Magzter Gold (Sitewide Promotion)

Magzter Gold (Sitewide Promotion)

Digital Delivery

Outdoor Life October 1st, 2017 Digital Back Issue Cover

Outdoor Life October 2017 (Digital)

(2)

Single Digital Issue

October 2017

$5.99

Powered By Zinio

Zinio

Satisfaction Guaranteed

Instant Start

Also available on ZINIO Unlimited logo

Get unlimited access to Outdoor Life (Digital) + Back Issues & 5000+ other magazines

1-month free trial

Renews at $8.99/month after trial.
Cancel anytime.

Get unlimited access to Outdoor Life (Digital) + Back Issues & 5000+ other magazines. Renews at just $8.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Start Trial Learn more

41 Articles

TWIN BRIDGES, MT / October 13 / 7:31 a.m. Wilton the Labrador likes to do everything Dan “Rooster” Leavens likes to do, which includes hunting early-season mallards and geese on the Beaverhead River. This was a cold, clear day— the kind that bites in the morning but makes you shed layers in the aft ernoon. As the head honcho at Stonefly Inn & Outfitters, Leavens is so busy guiding that solo hunts with his block-headed Lab have become a rare treat. This morning, though, they filled nearly all their limits together.…

BITTERSWEET STORY I enjoyed the “Wonder Dogs” feature in the August 2017 issue, and I especially liked “The Slough.” I had to put the magazine down before reading the last paragraph because I knew what was coming. It brought tears to my eyes like nothing I have read in a long time. I own two dogs whom I love dearly. I know what heartache awaits me some day. Matt Majszak Sheridan, WY KEEP THE OLD I think I started my first Outdoor Life subscription when I was 14. I am closing in on 67 now, and I still enjoy the magazine. Andrew McKean’s story about his beloved Lab, Willow, touched me [“The Slough”]. I can relate to the special bond and nonverbal communication between them. I had to put my 13-year-old Plott hound, Bandit,…

RIFLES ON HORSEBACK

Shooting, August 2017 ALTERNATIVES FOR HORSEBACK HUNTS This article included a great roundup of guns. But I would like to suggest a couple of alternative choices to carrying a bolt-action in a saddle scabbard, or making do with a .30/30 lever-action. Don’t get me wrong—I love the .30/30 and the .35 Remington in a Marlin 336, but they aren’t much of an elk rifle, and are only effective on mule deer out to about 200 yards. Instead, look around at all the great used Winchester 88 and Savage 99 lever-action rifles available in .308 Winchester: No protruding bolt handles, they’re easy to mount scopes on, and they have plenty of power out to 300 yards. If you truly feel you need more range or punch, the excellent Browning BLR is available in .30/06, .300…

RIFLES ON HORSEBACK

One of the fixtures of Outdoor Life’s 119-year-history is what former editor Vin Sparano called the “scalp-lifter” story: first-person accounts of bear attacks. As outdoorsmen and women, we retell those thrillers, exaggerate close encounters, marvel over survivors (see p. 49), remember those who weren’t so lucky, and strategize endlessly about self-protection in bear country. Here’s a peek at that fascination, as revealed by our archives. BEARS BY THE NUMBERS THE NUMBER OF ARTICLES IN OUR DIGITAL ARCHIVES CONTAINING THE PHRASE... BEAR ATTACK 1,811 PROBLEM BEAR 3,135 BEAR GUN 6,013 BEAR SPRAY 773 OLD MOSE* 52 *OLD MOSE WAS AN INFAMOUS COLORADO GRIZZLY WHO KILLED THREE MEN, 800 HEAD OF CATTLE, AND SEVERAL HORSES. HIS DEPREDATIONS COST LANDOWNERS ABOUT $30,000, OR ALMOST $800,000 TODAY, AFTER ADJUSTING FOR INFLATION . HE WAS SHOT MORE THAN 100 TIMES BEFORE HE WAS—FINALLY—KILLED…

One of the things I love most about hunting is its intimacy. Not only the life-and-death relationship we hunters have with the animals we pursue, but also the privacy of the experience. Hunting is something that happens without an audience. At least, that’s how it’s been for most of human existence. But as technology intrudes on this most primal activity, hunting has become more public, observed, scrutinized, and judged by people far removed from the experience. We at Outdoor Life are as guilty of focusing the lens of scrutiny as anyone. After all, our business is to promote hunting, fishing, and other outdoor sports. We are hardly alone. A whole industry has grown up around providing an audience— of television and social-media viewers, and magazine readers— to hunters who have become household…

