale: “A few clanks of that jig on rock and the walleyes would slurp up the jig and leech right off the bottom. But they wouldn’t touch it on the free-fall. Their feeding seemed to kick in after they heard the tink of tungsten on rock a few times—kind of like working a rattle-chambered spoon in winter. My takeaway? What I’ve seen with forward-facing sonar really suggests that the tungsten sound triggers some kind of feeding response, whether it’s out of hunger or walleyes simply wanting the noise to go away.”

Short-Shanking Soft Plastics?

“I’m kind of going against the grain of a lot of guys, but I fish the Tungsten Short-Shank Jig with shorter soft plastics, too—basically anything 3-inches or under, typically a small paddletail or pintail bait,” says Huynh.

“The reason I fish the Tungsten Short-Shank with plastics – rather than a standard- or long-shank jig – is I believe big walleyes are wary of a lot of baits. With the Tungsten Short-Shank Jig, they see less of the jig itself and more undulating plastic. And, the Tungsten Short-Shank Jig gives 3-inch and smaller soft plastics better action because you don’t have a long hook shank running as far back on the bait. There’s more plastic body to move and do its thing,” concludes Huynh.

Power-Corking Tungsten:

If you’ve fished Mille Lacs at all over the past couple of years, you’ve witnessed the phenomena of anglers driving around, Spot-Locking, and tossing out corks— everywhere from reef tops and edges to the mud flats to deep basin areas. Called “power corking”, it’s the equivalent of spot & stalk hunting.

And on your average day out of Garrison or Isle,MN, you’ll find Mille Lacs Lake guide Brad Hawthorne captaining one of those boats with anglers precisely pitching corks.

“So, my main deal on Mille Lacs is locating pods of walleyes with Humminbird MEGA Live, and then having my clients cast an 1/8th or ¼-ounce Tungsten Short-Shank Jig under a simple slip-bobber right to those fish,” offers Hawthorne.

Photos courtesy Northland Fishing Tackle

Northland’s new Short-Shank Tungsten Jig

“In relatively short time we’ve figured out that tungsten excels on clear waters like Mille Lacs, Cass, Leech, etc. where you must keep your boat distanced from walleyes. If a lake has invasives—or is just naturally on the clear side—I won’t pitch a float at them if they’re 30 feet or closer to the boat. Those fish just don’t seem to bite.”

Left to his druthers, Hawthorne will tip his clients’ tungstens with leeches, making the switch over immediately after the height of the early-season shiner bite.

“But I catch plenty on ‘crawlers, too, which are always available to anglers and don’t require a lot of maintenance to keep healthy. The minimal shank length on the Short-Shank Tungsten lets you hang the nightcrawler head out to do its thing, rather than being threaded on a long-shank jig.”

Hawthorne says the other cool thing about the Tungsten Short-Shank Jig is how it minimizes slip bobber rig hardware, thereby producing more bites.

“The Tungsten Short-Shank Jig is compact and dense enough to cast in the wind, it falls to the fish fast, and minimizes the entire slip-bobber rig. You don’t need to add any additional split-shots or an egg sinker. All you need is a swivel, the jig, lively bait, and your slip-bobber. It’s easy and stealthy at the same time.”

Mitchell says the rig excels when he spots a fish on forward-facing sonar.

“Once I see walleyes on the screen, I can pinpoint my cast, and when that bobber ker-plunks, it only takes a couple seconds for the Tungsten Short-Shank Jig and leech or ‘crawler to reach the fish.”

“Even though tungsten falls fast, I don’t like to wait,” laughs Mitchell. “I want that bait to crash right into the fish I see on the screen. With our stained waters, our fish are a lot less spooky, and a lot of times, you really need to let them know your bait is there. The other thing is the added weight of the egg sinker and large, cigar-shaped slip float casts easily on a long rod into the wind.”

While Mitchell is a big fan of leeches, he will fish smaller soft plastics on the same jig and monster slip float, working them pendulum-like, similar to what you might do with a sized-down slip-float and plastic rig for crappies.

Tungsten Take-Away

So, for fishing live bait, you’re going to find that the new Tungsten Short-Shank Jig is a true wonder, what with its ability to telegraph every subtle nuance of bottom composition and the slightest fish nudge or bite. Its fall rate is quick, casts like a bullet, and allows anglers to bring stealth back into the live bait and even plastics walleye program.

Tungsten Float Tips: Dakota ‘Eyes

Leaving the gin-like visibility of Mille Lacs and many northern Minnesota lakes, North Dakota’s waters are on the other spectrum—constantly wind churned, full of algae and microscopic life, and ultimately, not very clear.

As a result, Mitchell goes bigger (and noisier) to put Dakota ‘eyes in the box. “I use a modified slip- bobber rig out here in the Dakotas. Pretty old school except for the new Tungsten Short-Shank Jig. It’s simple and catches lots of fish,” shares Mitchell.

“I start with a big slip float like you’d use fishing muskies or pike with sucker minnows – something close to two inches in diameter and with a cigar-shaped height between six and eight inches tall. I slip on a ¼-ounce egg sinker below the float and bobber stop, tie on a swivel, then position the Tungsten Short-Shank Jig about three feet below that.”

Sizes & Colors

Widely available, the new Short-Shank Tungsten Jig comes in three sizes and ten colors—1/8-, ¼-, and 3/8-ounce with size 1/0, 2/0, and 3/0 hooks respectively. Proven, fish-catching patterns include Gold Shiner, Firetiger, Parrot, Bubblegum, Glo Moonlight, Sunrise, Parakeet, Glo Watermelon—and the recent addition of Black.

The jigs are available in two packs with an MSRP of $6.99.

Visit

PASSIONATE

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For hunters, anglers and others who enjoy experiencing the outdoors first-hand, it means everything. Quality access means quality hunting opportunity.

Opening and improving public access is at the core of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation’s mission. Since its establishment in 1984, RMEF and its partners opened or improved access to more than 1.5 million acres of elk habitat. In 2022, RMEF and the U.S. Forest Service worked with a willing landowner to conserve two private inholdings of wildlife habitat and convey them to the Lolo National Forest. In addition to providing prime habitat for elk, deer, bears and other wildlife, the two parcels feature key riparian habitat since more than one mile of Bear Creek, Camp Creek and Sleeman Creek, all headwater streams and tributaries of Lolo Creek below, cross the property. The transaction protects these spawning and rearing areas for native westslope cutthroat trout and other fish species. The properties are also within or next to important segments of the Lewis and Clark and Nez Perce National Historical Trails.

