I’m not really sure how we got here. How could it be a new year?
Several years ago, someone told me that the older you get, the faster time seems to go by and that every year goes more quickly than the one before it. I know I didn’t believe it, but soon after I was told this, it became very apparent they were right.
Last year flew by, even more than 2016; how could 2018 possibly be any quicker?
It’s no different for those of us in the outdoors world. Even though we are now in the dead of winter, you will turn around about two times and spring will be breaking, turkeys will start yodeling, fish will be jumping into your boat, and then it is summer and – well, you get the idea.
Contributed photo / Larry CaseWhat will this year bring for those of us who insist on getting outside, braving the elements and daring to bring home free-range meat, fish and fowl for the larder?
No one really knows for sure about the future, but as usual, I have a few thoughts and suggestions:
The threat to our deer herds. I’ve written about this before and will do so again. I’m not trying to be a prophet of doom; I’m only trying to keep you informed. Every week or two a story comes to light about chronic wasting disease showing up in deer in a new part of the country. This problem is not going away anytime soon, and the real threat to hunting will come if it’s proven eating venison can lead to CWD-related illness in humans. But we are not there yet, and new testing methods will be surfacing soon. I’m just saying we should stay informed and ask questions.
The ongoing public land debate. In order for hunting and fishing to survive in America, we must have access to huge amounts of public land and water. We basically have this now, but in recent years the specter of threats to our public land has risen. Selling off public land to private interests will never sit well with hunters and anglers, nor will transferring these lands to agencies that will not protect them as well as they are currently. Again, stay informed, and one way to do that is to check in with Back Country Hunters and Anglers (backcountryhunters.org) to keep abreast of these issues.
New threats to hunting. The government in Canada’s British Columbia moved recently to ban all hunting of grizzly bears, saying it had consulted with “many British Columbians” and that this type of hunting was not in line “with their values.” This is a dangerous precedent, and the biggest problem in this situation is those banning the bear hunting are not listening or consulting the game and fish people in British Columbia, who – as far as I know – are saying there is no problem with hunting these bears. When we disregard the science of wildlife biology and game management and give way to someone’s feelings or “values,” we are on a very slippery slope indeed.
OK, I told you earlier I don’t want to be a gloom-and-doom guy. So let’s talk about some good stuff for 2018. This year will, of course, bring a bunch of new guns, ammo, gear and other goodies for the outdoors world, so here are just a few:
CZ-USA Supreme Field shotgun. If you follow this column, you know how I feel about shotguns. This new offering is something special. CZ-USA (cz-usa.com) has long been known for producing fine yet moderately priced firearms, and the Supreme Field steps just a little out of that mold. This is an over-and-under shotgun (available in 12, 20, and 28 gauge), has elegant deep-scroll engraving done by hand and features automatic ejectors on all three gauges. What really sets this gun apart is the Grade 3 Turkish walnut wood, which along with the engraved receiver makes it drop dead beautiful. I watched this gun fired extensively in the Kansas pheasant fields and never saw a problem. If you think you are even close to looking for a new shotgun – Do I need to remind you of Case’s Shotgun Theorem No. 4?: “You can never have enough shotguns.” – take a look at the new Supreme Field.
Federal Premium Ammunition’s new turkey loads for 2018. Shotgun shells made specifically for turkey hunting have certainly advanced the past several years, most notably with Winchester’s Long Beard XR turkey slayers. For many years, a cult-like group of turkey assassins has hand-loaded special turkey loads with TSS (Tungsten Super Shot). The main story here is that tungsten metal is something like 56 times denser (and harder) than lead. This changes everything in the world of shotgun shell performance. The gurus tell us No. 9 size shot pellets are equal in performance to No. 4 pellets in lead. Now I know some old shotgunners spilled coffee and tore newspapers when they read that last sentence. When you greatly reduce the size of the shot, this allows you to load more than twice the number of pellets in the shell, giving you unheard of patterns at extreme ranges – think of more than 100 pellets in a 10-inch circle at 40 yards. Turkey hunters, if you have not seen TSS loads yet, you may not believe what they will do on the patterning board and on turkeys. Federal Premium Ammunition (federalpremium.com) has a new line of turkey loads out for 2018, including a TSS heavyweight load; Apex Ammunition (apexmunition.com) has been selling TSS loads for some time.
Maybe this will give you some things to watch for and look forward to in 2018. I want to thank all of my readers and brothers in camo for sticking with me in the past year, and I wish all of you a wonderful New Year!
“The Trail Less Traveled” is written by Larry Case, who lives in Fayette County, W.Va.. You can write to him at larryocase3@gmail.com.