Sportsmans News

We hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable Halloween. Here is how Seth Holcomb of New Mexico helped us get into the Halloween spirit.

By Craig Davidson

The excitement in their voices rang out, and told the tale before I caught up with them.  My two younger kids had run ahead to check a bucket we had set at the base of a large tree.  It was a very cold morning, as is often the case in December, here in Utah.  The bucket guarded by a 220 body grip trap, held a very large boar raccoon.  This was one of several, as well as muskrat, and fox we caught during the Christmas school break. Over the years, my children and I have had many exciting experiences trapping, and look forward to the season with the same excitement and planning, most deer or waterfowl hunters give to there sport.  When checking sets, the anticipation of what may be caught is similar to opening gifts on Christmas morning, with rewards contributing to the bank account. Continue Reading

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I am not much of a hunter. it is no secret, that unless it has two legs, I am no expert on hunting down and killing something. They keep me around here because I love the outdoors, am a survival expert, small arms specialist, and I know how to build a magazine. Most of my days are spent in the office in front of a computer. As a foster kid, there weren’t any opportunities for me to learn how to hunt when I was younger. I missed out on the chance to have this skill set handed down to me by family members who had also grown up hunting.

This year, I drew a southern Utah region muzzleloader tag. After five days of hard hunting, I never even saw a buck. If I had eight doe tags, I could have filled them all. After one very pleasant day spent up in the “quakies” I decided to head down the mountain to a field I knew the deer were likely to head to to feed. I as got in the truck and rounded my first bend, a beautiful 4-point exploded out of the tree line and crossed in front of me into the area I had just been hunting. That was discouraging, to say the least. The main problem is that even though I can move silently in the woods, know where the wind is at all times, and can hit a target at a great distance, all thanks to my time in the Marine Corps, I just don’t know what I am doing.

I can’t tell you how important it is to pass on the great hunting tradition that many of us take for granted. And I don’t just mean to your own children. Undoubtedly you know the child of someone else who doesn’t hunt, and by inviting that kid to come with you, you will be passing on this great tradition. You should also ask their mom or dad if they would like to come. It may be that secretly they too have wanted to learn this sport and haven’t known how to get started. The permit process can be daunting to the uninitiated. Buying the right gear can be expensive and it is easy to get the wrong stuff. Even knowing where on public land you can legally hunt, or where the good places to hunt are can be difficult if you are new to the game. By passing on this knowledge, we are insuring that we will have access to lands for future generations and also helping to properly manage our wildlife to allow us to hunt for many more years. The money raised by the sale of licenses and the sale of sporting goods helps to manage the lands upon which we hunt. Take a friend hunting. Or better yet, look into programs like Big Brothers and Sisters and help spark a passion for the outdoors in the life a youth who may not otherwise ever have a chance to learn our sport.

Even though I got skunked, I spent five wonderful days in the woods, climbed the same mountain several times before the sun was even up, and got to spend a little me time alone with Mother Nature. A little meat in the freezer would have been the gravy on top that would have made the experience all that much better.

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After three very long and extended hunts for brown bears across Alaska without success, Michael Deming, President of Sportsman’s News, finally got everything to come together on his 54th day in the field of chasing these majestic beasts. The correct combination was booking with one of our Platinum Approved Outfitters “Renfro’s Alaskan Adventures” and staying persistent. After three weather days upon arriving in Bethel, Alaska, we finally had an opportunity to get into the field. Five days of hunting later, it was starting to look like it was going to be another zero in Demings’ book of brown bear hunts. We had spotted over 25 bears with only one of them being a boar. Owner and Guide Wade Renfro was committed that we would be successful. We pulled camp out of the high country where the big bear and berries should have been abundant, but no such luck. We moved to lower ground and the next morning when we could hunt, a great 8’2″ boar gave me a great broadside shot at 150 yards. The bear went only 25 yards before he piled up. The Ruger 77 Alaskan in .375 and the Hornady 300 grain Dangerous Game Loads were a deadly combination with one well placed shot.
Now that we have gotten rid of the bad luck and 54 days in the field with no success, Wade and I are planning the next trip to upgrade my bear to the next biggest size of 9.5 feet plus.
All of this adventure was captured for the SNTV 2011 Volume 8 DVD which will be available for Christmas stocking stuffers. Don’t miss the exciting adventures.