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Completed in 2022, the project opened public access to what were previously two privately held inholdings within the Lolo National Forest, while also securing new access points to several thousand acres of surrounding public lands

Pre-Season Preparations For

Archery Hunters

By Zach Lazzari Dark Timber Lodge www.darktimberlodge.com

Opening day is on the horizon and

archery

hunters should be getting a jump on the season by preparing gear and training. You can work on your shooting skills, and the off-season presents a major opportunity to test different gear, work through technique and get everything dialed and ready for the real thing.

Get Your Bow Dialed

Work through every piece of your bow during the off-season to get everything setup for the hunt.

We recommend taking your bow to a pro shop for a quick check-up. If needed, this is the time to put a new string on. Make sure to check every screw and connection and change out sights and rests if needed.

Whatever you plan to have on the bow during hunting season should be added now, giving you enough time to practice.

Now is the time for tweaks and changes as they can impact shooting and arrow flight.

After your accessories and string are installed and ready, start shooting and adjusting pins until you are dead on with consistency.

While you’re at the pro shop, sign up for a couple of lessons. Having someone watch you shoot and make suggestions can make a very positive difference.

Rather than ingraining bad habits through repetition, you can improve your technique and make forward strides.

Arrows and Broadheads

Take this time to experiment with different broadheads and arrows if you’ve been considering making changes. If not, stock up on the arrows, broadheads and field points you will need for the hunt. Make sure your spines and weight are all correct and consistent. You want to practice with the same arrows and field point weights that will be used in the hunt.

Practicing with a broadhead that is dulled down or out of commission is also ideal to know exactly how it flies and lands in comparison to the field points. You might find an inch or two of variability and it’s good to recognize and adjust for this early.

Practice Calling Now!

Your bow is dialed and you are off to a great start by shooting early in the season. Getting the jump on calls is also a productive time investment. Keep a few reeds around the house or in the car and practice cow calls and bugles at least a few times each week.

Too many hunters wait until the season opens to throw a call in their mouth. When the pressure is on, it pays to be instinctive and natural with your calls.

Forcing a bad call in the heat of the moment can blow out suspicious cows and bulls.

Prep Your Gear

As the hunting season gets closer, do a run down of your pack, clothing and boots. Spend some time in the field with your gear, while carrying your bow. Getting used to everything and knowing how to quickly drop your pack for a stalk or make adjustments will help during the actual hunt. Test your equipment so it’s organized and ready to roll on opening day.

Start Training

Lastly, get in shape! Chasing elk often means climbing steep slopes and hiking into the backcountry. Train early and often and practice shooting your bow from different positions, while winded. Take your bow for a hike or get your heart rate up by exercising then shoot a round of arrows. Practice breathing and calm yourself to focus and steady on the shot. And rather than shooting a dozen arrows each day - try picking up a single arrow and making it count. After all, you probably won’t get second chances on an elk.

Learn More About Hunting with Dark Timber Lodge

To learn more about our guided elk hunts at Dark Timber Lodge, please visit our website at www.darktimberlodge.com. For details and specific availability, please feel free to contact us. We’d love to help you plan a memorable elk hunting adventure!

Photo credit Ryan McSparran

4 Tips to Improve Your Glassing This Season

(continued from page 10)

2. Keep it Clean

There is nothing worse than dirty glass. As smudges and dirt slowly accumulate on your glass, it’s easy to overlook. But eventually, it will obstruct your vision, inhibit light transmission and reduce the effectiveness of your glass. Carry your binoculars and spotting scope in high quality protective cases that keep them clean and safe in the field. Also keep a cleaning kit with a microfiber cloth and a small bottle of cleaning solution or individual optics wet-wipes. Clean lenses make spotting easier and they also put less strain on your eyes.

3. Timing Your Efforts

Focus your glassing efforts on those times when animals are most likely to be on their feet. Of course this is highly dependent on weather and the time of year. But in many mountain hunting situations, this is the first and last couple hours of each day. Moose and mountain goats often leave more wiggle room for spotting during mid-day. This is especially true for moose during the rut, when you can take advantage of calling. If you are using calls and animals are moving during the day, then adjust your schedule to match their most active hours. Otherwise, plan to spend those early and late hours behind the glass. In addition to the time of day, think about which direction you’ll be glassing. For example, glassing a west-facing slope as the sun is rising in the morning is going to be very difficult. Whenever possible, plan ahead and use the sun to your advantage.

4. Get Comfortable

Comfort might be more important than you initially think. Staying comfortable means staying focused for longer periods of time. And the longer you can stay focused while glassing, the greater your chances of turning up game.

Take the time to setup a comfortable sitting position with ample padding and a good angle on your neck. Laying down on a slight slope is nice for long periods of glassing. Using a tripod to keep your binoculars stable makes it possible to pick apart a landscape without shaking or moving. Bring a lightweight pad to sit on, like the Thermarest Z-Seat. It weighs almost nothing, but keeps your rear end more comfortable, dry and warm. Finally, consider packing dedicated glassing layers in your daypack. An ultralight down jacket weighs mere ounces, but adds significant warmth to your system. Over top of that, put on your rain gear to block the wind, and you’ll be able to sit comfortably for a long time on a windy ridge top.

Contact Us With Questions

If you have questions about a guided hunt or availability, contact us at www.kawdyoutfitters.com

Select Boone and Crockett Club’s license plate the next time you register or renew a vehicle in Montana and help us preserve your hunting heritage for future generations, maintain big-game records, promote hunting ethics, and continue our youth conservation and hunting education programs on Montana’s Rocky Mountain Front. B&C receives a $20 sponsor fee for each plate.

credit Brady Miller

Five Ways To Improve Your Hydration Status When Hunting

By Linzy Ballard

Originally published at GOHUNT.com

Hydration is essential to being successful on your hunt. Most of the time we can get by with being dehydrated because we are not facing adverse or strenuous conditions. In fact, most individuals live in a constant state of dehydration, which is why during hunting season — no matter the time of year — additional fluids are necessary.