ANYONE WHO shoots a bow or a gun and must know the exact distance to a target relies on laser rangefinders to provide shooting solutions. But the attributes of a rangefinder intended for bowhunting differ greatly from those configured for target shooting beyond 1,000 yards. Our test of 10 of the most popular rangefinders was designed to evaluate those attributes. We measured a wide range of capabilities, not only in power and precision, but also in display, computation, optical clarity, and customization—to help you choose a rangefinder for three typical, but fairly distinct, purposes: bowhunting, general rifle hunting, and longdistance precision shooting. We also learned that laser technology is changing fast. So if you need a rangefinder now, by all means use our test as a buyer’s guide. But if you can…

DID YOU KNOW? Rangefinders for shooting and hunting have optical coatings that diminish light transmission but boost visibility of the display. HOW WE TEST LASER RANGEFINDERS ARE really just intricate timepieces, designed to measure the length of time an emitted beam of light takes to return to the unit from a reflected surface. Because the speed of light is constant, the time lapse reveals the distance to the target. Our test determined each unit’s sensitivity and maximum range capability by lasing three types of targets: reflective (steel barn roofs from 1,200 to 2,400 yards), non-reflective (a bear hide at 100 yards), and a series of shrubs anywhere from 400 to 1,200 yards. We also measured each unit’s minimum-distance capability. Then we judged accuracy by lasing a series of targets at known distances in various…

The daily patterns and seasonal behaviors that we use to scout whitetails so effectively have limited value when it comes to mule deer. Across most of their range, public-land mule deer do not live out their lives in 3 or 4 square miles. Nor do they follow easily predictable patterns. Mule deer are, for the most part, wilderness animals roaming where they wish from day to day, seldom leaving a hoofprint in the same piece of ground from one week to another. However, one constant informs where you’re likely to find mule deer from month to month: elevation. Vertical topography dictates where deer travel to feed, water, and rest. Elevation preferences change based on a number of factors, primarily seasonal weather but also hunting pressure, predation, and non-hunting human disturbance. Once…

ONE BUCK, MANY LESSONS

DID YOU KNOW? The Pope and Young Club, keeper of big-game records taken with bows, does not classify crossbows as archery gear. CHET KULIKOWSKI is an ordinary hunter who had the opportunity to hunt an extraordinary deer. In December 2016, he ended a two-year quest for a buck that would become Michigan’s new crossbow state record. Bagging the buck—which he called Rib Cage, for the wall of tines rising from its main beams—was the culmination of Kulikowski’s education in deer behavior. Here’s what he learned from hunting a single remarkable buck—more or less exclusively— for two years. LESSON 1 UNDERSTAND HOME RANGE Kulikowski, who hunts semirural country in southeast Michigan, first captured trail cam images of the buck in the fall of 2015. But Rib Cage wasn’t like other bucks. “I could not figure this deer…

ONE BUCK, MANY LESSONS

LIGHTS OUT FOR HOGS

It was just an hour into our all-night hog-hunting marathon, and I was nauseous. Half-empty Red Bulls and Monsters were parked in every cup holder of Brett Jepsen’s pickup, and the sweet stench of warm energy drinks hung in the Texas air. It was going to be a long night. “Hang in there. It’s the stalking and the shooting between the driving and spotting that makes you forget all about being sick and tired,” said Jepsen, co-owner of Three Curl Outfitters in Midlothian, Texas. “Pigs are smart, but ARs with thermals are too.” In those places where wild hogs are taking over the countryside, hunters and land managers say that 70 percent of feral hogs must be killed each year to simply keep their numbers stable. Thermal-imaging riflescopes and spotting scopes are playing…

LIGHTS OUT FOR HOGS

THERMALS AT A GLANCE

American Technologies Network Corp. (ATN) • The Thor series of ATN units is available in eight different variations, which feature ballistics calculators that can take into account wind speed, range, and incline. ($2,000– $6,000; atncorp.com) FLIR • The FLIR Thermosight R-Series is available in six different scope models. The entry-level unit features a 13mm lens with 240x180 resolution. ($3,500–$9,000) FLIR’s Scout II monoculars cost between $1,999 and $2,999. (flir.com) Pulsar • When I visited Pulsar headquarters in Mansfield, Texas, shipments of Trail thermal riflescopes had just arrived. There are five models in the Trail line, including the top-of-the-line XP50 (1.6X to 12.8X magnification), which boasts heat detection up to 2,000 yards. Key features: on-board video recording, smartphone tethering, rangefinding capabilities, and various contrast modes. ($3,080– $5,500; pulsarnv.com) The Pulsar Helion thermal monocular was our go-to surveillance device.…

