2009 Wheeler Ram

Check out these pictures of the New Mexio Auction Tag Holder’s ram. We’re told that the ram was taken in the Wheeler Peak unit and scored 189 2/8.

15 3/8 x 41 and 10 years old.

We’ll post more information as we learn more. But for now, enjoy these pictures of a huge old bighorn. And be sure to check out the rest of our sheep and goat hunts.

See the original article at GotHunts.com

Bonefishing Report from Capt. Rick Grassett

Capt. Rick Grassett, is a full-time fishing guide and outdoor writer based in Sarasota, FL. He’s a great host and a super guy, and as luck would have it he hosts a group at Andros South each year.

Here’s Capt. Grassett’s report from last week. Thanks Rick!

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I spent the last week from Saturday, May 2nd through Saturday, May 9th, hosting a group of friends and customers at Andros South bonefish lodge on South Andros in the Bahamas. Nick Reding, Bob Harness and Bob Reynolds, all from St. Louis, MO, Frank Rhodes, from Auburndale, FL, Hal Lutz, from Parrish, FL and Jon Yenari and I, from Sarasota, met in Ft. Lauderdale on Saturday afternoon, May 2nd. We had a smooth, one hour flight over on a Lynx Air twin engine Cessna 402 and were greeted by managers Rick Sisler and Kateri Clay.

The weather and fishing were near perfect! I had an opportunity to fish with each member of the group and fish a variety of areas. Some days were better than others and some days were fantastic! Anglers fishing the vast sand flats to the south fished near Jackfish Channel, the Water Cays, Curly Cut Cays, Fish Key and the “airport flat”. Some of these flats are so big they go all the way to the horizon. Frank and Jon had a great day at the “airport flat” one day catching and releasing more than 50 bones. Hal and I fished the south end one day and had a great morning wading along a mangrove shoreline on a flood tide. We caught 15 or 20 fish before noon. Frank, Jon, Hal and Kateri went offshore one day and landed more than 30 mahi mahi (dolphin) to 12-pounds on flies and conventional tackle. Their first mahis on fly!

Several creeks – Deep Creek, Little Creek and Grassy Creek all cut through to the west side, crossing the ”Devil’s Backbone” ridge and open up into large flats and salt ponds with smaller creeks feeding into them. We caught lots and lots of bonefish to 6-pounds with most of them in the 2 to 3-pound class. Some were smaller and a few were even bigger. Another angler at the lodge, John from British Columbia, landed an 8-pounder one day. Bob Reynolds and I had a great day on a huge school over on the west side one day with guide, Fredlon. We waded and doubled and tripled for more than an hour. I also landed a 30-pound ‘cuda that day! Nick and I fished with Torrie one day and learned a lot about targeting big bonefish.

Even though catching lots of fish out of a big school is a lot of fun, the most rewarding to me is stalking singles, doubles and smaller schools. A couple of the most rewarding fish I caught were tailing on a slick, calm morning when we had to wade like a “heron” and make a perfect cast to catch them! Top flies were Gotchas, Peterson’s Spawning Shrimp and variations of them. We also encountered lots of sharks and ‘cudas. Several ‘cudas, up to 30-pounds, were landed on flies and conventional tackle.

Bob Reynolds from St. Louis, Mo, with a nice South Andros bonefish
Photo: Rick Grassett

I hated to come back to the real world, but the good thing is that tarpon fishing is getting ready to take off back at home in Sarasota. I have already received several reports of tarpon being jumped and landed from Tampa Bay to Sarasota. I’ll be on the water this week hunting tarpon, which should get even better as we get further away from last week’s full moon.