THINGS THAT CAN INCREASE YOUR NEED FOR HYDRATION:

1. Sweat

2. High altitude

3. Exercise

4. Caffeine

5. Cold weather

6. Hot weather

In order to know how much you should be increasing your fluid intake, you need to get a basis for what you should be drinking daily. Here are a couple simple ways to see how much fluid you should be consuming per day.

Men or Women: 30 mL for every kg of body weight.

How to find that number? Example: 180 lbs of body weight divided by 2.2 = 81.8 kg

81.8 kg x 30 mL = 2,454 mL or ~ 2.45 liters/day which is about 82.9 ounces of water per day for a 180 pound person.

OR

Men or Women: Drink half body weight in ounces

Example: 180 lbs divided by 2 = 90 ounces of water

This is just a basis for the intake you should be getting each day; most of us aren’t even consuming this much fluid. In fact, you should increase your fluid intake even more while hunting as the conditions call for better hydration. If you’re hiking all day during an early season hunt, it can be sweltering outside, causing you to sweat more. And late-season hunts in frigid temperatures cause you to breathe out much more moisture than usual, which requires a higher intake of liquids. Elevation can also affect our need for liquid. At higher altitudes, no matter how acclimated you are, your body needs to breathe more as the air is thinner. This increase in breathing requires an increase in fluid intake. Most hunts also require an increased physical strain, whether that be hiking or riding horses/mules, which can all lead to muscle soreness from lactic acid buildup and increased sweat loss — both of which can be remedied by increasing your fluid intake. Caffeine is a diuretic, which can cause you to lose fluids seeing as you’ll need to urinate more frequently. This one is not a huge concern because typically, the highest ingredient in caffeinated drinks is still water, so as long as you aren’t drinking strictly energy drinks or coffee, this will not have a significant effect. I, for one, love to start my morning with a hot cup of something, so if that is coffee for you, then at least you are ingesting fluids.

A combination of these factors is typical of any hunt and can lead to dehydration quickly. There are not many of us who are consistent in maintaining hydration status on a hunt, especially if it is a backpack hunt where carrying the amount of liquid you need just isn’t plausible.

HERE ARE 5 TIPS THAT CAN HELP YOU MAINTAIN THAT HYDRATION STATUS AND BE MORE SUCCESSFUL ON YOUR HUNT:

1. Carry a bladder in your pack while hiking. A great Platypus water bladder option is found here: ( https://shop.gohunt.com/products/platypus-big-zip-lphydration-bladder?variant=41231229642).

2. Consume drinks that are full of electrolytes. Check out a solid MTN OPS option here: (https://shop.gohunt.com/products/mtn-ops-electrolytes-stm).

3. Keep your water bottle within reach while hiking or glassing for easy access.

4. Hydrate the week leading up to your hunt.

5. Every time you stop to glass or pull something out of your pack, take a drink.

Not staying properly hydrated can lead to severe consequences that include fatigue, dizziness, increased heart rate, and decreased physical capabilities — all things that we don’t want to deal with during hunting season in the middle of nowhere or on our once-in-a-lifetime hunt.

Photo

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Expert Advice: The Best All Around Hunting Rifle Caliber

By Andrew Jackson Outdoor Empire www.outdoorempire.com

My hunting friends love to rib each other about their favorite calibers.

A particularly sharp rivalry is between my love of 6.5mm caliber cartridges (such as 6.5 Grendel and .260 Remington) and my best friend’s focus on .308 Winchester, which is an excellent round in its own right.

If I had to pick just one cartridge to hunt almost any animal in North America, though?

I wouldn’t choose either .308 Win or my beloved 6.5 Grendel.

The best hunting rifle caliber for most hunters is the .270 Winchester. It’s powerful enough for elk and moose but can be tamed down for coyotes and Sitka deer. It’s also a popular enough hunting ammo to find it available for sale even at small outfitters.

What makes this cartridge so great?

Let’s delve into why the .270 is such a versatile caliber.

What’s Important in the Best Hunting Cartridge?

A good hunting round has the qualities necessary for you to harvest your chosen game reliably.

An excellent hunting caliber will allow you to hunt as many animals as possible.

This will let you stick to just one rifle for all of your hunting needs, saving you money and taking advantage of your familiarity with the weapon.

These qualities distill down to four words:

• Power

• Range

• Versatility

• Availability

.270 Winchester comfortably hits all four of these points.

Impact Power

When you shoot an animal, the bullet has to penetrate the animal and transfer the kinetic energy into the animal’s flesh and organs. This is what I mean by “impact power.”

A caliber that’s too small for your game won’t penetrate far enough to cause lethal damage.

This can result in a wounded animal escaping from your attempts to track it down, wasting your time, and leaving the animal to succumb to a painful death by disease if it cannot recover.

The .270 Winchester, with the right bullet selection, is powerful enough for every animal in North America. It’s often used for large game such as elk and moose.

It can even be used for grizzlies, if you load your rifle with a heavy-for-caliber round and don’t mind a shoulder bruise! Also, since .270 Winchester is such a popular hunting round, it benefits from all the hunting-related technological advancements every bullet manufacturer has developed.

A modern projectile such as the Hornady ELD-X bullet will deliver devastating impacts at ranges our grandfathers only wished they could shoot.

Which leads us to…

Effective Range

Hunting bullets need to hit the animal hard, and they have to do so at a range that matches the terrain in which you’re hunting.

Let’s take elk for example.

Unless you’re lucky enough to be hunting in a thick forest, you’re looking at a 100-yard or longer shot. Who are we kidding? That elk will probably stay 300 yards away from you!

The popular rule of thumb for harvesting elk is that you need a minimum kinetic energy measurement of 1,500 foot-pounds.

A 130 gr Hornady SST Superformance .270 Winchester load will retain enough kinetic energy at 450 yards to ethically harvest elk.

.308 Winchester with a 150 gr Federal Vital-Shok bullet crosses that threshold just past 350 yards!

Photos courtesy Outdoor Empire www.outdoorempire.com

Keep that bullet selection in mind, though. A 130 gr Winchester Silvertip bullet from a .270 rifle drops under 1,500 ft-lbs just before 300 yards.

