Sportsmans News

Congratulations to Ken Judd of Colorado, our first great gun giveaway winner.  Ken frequents the Sportsman’s News Forum under the username of colorado hunter. He has posted 182 times in our forums. You only needed to register to win, but for each 25 posts on the forums, each contestant earned an additional entry in the drawing. Only one other user posted more than Ken, so this is a great example of how it pays to participate often.  Post counts continue to build so those who participate will continue to have a vast advantage over those who don’t and even Ken can win again and again. Ken, give the Sportsman’s News office a call at (435) 865-1680 on Monday to claim your prize.  Congratulations and thanks for participating in the forums.

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I am sure you have seen it at some point in your life. A fellow gun owner who makes outrageous comments, handles a gun carelessly, or acts in such a manner that you cringe inside and wished they somehow represented another group of people, maybe the gun ban crowd, instead of the group to which you belong.

We call them “Strange Rangers” and they can be found in all areas of the country, from all socioeconomic classes, and in every shooting sport or discipline. These knuckle heads are the ones who make the front page of the newspaper or get interviewed on CNN to represent the “fair and balanced” reporting and are asked to speak for you and me about a particular gun story.

These people don’t represent me. Their reasons for having guns are not the same as mine. The media can go find the most extreme nut job they want to represent gun owners, and then the rest of us get painted with the same brush.

One trend that is particularly disturbing to me as an even-keeled, reasonable human being who sees the societal benefit of free and open firearms ownership, is the passage of laws with names like “Make My Day.”

We all know that the phrase Make My Day comes from Dirty Harry, just before he blows some punk’s head “Clean Off” with a .44 Magnum. Some of us also know that another, more reasonable name for the Make My Day law is the Castle Doctrine. This name for the law says that your home is your castle and as such you do not have a legal responsibility to retreat when defending your home. In some states, such as Utah, you have no responsibility to retreat from anywhere you have a legal right to be.

I am in all in favor of what the Make My Day laws do, but I think we need to be far less cavalier in how we refer to these laws so that we don’t give the media further ammunition (pun intended) to paint us all as nut jobs looking for an excuse to gun down another human being.

I carry a gun every day, sometimes more than one, and I also pray every night to God that should the need arise to take the life of another person to save the life of an innocent, that I will be prepared to do what needs to be done. I also pray that day will never come. Bet you will never see that in the mainstream media. Not unless all of us as gun owners make it a point to behave in such a manner that gun ownership will be seen as reasonable and positive. If we get portrayed as nut jobs, is it really the fault of the media, or is the blame much closer to home?

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If you are looking to save a little money on your trip to Alaska this summer, check out the Alaska Airlines Bank of America Visa Card. For just signing up, you will receive 25,000 points, enough for a round trip flight to Alaska from just about any destination in the country. You will also receive a $99 companion fare that can be used in conjunction with any full-fare ticket purchase every 12 months. If you buy a ticket at full price, you can book another traveler on the same flight for $99 plus taxes. A great deal and well worth looking into!

The Sportsman’s News Crew had another successful hunt in Kansas with Arrowhead Wilderness Outfitters. Spring turkeys were abundant and ready for action during the second week of April with the bow! Kent Danjanovich and Eric Heath let em’ fly and came away with nice longbeards. Kent’s Rio scored an impressive 69 4/8, weighing in at over 24 pounds, with a nine inch beard and spurs measuring slighly over 1 1/2 inches.

The Sportsman’s News team visited west Texas over the last week to hunt with Steve Jones Back Country Hunts for free range Aoudad and Javallina. The Aoudad is one of my new favorite hunting species. These animals can see a human being hiding behind a bush at well over 1000 yards and do a great job of making you look stupid. The team was able to put a true monster on the ground with horns that stretched the tape out to 33″. That is a great feat for a high fence operation, but when you consider that it was free range and after these guys had been chased all during the deer season, it is even more impressive. Josh Harris (pro staffer) made a great shot at just under 400 yards to secure this beast and it was all on film for a future episode of SNTV. Steve Jones runs one of the finest operations that I have ever visited and he truly cares that all of his customers have e great time. We are all booked to go back in February of 2012 to do it again. It is a great place to practice your long range shooting as well as your stalking techniques in the off season.