Tight Lines,
Capt. Rick Grassett

See the original article at GotHunts.com

Alaskan Job Position Open

Subject: Alaska Position Open
Position: Surveyor
Salary: $200 per hour (tax-free)
Qualification: Must be fast on your feet

See the original article at GotHunts.com

My First Lion

 

Clancy Sayer

One day towards the end of January, my dad woke me up earlier than usual and informed me that his friend Mike was looking for lion tracks and wanted me to go hunt with him. I immediately replied “YES!” I hurried and changed into my long johns and wool pants, then headed out to the truck. My brother and sister thought it was unfair that I got to hunting while they had to go to school so my dad let them go with us too

 

It seemed like it took forever to get to our destination, especially because it was my first lion hunt and if I was lucky my first big game animal. We finally found mike who had cut a female with a large tom following. We decided to let the hounds go (Trapper, Jess, Exploder, Clyde and Tobey.) It was very exciting, Mike showed Jess the track and she let out a big bawl and took off after the lion. We traveled from place to place around the mountain in the trucks trying to figure out where the dogs were heading. We came to a canyon where we thought the dogs headed to. My brother, sister and I stayed with my dad while Mike and his friend Brandon went up to look for the dogs. I swear we sat there for three hours. Finally they reported back to my dad on the radio that the dogs went over the ridge and headed for the top of the mountain.

 

 

 

See the original article at Ultimate Predator Magazine

New #1 Argentina Red Stag

News from one of our Outfitters in Argentina:

“Just wanted to let you know that we are having a very good stag season so far. Ten days ago we shot the new #1 Argentina and South America SCI red stag at one of our ranches. The stag scores 279 CIC and 486 SCI.”

Well… ’nuff said. You can’t tell me you don’t want to go. Give us a call! (208) 991-HUNT

See the original article at GotHunts.com

NSSA-NSCA Launch Online Forums

SAN ANTONIO – The joint organization of the National Skeet Shooting Association and National Sporting Clays Association (NSSA/NSCA) announce new online forums for members with the goal of sharing accurate and unbiased information about their sports while stimulating camaraderie worldwide.

The new NSSA/NSCA forums arose from an agreement between the NSSA/NSCA and Shotgun Life, the first online magazine dedicated to the best in wing and clays shooting. Under the arrangement, Shotgun Life has donated the software, hardware, and technical support to resume the organizations’ forums, which have been dormant for over two years, as part of the online magazine’s 10 shotgun forums.

The forums are available by visiting www.shotgunlife.com and clicking on the Forum tab at the top of the page. NSSA and NSCA will distribute specific instructions to their members for registering and logging on to the forums.

“With the next generation of shooters becoming much more active in skeet and sporting clays tournaments, it was time to once again bring a meaningful exchange of information to our members around the world,” said Don Snyder, Executive Director of the NSSA/NSCA. “Shotgun Life came to us with a generous proposal that helped us accelerate our goals of using the Internet to help unite our members in an online global community.”

“It’s an honor to be underwriting the NSSA/NSCA forums,” said Irwin Greenstein, Publisher of Shotgun Life. “As a free, online magazine, our intent is to break down the barriers of entry to participating in the shotgun sports. Our support of the NSSA/NSCA forums is in complete alignment with the goals of these two tremendous organizations that have enriched the lives of so many shotgun owners.”

The National Skeet Shooting Association

Founded in 1928 and headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, the National Skeet Shooting Association is the official governing and sanctioning organization for the sport of skeet shooting.  It is a not-for-profit organization owned and operated by its almost 17,000 members.  For more information on the sport or the organization, visit www.mynssa.com.

 

The National Sporting Clays Association

Founded in 1989 by the National Skeet Shooting Association in San Antonio, Texas, the National Sporting Clays Association is the official governing and sanctioning organization for sporting clays in the U.S.  It has more than 20,000 members and is a not-for-profit organization owned and operated by its members. For more information, visit www.mynsca.com.

 

Shotgun Life

Launched in January 2009, Shotgun Life is the first online magazine dedicated to the best in wing and clays shooting. In addition to covering all the major clays sports and waterfowl and upland shooting, Shotgun Life showcases the finest shotguns in the world, women shooters and features extensive background information about the equipment and sports to help encourage new shooters to participate.  You can access Shotgun Life free of charge at www.shotgunlife.com.