So, with the right ammo choice, you can ethically harvest the game at a shot distance, surpassing your average gun range. I hope you’ve practiced your long range hunting skills!

However, notice the words “effective range” instead of “maximum range.”

.270 Winchester is also commonly regarded as a flat-shooting cartridge. The bullet doesn’t drop much compared with heftier calibers such as .30-06.

In practice, this means .270 Win has an intuitive maximum point-blank range.

If you don’t know what MPBR is, this technique combines sighting your rifle to shoot high at a certain range so the projectile rises above the sightline and drops below. Why would you want this?

Your average deer has a 7-inch vital area. Hit anywhere in there and the deer will go down.

So, if you aim at the center of the vital area, it doesn’t matter if the bullet hits 3.5 inches high, 3.5 inches low, or anywhere in between.

With your average 130 gr .270 load, you can get this maximum point-blank range effect by zeroing your rifle 3″ high at 100 yards. The bullet won’t drop 3.5″ from your point of aim until past 300 yards!

Versatility

Remington Core-Lokt Tipped Centerfire Rifle Ammo

.270 Winchester is known as a medium to large game caliber. Did you know it can be a varmint cartridge, too?

Remington offers a 100 gr Core-Lokt load for the .270 Winchester. Norma beats this with their 96 gr EVOStrike lead-free ammo, which exceeds 3,500 feet per second. These light bullets are great for animals smaller than deer, such as coyotes. Though, this would be more for population control than for fur harvesting because a 100 gr bullet traveling at 3,000+ fps will dump a massive amount of kinetic energy.

And, if you want to be a madman flinging out 85 gr bullets at 3,800 fps, Barnes has loose TSX bullets available.

They’re intended for the 6.8 SPC cartridge but .270 Winchester uses the same .277 bullet size. Speer TNT Varmint bullets are a saner choice for use on varmints.

On the other hand, both Berger and Nosler sell 170 gr bullets. That’s twice as heavy as the lightest .270 bullets.

So, a .270 Winchester can take down a coyote and, with a different load, can offer adequate effectiveness against large and aggressive bears.

About the only ammo selection the .270 lacks is a dedicated match ammo. This isn’t a design deficiency, but is because the .270 Winchester is entrenched in everybody’s minds as a dedicated hunting round.

However, the adventurous reloader can use Sierra MatchKing or Hornady Match bullets for the 6.8 SPC.

(continued on page 28)

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Expert Advice: The Best All Around Hunting Rifle Caliber

(continued from page 27)

Availability

I’ve been to a small town on Prince of Wales Island in Alaska. The only way there was by boat or floatplane.

The outfitter shop had a limited selection of ammo. On its shelves was .270 Winchester ammunition.

Practically anywhere you want to hunt will have a store nearby with .270 Winchester ammo available for sale. And, since it’s not a round used in modern sporting rifles, it’s managed to elude much of the political pressure and hoarding issues that plague other popular calibers such as .308.

There is a knock against .270 Winchester, though, and that’s the price.

You’ll be hard-pressed to find cheap plinking ammo for your .270 rifle!

What Makes the .270 Winchester the Perfect All Around Hunting Caliber

.270 Win is such a great round because it managed to hit so many sweet spots of power, range, and versatility.

Part of this is because of circular reasoning. .270 is popular so manufacturers make high-quality ammo for it, so it becomes more popular.

However, the .270 is also so effective because of ballistics, the mathematics of projectile flight, and impact.

History of the .270 Winchester

When Winchester released their Model 54 bolt-action rifle in 1925, they also introduced the .270 Winchester cartridge. It was a fairly successful rifle but the cartridge was overshadowed by existing hunting cartridges, especially the ubiquitous .30-06.

It took decades for hunters to realize that .270 was easier to use than .30-06 due to its flat shooting profile while being no less effective. In fact, with a modern bullet design, .270 can be more effective than its old competitor.

Today, the Model 54 is more or less a relic of history. Scopes weren’t commonly used when that rifle was designed so the bolt interferes with where a scope should go.

However, the .270 has gained worldwide acceptance as one of the greatest hunting calibers.

Let’s Dive into Ballistics

Bullets are effective because of physics. They transfer the kinetic energy into flesh, disrupting the tissue and organs and causing wounding and death.

A lot of advanced mathematics can be used to determine how effectively a bullet can transfer this energy. Bullet length, width, shape, and speed all have an effect.

The important factors for us laymen are sectional density, ballistic coefficient, velocity, and energy.

What makes .270 such a good cartridge is how it makes good marks in all of these factors.

Sectional Density

Without penetration, a hunting bullet is worthless.

Sectional density is a measurement that helps hunters understand how well a bullet penetrates a target.

If two bullets with the same velocity, shape, and construction but different SDs hit the same target, the higher SD bullet will penetrate farther.

To determine a bullet’s SD, take its weight in pounds, divide it by its diameter in inches, and square the result.

You want an SD of .205 or higher for deer and .250 or higher for elk. .270 Winchester’s sectional density averages between .242 and .279.

Ballistic Coefficient

Another important consideration is how well the bullet flies through the air, measured as the bullet’s ballistic coefficient. The higher the BC, the lower the bullet’s drag, the better it retains velocity, and the longer the range.

BC is a ratio based on the bullet’s SD and its shape. The flatter the nose, the worse the BC; the heavier the bullet, the better the BC. Higher is better.

Let’s compare Hornady’s 150 gr SST bullets, .277 caliber for the .270 Win and .308 caliber for the .30-06 Springfield. The .308 bullet’s BC is .415 and the .277 bullet’s BC is .525. That’s quite the advantage, even with the same bullet weight.

Oh, and the sectional densities for those two projectiles? .279 for the .277 bullet and .226 for the .308 bullet.

Velocity and Energy

Naturally, to impart energy, the bullet has to have energy. .270 Win doesn’t lack here. The average load puts out around 2,700 ft-lbs of force, whether it’s a 150 gr bullet going 2,850 fps or 130 gr bullet going 3,060 fps.

.30-06 just barely beats out .270 Winchester here. It gains about 60 fps and 100 ft-lbs with a 150 gr bullet. However, that advantage won’t last long because of the .270’s superior SD and BC!