THE KNOCKDOWN MYTH

Belief in the knockdown power fairy tale has led to missed game, lost game, disappointed hunters, and increased gun sales for generations. Here’s how it happens: Billy Bob shoots at a big buck. It runs off, and another hunter finds it and claims it. Or the blood trail dries up and B.B. never recovers it. So B.B. buys a bigger gun, but eventually another deer gets away. The .30/30 becomes a .30/06 becomes a .300 Magnum becomes a .338 Magnum becomes a .375. B.B. develops a flinch but never quite finds his knockout punch. That’s because for every action, there’s an equal reaction . If the rifle didn’t knock down 200-pound B.B. when he fired it, it can’t knock down a 200-pound buck. Nervous Reaction Now wait a minute. What about that deer…

THE KNOCKDOWN MYTH

A recent uptick in the public’s fascination with long-range shooting has revolutionized hunting. Not so long ago, elevation adjustments were holdover estimates based on bullet drop as it related to the animal’s body size; hold dead-on a whitetail buck at 200 yards, just under his spine at 300, and just over his back at 400, and you’re in business. Thankfully, modern optics that incorporate ballistic turrets, custom ballistic apps, and rangefinders make elevation adjustments much simpler and far more exact, but estimating windage is still a challenge. Your rangefinder and turret may give you the dope for elevation, but you’ll still have to figure out how to beat the breeze. When you’re shooting an elk or deer across a windy canyon, you must deal with a mosaic of thermals, cross…

HENRY .410 LEVER ACTION

I was on the phone not long ago with one of my buddies and I asked him what he was up to. He told me he was at the range “turning gunpowder into smiles.” Maybe I was in a particularly foul mood that day, but his sappy pronouncement made me want to slap him. I enjoy pulling triggers as much as the next guy—but c’mon, have a little dignity Well, fate can be kind of funny. I’ve been shooting the new Henry .410 Lever Action for the past few months and have been utterly charmed by it. But when I think about what the gun is actually good for, only a couple of things come to mind. First off, it makes for a terrific thick-cover small-game gun. Secondly, it would serve…

HENRY .410 LEVER ACTION

GREAT DUCK GUNS

Waterfowl shotguns must be reliable and tough. Synthetic stocks are mandatory, camo finishes preferable. The extra firepower of a 3 ½-inch chamber is also nice. They shouldn’t cost an arm and a leg, either, becauseyou don’t want to cry over the first scratch, and scratch it you invariably will. For semi-autos, that means a cost of around $1,000 (or less); pumps should be under $500. Here are four affordable scatterguns to check out this season that fit the bill. The new SX4 is the fourth generation in Winchester’s Super X semi-auto series. Outward upgrades include a thicker recoil pad and a larger bolt handle, bolt release button, trigger guard, and safety for easier manipulation with gloves. The gun’s ergonomics have also been improved, with a smaller pistol grip and a sculpted…

GREAT DUCK GUNS

MAKE THIS YOUR FUNNEST DEER SEASON EVER

We need to know if you’re with us or against us.” Stern. Accusatory. Ominous. The email came from a group advocating for mandatory antler point restrictions here in Michigan. They were “fed up” with those who would “work against them” (including me, apparently) and tried to make it clear they had the backing to impose their will. Resistance, they implied, is not only futile but may result in public humiliation, banishment from their social media community, and, perhaps, an effort to end the careers of any who speak out against them. The topic at hand? Deer hunting. Seriously. Very, very seriously. Used to be talking politics was the quickest way to raise hackles. Now, deer hunting debates can cause similar reactions. Another measure of the seriousness of hunting: the “swagger.” A scan of social…

MAKE THIS YOUR FUNNEST DEER SEASON EVER

HARDSHIP HONKERS

The oldest known waterfowl to be banded and recovered in North America was a Canada goose that lived for 30 years and four months. That’s 30 autumns of avoiding predators and hunters’ guns. The point: Geese are waterfowling’s ultimate survivalists. We might have a bounty of birds—both resident and migratory populations of geese are either stable or increasing in almost every flyway—but consistently taking geese has never been more challenging. That’s because over just a few generations, honkers have adapted to evade standard hunting tactics. Other forces working against the modern-day goose hunter include more efficient farming practices, unpredictable fall weather, and changing migration patterns. To kill educated geese, hunters must adapt as well. HARDCORE TACTICS By Alex Robinson 1. SCOUTING: WATCH AND WAIT Ryan Breish, an accomplished waterfowler from Michigan and one of the…