By Robert Bryant

Growing up in an area blessed with great fishing, it was only natural that both my boys became as avid fishermen as I. If you ask my wife she would say that we fish more than what most people consider socially acceptable. I’m still not sure what that means…I ponder it occasionally, usually while fishing. Both of my sons have become excellent fly fisherman, a skill that I only wished for at their age. As a wise man once said, “Sometimes fishing is not about the fish at all” and that is how it was for all of us growing up together, kids and parents alike. Fishing gradually morphed into fly fishing and the fishing trips were just what we did naturally as a family. The trips were as often a spur of the moment idea as they were well planned events. We just fish and that is who we are. Our trips took us to beautiful lakes and streams, but the real beauty I found was in the comfortable companionship I found with my family on these trips. And yes we eventually got my wife to understand why we fish more than what others consider socially acceptable. Continue Reading

By Shane Chuning

I figured this would be a good topic to start your shooting off on the right direction this spring. I see a lot of guys that purchase a new set up and do not have their peep sights in the proper location. This can be a combination of things. One being poor anchor points to begin with or their peep sight is in the wrong location. This could cause various issues, two of them being too much string pressure on your face and the other having trouble holding on target at longer ranges. So I wanted to spend some time discussing these issues. Continue Reading

My daughters are gear junkies.  It’s true.

We have lived most of our lives getting our daughters into the outdoors.  Hunting, fishing and camping are their favorite past times.   We have taken great pride in the fact that we have taught them how to love the outdoors as well as the hunting and shooting sports.  It is no doubt a great source of pride that our daughters know how to shoot a variety of firearms, know how to appreciate high quality optics and understand what it means to use technical packs and footwear.  We have raised them right. Continue Reading

By Michael Deming

It is always exciting to visit the product trade shows and see what new and exciting products will hit the shelves during the year.  There are usually a plethora of options to choose from when we do this article every year, but this year seemed to have less new products than any year in the past.  With that being said, these new products that will be making their way to Sportsman’s Warehouse this year are definitely worth looking at.  We will also be doing detailed product reviews of these products as they get delivered to the stores.  You will also be able to see full video product reviews of several of these items at www.sportsmansnews.com. Continue Reading

By Kent Danjanovich
Senior Editor

There are hundreds and hundreds of lodges and outfitters scattered across the beautiful and rugged state of Alaska and our staff at the Sportsman’s News visits many of them each year.  Our Platinum Approved designation doesn’t come easy and we feel that each geographical area is well represented by operations that meet our high expectations.  We are always looking for places that offer a true “Total Package” and this month’s featured lodge offers just that on the island of Kodiak, Alaska.

Wilderness Beach Lodge is nestled on the shores of Kizhuyak Bay in the tiny village of Port Lions,  located on the north end of Kodiak Island.  Port Lions is named after the Lions Club International, the well known service group that helped to relocate and build the village after the devastating  Good Friday earthquake and tsunami of 1964.  This beautiful area is covered with spruce, birch, alder and willow trees, with mountainous terrain home to world class Sitka deer and monster brown bear and along with  its sheltered bays is home to  some of the best sport fishing in all of Alaska. Continue Reading

