Cal Sportsman Mag Oct 2019 by Media Index Publishing Group

GIFT GUIDE INSIDE CALSPORTSMANMAG.COM

U|xaHBEIGy01291rzuv,:!

Home, Shop & Cabins $360K - Naukati Bay

End of Road Home & Shop $214K - Thorne Bay

Float House & Shop $45K - Thorne Bay

R&R Lodge $265K - Harris River

Lots, all sizes & locations $19K to $205K

Hilltop Home (Two Unit) $425K - Hollis

Restaurant $45K - Klawock

N-Side View Home $370K - Ketchikan

BROKER,

PRINCE OF WALES ISLAND REALTY LLC CELL 219-781-1825 | OFFICE & FAX 907-826-6600 EMAIL chucksrealestate@yahoo.com

www.AlaskaIslandRealty.com

FOR SALE — WE ARE RETIRING! —

This is a super opportunity for a familyowned business on Oregon’s beautiful north-central coast. Very busy sporting goods store, river shuttle service and exceptional deli. It’s a recently completely remodeled store and kitchen. Located in the heart of one of Oregon’s f ishing and hunting meccas at the intersections of (Valley Junction) Highway 22 and busy Oregon Coast Highway 101. Strategically located near eight rivers, three lakes, three bays and the ocean. This area offers exceptional opportunity for outdoor recreation. High volume traffic, which invites f ishermen, hunters and tourists alike, including camping throughout the area and ATV riding at Sand Lake. Year-round f ishing for salmon, steelhead, and trout in the rivers and lakes nearby. The location also offers access to great tidewater and bay fishing, crabbing and salmon and bottomfishing in the ocean from the beach in Pacific City, home of Oregon’s

only Dory Fleet. This offers a great small community setting, beautiful environment to live and work in and an amazing location for kids. Cash for business, inventory and equipment; will carry a contract or lease on building and property. Serious inquiries only, please.

Call Pat: 503-392-4269; 503-812-7234 | Visit our website: nestuccariveroutfitters.com

THEY WRITE COUNTRY SONGS THEY WRITE COUNTRY SONGS EY COUNTRY WRITE THEY COUNTRY SONGS WRITE COUNTRY SONGS SONGS THEY WRITE COUNTRY SONGS ABOUT MORNINGS LIKE THIS. ABOUT MORNINGS LIKE THIS. NINGS OUT MORNINGS LIKE ABOUT THIS. MORNINGS LIKE THIS. LIKE THIS. ABOUT MORNINGS LIKE THIS.

BUT AT 70 MPH YOU BUT AT 70 MPH YOU 70BUT MPH ATYOU 70BUT MPH AT YOU 70 MPH YOU BUT AT 70 MPH YOU CAN’T HEAR THEM. CAN’T HEAR THEM. EAR CAN’T THEM. HEAR CAN’T THEM. HEAR CAN’TTHEM. HEAR THEM.

It’s a glorious sunrise, viewed in fast forward thanks to the power of your 250 ProXS. It’s a glorious sunrise, viewed fast the forward thanks toyour the power of your 250 ProXS. glorious d in fast sunrise, forward viewed It’s thanks a glorious in to fast the power sunrise, forward ofviewed thanks yourneed 250 to in to ProXS. the fast power forward thanks your 250 tofish ProXS. theare power 250 ProXS. Because you get thereofin while stillof eating breakfast. It’s a glorious sunrise, viewed in fast forward thanks to the power of your 250 ProXS. Because you need to get there while the fish are still eating breakfast. use re while you need the fish to get are Because there still eating while you need the breakfast. fish to get arethere still eating while the breakfast. fish are still eating breakfast. Because need to get there while the fish stilldealer, eating today. breakfast. Learn more you at mercurymarine.com or visit yourare local Learn more mercurymarine.com or visit yourtoday. local dealer, today. ne.com more ator mercurymarine.com visit your Learn local more dealer, ator mercurymarine.com visit today. your at local dealer, or visit today. your local dealer, Learn more at mercurymarine.com or visit your local dealer, today.

Obsession Boats Captain Bub’s Marine Inc. NEW HAMPSHIRE CONNECTICUT Obsession Captain Marine Inc. NIERW NObsession N EMarine C T I CBoats UT Lakeville, Obsession Boats Boats Captain Bub’s Inc. Captain Bub’s Marine Inc. N EBub’s WMAH A M P S Obsession H IRE N E WEast H AFalmouth, M P SBoats H I RMA E NEW HAMPSH E HAMPSHIRE CT I C UC TO Captain NE W HAMPSHIRE C O NFalmouth, NEC T I CMA UMarina TLakeville, MA EastObsession Falmouth, Boats MA Lakeville, captainbubsmarine.com Dover Marine Connor’s and O’Brien East East Falmouth, MAMABub’s Marine EastInc. Falmouth, MAcapecodboatcenter.com Lakeville, MA East Falmouth, MA Lakeville, MA capecodboatcenter.com captainbubsmarine.com Dover Marine Connor’s and O’Brien Marina Dover, NH Pawcatuck, CT capecodboatcenter.com capecodboatcenter.com capecodboatcenter.com captainbubsmarine.com captainbubsmarine.com Dover Marine Dover Marine Dover Marine and O’Brien Marina Dover Connor’s Dover, NH Marine Pawcatuck, CTand O’Brien Marina Marine Dougcaptainbubsmarine.com Russell dovermarine.com connorsandobrien.com Dover, NHMarine Dover,Portside NH capecodboatcenter.com Dover, NH k, CT Dover, NH Pawcatuck, CT Portside Marine Doug Russell Marine dovermarine.com connorsandobrien.com Danvers, MA Worcester, MA Portside Marine Portside Marine Portside Marine Doug Russell Marine Doug Russell Marine dovermarine.com dovermarine.com dovermarine.com dobrien.com Portside Marine dovermarine.com connorsandobrien.com Danvers, MA Marine Worcester, MA portsidemarine.us WorcesterBoating.com Winnisquam Marine Defender Inc.Worcester,Danvers, Danvers, MA MADoug Russell Danvers, MA Worcester, MA Industries MA Danvers, MA Worcester, MAMarine portsidemarine.us WorcesterBoating.com Winnisquam Defender Industries Inc.WorcesterBoating.com Belmont, NH Marine Waterford, CT portsidemarine.us portsidemarine.us portsidemarine.us WorcesterBoating.com Winnisquam Winnisquam Marine Winnisquam Marine Industries Inc. portsidemarine.us WorcesterBoating.com Winnisquam Marine Defender Belmont, NH Waterford, CT Industries Inc. Riverfront Marine Sports Inc. Essex Marina NH LLC. winnisquammarine.com defender.com Belmont, Belmont, NH Belmont, NH , CT Belmont, NH Waterford, CT Riverfront Marine Sports Inc. Essex Marina LLC. winnisquammarine.com defender.com Salisbury, MA Essex, MA Riverfront Marine Sports Inc. Riverfront Marine Sports Inc. Riverfront Marine Sports Inc. Essex Marina LLC. Essex Marina LLC. winnisquammarine.com SPARKS winnisquammarine.com winnisquammarine.com om Riverfront Essex winnisquammarine.com Salisbury, MA Marine Sports Inc. Essex, MA Marina LLC.Salisbury, MA riverfrontmarine.com essexmarinallc.com RHO DE ISLAND Landing Salisbury, MA MA Essex,O’Hara’s MA defender.com Essex, MA Salisbury, Salisbury, MA Essex, MA riverfrontmarine.com essexmarinallc.com Sierra Sport & Marine R H O O’Hara’s Landing Salisbury, CT riverfrontmarine.com riverfrontmarine.com riverfrontmarine.com essexmarinallc.com essexmarinallc.com RHODE ISLAND RHODE ISLAND RHODE ISLAND DE ISLAND Landing riverfrontmarine.com essexmarinallc.com R H O DCove E IS L A N DInc. O’Hara’s Salisbury, CT Landing South Attleboro Marine McLellan Brothers Inc. Billington Marina oharaslanding.com CT 191 E. Glandale Ave. Salisbury, CT South Attleboro Marine McLellan Brothers Inc. Billington Cove Marina Inc. oharaslanding.com North Attleboro, MA Everett, MA Wakefield, RI South Attleboro Marine South Attleboro Marine South Attleboro Marine McLellan Brothers Inc. McLellan Brothers Inc. Billington Cove Marina Inc. Billington Cove Marina Inc. Billington Cove Marina Inc. ding.com South Attleboro McLellan Inc. Billington (775) 358-5431 North MA Marine Everett, MA Wakefield, RI Cove Marina Inc. www.sammarine.com mclellanbrosinc.com bcoveyc.com MMA Aoharaslanding.com S S ACAttleboro, H U S E TMA T SEverett, MA North North Attleboro, MA Brothers North Attleboro, MA Everett, Wakefield, RI Wakefield, RIAttleboro, Wakefield, RI North Attleboro, MA bcoveyc.com Everett, MA Wakefield, RI www.sammarine.com mclellanbrosinc.com bcoveyc.com MTATwww.sammarine.com SSS AC H U S E T T Smclellanbrosinc.com www.sammarine.com www.sammarine.com bcoveyc.com bcoveyc.com C mclellanbrosinc.com HUSE www.sierrasportmarine.com www.sammarine.com mclellanbrosinc.com bcoveyc.com MA S S AC&HWatersports U S E T T S Inc. Wareham Boat Yard Merrimac Marine Supply Jamestown Distributors Action Marine Wareham Boat Yard Merrimac Marine Supply Jamestown Action Marine & Watersports Inc. W. Wareham, MA Methuen, MA Bristol, Holyoke, MA Wareham Boat Yard Wareham Boat Yard Wareham Boat Yard Merrimac Marine Supply Merrimac Marine Supply Jamestown Distributors Jamestown Distributors Jamestown Distributors RI Distributors rine & Watersports Inc. WarehamMA Boat YardBristol, RI Merrimac Supply Jamestown Distributors Action & Watersports Inc. W.RI Wareham, Methuen, Bristol, RI Holyoke, MAMarineMA merrimacmarine.com jamestowndistributors.com actionmarineholyoke.com W. Wareham, W. Wareham, MA MARI Marine W. Wareham,Bristol, MA wareham-boatyard-marina.com MA Methuen, MA Bristol, MAMethuen, W. Wareham, MA Methuen, MA Bristol, RI Holyoke, MA wareham-boatyard-marina.com merrimacmarine.com jamestowndistributors.com actionmarineholyoke.com wareham-boatyard-marina.com wareham-boatyard-marina.com wareham-boatyard-marina.com merrimacmarine.com merrimacmarine.com jamestowndistributors.com jamestowndistributors.com jamestowndistributors.com ineholyoke.com wareham-boatyard-marina.com merrimacmarine.com jamestowndistributors.com Nauset Marine-Orleans Bill’sactionmarineholyoke.com Outboard Motor Service Nauset Marine-Orleans Bill’s Outboard Motor Service Orleans, MA Hingham, MA Nauset Marine-Orleans Nauset Marine-Orleans board Motor Service Nauset Bill’s Outboard Motor Service Orleans, MAMarine-Orleans Hingham, MA nausetmarine.com billsoutboard.com Orleans, MA Orleans, MA MA Orleans, MA Hingham, MA nausetmarine.com billsoutboard.com nausetmarine.com nausetmarine.com ard.com nausetmarine.com billsoutboard.com