HARDSHIP HONKERS

SHIFTING MIGRATIONS

Waves of black, honking Vs pointing south, riding a cold tailwind, is a harbinger of winter. But fewer southern and midcountry states are seeing the massive migrations of Canada geese that they used to, according to Dr. Tom Moorman, chief scientist for Ducks Unlimited. Canada geese are big-bodied, hardy birds, and they can store plenty of fat to survive in cold weather. Mississippi Flyway geese, for example, breed around James Bay and Hudson Bay and will migrate only as far south as necessary to find open water and a good food source. So, easier winters with minimal snowfall and farming practices that leave more food in the field up north means that geese don’t have to migrate as far south. “It takes a tough winter to push them south,” Moorman says. “Geese…

SHIFTING MIGRATIONS

A BAD DAY IN BEAR COUNTRY

IT WAS STILL DARK AS I BEGAN MY HIKE INTO THE MOUNTAINS, BUT I COULD TELL THE FIRST DAY OF OCTOBER WOULD BE COOL AND CLEAR IN MONTANA’S MADISON VALLEY. WITH NO DESIRE TO SURPRISE ANY BEARS AS I PICKED MY WAY THROUGH THE BLACK MORNING, I HOLLERED “HEY BEAR!” EVERY 30 SECONDS. I DIDN'T WANT TO USE THE BEAR SPRAY OR THE 10MM I HAD WITH ME. THE PLAN WAS TO SCOUT FOR ELK BEFORE THE SEASON OPENER IN A FEW DAYS. ABOUT 3 MILES IN AND JUST AFTER DAYLIGHT, I STEPPED OUT OF THE TREES. INSTANTLY, I SPOTTED A GRIZZLY AND HER CUBS AT A FORK IN THE TRAIL AT THE END OF THE MEADOW . THE SOW NOTICED ME IN THAT SAME MOMENT AND RAN AWAY WITH…

A BAD DAY IN BEAR COUNTRY

Kodiak Island rain is hard to take when you’re confined to a spike tent and your pickup plane can’t fly. But it’s unbearable when you’re sitting around a table in Henry’s Great Alaskan Restaurant in the city of Kodiak, watching rain pound the windows, each fresh squall keeping you from filling the fat stack of hunting licenses in your pocket. This is not how I wanted last October’s trip to Alaska to start, with me moping around town like a crabber without a boat. But being grounded had its upside. It turned my four buddies and me into base-camp gamblers. “I propose a bet,” Steve said, as we ordered another round. “We have tags for caribou, deer, and ducks, plus we can shoot all the foxes we see, and we have licenses for…

PAIN, SUFFERING & MUSKIES

When people ask me what flyfishing for muskies is all about, I tell them it’s like saddling up a grizzly for a hot minute , or wrestling an alligator in a telephone booth—except you get to live. Once fall rolls around, there’s nothing I’d rather be doing than dragging giant flies past the faces of monster fish. But flyfishing for muskies isn’t only about fun. There are times when flies will simply outperform conventional lures. Just ask my brother, Jeff. It was late October, but the northern Wisconsin weather felt more like mid-winter. Frozen water bottles rolled around the bottom of the boat, and we had to windmill our arms every dozen casts to keep blood flowing to our digits. Jeff was catching a few pike but zero muskies on his…

PAIN, SUFFERING & MUSKIES

THEY ARE EASY TO SPOT—dozens of them, silhouetted against the starry night sky, with cold, wet neoprene waders clinging to their bodies. They launch cast aft er cast from the surf out past the breakers or along rock jetties. They have come for the fall striper run, and the commitment is no joke. From September to December, from Massachusetts to the Jersey Shore, people lose jobs, break commitments, and fall off the grid in the dogged pursuit of striped bass. To them, absolutely nothing matters but the drive to catch a giant striped bass. THE CRAZY ONE ▪ Montauk, known as the mecca of striped bass fishing, is where “Crazy” Alberto Knie has spent more than 40 autumns building his reputation as a preeminent striper sharpie. For a surfcaster, a 50-pound bass…

THE TIE THAT BINDS

It’s just you, a fly, and the fish. There is nothing to get in the way of telling The Great Lie in the most transparent way possible. The lie, of course, being that the fly is not real. “The essence of deceit is found in the bite.” This is how Paul Vertrees answers the question of why he adopted the Japanese tenkara approach to flyfishing. “Tenkara allows you to rid yourself of everything that is not essential to catching a fish. You have no gear in the way and are unencumbered by gadgets. When you declutter your effort, only you and the fish remain.” In case tenkara is foreign to you , the system is simple: a long rod (between 10 to 14 feet), line attached to the tip of the rod,…