See the original article at OutdoorMediaResources.com

Off Trail – 2009 Spring Bear

The latest Off Trail video. Todd drew a spring bear tag for the second year in a row, and he was bound and determined to make this spot-n-stalk hunt work with his bow.  Watch as we find ourselves face to face with a curious black bear at 20 yards!

2009 Spring Bear Hunt from Base Camp Legends on Vimeo.

Fish Where the Trout are Feeding

When I started fly fishing I had the same romantic notion of the sport that many probably do.  Casting delicate little flies that land softly on the water and watching big fish come up from the depths to sip the offering ever so gently.  Then one day I was on a beautiful clear flowing river on a bright, fall day with no fish rising or even looking at my dry fly presentations.  I was still fairly new to the sport and had only read about fishing nymphs.  I rigged up, from my best recollections of what I had read, and went from casting a small dry to casting two nymphs under a bulky yarn indicator with some split shot.  On my first cast I discovered there was nothing delicate about presenting this setup to fish.  The split shot and the indicator made quite a splash as I tossed the whole get up to the head of a run.  I then discovered that this rig can quickly become a tangled mess of flies, tippet, split shot, and yarn.  There were a few false starts and aggravating intermissions to my fishing as I untangled several rat nests.  I was just beginning to think the hassle wasn’t worth it when I finally got the perfect cast, a good drift, and as the indicator flowed passed a large submerged boulder I saw the white mouth of a rainbow trout open and the indicator gently dipped below the surface.  I set the hook on what at the time was the largest trout I had ever caught.  Since that time I have not become much better at eliminating tangles in the complicated set up but I have discovered that using nymphs can improve your success at times when a dry fly just won’t interest a trout.

While it is fun to pick off rising fish with a dry fly it is good to remember that most of a fish’s feeding takes place sub surface on nymphs.  While it can be discouraging for a beginner to try and manage the double nymph rig it can pay off with more and often larger fish.  It also provides a realistic chance of catching fish under a wider variety of conditions.

The most effective method if I am specifically targeting fish with nymphs is the double nymph rig, as this method allows a very realistic presentation.  This rig starts at the top with an indicator of your choice.  There are many types of indicators and ideas for homemade indicators out there.  Most store bought indicators will be the poly yarn variety.  I like these but have had trouble in choppy water with them staying buoyant enough after becoming submerged in the riffles a couple times.  My personal choice is an appropriately sized Frog Hair Ultimate Adjustable indicator.

They are made of foam; they float well in almost all circumstances, are very responsive to even the lightest of bites, are highly visible, and they are easy to slide up and down your leader to adjust the depth as you move from run to run.  All the things that I feel make a good indicator.  The rule I use for where to put the indicator is usually twice as deep as the water I am fishing and adjust from there depending on the swiftness of the water.  The faster the flow the higher you will want the indicator to allow the nymphs to get to the bottom where the fish will be looking for them.

Once the indicator is in place I tie the top fly on the end of the tippet.  Personally I often use a larger nymph like a stonefly or one with a bead head as my point fly.  The advantage is twofold here.  First a larger fly like the Stonefly nymph or a bead head nymph will provide a little more weight to help get the flies to the bottom quickly.  Second they can serve as an attractor to get the fish’s attention.  Even if it is not exactly what the fish wants a big potential meal like the stonefly of something with some flash like the bead head will catch their eye and may be too much for the fish to resist.  As with everything else though this is just a guideline and if conditions dictate I will deviate from this strategy with different flies.

Once the top fly is chosen and tied on I tie about 12-18 inches of tippet to the bend in the hook and tie my second fly on.  In my experience the second fly will be the one you catch most of your fish on.  My most used patterns here are a small pheasant tail or hare’s ear nymphs.   Obviously your fly choices will again depend on what type of insects hatch on your body of water.