NEVADA

California

Sportsman Your LOCAL Hunting & Fishing Resource

Volume 12 • Issue 1 PUBLISHER James R. Baker GENERAL MANAGER John Rusnak EXECUTIVE EDITOR Andy Walgamott EDITOR Chris Cocoles CONTRIBUTORS Scott Haugen, Tiffany Haugen, Art Isberg, Todd Kline, Bill Schaefer, Tom Walker, Jeff Walters SALES MANAGER Katie Higgins ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Mamie Griffin, Mike Smith, Paul Yarnold DESIGNERS Celina Martin, Lesley-Anne Slisko-Cooper PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS Kelly Baker DIGITAL STRATEGIST Jon Hines ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Katie Aumann INFORMATION SERVICES MANAGER Lois Sanborn ADVERTISING INQUIRIES ads@calsportsmanmag.com CORRESPONDENCE Email ccocoles@media-inc.com Twitter @CalSportsMan Facebook.com/californiasportsmanmagazine ON THE COVER Cover guy Bill Schaefer details how to work the kelp for calicos swarming off Southern California this time of year. (BILL SCHAEFER)

MEDIA INC PUBLISHING GROUP P.O. Box 24365 • Seattle, WA 98124-0365 14240 Interurban Ave. S., Suite 190 Tukwila, WA 98168 (800) 332-1736 • Fax (206) 382-9437 media@media-inc.com www.mediaindexpublishing.com

10 California Sportsman OCTOBER 2019 | calsportsmanmag.com

CONTENTS

VOLUME 12 • ISSUE 1

PUBLIC ASSISTANCE As we drop squarely into fall – and those sizzling summer temperatures thankfully fade away – waterfowl hunting takes center stage in many sections of the state, especially in the northern and central regions. It’s also where there is plenty of public land – both of the state and federal variety – that gives duck and geese shooters some outstanding opportunities to harvest some birds. Veteran waterfowler Art Isberg offers up some tips on where to go and how to hunt our state and national refuges. (ART ISBERG)

FEATURES 16

LEAVING L.A. FOR THE WILD

When Tom Walker was a youngster in urban Los Angeles, his happiest days were spent with his father on fishing trips in backcountry areas far away from the chaos of Southern California. So as a young man a half-century ago, Walker fled the city and got about as far away from it as he could: Alaska’s interior. Even since he’s been capturing the beauty of the Last Frontier as a photographer and writer. In an excerpt from his new book, Wild Shots, Walker looks back at how his California roots led him to where he is today, and also shares some of his thoughts in a Q&A.

BRINGING A RARE SIERRA TROUT SPECIES BACK

All but eliminated from a tiny creek drainage in isolated Alpine County – south of Lake Tahoe – the Paiute cutthroat is making a comeback. For the first time in over 100 years, this most rare trout species in North America is swimming in an 11-mile-long stretch of Silver King Creek, thanks to years of research by federal and state agencies and conservation groups. Find out how they collaborated to return these fish to their native habitat in the Carson-Iceberg Wilderness.

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE 45 59 63 83

Holiday gift guide SoCal calico tips From Field to Fire: Breaking down big game; venison carne asada tacos Squirrel hunting with your gun dog

DEPARTMENTS 15 37 39 43

The Editor’s Note Outdoor calendar The Adventures of Todd Kline Photo contest winners

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Jeff Walters fishes freshwater lakes, ponds, rivers and creeks throughout the Eastern Sierra and in the Southland, and one skill he finds invaluable is being to evaluate those waters to enhance his odds of fishing success. From water clarity to wind to current, being a student of the game and being able to “read the water” is sure to raise your angler GPA. Step into Professor Walter’s classroom for a tutorial.

Read California Sportsman on your desktop or mobile device. Go to www.calsportsmanmag.com/digital California Sportsman is published monthly by Media Index Publishing Group, 14240 Interurban Avenue South, Suite 190, Tukwila, WA 98168. Send address changes to California Sportsman, PO Box 24365, Seattle, WA 98124. Annual subscriptions are $29.95 (12 issues), 2-year subscription are $39.95 (24 issues). Send check or money order to Media Index Publishing Group, or call (206) 382-9220 with VISA or M/C. Back issues are available at Media Index Publishing Group offices at the cost of $5 plus shipping. Display Advertising. Call Media Index Publishing Group for a current rate card. Discounts for frequency advertising. All submitted materials become the property of Media Index Publishing Group and will not be returned. Copyright © 2019 Media Index Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be copied by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording by any information storage or retrieval system, without the express written permission of the publisher. Printed in U.S.A. 12 California Sportsman OCTOBER 2019 | calsportsmanmag.com

14 California Sportsman OCTOBER 2019 | calsportsmanmag.com

THEEDITOR’SNOTE

The editor’s dad, Stan Cocoles, loved his own classic cars and visiting collections like Tacoma, Washington’s LeMay America’s Car Museum. He’ll be missed. (CHRIS COCOLES)

hen my dad Stanley George Cocoles passed away peacefully on Sept. 14 at 87 years old after a short illness, I decided to drive down to California from my Seattle home for his services. Sure, I could have flown and saved myself the logistical complications of traveling about 800 miles to the Bay Area in my Ford Escape. But besides wanting my dog Emma to join me, I needed a chance to reflect on my dad’s life and our relationship. As cars and driving were such a big part of his life and my connection to him, I found it fitting to get there on four wheels. Dad bought his first car when he was 14 or 15 years old shortly after World War II ended. The old jalopy cost him probably $10 and he collected classic cars and motorcycles throughout his life. That was his passion, just as my early loves included fishing and sports. We did our best to appease each other’s pastimes. He took me on fishing excursions and I was always eager to join him on weekends touring with his gearhead buddies. We’d cruise in style in his black 1929 Lincoln sedan – a car that was once featured in the Tony Curtis/Natalie Wood movie Sex and the Single Girl and the TV version of The Untouchables. Everyone loved his rare unrestored 1922 Franklin demi-sedan and its aircooled engine. And my favorite is still his 1936 Ford V-8 (the latter two of these beauties are still in our family). We went on plenty of memorable drives in those and the other cars he bought and sold over the years. As Emma and I made the long drive down Interstate 5, I couldn’t help but make mental notes to myself as I passed familiar landmarks along the way. There’s the LeMay America’s Car Museum in Tacoma,

Washington. The LeMay is a massive collection that Dad and I visited shortly after I moved to Seattle and he came up for a visit. The old guy was exhausted after we covered the seven or so floors of vintage vehicles, but there was no way we’d miss even a single car. In southern Oregon, there’s the exit for spectacular Crater Lake, a bright-blue body of deep water that formed inside the caldera of Mount Mazama after the volcano blew its top 7,700 years ago. When I was just out of high school in the mid-1980s, we took a father-son road trip in his more modern car up the California coast, across to Shasta Lake and then into Oregon. But I most remember taking a day trip to Crater Lake. As we looked down from the rim of the lake I kept pestering my dad to come back someday to fish there. In the Central Valley of California, there’s Exit 577 off I-5 for the road to Clear Lake. I can’t tell you how much I’ll always cherish our summer getaways there, where we’d stay at a friend’s lakeside home near Lakeport (I caught my first catfish from the shore there). Emma and I made it to San Mateo early on a Friday night. Four days later my sisters and I buried our dad in the Greek Orthodox Memorial Park Cemetery in Colma. The limo hired to transport my family to the church and cemetery was a bit crowded and the driver of the hearse asked if anyone wanted to ride with him to give us more room. One last road trip with my pop after all those memorable drives together? Count me in. I talked to the driver about his passion for old cars on the way. Thanks, Dad, for sharing your hobbies with me. -Chris Cocoles calsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019 California Sportsman

LEAVING LOS ANGELES A SOCAL NATIVE FOUND NATURE, PEACE, PURPOSE IN ALASKA

Tom Walker grew up in the urban chaos of Los Angeles, restless and looking for adventure far away. He found it in the wildlands and wildlife of Alaska. In his new book, Wild Shots, he shares photographs of brown bears, caribou, wolves and other critters heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s taken in recent years. (TOM WALKER) 16 California Sportsman OCTOBER 2019 | calsportsmanmag.com

Editor’s note: “I’d pined for a home like this my entire youth, visions of a life lived close to nature and wildlife,” author Tom Walker writes in his new book about, as part of its title suggests, A Photographer’s Life in Alaska. Walker grew up in Los Angeles, and in his urban youth some of his best days were spent trout fishing with his dad in the Eastern Sierra Nevada Range. Now having lived for more than half a century adjacent to Denali National Park, Walker shares the connection with the Last Frontier’s fauna he’s captured with a camera over years of interactions with everything from bears to salmon to moose. The following is excerpted with permission from Wild Shots: A Photographer’s Life in Alaska (Mountaineers Books, September 2019) by Tom Walker. This excerpt has been edited for length.

calsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019 California Sportsman

Walker’s cabin on Loon Lake (circa 1974), south of Denali National Park. He’s been in Alaska for 54 years now. (TOM WALKER)

By Tom Walker

nce, I dreamed of a life at sea, on a sailboat or an island, wearing little or nothing at all. I had visions of crystal water, endless sunshine, lush ports of call and Polynesian beauties, fantasy nights cooled by tropical breezes. Memories of these teenage dreams always bring to mind one question: How the hell did I end up spending more than 50 years in Alaska? I grew up in Los Angeles, smothered by smog, assaulted by heat and ceaseless traffic. The one great wilderness known to me as a boy, the sea, stretched west to far horizons, with distant sails hinting at mystery and adventure. Reading The Sea-Wolf, Coming of Age in Samoa, and Mutiny on the Bounty fired my desire to be somewhere with pristine air and water and unspoiled environment. Places where wildlife – whales, porpoises, sea turtles, and albatrosses – flourished and a person could forage for food from sea and shore. Places where living meant more than a nine-to-five grind. Seeking cool offshore winds, I explored coastal tide pools and watched pastel sunsets, lured by the siren’s song of the distant unknown. The urban landscape, the tracts of

identical houses, the importance placed on glitzy cars and fashion repelled me, a child raised by parents who’d passed on their simple Midwestern values. My grandfather was an alcoholic, a mean drunk, who took his son, my father, out of the third grade to work in a coal mine. They migrated to California in the 1920s building boom to cash in on the need for labor. My mother was 40 when I was born in 1945, my father 43, a construction worker, and neither had the inclination to guide me through the shoals of adolescence. We were poor, limited by my father’s education, living on the edge of an affluent suburb that was home to Hollywood stars like John Wayne. Unable to blend in with others my age, who mostly enjoyed material advantages, I sought escape in wandering along the coast and among the chaparral hillsides. Studying the journals of Lewis and Clark, I became convinced I had been born in the wrong century.

