June/July 2020

Game & Fish West

Each issue of Game & Fish West details proven local strategies for elk, deer, bass, trout and more. Discover the best places to hunt and fish from Washington to New Mexico, and learn the top times for success in the field and on the water

Game & Fish West2 min readCooking, Food & Wine
A Meal And A Memory
THE TROUT came from the cold, deep water like a jewel from a mine, sparkling green, red, blue and white. My 5-year-old son gave a giddy squeal as he pulled the 9-incher onto the bank. “Can we keep it, Dad?” he asked through a smile that beamed brigh
Game & Fish West1 min read
Game & Fish West
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Adam Heggenstaller | Adam.Heggenstaller@outdoorsg.com EDITOR John Taranto | John.Taranto@outdoorsg.com REGIONAL EDITORS David F. Johnson, Dr. Todd A. Kuhn, Drew Warden ONLINE CONTENT EDITOR Scott Bernarde SENIOR DESIGN MANAGER
Game & Fish West1 min read
Moon Times
The moon’s phases are listed as New, First Quarter (First Q), Full, and Last Quarter (Last Q). Times listed represent the peak activity times for game and fish each day. For your own 2020 Doug Hannon’s Moon Clock go to moontimes.com or send $9.95
Game & Fish West2 min read
Strap or Sling?
MOST HUNTERS don’t realize there’s a difference between a rifle strap and a rifle sling. A rifle strap helps to carry a rifle on your shoulder; a rifle sling helps to stabilize your shooting position. Though there are exceptions, straps and slings ar
Game & Fish West1 min read
Carry And Shoot
1 .The best carry straps I’ve found are made by Vero Vellini (vero-vellini.com).Their neoprene makes carrying a rifle on your shoulder comfortable, but because it has some stretch, these are no good as shooting slings. 2 .One of the best shooting sl
Game & Fish West3 min read
Topwater Tech
FEW EVENTS in the fishing universe rival the excitement of a bass crushing a topwater lure. The visual experience of presenting a frog, popper or walking bait on the surface creates a palpable sense of nervous anticipation, which can only be relieved
Game & Fish West4 min readCooking, Food & Wine
Shore Thing
THE EXPLORERS who used waterways as early travel routes regularly caught fish and ate them fresh for lunch. The high-protein meal would keep them energized for the rest of the working day. For anglers, a tasty shore lunch can induce a food coma that
Game & Fish West3 min read
Greenbacks For Green Heads (and Other Game)
THINK OF all the good ideas that have their expression in our conservation heritage. There’s the good idea that in order to have wildlife to hunt and fish for, the “users”—hunters and anglers—should help pay for game and fisheries management. That us
Game & Fish West1 min read
NAWCA Dollars at Work
The 2019 distribution of $28 million in North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) grants, along with $72 million in matching funds, will conserve or restore more than 150,000 acres of wetland and associated upland habitats for “waterfowl, shor
Game & Fish West4 min read
Distance Learning
LONG, MUCH like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. As students of the Outdoor Solutions Long Range Shooting School shuffled about under a pavilion high atop a hill in northeastern Utah, the instructors pulled us in close. To break the ice, they a
Game & Fish West1 min read
Gear for Going Long
AT THE Outdoor Solutions Long Range Shooting School, students shot Remington Model 700 Magpul Enhanced rifles chambered for 6mm Creedmoor (remington.com). The rifles were equipped with Advanced Armament Corporation Jaeger 30 suppressors (advanced-arm
Game & Fish West1 min read
Get Schooled
OUTDOOR SOLUTIONS offers two-day, three-night Long Range Schools in three locations: Texas, Utah and Michigan. Overnight accommodations and meals are included, as well as rifles, ammo, optics and expert instruction in both shooting fundamentals and a
Game & Fish West4 min read
The Great Elk Divide
MONTANA HAS an elk problem. It’s not that there are too few wapiti, though some hunters might make that complaint after another unproductive season. It’s that there are too few of them in the right places and too many of them in the wrong places. Mon
Game & Fish West2 min read
Critical Gear: Rangefinders
For precisely sighting in a bow or rifle, and for shooting game at longer ranges in the field, a hunter must know exactly how far he is from his target. Fortunately, there are a good number of reliable rangefinders on the market that won’t break the
Game & Fish West5 min read
Go Long
I’M A HUNTER who prefers to get close to the game I’m hunting. I’ll almost always trade a chancy long shot for the work involved in reducing the range, even if I know that I risk spooking game by closing the distance. But there are times when I simpl