Other Great Hunting Calibers

While I hope I’ve laid out some good arguments for why .270 Win is the perfect go-to hunting caliber, I know I haven’t convinced all of you.

And that’s okay.

I believe that everybody should be knowledgeable about their specific circumstances and use the best tool for the job.

.270 Winchester may be extremely effective and versatile for many people but it won’t be the best choice for everyone. I tend toward specialization, but that’s because I’m also a firearm collector. Some people like to minimize the variety of calibers they have to juggle. I have three different caliber barrels for one of my pistols and four other caliber uppers... So, I’ll grab my 6.5 Grendel...for deer hunting and a .45-70 lever-action rifle for black bears rather than a single rifle for both.

Other people may want to pass on picking up a .270 Winchester rifle even if they’re looking for a one-gun solution.

For example, if you’ll never travel up north to the land of moose and brown bear, then the maximum-power capabilities of the .270 may be a waste. You can be just as effective with a less powerful choice.

So, let’s look at some of my favorite alternatives to the .270. All of these will be great all-around hunting rounds. Just not as versatile as .270 Winchester.

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.30-06 Springfield

The parent cartridge to the .270 Winchester is itself a good hunting round.

You can use .30-06 to harvest many medium and large game animals. Sabot loads are available for varmint hunting, and bullet weight can reach 220 gr for the heaviest animals.

The main problem with .30-06 is that it’s not as efficient of a round.

The 6.5 Cartridge of Your Choice

6.5mm rifles exploded in popularity once the 6.5 Creedmoor caught on, but 6.5 has been a go-to round for hunters for over a hundred years.

In Europe, 6.5x55mm Swedish is one of the most popular hunting cartridges. It’s less popular in America but still available on many shelves.

6.5 Creedmoor was designed as a long-range target round but is also a celebrated hunting round. It’s based on the .308 case to be used in short-action rifles.

My favorite 6.5mm caliber round is the .260 Remington, specifically the .260 Rem Ackley Improved. It’s just a tad more efficient than 6.5 Creedmoor, though not as well supported commercially.

These 6.5mm cartridges have similar capabilities and are just a bit less powerful than the .270 Winchester. You lose out on the ability to harvest grizzlies and moose but perhaps gain superior extreme-range capability...

Special mention to the 6.5 Grendel...

However, Grendel’s case is much shorter than any other cartridge I’m mentioning here. This cuts down its capability to hunt black bears and smaller animals, so it’s not a true all-around hunting caliber.

7mm Remington Magnum

This round can be considered to be the .270 Winchester on steroids.

It’s bigger in every respect while maintaining similar velocities and ballistic coefficients.

This cuts off the low end of harvestable animals, so please don’t take a 7mm Rem Mag coyote hunting. There may not be any fur left.

However, you’ll get enough extra power for more confidence against the biggest mammals while staying tame enough for whitetail and blacktail deer.

You need to load a heavier bullet to match the sectional density and ballistic coefficient of a .270 bullet, which will cost you muzzle velocity. This cuts your effective range short and loses you the advantage of .270’s generous maximum point-blank range.

Overall, .30-06 Springfield is a good choice for hunting almost any animal.

I just prefer my hunting ammo to be more efficient.

.308 Winchester

A bit shorter than .30-06, .308 is practically as effective as the longer cartridge for most use cases.

But it suffers the same ballistic problems as .30-06 because of its larger caliber, without the advantage of the heavy 220 gr bullets.

On the other hand, .308 Win fits in short-action rifles and cheap surplus ammo is available. You can put more practice .308 downrange than any other all-purpose hunting caliber, translating to better shot placement in the field.

In fact, I sometimes recommend .308 as the perfect full-power general-purpose caliber.

But if hunting is the only thing on your mind, I’d still recommend .270 Winchester.

Conclusion

No one caliber can ethically harvest every huntable animal in North America.

However, if you’re willing to leave off small game such as foxes and rabbits, the .270 Winchester gets you darn close.

It’s a powerful caliber that maintains its kinetic energy at long ranges. With the right bullet selection, you can use it to take down a large bear or a small deer.

If you want to choose one hunting rifle while maximizing the variety of game species you can hunt, I recommend buying a rifle chambered in .270 Winchester.

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Antelope Strategies

For Pre-Rut And Rut

By Jake Horton

Originally published at GOHUNT.com

An antelope is one of the most misunderstood and misidentified animals in North America. Biologically, they are not in the same family as deer, mountain goats, elk or even similar-looking species in Africa. In fact, they are the only living species of animals that are in the Antilocapridae family and they only naturally inhabit the Midwest and western states of North America. An antelope stands about 3 1/2’ tall and can weigh up to 140 lbs. Bucks grow horns that can reach up to 20” long and typically curve inward. They can hit speeds above 60 mph and rely mostly on their eyesight and speed to get away from predators. Antelope are active both during the day and the night and can easily pick out danger over four miles away. Antelope hunting is one of those western hunts that can test your patience one day and have you seeing more animals than you know what to do with the next. Chasing antelope all across the West is an experience that can become addicting and is considered one of my higher opportunity western hunts even though nothing is guaranteed. It is not uncommon to be driving down the road and see hundreds of antelope feeding along the highway; however, getting permission or finding them on public land is more of a challenge. After you find antelope on public land or get private land permission, here are some strategies that you can use for pre-rut and rut hunts in order to get close enough to put a nice buck on the ground.

PRE-RUT STRATEGIES

As you probably know, antelope love to live in some of the most wide-open areas of the western states. Though they rely mostly on their eyesight to spot danger, they also rely on their speed to get them away from said danger. Sometimes a buck might even walk towards you in order to get a better look only to flee at speeds up to 60 mph once he realizes that you are a danger. When hunting during the pre-rut, there are two main strategies that I use with good success.

One of these strategies is to patiently wait in a blind near an actively used water source or a common intersection for antelope to naturally move within range. Hunting over water is a common strategy in some of the drier areas of the West, especially when using a short-range weapon such as a bow or muzzleloader. Hunting an intersection can also be very effective, especially if it is a natural funnel point caused by drastic terrain differences or fence line openings. Antelope can jump and go under fences, but typically like to move through openings and take the path of least resistance. If you have enough patience and are near a good number of antelope, you can definitely harvest a good buck this way.