EACH SUMMER MY FAMILY went camping at Mammoth Lakes in the Eastern High Sierra. Trout fishing was my dad’s cherished pastime. Twice a year, beginning when I was 2 years old, my father, mother,

18 California Sportsman OCTOBER 2019 | calsportsmanmag.com

older brother and I made the long drive north on Highway 395 to campgrounds in the Sierra. When old enough, I dutifully flogged the water of lakes and streams, mostly without luck, all the while my eyes fixed on the distant granite spires, longing to know what stretched beyond. Closer to home, the Santa Monica Mountains, which we simply called “the hills,” separated Los Angeles proper from the San Fernando Valley. Alone, or with [friend] Jim [Voges], I explored the rocky drainages and chaparral thickets, finding caves, a few adobe ruins of unknown origin, and one or two oases of springwater that attracted all sorts of wildlife. Today the area is part of a national recreation area, but then it was largely unprotected and threatened by development. My first few encounters with coyotes and deer in the hills left indelible impressions – each sighting a moment of excitement in an otherwise sterile urban setting. More than one neighbor warned me that the hills were “rattlesnake infested” and to stay out. A popular horror story at that time was about a toddler bitten six times as she lifted a rattler into the air while yelling, “Look, Dad, what I found.” With each telling the number of strikes

Over a half-century after he left Southern California, it’s easy to see why Walker chose these kinds of Alaskan views to soak up. (TOM WALKER)

An Alaska Peninsula bruin makes for quite a photogenic subject for Walker. “A brown bear” he writes in the book, is “one of the undisputed masters of this realm.” (TOM WALKER)

increased, eventually to 12. By then, I had spent innumerable hours in the hills looking or snakes, trying to capture them, rarely with luck. Jim caught several Pacific rattlesnakes, which he brought home and kept in an aquarium in his room – including one specimen measuring 5½ feet – then, the biggest on record. Most of the time our snake-catching expeditions came up empty, except for loads of bloodsucking ticks. A surprising variety of wildlife abounded in the chaparral: gray foxes, mule deer, raccoons, striped and spotted skunks, bobcats, badgers, and lots of coyotes. California quail, horned owls, phainopepla, turkey vultures, red-tailed hawks, and kestrels were common bird species. Most people living in tract homes near the edge of the chaparral had heard the yodeling of coyotes or had a deer or snake wander out of the brush and into their yards. Those animals were just a hint of what lived nearby. Other, rarer critters lived there too,

20 California Sportsman OCTOBER 2019 | calsportsmanmag.com

including ringtail cats and possums. In the summer of 1961, Jim captured a coati mundi, an animal far from its native range, and brought it home in a cage before releasing it a few days later. Twice we came upon the huge pugmarks of a mountain lion pressed into the canyon sand, one touch hot enough to burn the imagination. But we never saw one. Just to the north of the valley, in the Sespe Wilderness, I saw some of the last truly wild California condors. Once while hiking I rounded a bend in the trail and surprised a condor feeding on a deer carcass. Its wingtip seemed to graze me in its panicked escape ... and such a wingspan, almost 10 feet! In junior college, I gave a presentation on the desperate efforts to save the last California condors, and was stunned when a student expressed a fear of such a “giant ugly bird” and two others muttered, “Who cares?” The comments saddened me, and I learned that most people held little concern for wildlife. (With certain

KERN RIVER VALLEY Late summer and early fall are super times to relax and fish Lake Isabella in the Kern River valley. The days are warm and the lake is calm. Plus the fish are still biting. This recent catch shows off a day’s fishing for the always available Lake Isabella crappie. The other great news is that that great fighting species, the bluegill has returned! After several years of being seemingly nonexistent, fishermen are reporting action in the South Fork trees with good success for this popular fish. Photo courtesy of The Kern River Red’s South Fork Marina Valley, located just east of Bakersfield is full of outdoor adventures for everyone. Contact the local chambers of commerce for a full list of upcoming activities.

www.kernrivervalley.com • 760-379-5236

Corral Creek 760-376-3601

Kitchenettes

PET FRIENDLY

BBQDeck

Call direct to reserve pet rooms

8 miles north of Kernville on the Kern River

www.corralcreeklodge.com

calsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019 California Sportsman

extinction facing the species, in 1987, scientists captured the last 27 remaining condors for a controversial captive breeding program. Today over 500 condors fly free in Arizona, Utah, California and Baja.) In one remote canyon in the hills, a friend and I found a sandstone cave, 20 feet high at the mouth and tapering into darkness, but the dry buzz of a rattlesnake echoing from the shadows sent us packing. The next day we returned with flashlights, a gunnysack and a crude snake stick. Searching to the narrow back of the cave, we saw only tracks and trails in the sand, no snakes or mammals. Halfway in, our lights fell on short, deep, parallel grooves cut into the wall, some over seven feet off the ground. My friend said they looked identical to the scratchings of a bear that he’d seen on a tree in Yosemite. My splayed fingers barely spanned the scrapes. “Too big for a black bear,” my friend said. In the dim light we stared wide-eyed, both thinking, grizzly.

GRIZZLY BEARS HAD BEEN extinct in California since 1924, but we believed we’d found a relic of the past. We’d learned in school that grizzlies were once common, and the state flag predated statehood for the golden bear republic. Early vaqueros, we were told, roped bears for sport and staged fights between bears and bulls. Like elsewhere, the great bear fell to westward expansion, gone the way of the wolf. I still cling to the notion that we found the claw marks of a grizzly in that cave. Grizzlies and wolves seemed to be lost treasures of North America’s marvelous megafauna and gone for good from California. In a stunning turn, in 2011, a radio-collared wolf – designated OR-7, nicknamed “Journey” – wandered into Northern California after an epic 1,000mile trek, the first of its kind since 1924. The Yellowstone wolf recovery project had succeeded beyond any expectations, with the canids spreading across the west. OR-7’s arrival in California was greeted with the mix of delight and loathing that the species provokes everywhere. In 2015, researchers released photos of the Shasta Pack, the first wolf family group in

Q&A WITH AUTHOR

TOM WALKER

alifornia Sportsman editor Chris Cocoles caught up with Wild Shots author and photographer Tom Walker to learn more about his California roots, love of wildlife photography and experiences in Alaska.

Chris Cocoles Congratulations on this latest book. It’s fantastic. Was Wild Shots maybe more sentimental for you than some of your previous work? Tom Walker I would not say sentimental at all. Maybe reflective would be a better term. At this point in my life, my goal was to record what I think were some fairly unique incidents and insights. Previous works have been how-to, biographies and natural histories, with this work in the latter category. CC You’ve been in Alaska for 50 years now. What was your early experience like in the Last Frontier? TW Fifty-four years now. In a word, the experience was invigorating. With so much new and so much of intense interest, I could not soak it all in. Wishing for a few years, I had a must-do list of places to see and experience. The list is longer today. CC I’m pretty envious of you that Denali National Park is almost your backyard. What’s that been like for you? TW Heartbreaking. To love some terrain so much and see it change so much in a negative way, it has been difficult. Climate change is very real and to watch the effects on the wildlife and plants that have evolved over millennia is difficult. Here in the Far North, the concept is not abstract but a real ongoing process that people who look to nature can readily see and experience. CC Tell me about growing up around Los Angeles and how the outdoors shaped your life. TW The outdoors was salvation. I think some people are just cast into places they are not geared for or supposed to be. At heart I was a country boy and living in the city was for me the proverbial square peg. Once I could wander freely into undeveloped spaces, deserts, shores, and mountains, did I find a measure of peace. CC You write about your dad’s love of

22 California Sportsman OCTOBER 2019 | calsportsmanmag.com

“The outdoors was salvation,” Tom Walker says of his early connection to nature while growing up in Los Angeles. “Once I could wander freely into undeveloped spaces, desert, shores, and mountains, did I find a measure of peace.” (TOM WALKER) trout fishing and the trips you took in your California days. Can you share a memory of fishing with your dad? TW Hiking to an alpine lake with my dad, just he and I, to fish for golden trout was a memorable trip complete with a close look at two big mule deer bucks. Fishing a shoreline of a crystalline lake with no one else around was a peerless memory. CC What’s the biggest challenge about photographing wildlife? TW Not drowning, dying of hypothermia, falling off a cliff, or crashing in a small plane. The wildlife, if you have studied your critters, poses the least risk. Alaska – and it’s true of northern Canada as well – is difficult country with challenges of weather and remoteness. CC Do you have a favorite species of animal that you’ve really savored interacting with and taking photos of? TW Dall sheep. I love the high mountains where they live, the vista they savor every day, and their ability to thrive in such inhospitable (to humans) terrain. Imagine living where the wind shrieks, the thermometer drops to minus 60 or more, and the night can be 24 hours long in winter. They are tough but gorgeous creatures.

MAXXUM MARINE

Built for Adventure!

Thunder Jet, Boulton, Fish-Rite

With our factory-trained technicians for Yamaha, Suzuki, Mercury, Tohatsu and Honda motors, we can handle any project from electronic installs to complete boat and motor overhauls. Need a new motor for your current boat? Best prices around on Repowers!

MAXXUM MARINE

1700 Hwy 99 N, Eugene, OR

NEW LARGER LOCATION!

Toll Free 877-4-Maxxum (877-462-9986) Local 541-686-3572

CC What has been your fishing experience like since moving to Alaska? TW Mostly salmon in both saltwater and fresh. Silver salmon and red salmon offer great freshwater fishing. The best sportfishing has been for sheefish, the so-called “tarpon of the north,” which are great fighters and wonderful eating. It may be my weird thinking, but I never fish for king salmon. I worked on a rehab project for this species and don’t want to kill one. CC You have a chapter about polarizing grizzly bear personality Timothy Treadwell and the relationship you had with him. Can you sum up what his legacy will be? TW He did more harm than good. He had a true gift in reaching out to children and giving a conservation lesson. But in the end, when he died it was all undone. CC Obviously, hunting is such a huge part of the fabric of Alaskans. What’s your take on hunting in the state and how it can be better or more effective in terms of conservation? TW All I will say on this topic is Alaskan

wildlife resources are finite and there will never be enough to meet the demand. Overharvest has been a problem in the past and as the population grows, careful management will be needed to guard against future depletions. CC In terms of climate change, California suffered through an extended drought and though the state did see a huge improvement of rainfall in the last couple years, so many wildfires and mudslides have affected communities seemingly everywhere in the state. What will it take to convince more skeptics that climate change is a legitimate concern? TW Can’t really answer that, except to say the issue is so political that some people will never see the light until Des Moines is a coastal city. CC Salmon in both Alaska and California are under siege for various reasons. Do you have a hunch on what might happen to these remarkable fish in the future? TW Again, beyond my expertise. (But) here (in Alaska) we have a proposed Pebble Mine that will threaten the

24 California Sportsman OCTOBER 2019 | calsportsmanmag.com

greatest wild salmon runs in the world. Imaging risking a pristine food source that feeds thousands, if not tens of thousands of people, for copper. Crazy. CC You’ve seen a lot in the wilderness in your time exploring. Is there something you haven’t seen that you hope to accomplish someday? TW Anything to do with wolverines. I have seen about a dozen but would like a closer, longer observation. It’s perhaps our least understood critter. CS You also touched on the extinction of grizzly bears in California and also about the wolves that have found their way into Northern California. As a conservationist, is it kind of bittersweet and ironic now that the grizzly bear is literally a symbol for California but nowhere to be found? TW Very much so. Perhaps it is pie in the sky to believe a potentially dangerous animal can coexist in an area so densely populated, but education is the key along with a forbearance by the public. Bears have proven to be way more tolerant of people than vice versa. CS

ALASKAN FISHING AT ITS FINEST! At Big Sky we take pride in being a full-service fishing and lodging operation, with a family atmosphere and a special, personal touch.

Visit our website for more information and book your reservation today. 877-536-2425 907-398-1360

K E N A I G U I D E.CO M FOR CALLS IN ALASKA

calsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019 California Sportsman

California in a century. No one believed me when I described the things I saw in my wanderings. My interest in photography was born of a need for evidence – as proof of the bucks I stalked, the snakes we caught, and the raccoons that peered down at us from live oaks. Whenever I got the usual “Right. Sure thing, kid,” I’d pull out a stack of prints and point. It would be years before I could afford a good camera, but even those grainy snapshots were invaluable treasures.