By Kevin Orton
Staff Writer

My cameraman and I had been in our tree stands for over 30 minutes by the time the sun started to slowly light up the Kansas sky.  It wasn’t long before we could see a buck chasing a doe in an adjacent field, slowly inching their way to the milo field we were sitting on.  She wasn’t ready and wouldn’t stand for the buck, so he continued to chase her out of our sight.  About 15 minutes later the doe magically appeared at the far end of the field we were in.  She stared our way for a while and then started making her way right to us.  My heart started skipping beats as the buck appeared, hot on her trail.  He was a great looking 8 point with very long G2’s and G3’s.  His mass was his most impressive feature and for the first time in my life I was looking at a real opportunity to harvest a solid 150+ class whitetail with archery equipment.  I slowly stood up and knocked an arrow.  They were still headed my way and with a little bit of luck they were going to walk directly under my tree stand.  The buck was lagging about 30 yards behind the doe and my heart was now pounding out of my chest.  I knew the moment of truth was just about to happen.  At 22 yards the doe turned and walked into the trees to my left.  If the buck continued to follow her I knew I would be taking pictures with him shortly.  Of course he did not.  As luck would have it another buck came into the field and the big 8 pointer stopped at 37 yards and started to stare the other buck down.  Being from the wide open West I practice at distances well beyond this everyday, so that wasn’t the problem.  However my buck started heading towards the other buck across the field and that was a problem.  I doe bleated and he stopped in his tracks and stood perfectly broadside.  I knew it was “now or never” and I touched my release only to see that in fact it was “NEVER” on this buck as I watched my arrow sail just over his back.  And just like that, he was gone.  Continue Reading

By Bob Kratzer

Well I have to admit…I live a magical life.  Being able to head to fishing waters on a daily basis to share my passion for fishing with my clients as they partake of some of the most scenic and beautiful landscape that the world has to offer, is truly amazing.  And the fishing usually isn’t too bad either.  Very few get to experience what I like to call the “Best of Both Worlds”.

In my case, the best of both worlds isn’t just the correlation of fishing and guiding.  Both worlds for me include the Olympic Peninsula waters of Washington State as well as those of the most prolific king salmon water in all of Alaska, the Nushagak River.  These two worlds are quite different, but just as magical each in their own way. Continue Reading

By Kevin Orton, Sportsman’s News Pro-Staff

It is very difficult to explain the absolute breathtaking beauty and remoteness of northwestern British Columbia.  You know in advance, when an outfitter has horses and it takes five days for them to ride into camp each year, you will truly be “in the middle of no-where”. Tahltan Outfitters is located in northwestern British Columbia, Canada, west of the Tuya River and east of the Nakanaw Mountains, encompassing the famous Kawdy Mountain.  They hunt some of the most remote country in northern BC, undisturbed by logging, mining or human development…Home to stone sheep, mountain goat, grizzly, moose and mountain caribou, owned and operated by Carmen Nyuli, Jim Peterson and a small group of family and friends.  I have personally had the opportunity to hunt with them on two different occasions.  Some of the greatest hunting days of my life were spent with them…but more on that later.  First let me share some insights on Carmen Nyuli, one of the owners of Tahltan Outfitters. Continue Reading

By Jon Leonard

Most serious turkey hunters eventually strive to obtain the wild turkey Royal Slam which consists of harvesting each of the five subspecies of wild turkey found in North America.  I have taken several Merriam’s and Rio Grande turkeys hunting in Utah and surrounding states.  I took a nice Gould’s turkey in Mexico and I was fortunate enough to take a big Osceola turkey in Florida.  However, I still needed an Eastern turkey in order to complete my Royal Slam.  I should also mention there is a World Slam which consists of the addition to the Royal Slam of an Ocellated turkey, a separate species entirely which is found in the jungles of southern Mexico and Guatemala.  However, this challenge may be out of reach for me, especially in light of the current turmoil in Mexico. Continue Reading

By Steve Smith, Rivers Wild Flies

Spring fishing is upon us. Other than the sporadic midges, the first major hatch to hit the rivers is the Baetis hatch. Properly referred to as “Blue Wing Olives” these mayflies are just that,  blue winged with an olive body.  This small mayfly pops up like little sailboats, mostly on overcast days, creating some great dry fly action. This hatch can bring every fish in the river to the surface for an easy meal. Hungry trout will often feed on the nymphs at the start of the hatch, then move to the surface as more duns emerge. As the hatch progresses, trout will move into slower riffles and eddies that trap the adult duns. Continue Reading