The second pre-rut strategy involves spotting and stalking antelope. Most years you can have good luck by getting on a vantage point and glassing with some decent optics. Once you can determine a quality buck’s general direction of travel you need to plan a stalk. To do this, you must use anything in between to cover your movement. Sometimes there are nice ditch lines, undulating terrain differences or high sagebrush, but often it may involve you getting on your hands and knees and slowly working towards the buck’s intended direction. Pre-rut can be a challenge to get close to a good buck since they are not in a hurry to be anywhere; however, like any hunt, patience can pay off.

RUT STRATEGIES

There can be nothing more action-filled and frustrating than chasing antelope during the rut. Prior to the rut, bucks seem to be slower moving, more predictable and an average hunter is able to work towards an intersection point in time to intercept the buck.

During the rut, antelope can truly show their speed and be in your sight one minute and multiple miles away the next minute.

During the rut, I also typically employ the aforementioned strategy of sitting over water or on a trail intersection or spot and stalk. Most antelope rut seasons generally have mild weather and bucks will wear themselves out so much that they need water multiple times a day. They also will move through intersections and pinch points more frequently as they chase doe around who are not ready to breed. If you can get multiple miles away from every road and patiently wait, eventually other hunters will push rutting bucks your way. A lot of states have rifle hunts during the antelope rut, making it a prime time to be out in the grasslands, sage hillsides and deserts chasing antelope. One major difference is that because bucks are rutting, you can often use a decoy to stalk within range. Sometimes, the bucks will even head your direction if they are rutting hard enough and you are using an antelope decoy. Overall, the strategies used during the rut may be similar; however, you typically will see more animals and require less patience to hunt this time of year, especially if you have a rifle in your hand.

(continued on page 38)

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We parked where we might have viewed the mountain, but it was dark,very dark, because it was still well before daylight. For us, we were on time; our plan was to spend an hour, before legal shooting light, hiking from our vehicle to the base of the mountain. It was 2007, and brother Bill and I both had Mule deer buck tags for the area, but I did not carry a gun on this hunt, it was sort of Bill’s turn to be the hunter. Instead, I carried a spotting scope and a small lightweight tripod to get a good look at any bucks that might find us.

A week earlier we glassed a mature, very wide and tall-looking buck, however, mostly because of distance and wind, we decided not to shoot. Our stalk to decrease the distance, while well-planned and perfectly executed, was not successful. Possibly the buck crawled into a secret hidden cave somewhere on the mountain. This time, we would find that cave. On the earlier hunt, we climbed a three-quarter mile canyon ending near the mountain top. Today, we intended to hunt around the mountain, slowly gaining elevation, while crossing five small drainages, until we reached the backside near the top. We expected a two-mile hike each way.

Hunt Five Sagebrush Draws

At legal light we began our initial climb up a small ridge where we hoped to view our first candidates for Bill’s tag. Apparently, the dozen or so deer that materialized with daylight weren’t surprised by our arrival. All of them ran up the steep ridge line, probably to make room for us to continue our hunt around the mountain. While appreciating the gesture, we barely had time for a quick look with binoculars before they disappeared; there were 2 or 3 small bucks, the rest were does and fawns. The guy with the spotting scope needed a bit more time for set-up. But now, we were eager for a peek into the first of the five drainages we planned to cross.

Sometimes, It’s A Long Walk Back

By Tom Cooper

Bill spotted a couple deer feeding on the coarse, sagebrush-like plants covering the upper end of the draw. This time, the guy with the spotting scope had plenty of time to set up. Unfortunately, there was not enough time to wait for the two-point to grow the antlers we hoped to see. The hike continued into the draw and up the other side for a look into the next one. Glassing revealed several does and fawns in two locations. The bucks were missing. As we moved to cross this draw, one group of deer ran out the upper end, the second group took the bottom route, heading across the “flat-looking” sagebrush plain visible below us.

The third draw was the smallest but brushiest of all. Glassing from behind a large boulder, we didn’t see anything. As I said, it was brushy, so when a small 4 x 3 buck jumped right in front of us, it was a surprise. Bill seemed tempted, but the youngster was quick and disappeared into thick brush at the head of the draw. The guy with the scope was not very useful.

Draw number four was a lot more interesting. At first glance, neither of us saw any movement or deer color. The sky had cleared and the sun was bright. There were lots of Juniper trees mixed into the sagebrush. Within five minutes, gray shapes started to appear through the green Juniper branches. While it was a great little experience and certainly reinforced the need for patience when glassing, does and fawns owned this piece of real estate; again, the bucks were missing. The deer departed uphill as we proceeded to our last draw. Number five was easy, we didn’t see an animal. The guy with scope wasn’t needed. Having hunted this area a couple years earlier by hiking across the crown of our mountain, I recalled a game trail leading from this draw into a large basin on the backside of the mountain.

brother Bill (r). Photo courtesy Tom Cooper

Take a Look at the Backside Basin

We climbed and found the game trail, then headed for a look into the basin. Recognizing a rocky outcrop in front of us, I told Bill there was a really good view around the right side of the outcrop, but it required a little crawling. Slowly moving across the outcrop, our initial scan didn’t reveal anything. Eventually, we spotted a mature buck feeding downhill along a shallow ridge. After sneaking back, we devised our plan. Bill would return to the outcrop and get ready for a broadside shot while I slid down the hill 150 yards, and climbed across a small cliff toward the buck. Hopefully, he would hear me or see enough movement to cause it to change position, allowing Bill to rest his rifle on his pack and take a broadside shot. When a plan comes together, all the participants are really happy (except maybe the buck). It took two shots, although I think that’s still below Bill’s average. It had been an amazing hunting morning to this point; now we had serious work ahead.

Lighten the Load for the Hike Back

Experienced with no-gut game processing, we quickly decided it was the best approach for Bill’s buck. We needed to leave as much weight behind as possible. Our butchering was complete in just over an hour, and we had two boned shoulders, two hams, two back straps and two tenderloins all in cloth game bags. We loaded the boned meat bags into two rucksacks we brought with us; both of us carried a bagged ham over our shoulder.