FROM MY SCIENCE TEACHERS and my own

“Unable to blend in with others my age ... I sought escape in wandering along the coast and among the chaparral hillsides,” Walker writes. “Studying the journals of Lewis and Clark, I became convinced I had been born in the wrong century.” (TOM WALKER)

26 California Sportsman OCTOBER 2019 | calsportsmanmag.com

readings, I had formed a clear image of early California. Two hundred years ago Southern California was a compelling natural landscape, home to wildlife as diverse as elephant seals and grizzly bears. You could look one way at snowcapped peaks, look the opposite way and see surf pounding rocky coastlines, where the warm desert winds were cooled by sea breezes. With a temperate, almost Mediterranean climate, the soil, when

Raise and lower your topper with a push of a button! Topper EZ Lift allows you to get large loads in your pickup without removing your topper and also turns your truck into a pop-up camper! www.TopperEZLift.com (651) 207-5634 Mendota, MN

irrigated, would grow just about anything – cotton to cantaloupes. As I was growing up in the 1950s and early ’60s, the building boom that had begun in the 1920s was roaring full tilt. Bulldozers turned chaparral-covered hillsides into terraces for tract homes, developing a sprawling metropolis of

concrete, steel, and asphalt spiderwebbed with new freeways. In the era before the federal mandates of the Clean Air Act of 1970, smog often rendered the summer air unfit to breathe. The ugly brown haze seared our eyes and lungs. With the temperature frequently above 90 degrees, summer conditions

were usually intolerable, the only escape the beach or the distant Sierra. The frequency of bulldozers knocking over live oaks and manzanita, scraping the land flat and bare, disgusted me. There seemed to be no hope for the natural landscape that I had fallen in love with. On my last visit to LA, in the wake of my mother’s death, in need of solitude and an escape from grief, I drove into the hills to my most treasured sanctuary, a perennial stream we called Stunt Creek. Fearful of what I’d find, I almost didn’t go. In high school I’d spent hours on the creek looking for owls and quail, lizards, king snakes, and salamanders, the summer heat cooled and freshened by the dense vegetation. Turning onto Cold Creek Road, my heart fell, my worst nightmare confirmed. Terraces of California ranch-style houses, with typical red-tile roofs, crept up the hillside – the chaparral, sumac, chamise, and scrub oaks bulldozed away. I slowed almost to a crawl as I rounded the last bends to where the creek crossed the narrow road. Negotiating the last curve, I was confounded – the slopes on both sides of the drainage were untouched, dense chaparral and live oaks choking the lower riparian zone. I parked in a pullout opposite a padlocked chain-link fence that spanned the canyon mouth. The sign on the gate, across our old foot trail, read: NO TRESPASSING MANAGED BY THE SANTA MONICA MOUNTAINS CONSERVANCY. THIS PROPERTY PROTECTS THE COLD CREEK WATERSHED, PERHAPS THE BEST PRESERVED AND MOST BIOLOGICALLY DIVERSE WATERSHED AREA WITHIN THE SANTA MONICA MOUNTAINS. Out of relief that this treasure had been spared, on top of my grief from my mother’s death, I cried. CS

He’s seen and snapped photos of many bears during his time in Alaska, but Walker rues the reality that grizzly bears all but extinct in his home state of California. “Perhaps it is pie in the sky to believe a potentially dangerous animal can coexist in an area so densely populated,” he says. “But education is the key along with a forbearance by the public.” (TOM WALKER) 28 California Sportsman OCTOBER 2019 | calsportsmanmag.com

Editor’s note: For more on Tom Walker’s book Wild Shots: A Photographer’s Life in Alaska and how to order a copy, go to mountaineers.org/books/books/wild-shotsa-photographers-life-in-alaska. The book is also available on several retail online outlets, including Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Ever fished the Owens River? Might just be time to...

www.theothersideofcalifornia.com BIG PINE, BISHOP, DEATH VALLEY, INDEPENDENCE & LONE PINE

Family Owned & Operated In Sparks, NV Since 1948 • Over 70 Years Combined Experience In Outboard Repair & Maintenance • Rated #1 In Customer Service For All Fishing Boat Needs In Reno/Sparks

191 E. Glendale Ave. • Sparks, NV • 775-358-5431 • SierraSportMarine.com 30 California Sportsman OCTOBER 2019 | calsportsmanmag.com

PROTECTING

WILD CALIFORNIA

PAIUTE CUTTHROAT TROUT REINTRODUCED TO NATIVE SIERRA WATERS

In a historic ceremony in September, Paiute cutthroat, considered North America’s rarest trout species, were returned to native range in Silver King Creek in remote Alpine County. A collaboration of federal and state agencies and conservation groups teamed to make the release happen. (CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE)

century after their extirpation there, the most rare strain of North American trout is swimming again in a Sierra Nevada stream. On Sept. 18, 30 Paiute cutthroat were released into Silver King Creek in Alpine County south of Lake Tahoe, the culmination of a long research collaboration among the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Forest Service and conservation groups such as the Golden Gate chapter of Trout Unlimited. “You’ve got to celebrate good times. That’s what we’re doing here today,” CDFW director Charlton Bonham said in a press release. “If you forget to celebrate, you’re overlooking a remarkable success story – bringing these fish back

Biologists use electrofishing gear to collect trout from Coyote Valley Creek. Its relative isolation meant invasive fish hadn’t affected the Paiute population’s genes. (CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE)

calsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019 California Sportsman

PROTECTING

WILD CALIFORNIA

The trout were transported by mules from the tributary to Silver King Creek, located in HumboldtToiyabe National Forest’s Carson-Iceberg Wilderness. (CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE)

home and celebrating a better California.” Paiute cutthroat trout have a limited range in high-elevation Sierra waters. By the turn of the 20th century, the fish were all but gone from the small stretch of water on remote 11-mile-long Silver King Creek (and its tributaries) due to habitat degradation by grazing cattle and sheep. “Efforts to save and restore the species have spanned several decades and involved removing non-native fish and restocking Paiute cutthroat trout from source populations,” CDFW’s press release stated. “Recreational fishing was closed within the Silver King Creek drainage in 1934. Later, grazing allotments were administratively closed so habitat could be restored.” The species was one of the first to fall into the endangered category when it was listed in 1967 shortly after the establishment of the Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966.

“The fish were deposited into buckets filled with water from Silver King Creek to acclimate for several minutes before being released among cheers and applause – and a few tears – by biologists and others, some of whom have spent decades working toward the historic homecoming,” CDFW reported in its press release. (CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE)

32 California Sportsman OCTOBER 2019 | calsportsmanmag.com

PORT SAN LUIS BOATYARD

The Salmon & Steelhead spinners & spoons that Fishermen can rely on every time for high quality and dependability. You can find these incredible American made lures at these fine sporting goods stores, Sportsman’s Warehouse, Englund Marine and Sportco, or at mcomiescustomlures.com

mcomiescustomlures.com | 971-271-3860

One of the last true do-it-yourself boatyards. We provide our customers with a one stop boatyard that can answer all your boating questions, and provide you with the highest quality in Marine Supplies & Service.

Weekend Launch Hours: 5:30am–4pm Monday–Friday Launch Hours: 6am–4pm Hours of operation during ﬁshing season

805-595-7895

PORT SAN LUIS SPORTLAUNCH

calsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019 California Sportsman

In 1975 the Paiute cutthroat strain became downlisted to threatened, opening the door for the state of California to intervene in a project that would take decades to come to fruition. “The effort to reintroduce Paiute cutthroat trout back into their historic home – the 11-mile main reach of Silver King Creek – began in 1994 when CDFW biologists explored Silver King Canyon and identified a series of waterfalls that served as historic barriers to upstream fish migration, isolating the Paiute cutthroat trout,” CDFW reported. “The barriers could once again insulate Paiute cutthroat trout from encroachment from non-native trout if the non-native trout in Silver King Creek could be removed.” In 2011, CDFW announced that its “Paiute Cutthroat Trout Restoration Project” would be delayed. Two years later another press release indicated the project would begin late that summer. “Silver King Creek and its tributaries were chemically treated from 2013

34 California Sportsman OCTOBER 2019 | calsportsmanmag.com

to 2015,” CDFW stated. “State and federal partners monitored the creek for three years following the treatment to make sure all non-native fish were removed. Wildfires, floods and drought over the decades further complicated recovery efforts.” But it all came together late last month. The Paiute trout were captured in a protected tributary, Coyote Valley Creek, and transported by a mule pack train to Silver King Creek for release, the first time the species has occurred there in more than a century. The fish will be monitored in the coming years in the hopes this rare trout species thrives in its natural habitat and can someday be delisted. “This is a lifetime achievement for those working to recover the rarest trout in North America,” Lee Ann Carranza, acting field supervisor for the USFWS Reno office, told CDFW. “This remarkable partnership has allowed Paiute cutthroat trout to be returned to their entire native range without threat from non-natives.” CS

Custom Boat Trailers Reliable Quality Service & Craftsmanship For Over 50 Years!

• NMMA Certiﬁed • All Steel Weld Frame, Fenders & Bunks • 2 YEAR WARRANTY

343 Thain Rd., Lewiston, Idaho • www.gateway-materials.com • 208-743-0720

36 California Sportsman OCTOBER 2019 | calsportsmanmag.com

OUTDOOR CALENDAR

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s time for waterfowl hunting in California. Several seasons get going in October, including for geese in various zones. (LORI DIETER/CDFW)

OCTOBER

5 Northeastern Zone waterfowl season opens 5 Deer season opens in most X Zones 5-6 Early-season quail hunt in Mojave National Preserve for hunters with junior hunting licenses 5-6 Big Bear Lake Troutfest; bigbear.com 12 Deer season openers in Zones D-11, -13, -14, -15 and -17 12 Archery-only pheasant season opens 12 NorCal Trout Challenge, Pardee Lake; anglerspress.com 18 Colorado River Zone duck and goose seasons open 19 San Joaquin Valley and Southern California Zones duck and goose seasons open 19 Balance of State Zone duck season opens 19 General chukar season opens 19 Snipe season opens 19 Zones 1 and 3 all-quail hunting seasons open 19 Deer season opens in Zone X9-C 26-28 Morrisonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bonus Derby Weekend, Convict Lake; convictlake.com

NOVEMBER

2 Colorado River Zone scaup season opens 2-3 NorCal Trout Challenge Tournament of Champions, Collins Lake; anglerspress.com 7 San Joaquin Valley, Southern California and Balance of State Zones scaup hunting season opens 9 Statewide pheasant hunting season opens 9 Fall wild turkey hunting season opens 9 Late dove hunting season opens 13 Northeastern California antlerless elk season opens 21 Fort Hunter Liggett muzzleloader bull elk season opens 23 Fort Hunter Liggett archery-only antlerless elk season opens Note: For a complete list of bass fishing tournaments, go to dfg.ca.gov/ FishingContests/default.aspx. For more details on hunting zones and regulations, check out wildlife.ca.gov/Hunting. calsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019 California Sportsman

38 California Sportsman OCTOBER 2019 | calsportsmanmag.com

I recently took a trip to Japan to call the action at the ISA World Surfing Games. This was the view from my hotel room in Miyazaki, on the eastern coast of the southern island of Kyushu. (TODD KLINE)

On my flight, the summit of Mount Fuji poked out of the clouds. (TODD KLINE)

e’re not ashamed to admit it: Todd Kline has the kind of life we wish we could experience. Kline’s a former professional surfer, a successful co-angler on the FLW Tour and a Southern California bass guide, plus he gets to travel the world as a commentator for the World Surf League’s telecasts. Todd has agreed to give us a peek on what he’s up to each month. For more on Todd or to book a guided fishing trip with him, check out toddklinefishing.com, and you can follow him on Instagram at @toddokrine. –The Editor

Sofia Mulanovich of Peru was the women’s gold medalist and has provisionally secured a spot in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. (TODD KLINE)

Japan has so many beautiful temples to visit. (TODD KLINE)

s e r u t n e v d A

Sunrise in Japan is a sight to behold. (TODD KLINE) calsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019 California Sportsman

Whether I’m in Japan to call a contest or back home competing on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the sunrises are usually always beautiful. (TODD KLINE)

I was on the Delta to participate in an FLW event. This girl fell for a Yamamoto Senko. (TODD KLINE)

Here we are prior to launching. (FLW)

Showing off a good Delta keeper. (FLW)

Back in Japan, even though I was there for surfing, I couldn’t help but check out the fishing boats in Miyazaki’s harbor. (TODD KLINE) 40 California Sportsman OCTOBER 2019 | calsportsmanmag.com

LIGHTWEIGHT. LIGHTWEIGHT. The lightest 200-hp four stroke The lightest 200-hp four stroke on the market on the market

POWERFUL. POWERFUL.