Game & Fish West5 min read
Froggin’, Flippin’ And Buzzin’
THROUGH MANY generations, bass fishing has operated on a simple seasonal rule of thumb: Fish shallow in spring and fall; fish deep in summer and winter. As with any enduring rule of thumb, there’s some good, solid advice there. After all, biological
Game & Fish West1 min read
Back Up Your Topwaters
Bass might have big mouths, but it’s shocking how often they’ll miss a lure—especially a topwater bait. That’s why our summertime shallow-water experts always have back-up baits at the ready. Greg Hackney has has a trio of lures he’ll use after a buz
Game & Fish West4 min read
River Trout In Transition
“GO AHEAD and land that fish. I’m gonna make a cast,” said Chris Wright as he dropped the anchor of his drift boat. I’d just hooked a hatchery trout on a backtrolled 2.0 Mag Lip while Chris worked the oars. My fish struck along the soft outside edge
Game & Fish West3 min read
Three Top Trout Rivers
“Most of the trout anglers I take want to catch fish on flies, especially dry flies,” says Wright. “In June it’s hard to beat a Green Caddis on the rivers we fish. On cloudy days when there’s a green cad-dis hatch, concentrate on fishing riffles that
Game & Fish West5 min read
Bob ‘N’ Spin For Summer Steelhead
THE FIRST year I ever fished for steelhead, I spent dozens of hours over the course of countless days trying to catch my first chromer.“You’ll get one,” local anglers assured me. “It isn’t easy, but you’ll get one.” I didn’t get one that year. But
Game & Fish West1 min read
The River’s Open! Or Is It?
While there’s undeniably excellent steel-head fishing to be found in the Pacific Northwest and points slightly south, steelhead runs aren’t what they were at the turn of the twenty-first century. Ocean conditions have been less than optimal, to put i
Game & Fish West6 min read
Go Big For River Walleyes
WHEN I moved from Ohio to Washington state in 1993, it took some time to get used to the fact that walleyes weren’t everywhere I turned. Fortunately, as I came to discover, the West is hardly devoid of walleyes. In fact, in 1996, I caught my largest
Game & Fish West6 min read
Meet The Mckenzie
FROM ONE YEAR to the next, Oregon’s McKenzie River is a river of multiple personalities during the month of June. It can run high with runoff or it can fish at summertime levels, depending on snowpack in the Cascades. On our trip during the second we
Game & Fish West7 min read
BULL Fighting
MOST INSHORE anglers who chase tarpon, snook, sea-trout and redfish always hope to catch some that are significantly larger than average. We go where there are good fisheries for our target species, maybe fish deeper and (with the exception of tarpon
Game & Fish West2 min read
Indian River Trip Planner
ANGLERS BRINGING their own boats to the Indian River and Mosquito Lagoon area can launch from several ramps, including those located at the North Causeway, Park Avenue, River Breeze Park (just south of the ranger station on State Road A1A), Beacon 42
Game & Fish West5 min read
Yard Worthy
Smoked meat is a summer staple. Whether the menu calls for elk steaks, pulled pork or salmon, the Woodwind WiFi 24 will make you master of the main course—even while you kick back with friends. Independently control 10 smoke settings and a temperatur
Game & Fish West1 min read
Get Your Backyard Ready
Looking to improve or get more use out of your yard this summer? Go to GameandFishMag.com and click on the Backyard Ready tab near the top of the page. You’ll find dozens of tips to make tasks like cleaning a pellet grill and installing a firepit eas
Game & Fish West3 min read
Traditions Crackshot Xbr
CAN ONE platform fire both bullets and arrows? That’s the design premise behind the Traditions Crackshot XBR, a single-shot .22 LR rifle that converts to an arrow-launcher. The Crackshot fires .22 rimfire ammunition in its standard rifle barrel, but
Game & Fish West1 min readCooking, Food & Wine
Lunch Tips
Cut small pieces of wood to place on the coals when extra heat is needed without lots of flames. Bring long-handled tongs and spatulas to keep hands as far away from the heat source as possible. Fire-resistant cooking gloves are another smart additio
Game & Fish West3 min read
Money Fish
EACH FOURTH of July a fishing tournament at McKey Lake awarded the winning two-man team a $500 purse. It was a big deal among area sportsmen, and it attracted the county’s best. Shane and Ronnie had fished McKey until their thumbs were sandpaper, and

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