THE TIE THAT BINDS

WAYNE’S WORLD

When Wayne Shelby isn’t guiding for turkeys, hogs, or gators on his employer’s ranch, he’s fattening cattle and fixing fences. For him, finding spare time is like finding a pot o’ gold. But I asked him if he’d like to go fishing one evening anyway. “I think I’ll go,” he said as he wiped his sweaty brow with a forearm and glanced at the baitcaster in my hand. “If we can fish my way.” “Sure,” I said, surprised and unsure whether it was a joke. “And what way is that?” “Let me run and get the crickets.” A few minutes later, Shelby reappeared with a pot full of crickets, a cooler of beer, and cane poles lying in the back of his flatbed. “Ever caught a pounder bluegill?” he asked. I climbed into Shelby’s pickup…

Idon’t care what my GPS says. From where Scott Olmsted and I sit on the side of this mountain (Alaskans call these the Trimokish Hills, but they’re mountains to me) to camp where the Super Cub dropped us off a few days ago, it’s much, much more than 1.46 miles. Similarly, the distance to the spot where we cached waders aft er crossing two rivers is much more than the 681 vertical feet indicated by my Garmin. Each leg-tiring step in the spongy tundra is like walking in a foot of heavy snow. And each step here usually includes one or more of these hazards: tripping tangles of alders, bootsucking bogs, muscle-screaming climbs up steep trails, and ankle-turning sidehills as we inch from one alder-choked, rocky ravine to the next. From the…

TRANSITION SEASON

TIP To locate prime October food sources, think brown to green. When ag fields begin to brown (beans, corn), go to green food sources like clover, winter wheat, and oats. OCTOBER: The month bowhunters, especially whitetail fanatics, eagerly await. And, at times, it’s a month that can’t end soon enough for many of them. One day, there are deer everywhere. The next, you’re lucky to see a button buck. Bowhunting for October whitetails can indeed be an exercise in frustration. What it needs to be is an exercise in transition. But if you follow this weekby- week plan, you can stay on deer all month long. WEEK 1 (OCT. 1–7) Bow season, for much of whitetail country, is finally open. Everyone with a tag is ready to rock, and the majority of them will do…

TRANSITION SEASON

MAKING THE CASE FOR PROTECTION

WE PAY ALL KINDS OF ATTENTION to the bows we carry afield—their cams, accessories, strings. We spend hours tuning and fussing and refining. We affix high-dollar sights and stabilizers and quivers to them. We revere the finished product as a tool of performance and precision. Then we toss it in the back seat of a truck and go bouncing along to the woods. Doesn’t make much sense, does it? A utilitarian tool and the first line of defense (in many instances, the only line) against snapped sight pins, crushed quivers, and other hazards, a case is also one of the most overlooked pieces of gear in a bowhunter’s arsenal. Don’t make that mistake. Here’s a primer on case options and the features to look for in each. SOFT CASES When most bowhunters think…

MAKING THE CASE FOR PROTECTION

BIG GAME, SMALL BUDGETS

WITH CREATIVE planning and realistic expectations, you can hunt five North American big-game species for less than $2,000 each (though prices will vary slightly based on your location). Here’s how. TIP Kee-kees and purrs are thought of as go-to fall turkeys calls but are tough to reproduce. Don’t sweat it. Clucks and yelps work well. DID YOU KNOW? According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, hunters take approximately 7,000 moose per season. HUNT #1: ALASKA MOOSE A moose hunt for under $2,000 is impossible, right? Wrong. Be flexible on antler size and hunt the Last Frontier. Locations/Habitat: • Fairbanks: Urban with flats, rolling hills, and low-lying bogs and swamps Food Sources: Willow and alder browse, and grasses Where to Hunt: Fairbanks Management Area, national and state forest Strategy: If you’re looking to tag any legal bull, lace up your…

BIG GAME, SMALL BUDGETS

Few hunts are more exciting than chasing fall turkeys with a well-trained dog. Turn one loose in a block of woods and he’ll find and scatter every flock on the landscape. All you have to do is call the birds back in as they try to regroup Don’t have a dog? Don’t fret. You don’t need a setter to find and bust a flock of turkeys in the fall. Be your own dog. BUST THE ROOST There’s no better way for you to bust up a flock of fall turkeys than by walking under their roost. That’s usually all it takes. You don’t need to yell or shoot or wave your arms, but it is helpful to move quickly through the roost site once you flush the first bird. Catching them by surprise…

TWO-TIMING WHITETAILS

DRIVES ARE A PROVEN way to get deer up and moving, especially later in the season when they’ve gone nocturnal. Assembling a platoon of buddies and orchestrating a big drive can be more work than fun, though. There’s a better, more efficient way that involves just you and a trusted buddy— and it’s not effective only late in the season. In the right situations, the two of you can punch all the tags you want by making a few wellplanned drives. The Nudge IT’S JUST ABOUT IMPOSSIBLE to drive deer with only one other hunter, but you aren’t really driving them as much as you are encouraging them to move in the right direction. Call it a soft push. The last thing you want to do is spook deer. Some will run,…