2.8L displacement and Variable Camshaft 2.8Lgive displacement Variable Camshaft Timing it the best and power-to-weight ratio Timing give it the best power-to-weight ratio of any 200-hp four stroke of any 200-hp four stroke

COMPACT. COMPACT.

Nearly 120 pounds lighter than our Nearly 120 pounds lighter than our four-stroke V6 F200 four-stroke V6 F200

THE THE ALL-NEW ALL-NEW F200 F200 IN-LINE IN-LINE FOUR. FOUR.

FORWARD FORWARD THINKING. THINKING.

Show the water who’s boss with the new F200 In-Line Four. Incredibly light, responsive and fuel efficient, Show the water who’s boss with the new F200 In-Line Four. Incredibly light, responsive and fuel efficient, it serves up plenty of muscle to handily propel a variety of boats. On top of that, its 50-amp alternator offers it serves up plenty of muscle to handily propel a variety of boats. On top of that, its 50-amp alternator offers the power to add a range of electronics, and its 26-inch mounting centers and compatibility with either the power to add a range of electronics, and its 26-inch mounting centers and compatibility with either mechanical or digital controls give you the flexibility to easily upgrade your outboard or rigging. Experience mechanical or digital controls give you the flexibility to easily upgrade your outboard or rigging. Experience legendary Yamaha reliability and the freedom of forward thinking, with the all-new F200 In-Line Four. legendary Yamaha reliability and the freedom of forward thinking, with the all-new F200 In-Line Four.

CALIFORNIA AVILA BEACH Port San Luis Boatyard (805) 595-7895 www.portsanluisboatyard.com

NEVADA

VENTURA Pacific Marine Repair (805) 658-1709 www.pacificmarinerepair.com

COSTA MESA Maurer Marine (949) 645-7673 www.maurermarine.com

SPARKS Sierra Sport & Marine, Inc. (775) 358-5431 www.sierrasportmarine.com

OREGON EUGENE Maxxum Marine (541) 686-3572 www.maxxummarine.com

YamahaOutboards.com/F200InLine YamahaOutboards.com/F200InLine

Follow Yamaha on Facebook® and Twitter™ Follow Yamaha on Facebook® and Twitter™ REMEMBER to always observe all applicable boating laws. Never drink and drive. Dress properly with a USCG-approved personal REMEMBER to always observe all applicable boating laws. Never drink and drive. Dress properly with a USCG-approved personal

calsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019 California Sportsman

42 California Sportsman OCTOBER 2019 | calsportsmanmag.com

PHOTO

CONTEST

WINNERS!

Nic Belisle is the winner of our monthly YoZuri Photo Contest, thanks to this great shot of son Nate and his North Idaho catch. It wins him gear from the company that makes some of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best fishing lures and lines!

Brandon Jewett wins our monthly Hunting Photo Contest, thanks to this pic of he and his eastern Washington bow black bear, taken this past summer. It wins him a knife!

For your shot at winning hunting and fishing products, send your photos and pertinent (who, what, when, where) details to ccocoles@media-inc.com or California Sportsman, PO Box 24365, Seattle, WA 98124-0365. By sending us photos, you affirm you have the right to distribute them for our print or Internet publications. calsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019 California Sportsman

44 California Sportsman OCTOBER 2019 | calsportsmanmag.com

Holiday Gift Guide Izorline Don’t forget the most important thing between you and catching the fish – super-strong premium Izorline! www.izorline.com

Silver Horde Tie on the Original Herring Aide Lures. Silver Horde’s Gold Star Coho Killer and Kingfisher spoons are super-hot lures that don’t disappoint. Troll them alone or behind your favorite flasher and these spoons will produce a realistic panicked baitfish action. Both Ultra-Violet and Double Glow finishes create superior visibility for fishing at all depths. www.silverhorde.com

Scan Marine

Eat Me L ures Proudly made in the USA, Eat Me Lures’ swimbaits are designed to bridge the gap between artificial and live bait, giving you a better option while fishing offshore, inshore or lakes. All of their swimbaits are hand-poured or hand-injected using the finest quality plastic available to create a bait that will hold up to multiple fish strikes when the bite is on. These incredibly effective swimbaits are irresistible to predatory game fish and, when used correctly, a top-secret weapon for tuna, dorado, bass, halibut, redfish, bottom fish and more. www.eatmelures.com

The new Wallas Viking Air 3kW forced-air diesel heater is now available at Scan Marine. The Viking Air provides state-of-the-art Bluetooth and WiFi-controlled heating for modern and older boats alike. With up to 105CFM of air volume, quiet operation and super-efficient fuel burn, the Viking Air will maximize your boating season! www.scanmarineusa.com

Caples L ake R esort

Come join the Voss family and enjoy everything the Sierra Nevada has to offer at Caples Lake Resort. Scenic vistas, spectacular hikes, numerous lakes and fantastic fishing are just a few steps out their front door. Gift certificates and lodging deals available. Give Caples Lake Resort a call at (209) 258-8888. www.capleslakeresort.com

Boat Insurance Agency The Boat Insurance Agency is an independent agency representing the best marine insurance companies. They carefully compare a number of policies to find the lowest premiums and best values for your boat insurance needs. Boat Insurance Agency is owned and operated by Northwest boaters. They have the local knowledge needed to understand boating in the West, along with your special needs. Contact them for an insurance quote and to learn more about the value and service they can offer. www.boatinsurance.net

Nomar

R eliable F ishing Product s Reliable Fishing Products was established in 2003 and makes the best kill bags in the industry. They offer 10 bag sizes, ranging from 18x36 inches to 42x90 inches, as well as two kayak bags and three billfish/tournament blankets. They are all made with Â˝-inch closed-cell foam, YKK zippers, and UV-resistant vinyl. www.reliablefishing.com

Nomarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s soft-side, waterproof, floatable gun scabbard is a favorite with Alaskan bush pilots. They do not want bulky, hard gun cases in those little planes. It also ranks high for carrying that gun in a skiff or on the back of a horse. Made in Alaska to stand up to tough conditions. Standard gun scabbard holds a scoped rifle; shotgun-style is also available. www.nomaralaska.com

Custom Metal Product s

C ylinder Stoves Enjoy all-night wood heat, a flat cooking surface, hot water for a shower and even an oven for baking with a Cylinder Stove. Built in the mountains of central Utah, Cylinder Stoves are crafted by hunting and camping folk who know what is expected of a good camp stove. www.cylinderstoves.com

Custom Metal Products has you covered for high-performance AR500 steel targets, sized just right for .22-caliber fun. CMP Steel Targets are reactive moving targets to keep the shooting challenging for beginner or expert. Get the classic .22 Dueling Tree, the .22 Tactical Torso, or the .22 Texas Star, available now! www.custommetalprod.com

calsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019 California Sportsman

K irkpatrick L eat her With the Rifle Shell Holder from Kirkpatrick Leather, rifle shotshell reloads will be close at hand for your next hunting trip. Constructed of premium 8-ounce saddle leather, the rifle shell holder is offered for a wide array of rifles. Choose from plain with laser-engraved name for $105 or plain with laser-engraved logo for $115. www.kirkpatrickleather.com

Seal 1 The Seal 1 Complete Tactical Gun Care Kit includes: • 4-ounce container of their multipurpose CLP Plus Gun Care Paste; • 4-ounce container of their multipurpose CLP Plus Gun Care Liquid; • Seal 1 CLP Plus Pre-Saturated EZ-Cloth; • 12-inch by 12-inch square microfiber cloth; • Double-ended nylon utility brush; • and two 6-inch hardwood cotton swabs. www.seal1.net

PrOlix PrOlix will get a new look for the holidays and a new easy-tohandle 16-ounce size with their three-way adjustable nozzle Pro Trigger Sprayer! PrOlix made no changes to their great formula, even with their gun-oil and grease replacer, Xtra-T Lube. www.prolixlubricant.com

Bill Saunders Calls The latest addition to the Bill Saunders Calls lineup is the Big Spin Goose Call. After taking input from many of the nation’s top guides and callers on their staff, Bill Saunders Calls developed a call that will fill the needs of callers of any skill level and style of calling. Originally designed for creating a wall of sound for calling big wads of lessers, the folks at Bill Saunders Calls quickly realized the Big Spin had incredible range of tone, pitch and volume that would make it a killer big honker call as well. With a shorter mouthpiece for increased speed, larger back bore exhaust for maximum volume, red gut with comp-style reed combination that produces a wide range of tone/ pitch, flared lip roll for air tight seal, and their new “guide grip” technology on the insert, the Big Spin isn’t just another call in the lineup – it is a unique addition to a legendary brand. www.billsaunderscalls.com

Exquisite K nives Exquisiteknives.com grew out of ABS Mastersmith Dave Ellis’s love of all things edged. Dave is personally involved in most aspects of the custom knife industry and has established relationships with top makers, dealers and collectors worldwide. Knife pictured is from the three-brother team from Argentina, CAS. Exquisiteknives.com for the finest in custom knives. www.exquisiteknives.com

calsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019 California Sportsman

50 California Sportsman OCTOBER 2019 | calsportsmanmag.com

FISHING

READING LESSONS HOW TO SPOT KEYS IN THE WATER TO IMPROVE YOUR FISHING SUCCESS

Whether it’s on a lake, river or small pond, the more information you can compile from the water you’re fishing, the better odds you’ll have of catching something. (JEFF WALTERS)

By Jeff Walters

ost anglers struggle with the long-lost art “reading the water.” It is more than just looking for that place you think big fish will be hiding. It is an art that normally takes decades of dedicated time on the water to understand and figure out. Without the proper understanding of what to look for and what to use, you will not enjoy success very often. Let’s get started by discussing how the water looks.

THE WATER TELLS A STORY Regardless of whether it is moving water, a lake or a pond, you need to know what to look for. If a pond

is rather shallow, dark and murky, this suggests that it is mostly a mud bottom that gets churned up by the wind. If this is this case, you will not have much bottom vegetation, because most plants need cleaner water. However, you will have a sandy, muddy bottom that holds dinner for most of the fish found here. The type of insects, aquatic life and other smaller baitfish thrive in this environment, making the fish “dig” or “smell” for their meal. A smelly bait fished off the bottom is your best bet along, with topwater lures that make a lot of noise. A somewhat murky water that is only cloudy closer to shore but cleans up a bit further out is due to wind,

waves and/or boats causing waves to lap against the shoreline. This action causes erosion of the bank, making it an ideal place for bigger fish to ambush any critters that happen to fall in the water. Plastic worms rigged drop-shot or wacky-rigged, spinner baits and creature baits work well here.