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The Sportsman’s News team of Kent Danjanovich and Rick Rosenberg hit the Situk and Italio Rivers hard for fall silvers the last week of September.  The rains tried to dampen their spirits, but the fish seemed to not mind the elements as both experienced big numbers of hookups on both flyrods and baitcasting setups.  Their next stop in Yakutat will be May 2012 for spring steelhead again based at Ken and Kip Fannings Yakutat Lodge.

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Being able to hunt and fish for a living has a tendency to get you a little jaded as the years go by. There is nothing like the excitement of a young kid to bring you back to reality and get a guy grounded again.

My eight year old daughter Taylor Deming loves the outdoors and taking her hunting with me is something I need to do more of based on her performance last week.

I only had a few days to hunt during the muzzleloader season in Utah and I had already found two really big bucks during the archery season that I wanted to chase.  With Taylor wanting to go along, I just knew that I would not be able to go after those bucks. I had some access to a small private piece of property close to home. However small, it is still an excellent piece of property with apple orchards, water, and great bedding areas. Taylor and I would set up a double bull blind between the feed and the bedding area for our hunt. The first morning was very busy.  A lot of deer were moving and seven different bucks were around and presented several shots. All were very young and small two points and spikes. They didn’t even get Taylor amped up to shoot. Midway through the morning, Taylor tapped my arm and said “There is a monster right there”, as she pointed her finger around the right side of the blind. Roger (the landowner) had told me about a 190 class buck in the area and I was expecting to see this giant outside the blind. It was a 20-inch wide four point that scored in the mid 140s. I asked Taylor if that was him and she commented “Oh yeh!” I hadn’t sensed this kind of excitement in myself or anyone esle in years. It was the feeling that got me into this business in the first place and I enjoyed the moment with my daughter. Unfortunately, the buck sensed the excitement and moved back into the bushes with no chance of a shot.

Taylor and I continued to hunt for the next three days without seeing the “Orchard Monster” again. On the last day of the hunt, she asked if we could shoot the big two point that had been coming in daily. I told her that if the big boy didn’t come in, we would fill the freezer with that young tasty two point. The morning hunt was coming to a close with almost no deer activity at all. Finally at 7:30, the two point showed up. Taylor wanted me to shoot him and although this wasn’t a deer I would normally shoot by myself, there was no question that I wouldn’t be able to live with Taylor till the next hunting season if I didn’t whack this guy today. As I set up the camera for the shot and got ready to pull the trigger, I saw movement deep in the trees behind the two point. Taylor had her ears plugged and was wondering why I wasn’t shooting. I pointed at the other bucks back in the trees. Eighty  yards back in the woods was the “Orchard Monster” surveying the current situation. It took him about five minutes to make it out into the open and I found myself beginning to shake as my excitement began to build. I have harvested muleys that make the record book without the adrenaline flowing through my blood like it was then. This 140-inch buck with my daughter by my side brought me back to my youth and love of deer hunting. When the buck finally presented a shot, I hit him solid although I’m not sure I aimed the gun because it is all a blur to me. Taylor and I high fived and climbed out of the smoking blind. The CVA Accura muzzleloader had turned our blind into a cloud of smoke, which made for some great laughs. Taylor took on the job of tracking the buck and she did a great job of picking blood spots off the branches and dry dirt. Thirty yards of tracking and the buck was piled up. “Dad, he is huge” was her comment. I agreed and we shared the moment together as we snapped some great pictures. It truly was the best hunt of my life and it feels great to be grounded once again. Who would have thought that you could be grounded by your kid?

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By Ken Judd

When my good friend Dan called and asked, “How about coming out to my place and shooting a buck this Fall?” there was only one possible answer.  The arrangements were quickly made.  I got lucky in the draw so I was all set for a good hunt in December. Continue Reading

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By Brad Lockwood

As a young man growing up I really didn’t have a clue what beef, pork or lamb tasted like, the only meat that received the blessing on our dinner table had been harvested with dad’s good old 270 Winchester and I suspect that the entire Lockwood family tree had been raised on various protein provided by the Pennsylvania forest. With a heritage like that and the fact that Uncle Bob was the local butcher I guess I didn’t have much of a choice but to learn to process wild game the proper way. Continue Reading

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By Craig Davidson

The excitement in their voices rang out, and told the tale before I caught up with them.  My two younger kids had run ahead to check a bucket we had set at the base of a large tree.  It was a very cold morning, as is often the case in December, here in Utah.  The bucket guarded by a 220 body grip trap, held a very large boar raccoon.  This was one of several, as well as muskrat, and fox we caught during the Christmas school break. Over the years, my children and I have had many exciting experiences trapping, and look forward to the season with the same excitement and planning, most deer or waterfowl hunters give to there sport.  When checking sets, the anticipation of what may be caught is similar to opening gifts on Christmas morning, with rewards contributing to the bank account.