TWO-TIMING WHITETAILS

READ A BEAR’S MIND

The big boar pulled his head out of a garbage can and turned to face me. I had blundered into his personal space, and I knew that I was in trouble. His legs stiffened, his head began to swing side to side, and he popped his jaw. I took the hint, backed away, and let him go on his merry way. In my 36 years as a West Virginia conservation officer, I’ve watched black bears do some crazy and downright scary things. I’ve also learned that a black bear’s posture can transmit its mood and intentions. Understanding a bear’s body language and vocalizations can help you decide your next move, whether you are hunting them or simply trying to avoid a confrontation. THE CURIOUS BEAR A curious, non-defensive bear will circle downwind to…

READ A BEAR’S MIND

WHEN YOU SPOOK A BUCK

IT SEEMED MORE like an eruption of dried brush and leaves than the classic flight path of a fleeing buck. I’d blown it big time, and by the time I’d regained my wits, the big 8-point had jumped a creek and was zigzagging his way up a wooded hillside before disappearing into a thick stand of hemlocks. The unmistakable noise of his wide rack snapping dead branches suddenly stopped, however, as if the buck had either broken into an opening or had stopped dead. But I knew that there were no openings. I immediately dropped to my knees and slowly brought my binocular up to my face. The buck had indeed stopped behind a fallen tree and was staring at his backtrack. He remained still as a statue for several minutes,…

WHEN YOU SPOOK A BUCK

SKINNING KNIVES 101

A skinning knife is always one of the very first things I add to a hunting pack before the season begins. Quality skinning knives make field chores simpler and more efficient. But it’s essential that you are carrying the right knife for the task, and that you understand how to properly care for the blade so it provides years of service. 1 Fixed or Folder? ▪ The primary decision you’ll need to make when choosing a skinning knife is whether you want a fixed or folding blade. Each has its own advantage. Fixed-blade knives are rugged and durable, but they aren’t as compact and portable as folders. If you choose a folding knife, you’ll also need to decide what type of locking system suits your needs. Lock-back knives have a lock bar (or…

SKINNING KNIVES 101

SELF-DEFENSE FLASH-LIGHTS

TIP If you plan to use an AR for personal protection, 55-grain polymer-tipped bullets are a top choice, as they won’t overpenetrate through walls and other barriers. BAD GUYS ARE opportunistic predators who take advantage of the weak and unprepared. They’re no different than the predators in the wild, who pounce when the right opportunity presents itself. Bad guys like the anonymity of darkness and the surprise it affords them. One of the most overlooked and best personalprotection tools at our disposal is light, and you should use it to your advantage . MOST VIOLENT crimes occur during conditions of limited visibility. This gives human predators their best chance for success. It’s also why floodlights and motion-activated lights around people’s homes are popular and efficient protection tools. The same logic applies on the…

SELF-DEFENSE FLASH-LIGHTS

There’s a little lever on the side of most semi-automatic handguns. It’s called the slide stop. It’s there for a reason. When you’ve fired the last round in your pistol’s magazine, the magazine’s follower pushes up against the slide stop and causes it to catch in a recess in the pistol’s slide. This, in turn, causes the slide to be locked back. When you see and/or feel this, it’s a good indication your pistol is out of ammo. A slide stop can also be handy when you’re conducting maintenance or trying to clear a particularly stubborn stoppage. Some firearms instructors teach that the slide stop should be used as a slide release. Now, I’m not going to say this is wrong, unsafe, or even immoral. What I want is to present…

“YOU HAVE THE greatest computer in existence sitting on your shoulders. You just need to get out of the way and let it work!” That advice was given to me about 30 years ago from a shotgun shooting coach, and I never forgot it. When I stopped trying to “aim” my shotgun and started pointing it, the clay birds broke. Point shooting, also called instinctive shooting, is also a very useful defensive handgun skill. But like any skill, you need to practice to develop it. 20 FEET AND IN ▪ BRUCE PIATT is one of the top shooters in the world and was a trainer for the New Jersey State Police. He told me everything within 20 feet should be point shooting with a defensive handgun. In a defensive situation, it makes sense to…