CLEARLY SPEAKING Super-clear water means that you have the advantage and can see the hiding spots, obstacles and rock piles. Polarized sunglasses work the best here. But guess what? If you can see the fish, chances are they can see you too. So the best approach is to observe where you want to cast to, back up

calsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019 California Sportsman

FISHING

Rock piles like this one at Lake Santa Margarita can provide a resting-place for birds above the surface and big fish below it. (JEFF WALTERS)

some distance and try a different angle of approach. Also, look for depth changes, rock piles and moss covering the rocks. The deeper the water, the harder it is for the sunlight to penetrate, so the moss will grow mainly in shallow areas – about 10 feet deep at the most. These moss-covered rocks act like a freshwater coral reef of sorts, allowing microorganisms to thrive, which

brings in smaller baitfish that in turn attract larger fish. Drop-shot worms, creature baits, shallow diving plugs and jigheads all work very well in this type of water. With deeper water you get cooler temperatures but also no hiding spots for baitfish. Fish that school up – stripers, white bass, wipers (a hybrid of the first two species), lake trout

52 California Sportsman OCTOBER 2019 | calsportsmanmag.com

and largemouth bass – gather in large groups to chase the schools of baitfish across the lake. Baitfish are a big moving entity that the larger predators follow and attack at will. Trolling is the best option here and learning how to troll, what to use and the proper devices that work is an art form all to its own, but this could not be left out this article. Fishing the larger, deeper portions of some bigger lakes and reservoirs can provide good results. You can tell by just looking at some of the equipment being used like downriggers, leadcore line, long leaders, umbrella rigs and flashy lures all designed to get the larger fish in the boat.

READING WITHOUT ELECTRONICS But how do you know where to go if not using any electronics or other devices? By reading the shoreline, and if you have access to a

HULI CAT SPORT FISHING & CHARTER BOAT

650-726-2926

Salmon Dungeness Rockfish

WWW.HULICAT.COM

closes October 31st opens November 2nd closes December 31st

Rockfish and Crabbing Combos will be available Novemberâ&#x20AC;&#x201C; December!

CUT OUT THIS AD FOR A FREE ROD RENTAL! (MUST BE CUT OUT FROM MAGAZINE ONLY)

FISHING

If a pond is rather shallow, dark and murky, this suggests that it has mostly a mud bottom that gets churned up by the wind. (JEFF WALTERS)

topographic map, use that as well. By looking at the shoreline you can see the points, jetties, hills and submerged valleys that form the bottom of the reservoir. This will give you an idea of where those points are and how to fish around them. Look for surface water thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s less disrupted, which provides clues to depth.

The lower Kern River contains riffles caused by water moving over boulders and which also provide hiding places for larger fish. (JEFF WALTERS)

WAVE RUNNING Now that brings us to waves that are disrupted. Most of the time choppy water on larger reservoirs is caused by two factors: wind and boat activity. The prevailing daily wind sweeps across the large open stretches of water, bringing with it a host of food items blown into the lake.

54 California Sportsman OCTOBER 2019 | calsportsmanmag.com

Like clockwork, as the wind blows it makes everything in its path succumb to it. This causes the surface water to be moved in one direction day after day, year after year, forming a current of sorts that reaches down to a surprising depth. The creatures, fish, birds, plant life and all living things become accustomed to this prevailing wind and

CALIFORNIA AVILA BEACH Port San Luis Boatyard 3915 Avila Beach Dr. (805) 595-7895 www.portsanluisboatyard.com

OREGON EUGENE Maxxum Marine 1700 State Hwy. 99 N. (541) 686-3572 www.maxxummarine.com

calsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019 California Sportsman

FISHING learn to use it to their advantage. When the afternoon wind blows, the gusts push the lighter, smaller baitfish as well, offering you a chance to troll or cast to the surface action as the baitfish are being consumed by the larger fish. Underspins, shallow-diving plugs and topwater spinnerbaits all work well when casting to these “boils,” as they are commonly called. This is because it looks like the water is boiling. Baitfish get pushed up against quarry walls, larger points, docks, rock piles and more, giving you a chance to cast into some serious feeding action. When the winds blow from the east, we get a condition known as the Santa Ana winds. When this happens, the entire lake shuts down because it is drastically different than the normal, more calm daily prevailing gusts. The Santa Ana winds bring huge gusts that cause larger than normal waves that disrupt the normal current, which sends the fish into deeper water to avoid the stress. It’s not a good time to be out on the water, yet

this can be an advantage if you target the calmer bays and lagoons.

COLD SPELL Most of the moving water found in California is mountain-fed snowmelt, which is cold, clear and swift. Cold water provides a great trout fishery, but at lower elevations come warmer temperatures and warmwater species. Knowing what to look for in moving water is easier than it seems. Just think like a fish. Fish don’t want to waste energy, so they stay out of the moving current as much as possible, except to chase prey. Look for a nice hiding spot out of the current and you will find fish. Cast upstream to let your offering pass by in front or across the stream on a steady retrieve. If using a topwater lure, you need to make some noise. If using a jig, let the current work it for you. If using flies, you need to imitate nature. Live bait works well too if it’s allowed in that area. Keep an eye out for sticks in the current, which will tell you if a larger

Prevailing wind daily sweeps across large open spaces of water, bringing with it a host of food items blown into the water that fish love. (JEFF WALTERS) 56 California Sportsman OCTOBER 2019 | calsportsmanmag.com

branch is caught in the rocks and to stay away from the area because you will get snagged. Larger rocks cause the water to divide and go around them. This is a great place for a fish to hide out of the current. Rock piles are formed by seasonal floods and provide shelter when flows drop. It’s a great place to try a jig. Plunge pools are formed by large boulders that nature has not moved yet. The water plunges down over these, causing a deep pocket of churning water underneath. It’s a great place to cast jigs. You can also let the current take your offering in a more natural movement. One point to remember is that fish living in moving water don’t have much of a second chance or the ability to smell the prey. They act quickly and strike hard, so be prepared for quick hits and short takes. The next time you are out on the water, look for some of these telltale signs for how to read it. Observe the patterns and you will see an increase in your fishing success. CS

DESIGNED OTALLY RE SEE THE T DE G2â&#x20AC;&#x2122;S AT THESE EVINRU EALERS PREMIER D

NEVADA DEALER SPARKS Sierra Sport and Marine (775) 358-5431 www.sierraspor tmarine.com

calsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019 California Sportsman

58 California Sportsman OCTOBER 2019 | calsportsmanmag.com

FISHING Topwater fishing for calico bass is a staple of fall for anglers off the Southland coast. (BILL SCHAEFER)

CUT THROUGH THE KELP TIPS FOR TOPWATER CALICO BASS FISHING

By Capt. Bill Schaefer

TOPWATER FISHING FOR CALICOS can be

as exciting as any other fish taken on a topwater bait. Run it weedless and rip it across the surface of the kelp stringers. The wolfpacks will chase it down and the explosion and battle to get the bass out of the kelp is so exciting. Sometimes I just can’t put my topwater bait rod down. Let’s look at some basics to start you off in the right direction. Ocean current makes a difference, but remember that tidal movement doesn’t always mean a good ocean current. The classic current is down and in and is considered the best by many calico anglers. It means kelp stringers are laying south with their tips pointing to the beach. The current running into the kelp will often drag bait to the bass lurking

all fishing for calico bass off Southern California can be a ton of fun for anglers, as fish are schooled up and chasing bait all around the kelp beds. Glassy mornings can show explosions everywhere. Normally there are a lot of sardines and anchovies in the waters this time of year, and if the schools of baitfish venture too close to the kelp – whether it is visible or under the surface – the bass will attack and corral them for easy feeding. This is the time of year when you reel in a bass as 10 others try to steal the bait as you bring your fish to the boat. You’ll find my clients and I somewhere close to the kelp, if not right in the middle of it.

in the stringers. Keep in mind that other currents will work, so don’t be discouraged if it’s not a classic scenario when you go out. In fact, many times it won’t be, since sometimes you’ll find the right current 50 yards down the beach and the fish biting. Watch the current by the kelp stringers, but also keep an eye on those that are waving around underwater. They are being carried by the current, whereas the wind could be moving the stringers on the surface. Also watch for bait in the kelp. Many times forage fish are only on the outer edge of the kelp, thus so are the bass. Sometimes the bass are on the inside edge of the kelp. Just be careful if this puts you in a surf zone. Once you find bass, chop your drift down to only the productive waters.

calsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019 California Sportsman

FISHING

Baits with good movement and/ or vibration will help trigger a strike. (BILL SCHAEFER)

Make sure you are alert; watch for swirls or breaking fish and birds diving for bait. If the boiling bass do come up within casting distance, I like to cast a few feet beyond them and bring my bait into the boils. If you can tell the bass are pushing the bait a certain direction, lead them a bit with your cast and cross their path.

FOR TACKLE, YOU WILL need a 7- to 8-foot trigger stick. For many years I used a Team Daiwa freshwater flipping stick, but now I use the Daiwa DXSB Swimbait rod. A round or low-profile reel, like my Daiwa Lexa series, loaded with mono or braid will do the trick. Have one or both set up. With mono I run Maxima Ultragreen in 15-pound test; with braid it’s Daiwa or Maxima in the 50- to

60-pound range. The advantage of mono is you may hook up more. I have seen many a client pull the bait out of a calico’s mouth because of the lack of stretch with braid. Monofilament will give the bass a bit more time to turn with your bait and eat it solidly. But the advantage of braid is that when you hook that fish of a lifetime, it will saw through the kelp and aid in your landing it. For baits, the list is endless, although I tend to use darker colors like brown. I do this so that the fish can see the silhouette of the bait as it passes over them. I also tend to fish lures with a tail that has some good kick. The bass first feel vibrations with their lateral lines, followed by spotting their prey with their eyes. Choices include Big

60 California Sportsman OCTOBER 2019 | calsportsmanmag.com

Author Bill Schaefer hoists a nice calico. “This is the time of year when you will catch a bass and 10 others are trying to steal the bait as you bring your fish to the boat,” he writes. (BILL SCHAEFER)

Hammer, LK Lures, MC Swimbaits, Big Pancho, Yamamoto, and Western Plastics, as well as many other lures in all shapes and sizes. Your weight should be kept down and go weedless, of course. Flipping-type jigheads like Yamamotos or Warbaits will do the trick for standard swimbaits. Mustad’s weighted swimbait hooks will do well as a weedless lure. The conditions I mentioned are the optimum ones. Nothing should stop you from heading out for a relaxing day of calico fishing – neither tidal movement, the wrong current, nor heavy wind. I’ve experienced them all but still caught a few fish, and you will too. All it will take is a few giant explosions to make the whole day worthwhile. CS

Destination Honda

For destinations found on a map, or ones that are simply a state of mind, trust a reliable Honda outboard to get you there. And back. Find out more at marine.honda.com or visit your Authorized Honda Marine Dealer.

OXNARD Specialty Marine (805) 984-6538 www.specialty-marine.com

ÂŠ 2017 American Honda Motor Co., Inc. Always wear a personal flotation device while boating and read your ownerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s manual. All Honda outboards meet EPA and CARB emission levels.

calsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019 California Sportsman

HUNTING

FROM FIELD...

MANAGING BIG GAME MEAT THE BEST WAYS TO BREAK DOWN A HARVESTED ANIMAL

By Scott Haugen

e hunt big game for the quality food it provides. That said, the most important element of the hunt is getting your big game animal out of the field quickly, plus cleaning up the meat and cooling it down as soon as possible. With more than 40 years of big game hunting experience behind me, there are times every season when I won’t pull the trigger on an animal. That’s because I know it’s going to be nearly impossible to reach – and even harder to get out of the field – in a timely fashion. When you’re in the field, know what you’re getting into before the hunt in order to be prepared for getting game out.