Instead of returning via the five draws we crossed to get into this predicament, we decided to follow a drainage downhill until starting our return around and across the wide open and “flat-looking” plain at the base of the mountain.

Our expectation was we would avoid all the ups and downs required to cross the five draws. Expectations can be good and bad. Ours were good, but reality was bad.

The hike to the road seemed endless; we rested countless times, drank all our water, and cursed the long up and down hike constantly during the final hour. When we reached the road, we dropped everything, then hiked the ½ mile uphill to our vehicle.

Just a few general statements to conclude my story. Digital measurement on a topographic map suggested our total hike was a touch under eight miles (we expected four) and included 850 vertical feet (expected 450). The spotting scope and tripod were not useful. To be clear, we didn’t hunt the next day, instead it was extra sleep, and a nice breakfast. We didn’t find the hidden cave or see the wide and tall Muley again. And, sometimes, it’s just a long walk back.

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Tips To Help You Stay On The Mountain All Day Long

By Jake Horton

Originally published at GOHUNT.com

It does not matter if you are hunting deer, elk, bear, predators or rabbits, you cannot hunt and harvest an animal if you are at camp. Or, at least, your chances are way less. Staying afield all day long — especially in poor conditions or when your confidence is low — is tough for most people. This is because most hunters are realistic and know that the first few hours of the morning and the last few hours of the evening are their best opportunities to get a glimpse and hopefully harvest a trophy animal.

Though the odds of you harvesting a trophy buck, bull or other animal at noon are probably less than the morning and evening, you still have odds. And, if you are like me and have limited time to hunt each year, any odds are better than no odds.

So for that reason, I encourage you to stay in the mountains all day, every day, rain or shine. Here are some tips to help you pass the time and be in the best position to harvest an animal at any time of day.

MENTAL PREPARATION When it comes to hunting out West, there is physical preparation, there is skill preparation and there is also mental preparation. Western hunting is hard. Brutal elevation gains, painful blisters, muscle cramps and sheer exhaustion can break down a person who is not mentally prepared. Understanding what you are getting yourself into and remembering a common goal throughout the hunt is crucial if you want to keep your morale up and hopefully harvest an animal. I have heard many hunters plan a ten-day trip only to cut it short a day or two early because they have been unsuccessful or are just worn out. They lost mental focus of what they were striving for, tucked their tail and went home. I am willing to bet that they wished they were back on the mountain one or two days after they got home. Remembering that mental toughness is essential and staying focused every day of the hunt is necessary. Mental toughness is what is required if you want to stay in the mountains all day. BE PREPARED FOR CHANGING CONDITIONS If you have decided to stay back all day, you need to be prepared for changing conditions. Any western hunter knows that the mountains are unpredictable and the weather can change at a moment’s notice. For this reason, I always come prepared with a change of base layers, a tarp or rain fly and some rain gear. Whenever I decide to stay back, I constantly get tested by the weather and unforeseen circumstances. This is why mental preparation is so important. During the rain or snow — or right after — might just be the time that buck or bull stands up and walks out, so be prepared and don’t make excuses.

PASS THE TIME You are back in the mountains for the long days of fall and early winter, so boredom could be a problem. For this reason, I encourage you to find something to pass the time. For some of you, this might be reading a book, journaling the day’s events or even napping. There are plenty of quiet ways to enjoy yourself in the mountains and I encourage you all to find one that works for you. I often set up my binos on a tripod and then glass for a little while and then take a break to read a hunting book or action novel that I have packed in with me. Pass the time and you might even enjoy the experience.

WHERE TO

STAY

When it comes to picking a spot to hang out for the day, there are three main things to think about. First, what is your evening plan? I always like to position myself in a place near my evening hunt or at the spot I want to be for the evening. The second thing is wind and thermal directions. As you probably know, the daytime thermals rise up the mountain and there is usually some sort of prevailing wind wherever you are hunting. Position yourself in a way that these prevailing winds and thermals do not blow anywhere near where you think the animals might be. That means you might have to travel up and over the top to keep your thermals from dropping down the mountain. The last thing that is important when picking a spot is to choose a huntable spot. You are going to be staying back in the mountains all day. Yes, it will save you some hiking and allow you to take a nap or two, but the important thing is that you are hunting. Pick a spot that you could hunt from if you saw or heard an animal.

FEED YOURSELF Another super important thing to remember when you are back in the mountains all day is to bring some high-calorie food to eat. You are trying to be an efficient hunting machine and this requires food. Remember to bring some snacks and some solid meal choices that will replenish your body and keep you hunting hard whenever you get the opportunity. It should go without saying that you need to remember to pack enough water or have a way to get and purify water in the backcountry. Take care of your stomach and it will

be easy to stay back.

Though there is not much guaranteed in hunting, I can assure you that you will have a better chance to kill an animal if you are back where the animals live instead of at the truck or camp. This should be enough of a reason to plan on staying back in the mountains all day instead of wasting energy and hiking out just to hike back in. This fall, be mentally prepared, have the right gear, a way to pass the time and some good backcountry meals. You might just fill your tag at a time you would generally be getting back to camp!

Photo credit Brady Miller

The Pros And Cons Of Elk Hunting Alone

(continued from page 9)

Solo hunting methods STALKING

Hunting solo makes the option of spot and stalking bulls or silently chasing bugles a perfect option. This is where your predator instinct can really kick in. It is just you and the animal. You do not have anyone else to think of, communicate with or keep track of. It is an ideal scenario and one that has accounted for the majority of the bulls I have killed.

You can spend hours in the morning stalking a herd without an opportunity or obligation to be anywhere else. Instead of heading back to camp, you can stay in close proximity, keep the wind right and possibly have a chance at an animal during the middle of the day. If not, you are certainly in a good location for the evening hunt.

CALLING

Plenty of solo hunters harvest animals by calling and there are a couple of steps that could increase your chance of success. Unlike working with a partner, when you are solo you will be doing it all. Once you hear a bull or get an animal to respond, pinpoint the location and quickly close the gap. This single step will get you more encounters than anything else. Too many times, people get distracted and call back and forth with a bull from a distance.