The final but very important step is the split shot.  I place my split shot about 12” above the top fly in my rig.  Start with as little weight as possible and work up as conditions dictate.  Most nymphs live on and under the rocks at the bottom of a river so a fish feeding on nymphs is most likely going to be found on the bottom as well.  You need to get your fly down to where the fish are and that means adding weight.  You will want your flies to be bumping bottom occasionally but not continually hanging up.  Finding this balance will be important to your success.

There is no fast hard rule about where I will fish this rig but the most likely spots I target are in tail outs just below a riffle or in long 3’-4’ deep channels with fast  to medium walking speed current flow.  Other good areas are in current seams where fast current meets a slower current.    I usually cast upstream at about a 45 degree angle and let the flies drift past me making sure to mend the line properly so I don’t get much drag.  Nothing will tip a fish off faster to an imitation than a fly that is streaming instead of drifting.  This is another good use for the indicator as it helps you get a better idea of what the flies beneath the surface are doing.  Since the flies are out of your sight you will have a hard time knowing for sure if you are getting a lot of drag or not without an indicator.  You can be confident that if your indicator is dragging, your flies are also dragging.  If your line is ahead of your indicator it will pull the indicator downstream.  Mend your line as often as needed to keep the line upstream of your indicator to get the most drag free drift.  Simply let your indicator float as drag free as possible for as long as possible.  One exception to this comes at the end of your drift when the flies have drifted past you and are coming to the end of the line.  The current will catch the indicator and the flies and start to pull them towards the surface.  I always let this happen because the rising flies will mimic nymphs that are swimming or floating towards the surface during a hatch.  Fish will sometimes take these nymphs as they make their rise from the bottom of the river to the surface.  I have caught many fish just being patient and letting the current take hold at the end of a drift.

One important thing to remember is that a trout’s take on a drifting nymph can be extremely subtle.  It can be very easy to miss a take as fish seem to be able to mouth your flies while your indicator makes almost no movement.  Keep your eyes on the indicator for any abnormal movement and be ready to take up your slack.  It takes a bit of experience with the set up but you soon develop a sense and can really tell the difference between your fly ticking the bottom and the soft take from a fish.  Generally though, you should probably be thinking fish anytime your indicator moves in a way contrary to what the current is doing.

The Double Nymph rig can be a very productive way to find and catch fish but the one piece of advice I would give to anyone giving it a try is to be patient and slow down.  When casting an outfit with this many moving parts things can get tangled in a hurry.  I was reminded of this advice last week as I broke down and opened the nymph fly box on a slow catching day on my local river.  I had been used to casting tiny Blue Wing Olive, and midge imitations so when I broke out the indicator and the split shot and failed to adjust my casting accordingly I found myself wasting a lot of time undoing big knots.  Each tangle made me more frustrated, which made me tense up even more, which did not improve my casting.  After an half an hour of fighting against myself and gritting my teeth at tangle after tangle, I was able to slow myself down and shorten my casts and wouldn’t you know it, I hooked right into a good fish.  It reaffirmed the lesson I learned years ago on that fall day, that knowing how to fish nymphs can turn a frustrating skunking into a great day on the river in a hurry.

See the original article at BaseCampLegends.com

Idaho Attorney General Signs Amicus Brief Supporting Second Amendment Incorporation

From www.nraila.org

Please Thank Attorney General Lawrence Wasden!

Two-thirds of the nation’s attorneys general have filed an amicus brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to grant certiorari in the case of NRA v. Chicago and hold that the Second Amendment applies to state and local governments through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This bi-partisan group of 33 attorneys general, along with the Attorney General of California in a separate filing, agrees with the NRA’s position that the Second Amendment protects a fundamental individual right to keep and bear arms, disagreeing with the decision recently issued by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Attorney General Wasden was one of the many who agrees that the Second Amendment is a fundamental individual right and signed the amicus brief. Please call Attorney General Wasden at (208) 334-2400 and thank him for standing up in support of the Second Amendment. You may also e-mail him at webmaster@ag.idaho.gov.

See the original article at GotHunts.com