Continue Reading

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By Collin Dalley

We arrived Monday evening in Ft. Collins, Colorado to start our three day hunt with Stillwater Outfitters.  Stillwater Outfitters has been around for 26 years, but Travis Teinninger and Chris Guccione have been hunting geese their whole lives.  They have a total of 32 private areas throughout the Ft. Collins and Denver area, to ensure that you have plenty of opportunities of filling your daily limits. Continue Reading

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By Tammy Jones

Things get interesting and very exciting when you have more than one species that you can hunt at the same time of year.  Archery season starts September 1^st, and in Wyoming, encapsulates elk, deer and antelope throughout the month, depending on the type of license you obtain.  There are definitely decisions to be made as to where you are going to go and what you are going to hunt when you are working a full time job with little to no vacation time allowed.  That leaves you with weekends, so you better make them count. Continue Reading

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By Kevin Orton
Senior Field Editor

Have you ever been to a place that you literally just never wanted to leave?  A place that was just so breathtakingly beautiful and serene that you forgot you actually live in the real world and have responsibilities?  Oh and not to mention that the fishing is so great that it makes it hard to describe your experience using the words we all know because it does the whole thing a disservice.  Well, I have and that place is Alaska’s Bearclaw Lodge in Bristol Bay Alaska.

The lodge sits on Lake Aleknagik on the southern end of the Wood-Tikchik State Park.  The Wood-Tikchik is the largest state park in the nation with just over 1.6 million acres.  It was created in 1978 for the purpose of protecting the area’s fish and wildlife breeding and support systems and to preserve continued subsistence and recreational activities.  And that is exactly what it does, especially when it comes to the fish support.  Named for its two separate systems of large, interconnected, clear water lakes, it is characterized by its water-based ecosystems. Continue Reading

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By Dan Kidder
Managing Editor

When on the move for hunting, hiking, camping, or to escape a zombie horde, having a quick nutrient packed meal that requires no preparation can keep you ahead of the game and add miles to your journey.

Bridgford has created great Ready to Eat Sandwiches for those times when you have to eat on the run. The Ready to eat Sandwiches are little pockets of goodness surrounded by a sweet, soft, and moist bread wrapper.

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For the first time, Leatherman is introducing multitools with spring loaded pliers.

The latest of these to hit the shelves of Sportsman’s Warehouse is the Sidekick.
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The Benelli Super Black Eagle II sets the standard for styling, versatility and performance by which all other semi-auto shotguns are judged.  If you are looking for a 12 ga. shotgun with unfailing reliability, the kind of reliability that you can count on, your search is over.  As the original 3 1/2 “ semi-auto shotgun, the Super Black Eagle was on the cutting edge of shotgun development.  The proven Benelli Inertia Driven bolt mechanism allows the Super Black Eagle II to shoot 2 3/4 “, 3” and even 3 1/2” magnum ammunition without adjustments. The Sportsman’s News Team put the Super Black Eagle II to the test last December in Colorado and big honkers were falling out of the sky left and right! Continue Reading

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By Cindy Krug

Are you counting down the days until deer and elk season arrives?  If so and you wish you had a sure fire way to combat the dog days of summer, here’s the answer, wild hog hunting on the Tejon Ranch located at the southern end of California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains. Believe me, it  will really cheer you up during those summer doldrums!

The Tejon Ranch is over 270,000 acres of pristine hunting grounds just north of Los Angeles, California (about 60 miles).  The terrain varies immensely, but you can find wild hogs as well as the numerous other huntable animals almost everywhere on the ranch.  All hunting on Tejon Ranch is fair chase; there are no high fences, but it is a 100% private hunting oasis.  Memberships are sold for spring and fall hunting opportunities for the do-it-yourselfer. Guided hunts for hogs, deer, turkey, bear and elk with great lodging and food can be had as well. Continue Reading

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