Get close and throw out a cow call or two. If you get a response and the bull is within a couple hundred yards, cut him off with an aggressive bugle. It is a good method to anger the bull and make him come in looking for a fight. If you feel he is committed, coming in and you have time, quickly move forward 20 to 30 yards. That way, if he holds up you may still be close enough, and if he commits, his attention will be focused past you.

Ready for success

Antelope Strategies

For Pre-Rut And Rut

(continued from page 30)

Hunting antelope, pre-rut, revolves around finding their active habitat and taking advantage of natural animal behavior as they mosey around. The only guarantee during the pre-rut is that antelope will eventually need to head towards water and, hopefully, you are there or along the path to that location. During the rut, antelope behavior can be more erratic and setting up in a general intersection or far from the roads will prove to be an effective place to hunt. Patience and well-planned stalks are the name of the game during both times of the year; however, I typically see more bucks during the rut season, especially if it happens during a popular rifle hunt when hunting pressure can be high. Hunt hard and use goHUNT Filtering 2.0 to find units with high success rates and you should be able to employ any of these strategies this fall.

States Set 2023 Columbia River Summer/ Fall Salmon And Steelhead Seasons

(continued from page 17)

This year’s adult fall Chinook forecast of 554,000 fish is smaller than last year’s actual return. The 2023 Columbia River coho return is forecasted at 595,300 adults, which is similar to last year’s actual return. Chinook and coho retention seasons start Aug. 1 and vary by river section. This year’s regulations include additional measures, such as mark-selective (adipose fin-clipped only) retention rules for Chinook in the Buoy 10 fishery and salmonid angling closures upstream of west Puget Island when Chinook retention is prohibited. These are intended to help manage fishery impacts to ESA-listed stocks and to increase the stability of the planned season structure.

If accurate, the preseason forecast of 67,800 fish would be the lowest return for upriver summer steelhead since counting started at Bonneville Dam in 1938. In recognition of the expected low abundance, anglers will see extremely conservative retention regulations again in 2023, similar to recent years. Hatchery steelhead retention will be allowed June 16 to July 31 from the Astoria-Megler Bridge upstream to The Dalles Dam and June 16 through Aug. 31 from The Dalles Dam upstream to the Highway 395 Bridge in Pasco, WA with a reduced bag limit of one fish. After retention of summer steelhead closes in each area, it is expected to remain closed through at least the end of the year.

Once that arrow hits home and the bull is on the ground, a whole new challenge begins. You must mentally and physically be ready to take your own photographs, break down the bull for packing and then pack several hundred pounds of meat out of some rough country. This could happen late in the afternoon or evening after a long brutal day.

Are you physically capable of doing the tasks necessary to get that elk to the truck? Physical and mental preparation cannot be stressed enough, but the satisfaction of going it alone and making it happen is a feeling like no other.

“The summer steelhead forecast this year, especially for B-Index steelhead destined for the Clearwater and Salmon rivers in Idaho, is bleak and I’d encourage everyone to do what they can to avoid them once the area-specific retention seasons close,” said Tucker Jones, ODFW Ocean Salmon and Columbia River Program Manager. (For more information on summer steelhead returns and management in the Columbia River Basin visit https://myodfw.com/articles/ steelhead-management-columbia-snake-river-basins). Protective regulations will also include Thermal Angling Sanctuaries in Eagle Creek, Herman Creek, and the Deschutes River as well as in the Columbia River near the mouths of these tributaries (see the website for maps and detailed descriptions of these sanctuary areas).

For more information about Columbia River fishing seasons, visit ODFW’s online fishing reports at https://myodfw.com/ recreation-report/fishing-report/columbia-zone. Summer and fall season regulations will also be posted at this link before the season begins.

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Go Where Love Takes You. 2024 Outback

2024 Subaru Outback ®

So many reasons to love a Subaru Outback.

• Equipped with standard Symmetrical AWD

• EyeSight® Driver Assist Technology1

• SUBARU STARLINK® Multimedia with Apple CarPlay® and Android Auto™2

• Raised roof rails with integrated cross bars and tie-down points

• LED Steering Responsive Headlights

• LED fog lights and so much more!

9 Outback Trims Available

PLACER MOTORS

More than a Car Company.

406-442-2603 |

See

1-888-433-0119

1515 EUCLID AVENUE, HELENA, MT. 59601

Subaru, Outback, EyeSight, STARLINK and Apple CarPlay are registered trademarks. Android is a trademark of Google Inc. 1EyeSight is a driver-assist system that may not operate optimally under all driving conditions. The driver is always responsible for safe and attentive driving. System effectiveness depends on many factors, such as vehicle maintenance, weather, and road conditions. See Owner’s Manual for complete details on system operation and limitations. Requires automatic transmission. 2SUBARU STARLINK Dual 7.0-inch Multimedia system with high-resolution LCD touchscreen multi-touch gesture displays, Apple CarPlay® and Android Auto™ integration. Compatible smartphone and application required. For applications to operate, latest version of each application required. Data provided by smartphone is displayed on head unit screen. Some state laws prohibit the operation of handheld electronic devices while operating a vehicle. Smartphone apps should only be launched when vehicle is safely parked. Your wireless carrier’s rates may apply. SiriusXM® and SiriusXM® Travel Link® services require a subscription, sold separately by SiriusXM after the trial period. Your SiriusXM service will automatically stop at the end of your trial unless you decide to subscribe. If you decide to continue service, the subscription plan chosen will automatically renew and be charged according to your chosen payment method at the then-current rates. Fees and taxes apply. See the SiriusXM Customer Agreement & Privacy Policy at www.siriusxm.com for full terms and how to cancel, which includes online methods or calling 1-866-635-2349. Available in the 48 contiguous United States, D.C., and Puerto Rico (with coverage limits and capable receiver). Visit http://www.siriusxm.com/FAQS for most current service area information. Availability of some services and features is subject to device capabilities and location restrictions. All fees, content and features are subject to change. SiriusXM, Pandora and all related logos are trademarks of Sirius XM Radio Inc. and its respective subsidiaries. 2024 Subaru Outback Autumn Green Metallic on Java Brown Leather shown with accessory equipment. Take a video tour here: https://www.subaru.com/vehicles/outback/gallery.html