THE .38 SPECIAL isn’t a round that grabs many headlines these days, but it is still a workhorse that plenty of people rely on when they’re carrying a handgun for personal protection. Recognizing that, ammo companies Federal and Polycase have thrown their weight behind some interesting products for the .38, giving shooters a couple more options for loading up their wheelguns. FEDERAL PREMIUM HST MICRO TO HELP ACHIEVE consistent velocities, Federal seated the bullets deep into the case in order to take up air space and promote even powder burn. The 130-grain HST bullet is one of the better personal-protection projectiles on the market, and according to Federal’s testing, this +P load has a muzzle velocity of about 825 fps—generating 227 ft.-lb. of energy—when shot from compact snubbies like the Ruger LCR…

INCOMING GREENHEADS

HUNTING ACROBATIC teal, early-season geese, and beautifully plumed wood ducks is great. But for most of us, real waterfowling starts when the weather turns cold—when those big northern greenheads start making their way south. They show up in waves, bombing backwaters and picking through farm fields. And then, they’re gone. Here’s how to make the most of the migration. TIP Don’t over-call late-season mallards. Instead, call to them at the far ends of their circle as they loop around your spread. TIME THE FLIGHT ▪ THE FIRST STEP to success is being in the right spot during the peak of the migration. There are two types of mallard migrants: those that trickle down throughout the season and the coldweather holdouts. If you scout diligently, you can have good shoots on mallards that push through your…

INCOMING GREENHEADS

A hardworking dog is going to get a little banged up during a long waterfowl season. But it’s not just physical wear and tear that will degrade your dog’s effectiveness. In the excitement of the hunt, the finer points of training—like steadiness in the blind or refusing to retrieve to hand—often get overlooked. As a trainer, it’s easy to let these mistakes slide when more birds are working the decoys. But over a full season, these errors will be compounded. If you don’t correct them, your polished retriever could turn into an unruly hound by January. “Nothing is worse for dog training than hunting your dog,” says Barton Ramsey, a pro trainer and founder of an online retriever-training resource called Cornerstone Academy. (The online program includes all the info you need to…

HUNT THE PUDDLE DIVER

Tender boats. Layout skiffs. Big water. Hundreds of decoys. It takes a ton of equipment and intense effort to successfully hunt the diving ducks of sporting legend, right? Not when you target ringbills. Of all the diving ducks, ringbills (also called ring-necked ducks or blackjacks) have the strongest affinity for small water. In fact, hunting ringbills often looks more like puddle-duck hunting than diver hunting. Success on these fastflying divers starts with understanding their habitat preferences, then adjusting your setup accordingly. MEET THE PUDDLE DIVER The ringbill is a first cousin to the bluebill but has a blacker back and whiter belly, yellow eyes, and a distinctive slate-gray bill edged in white and adorned with a white ring. Hens have a brown back and white belly, and a white bill ring as well. Ringbills behave…

HUNT THE PUDDLE DIVER

THE JUMP-SHOOTER’S PLAYBOOK

BETWEEN THE ACTION of opening weekend and the cold-weather migration in November, there’s often a doldrums in the duck season. During this week (or two), you can either sit it out and wait for fresh migrators, or you can pull yourself up by the wader straps and scratch out a few birds by jump-shooting. Here’s how to make sure that belly crawling is worthwhile. SLEEP IN • JUMP-SHOOTING is a midday tactic. It’s poor form to try to jump birds while other hunters are set up with their decoys. Besides, ducks are more likely to be moving in the morning and evening. FIND THE HIDEOUT • YOU’VE GOT to locate birds that are resting in a spot you can sneak to undetected. For jump-shooters, smaller is usually better. Find out-of-the-way potholes, ditches, beaver ponds,…