Being prepared to break down your big game immediately after the shot is the best way to ensure quality-tasting meat. Here, author Scott Haugen, works on an elk taken in Idaho’s backcountry. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

BREAK IT DOWN

Once an animal is down, disarticulating it is easy. As long as you know where the connective tissues are, along with key ligaments, tendons and joints, any animal can be broken down with a simple knife. An elk or even a massive black bear can be broken down with ease using a 2-inch knife. A 4-inch fixed blade is my favorite hunting knife. I like a synthetic handle that’s streamlined and rough-textured for easy gripping that won’t slip when covered in fat or blood. A quality steel that keeps an edge through fur and fat is a must. The only time I take a saw into the field is if I’m elk, caribou or moose hunting, where I’ll want to remove the antlers and skull cap to alleviate weight. All other cuts, including recalsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019 California Sportsman

HUNTING

... TO FIRE MAKE YOUR CARNE ASADA COOL By Tiffany Haugen

acos represent one of those entrees that can be made out of just about any meat, fish or vegetable. Toppings for tacos can be as simple as a bit of chopped onion and cilantro or as elaborate as a smokey, fire-roasted vegetable medley. No matter what goes into the taco, try smoking some of the ingredients to add even more flavor. Smoked carne asada tacos are filled with flavorful smoked meat and cheese. Easy to smoke ahead and be ready for a crowd or to put together quickly for a family dinner, these tacos are sure to please. Smoking foods by using a cold smoke generator (or smoker on very low heat) prior to grilling or cooking takes a little time, but it’s a great way to infuse smoke flavor. Whether it's meat, fish, vegetables or nuts, hitting any ingredients with cold smoke will add a layer of flavor to the overall taste profile of any dish. Once meat and vegetables have been smoked, either finish on a grill or in a hot cast-iron skillet.

TACO STUFFING 2 pounds venison backstrap or sirloin ½ to 1 pound cheddar cheese Optional vegetables to smoke and grill:

Tiffany Haugen says cold-smoking big game meat and cheese will add lots of flavor to your tacos. (TIFFANY HAUGEN) onions, red bell pepper, jalapeño peppers Salt to taste

CARNE ASADA DRY RUB 1 teaspoon granulated onion 1 teaspoon granulated garlic 1 teaspoon chili powder ½ teaspoon smoked paprika ½ teaspoon cumin ½ teaspoon black pepper

CARNE ASADA SAUCE 3 tablespoons lime juice 1½ tablespoons orange juice 1 tablespoon soy sauce 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 tablespoon honey 1 to 2 tablespoons minced jalapeños ½ teaspoon minced garlic ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro For the meat: Trim excess fat – meat should be no more than ¾ inch thick for optimal smoke flavor and quick grilling. For the rub: In a small bowl, mix rub ingredients until thoroughly combined. For the sauce: In a small bowl, mix sauce ingredients until thoroughly com-

bined. Keep refrigerated until use. Pat meat dry and sprinkle both sides generously with all of the rub. If using a cold smoke generator, place meat, cheese and vegetables in the smoking container and cold smoke one hour. If using a traditional smoker, preheat smoker until chips are smoking before adding meat, cheese and vegetables. Lower smoker heat to under 100 degrees. If smoker will not hold a low temperature, simply turn the heat element off and let the chips burn. Replenish and relight chips if necessary to keep ingredients smoking at least 45 minutes. Remove cheese and place in a sealed container or baggie, and then refrigerate until ready to grate. Remove meat and vegetables from the grill or smoker. Preheat grill on high heat. Salt meat to taste on each side. Sear meat one to three minutes per side or until desired doneness. Grill vegetables over medium heat until tender. Let meat rest 10 to 15 minutes before slicing. Slice or chop meat and top with carne asada sauce. Slice vegetables to serve on tacos or on the side. Build tacos to your liking; toppings may include coldsmoked cheese, smoked vegetables, pico de gallo, avocado, lettuce or cabbage. Editor’s note: For signed copies of Tiffany’s popular book, Cooking Big Game, visit tiffanyhaugen.com. Follow Tiffany on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, and watch for her on the online series Cook With Cabela’s and The Sporting Chef TV show.

64 California Sportsman OCTOBER 2019 | calsportsmanmag.com

calsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019 California Sportsman

HUNTING

Having game bags and a quality pack frame are essential to efficiently handling your game meat. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

moving the head at the atlas joint, are easy to make with a small knife, even on the largest of game. My saw of choice is a Wyoming folding saw. Wherever you hunt, know the laws that apply to removing antlers from big game being transferred from the field.

A GUTLESS GAME

Pistol Bullets and Ammunition Zero Bullet Company, Inc.

ZER

P.O. Box 1188 Cullman, AL 35056 Tel: 256-739-1606 Fax: 256-739-4683 Toll Free: 800-545-9376 www.zerobullets.com

66 California Sportsman OCTOBER 2019 | calsportsmanmag.com

More than 90 percent of the big game I break down in the field is done by the gutless method. Position the animal on its back, slit under the skin from the anus to the brisket, then across the front legs from knee to knee, and then the back legs. Peel off the hide while leaving it attached only at the spine and lay it open. This provides a great platform on which to work and keeps the meat clean and the gut cavity intact. From there, remove the quarters, backstrap, neck meat and external rib meat. The loins, rib meat, heart and liver can be removed last. This approach is fast and very sanitary, keep-

Choose quality Alaskan-made gear when planning your next adventure. GUN SCABBARD waterproof gun bag.

ATTENTION CA SPORTSMAN READERS: MENTION THIS AD FOR A FREE CARRY STRAP WITH PURCHASE OF THE GUN SCABBARD

Shop nomaralaska.com to see all the gear we make for outdoor adventures. Homer, Alaska • 1-800-478-8364 • nomaralaska.com

ing you virtually blood-free and the meat in optimal condition.

BE PREPARED Where an animal falls must be anticipated prior to the hunt. Take a pack and game bags, which will allow you to carry out deer-sized game in one trip, if possible. Make certain that whatever pack you take fits and rides well and that compression straps and fasteners are solid. You don’t want a load that shifts on uneven ground. If you have to make two trips to recover an animal, that’s fine. With elk,

multiple trips will likely be required due to the habitat in which they’re hunted. So have game bags in order to keep the meat clean and hung in the shade as you work. If you have to leave any meat overnight, have enough rope to hoist the bags into the trees so predators and scavengers can’t get to it. Pack a headlamp and extra batteries along. When hiking in daylight, remove the batteries from inside your headlamp in case the switch gets turned on. That way the batteries won’t die if you make a mistake.

Go into every big game hunt prepared and know what it will likely take to get the animal broken down and quickly cooling. Planning and hard work are essential in order to optimize big game meat quality. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

68 California Sportsman OCTOBER 2019 | calsportsmanmag.com

OTHER DETAILS TO REMEMBER Flagging tape to mark a blood trail – or your trail in and out – is a good idea. Reflective tape is nice for nighttime travel, and a compass or GPS is always beneficial. Be sure to let someone know where you’ll be and when you should be back in camp or home. Once home with your game meat, the first step is to get it cooling and aging. Be sure to first remove any blood, hair and dirt. Aging big game meat is best done by hanging it in a cooler. If you don’t have a walk-in cooler, placing the quarters and loose meat

uncovered in a refrigerator works great. Keeping the meat on the bone while aging is most efficient, optimizing cellular breakdown, thus tenderization. Optimal aging time at 33 to 42 degrees is five days, but you can go longer. If you don’t have a way to cool and age the meat, cut it up, vacuum-seal or wrap it tight in freezer paper and place in the freezer. A week prior to cooking a cut of meat, remove it from the freezer, place it on a wire rack atop a plate and let thaw uncovered in your refrigerator. This is called dry aging and is the next best way to age and tenderize game if you can’t age it prior to freezing. Before cooking, simply slice away the thin, dark pellicle that’s formed on the outside. Do your own big game butchering. By using your own field care work and butchering ensures you know exactly what condition your meat is in and how it was handled. Thus you’ll know what the end product will yield. With hunting season upon us, now is the time to make sure you’re ready to efficiently break down and process your big game. The more prepared you are to break down an animal and get it cleaned and cooling, the better tasting it will be. CS Editor’s note: To order Scott Haugen’s specialized Field Dressing, Skinning & Caping Big Game DVD, visit scotthaugen.com. The two-hour DVD shows six ways to break down animals, including deer, elk, bear and pronghorns, in the field. Haugen is host of The Hunt, on Amazon Prime. Follow him on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

calsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019 California Sportsman

PUBLIC WORKS

HUNTING

STATE, FEDERAL REFUGES CAN BE JUST AS PRODUCTIVE AS PRIVATE CLUBS, IF YOU USE A VETERAN WATERFOWLER’S FOUR TIPS

Author Art Isberg begins to set out a big layout of decoys on Paynes Creek State Wildlife Area in Northern California’s Tehama County. Isberg says public lands offer some of the best waterfowl hunting in the state. (ART ISBERG)

By Art Isberg

he sweeping Pacific Flyway that both ducks and geese follow down the continent each fall and winter is one of the largest and most vibrant air corridors for waterfowl in the entire nation. In peak years it hosts as many as five to seven million birds, offering California waterfowl hunters premier shooting opportunities. Over 60 percent of all birds in this flyway winter or pass through the state, traditionally between October and January. Mallards, pintails, teals, gadwall and wigeon make up the bulk of puddle ducks winging south down

into the 500-mile-long Central Valley, where both state and federal waterfowl refuges are strategically located to host them. Such famous names such as Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge, in the far north; Sacramento and Delevan NWRs, in the northern Central Valley; Grizzly Island State Wildlife Refuge, 65 miles east of San Francisco Bay; Merced NWR, farther south; and Volta NWR in the southern San Joaquin Valley are all part of this vast system consisting of over 30 refuges. They offer unattached hunters the real chance to experience quality hunting, if you learn to maximize your efforts. These opportunities turn on four major keys to success. It’s also

important to understand that you will be competing with dozens if not hundreds of other hunters in the same area, trying to decoy in the very same birds. Before throwing out a single decoy or putting a call to your lips, the type of blind you choose demands a closer look.

PUBLIC RECORDS For many years, both state and federal refuges only offered wide-open freelance hunting opportunities. By that I mean you paid a daily fee for entry, shouldered a bag of decoys, went out and picked a piece of water to float them in, making a blind out of whatever natural cover was available.

calsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019 California Sportsman

HUNTING A decoy barge is a great way to haul everything you need for a dayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hunt out to a blind, like this sunken one installed next to the water. (ART ISBERG)

72 California Sportsman OCTOBER 2019 | calsportsmanmag.com

Then demands by hunters for a higher quality hunting experience were heard and acted upon. Some waterfowl refuges began putting aside smaller areas where a few commercially available sunken blinds were located. These were the very same blinds private duck clubs had been purchasing and using for decades. First there were round, singlehunter concrete blinds. Then an upgrade to two- or four-man steel blinds with swivel seats and swing tops became the norm. The success rates in these areas went up dramatically. Today, most public areas offer this blind setup and it is the first key to customizing your public land hunts. Always choose to make your hunts in those refuges that offer sunken blinds at ground or water level. Simply put, they are deadly at concealing hunters until the last possible moment when you rise and shoot at birds well inside the kill zone over decoys. This also means more

calsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019 California Sportsman

HUNTING dead-air kills and fewer cripples. Because hunters can put in in advance for a daily draw to hunt blind areas, you would be wise to carefully study the waterfowl booklet put out each year by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife regarding which area to choose. The booklet gives times, dates and cost of hunts available in each area. It is your bible to planning hunts that offer the finest opportunities for quality waterfowl shooting that often matches the best private clubs.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT There is no denying that floating large decoy numbers can and does influence flighted birds into your sets over smaller ones deployed nearby by other hunters. The only exception to this rule would be on tiny potholes that limit them. Previously, hauling decoys out into shooting areas meant carrying one or two bulky, heavy bags

on your back. If you wanted more floaters, the answer was to hunt with a pal who could haul the same number the same way. It was always a backbreaking business. Then came the neatest invention any duck hunter ever dreamed of: decoy barges. These small, polyurethane plastic floats are about 5 feet long and 22 inches wide, with 11 inches of freeboard. They easily slid over mud and floated over both 2 inches of water, or 2 feet. You can load in everything for a day’s shooting – your decoys, shotgun, extra shells and something to eat and drink. Pull the floats behind you – hands free – by attaching a short lanyard from the barge to the back of your wader belt. They can save more backaches than a chiropractor, and three dozen decoys means you can float those bigger sets that draw in birds over competing shooters. If you hunt with a pal who is also

74 California Sportsman OCTOBER 2019 | calsportsmanmag.com

pulling a barge, you’ve got a big decoy spread that can exceed a 60-block layout. The safety factor of being hands free means you can use a wading stick to test water depth or muddy areas as you move along. Add a headlamp for working before dawn and this becomes an even more important package. The little barges give you all these advantages that nothing else can.