THE JUMP-SHOOTER’S PLAYBOOK

In This Issue

Description

Details

Reviews

Recent Digital Issues Browse all

Recent Outdoor Life Digital Issues Browse all back issues

Outdoor Life (Digital) Subscription December 8th, 2021 Issue

Outdoor Life (Digital) Vol. 228, No. 4 - 2021: $5.99

Outdoor Life (Digital) Subscription October 15th, 2021 Issue

Outdoor Life (Digital) Vol. 228, No. 3 - 2021: $5.99

Outdoor Life (Digital) Subscription August 11th, 2021 Issue

Outdoor Life (Digital) Vol. 228, No. 2 - 2021: $5.99

Outdoor Life (Digital) Subscription May 26th, 2021 Issue

Outdoor Life (Digital) Vol. 228, No. 1 - 2021: $5.99

Outdoor Life (Digital) Subscription June 14th, 2023 Issue

Outdoor Life (Digital) No. 2 - 2023: $5.99

Outdoor Life (Digital) Subscription March 22nd, 2023 Issue

Outdoor Life (Digital) No. 1 - 2023: $5.99

Outdoor Life (Digital) Subscription December 7th, 2022 Issue

Outdoor Life (Digital) No. 4 - 2022: $5.99

Outdoor Life (Digital) Subscription September 8th, 2022 Issue

Outdoor Life (Digital) No. 3 - 2022: $5.99

Outdoor Life (Digital) Subscription June 15th, 2022 Issue

Outdoor Life (Digital) No. 2 - 2022: $5.99

Outdoor Life (Digital) Subscription March 23rd, 2022 Issue

Outdoor Life (Digital) No. 1 - 2022: $5.99

Outdoor Life (Digital) Subscription December 8th, 2021 Issue

Outdoor Life (Digital) Vol. 228, No. 4 - 2021: $5.99

Outdoor Life (Digital) Subscription October 15th, 2021 Issue

Outdoor Life (Digital) Vol. 228, No. 3 - 2021: $5.99

Outdoor Life (Digital) Subscription August 11th, 2021 Issue

Outdoor Life (Digital) Vol. 228, No. 2 - 2021: $5.99

Outdoor Life (Digital) Subscription May 26th, 2021 Issue

Outdoor Life (Digital) Vol. 228, No. 1 - 2021: $5.99

Outdoor Life (Digital) Subscription June 14th, 2023 Issue

Outdoor Life (Digital) No. 2 - 2023: $5.99

Outdoor Life (Digital) Subscription March 22nd, 2023 Issue

Outdoor Life (Digital) No. 1 - 2023: $5.99

Outdoor Life (Digital) Subscription December 7th, 2022 Issue

Outdoor Life (Digital) No. 4 - 2022: $5.99

Outdoor Life (Digital) Subscription September 8th, 2022 Issue

Outdoor Life (Digital) No. 3 - 2022: $5.99

Customers Also Viewed

Maurice Benard: 25th Anniversary Magazine (Digital) Subscription December 24th, 2019 Issue

Maurice Benard: 25th Anniversary Magazine (Digital)

Maurice Benard: 25th Anniversary: $12.99

Skeptical Inquirer Magazine Subscription

Skeptical Inquirer Magazine

(3)

6 Issues: $32.97

World Coin News Magazine Subscription March 1st, 2025 Issue

World Coin News Magazine

(1)

12 Issues: $34.97 ~~$47.40~~

Outdoor Life (Digital) Subscription September 6th, 2023 Issue

Outdoor Life (Digital)

(2)

No. 3 - 2023: $5.99

Le monde du camping-car HS (Digital) Subscription

Le monde du camping-car HS (Digital)

HS Guide Accessoires 2020: $6.49

Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine Subscription March 1st, 2025 Issue

Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine

(517)

12 Issues: $34.95 ~~$59.88~~

Performance Vauxhall (Digital) Subscription

Performance Vauxhall (Digital)

October - November 2019: $4.28

The Ultimate Guide to WordPress Magazine (Digital) Subscription August 20th, 2015 Issue

The Ultimate Guide to WordPress Magazine (Digital)

The Ultimate Guide to WordPress: $7.28

National Geographic Traveler México (Digital) Subscription December 1st, 2024 Issue

National Geographic Traveler México (Digital)

(1)

DICIEMBRE 2024 - FEBRERO 2025: $3.59

AD Gourmet Magazine (Digital) Subscription February 18th, 2020 Issue

AD Gourmet Magazine (Digital)

2020: $1.99

Maurice Benard: 25th Anniversary Magazine (Digital) Subscription December 24th, 2019 Issue

Maurice Benard: 25th Anniversary Magazine (Digital)

Maurice Benard: 25th Anniversary: $12.99

Skeptical Inquirer Magazine Subscription

Skeptical Inquirer Magazine

(3)

6 Issues: $32.97

World Coin News Magazine Subscription March 1st, 2025 Issue

World Coin News Magazine

(1)

12 Issues: $34.97 ~~$47.40~~

Outdoor Life (Digital) Subscription September 6th, 2023 Issue

Outdoor Life (Digital)

(2)

No. 3 - 2023: $5.99

Le monde du camping-car HS (Digital) Subscription

Le monde du camping-car HS (Digital)

HS Guide Accessoires 2020: $6.49

Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine Subscription March 1st, 2025 Issue

Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine

(517)

12 Issues: $34.95 ~~$59.88~~

Performance Vauxhall (Digital) Subscription

Performance Vauxhall (Digital)

October - November 2019: $4.28

The Ultimate Guide to WordPress Magazine (Digital) Subscription August 20th, 2015 Issue

The Ultimate Guide to WordPress Magazine (Digital)

The Ultimate Guide to WordPress: $7.28

Reviews