PUBLIC SELECTION I’ve mentioned the large number of differing species of ducks that wing down the Pacific Flyway each fall and winter. But it’s wise to remember that not all mallards, pintails, teals or wigeon move down at the same time, or in the same number. Some birds are traditionally early arrivals in California’s wetlands, while others show up much later in season. Pintails are generally early to show, but their numbers vary by area. Always-wary pins favor expansive,

HUNTING shallow, open-water ponds with little surrounding cover. Some call it sheet water. Their concentrations are greatest in the rice-growing regions in the Central Valley. But pintail breeding numbers have been down over the last several years, and regulations dictate only one in the daily bag this season. Why float a big pintail layout under such conditions? It simply makes a lot more sense to change decoys to reflect birds that are far more abundant. Instead, it makes more sense to use a largely wigeon and teal set because there are simply more birds of these two species in most areas. Three or four pins on the outside edge of the main layout can be added for effect, yet only a very few hunters either buy or set either teal or wigeon decoys. It’s usually the flashy all-mallard or all-pintail rigs most seen on public areas, even though they can only have minimal effectiveness under current conditions. Mallards are well

A hunter prepares for a day on the water at Grizzly Island State Wildlife Area, located in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta near Suisun City, one of dozens of open public areas. (ART ISBERG)

represented in both open water and that with more tall, standing cover. But there are restrictions on the take of hen mallards too. A two-thirds/one-third mix of teals and wigeon, and mallards makes a natural, lifelike layout. Late in the season, when birds have become decoy-shy, call-shy and are hardest to convince into decoys, a mix of the setup just

76 California Sportsman OCTOBER 2019 | calsportsmanmag.com

described can convince wary birds to come all the way in.

PUBLIC NOTICE Another point not well understood by many hunters is the impact that fast-changing weather can have on waterfowl movements – sometimes in just a matter of days. We’ve seen that both pintails and

calsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019 California Sportsman

HUNTING mallards love the rice-growing regions of the Central Valley. But powerful storms that sweep into the Golden State each winter generally come from the southwest, off the Pacific, featuring big winds driving them in a counterclockwise motion. These storms can move large

numbers of birds hundreds of miles very fast. For example, late in the season pintails are largely gone from the northern part of the state, but they will ride storm-influenced winds like these all the way back up into northern refuge areas, suddenly showing up overnight in big numbers, where previously they were few. The same can be said for mallards that move very quickly across the Canadian border and travel all the way down into California while riding powerful north winds. Under these fast-changing conditions, you want your decoy choices to match what is currently happening, even if it’s only for a limited time.

PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS Smart waterfowlers always carry a selection of different calls, as the author does here. Each one offers different pitch, sound, and volume, a key to successful calling. (ART ISBERG)

Every hunter who has ever picked up a duck call wants to be known as a veritable Pied Piper of a caller. I admit to being no exception. And if there is one thing all public hunting areas

78 California Sportsman OCTOBER 2019 | calsportsmanmag.com

have in abundance, it’s two, three or four hunters trying to convince the same flock of ducks into their decoy layout – all by calling at the same time. The question is, what is the key to accurate, natural-sounding calling? To me, it’s producing calls at the level live birds make by matching their cadence, speed of delivery and pitch. That is one reason why successful callers carry a variety of calls afield. Each call has a different tone, sound and volume. One might bring in birds like gangbusters one day and suddenly do little the next. Why? Weather can affect calling. Foggy or rainy days do that, as do big wind days when calls cannot reach out as they normally would. That’s when your loudest call goes into action. Two callers both working at the same time can have a real edge over competition. Unalarmed live birds on the water do a lot of calling, gabbling and chattering. A team of two can match that tempo, especially with

HUNTING two differing pitched calls. One blows a highball, while his partner goes to a lower, steady chattering. It’s very effective and you almost cannot “overcall” birds doing so. Some of the best lessons I’ve learned about accurate calling came from hunting with waterfowl guides. These professionals are out doing more calling in one week than most of us do in an entire season. They know the birds’ language best of all. I believe it’s money well spent to book a hunt with one of these guides and listen carefully to what he does and how he does it. You may even want to purchase the very same calls he uses. Some also sell calls that they use. Another way to listen and learn accurate calling that sounds natural is something I’ve done and still do many times a year: Simply go to a public waterfowl refuge and take the

free tour, making sure to listen to the birds themselves. Notice what they are doing and what they’re saying doing it. It’s very instructive and enjoyable. Some of these public areas also have photo blinds available where you can sit, watch and listen to birds only yards away. You’ll learn calls and different sounds you never imagined. Then you can duplicate in your own efforts, and that is the fourth key to success.

PUBLIC POWER Public waterfowl refuges up and down the state of California offer all of us hunting opportunities that only a private club can match, but it’s at a greatly reduced daily entry fee we can all afford. If you use the tips I’ve suggested, you will see your hunting success rise. I have no doubt about that. Learn how to customize your refuge hunts.

A decoy set like this – featuring six different species – is a natural layout that ducks will come in to, especially in late season. The heron gives it an added touch of realism as a confidence decoy. (ART ISBERG) 80 California Sportsman OCTOBER 2019 | calsportsmanmag.com

Lifelike teal decoys like these are convincing on live birds and should always be floated in a mixed set to represent local waterfowl species. (ART ISBERG)

Some of the finest waterfowl hunting is out there waiting for you to practice it. CS

calsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019 California Sportsman

TOUGH • DURABLE • LIGHT Easy Loader, Deuce & EZ-XL Models

• • • •

Easy Loader & Deuce accommodate • 2 dogs up to 65 lbs each EZ-XL accommodates 2 dogs over • 65 lbs each Made from High Density • Polyethylene with UV protection Easy Loader fits most full size pickups, SUVs & large UTVs

Deuce fits smaller pickups, SUVs & UTVs EZ-XL is for larger breed dogs & full size vehicles Vents, cold weather door covers & insulated covers available

Introducing the EASY XL. For large breed dogs. EASY-LOADER Dog Kennels

w. e as

yloaderkennel

s.co

Bartlesville, OK • 800-853-2655

Call 800-853-2655 Check out our website for new accessories www.easyloaderkennels.com

HUNTING

50 Shades Of Gray … Squirrels By Scott Haugen

unting tree squirrels in the West has never hit the fever pitch seen in Midwest and East Coast states. There are many reasons that could explain our lack of bushytail hunting mania, but suffice it to say, if you have a versatile gun dog, it’s yet another great opportunity to get out and have fun. Gray squirrels are excellent eating – some say even better than venison – and they can be found in many habitats. From the Coast Range to the valley floors, the Cascades to the high desert, from Canada down into Mexico, western grays are adaptive.

AT ABOUT A year of age gray squirrels begin to breed. The breeding season can run from December through June, and after just over a six-week gestation period, up to five kits are born. Western gray kits will remain in the nest for up to six months – sometimes longer – which equates to setbacks in the species’ ability to efficiently propagate in an area, especially when competing with squirrels that fledge sooner. Due to the vulnerability of western gray populations, check local hunting regs for seasons and bag limits. Currently, westerns are protected in Washington and cannot be hunted there. Acorns and pine seeds are primary

Hunting tree squirrels with your gun dog can be fun for them, and you. Not only can the tracking be a blast, but the retrieves are something you’ll always appreciate. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

calsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019 California Sportsman

HUNTING In addition to your four-legged hunting partner, author Scott Haugen recommends bringing along a pair of binoculars, which will help identify your target, a scoped .22 rifle and shooting sticks of some sort to steady your aim at these diminutive and tasty small game animals. (ODFW)

Western gray squirrel hunting is an overlooked opportunity for many hunters. In states and areas where they can’t be hunted, consider hitting the road to discover what it’s all about. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

food sources of these squirrels, though they’ll feed on fir and other seeds in the area. Populations are largely impacted by how much food there is each year, which is determined by weather conditions. Western grays are diurnal, making them great to hunt with a dog. While they often feed in and travel through treetops early in the morning and in the evening, they can also be found foraging for seeds on the ground throughout the day. I like to find good habitat and glass the trees early and late in the day, and cover ground with my dogs the rest of the time. Gray squirrels leave a lot of scent on the ground, and dogs can easily track and tree them. Chases are usually short, so your dog won’t get winded, or run too far in some of the rugged lands these squirrels call home.

A GOOD BINOCULAR is essential when hunting western gray squirrels, as is a very accurate .22 rifle. I shoot a Browning lever-action .22 topped with a 3x9 Trijicon AccuPoint scope, with a green fiber optic illuminated dot reticle. A quality scope helps pick out the squirrel’s small head, which is a good target so as not to ruin the meat. Because these squirrels can be in shade, thick cover, heavy shadows and more, they take on multiple shades of gray, white, and black, which is where a quality scope shines. 84 California Sportsman OCTOBER 2019 | calsportsmanmag.com

There is some great .22 ammo available today, much more impressive than 40 years ago when I started squirrel hunting. Be sure to test out a few brands to see which ones shoot best in your rifle. I like a scoped .22 versus an opensighted rifle because iron sights often cover the head of a squirrel. When danger is sensed, grays often climb high into trees, or lay flat on a fat branch or amid thick cover, making precise shot placement essential. If hunting in an area where a .22 projectile is questionable, opt for a shotgun. Field loads of size 6 shot are a good choice, and the pellets won’t travel far. I also like taking a monopod into the squirrel woods. It not only makes for a great walking stick, it helps steady the gun for an accurate shot. Sometimes you may be waiting several minutes for a treed squirrel to present a shot, and holding a gun that long can result in shaky aim.

A VERSATILE GUN dog is also great at retrieving downed squirrels, which is a luxury when hunting forests with tall ferns and thick salal. Knock a squirrel out of a big Doug fir, on a steep, downward-facing slope, and the retrieve can be well over 100 yards, which makes having a dog very nice. If you can’t hunt gray squirrels in your area, consider traveling to states that do. A quick call to a fish and game office should help reveal where squirrel numbers are good, even what other species there are to hunt, like fox or Douglas squirrels. Yes, there’s plenty of birds to hunt with your gun dog this time of year, but don’t overlook squirrels such as western grays, which have a lot to offer on the chase and on the dinner table, and help make your fourlegged hunting partner that much more valuable in the field. CS Editor’s note: To see some of Scott Haugen’s puppy training video tips, visit scotthaugen .com. Follow Scott on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

calsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019 California Sportsman

World Class C olor-Phase Black Bear Hu n with Hounds o ts r Bait

High Success Mountain Lion Elk Rut Hunts