by T. Edward Nickens

A little bit here and a little bit there. You keep your eyes open. That’s how you learn. You pick up a new knot from a new fishing buddy, or try a decoy trick you saw in a magazine. You make mistakes. And if you’re lucky, like I was, there will be a mentor along the way. An unselfish someone who cares enough about you that he wants you to know everything he’s ever learned.

That’s the good thing about hunting and fishing and camping: You can never know it all, and you’re never as good as you could be.

Over the years, I’ve learned from the best—mentors, buddies, guides, story subjects, and some of the most dedicated outdoor-skills competitors this world has ever seen. Put them together, and they’ve got a half dozen different ways to shoot a double or cast a fly rod. Here’s the best of what I’ve learned from them, and on my own, in 35 years of hunting and fishing. And this is what all sportsmen should do with such knowledge: Pass it on.

--Chad Love

A Zimbabwean angler trying to rescue his fishing partner from a crocodile was attacked and killed by a second crocodile as he waded toward his friend.

From this story on foxnews.com:
A Zimbabwean man was killed while trying to rescue his friend from attacking crocodiles in northwest Zimbabwe, a fishing club said Wednesday. The National Anglers' Union said that Frank Trott, aged in his 70s, died after trying to rescue a friend paddling along the shoreline at Charara fishing camp. His friend survived but sustained wounds to his midsection and buttocks. The dead man was dragged away by a giant crocodile after going to assist his friend, said Mike Brennan, head of the fishing group. The friend, aged in his 40s and a fellow farmer with experience in the African wilderness, was treated for his wounds.

by David E. Petzal

Pro Tool, which makes the Woodman’s Pal combination tool, and master outdoorsman and writer J. Wayne Fears have designed three new knives that bear his name (top to bottom): the Ultimate Survival Knife, the Ultimate Outdoor Cook Knife, and the Ultimate Deer Hunter’s Knife. J. Wayne knows about everything there is to know about hunting and staying alive in the wilderness, and the knives show the input of someone who knows what the hell he is doing.

All three are made of 1095 cutlery steel, tempered to Rc 54-56. This steel makes a blade that sharpens easily and takes an edge like a razor, but usually requires a fair amount of resharpening. However, these hold their edges like Grim Death itself. Out of curiosity, I cut the top out of a steel acetone can with the Survival Knife. Its edge needed a little retouching, but otherwise it didn’t seem to mind.

Because tool steel rusts, the Deer Hunter’s Knife and the Survival Knife have their blades and tangs epoxy-powder coated. The Cook Knife does not, and if you leave it in your kitchen knife drawer you must stress to all who may use it that if they put it in the washing machine, they will be stabbed with it. Repeatedly.

By Jim Baird

I like swimming, but it’s more of a summertime thing. I don’t want to do it when I’m trying to cross a pressure ridge in the Arctic. That’s why I listened closely to tips I heard in the community of Delene before venturing out onto Great Bear Lake. Combining those tips with my own ice safety knowledge got me past many nasty pressure ridges safe and sound.

When you drive up to a pressure ridge, land can be miles away on either side. You first have to decide which way to go. You may have to follow it all the way to shore if you can’t find a place to cross. While following the ridge, you constantly get off your snowmobile to walk up to the ridge and check out promising-looking spots. When that spot is no good (and it usually isn't) it always looks like there is a good spot just at the next bend in the ridge.

Most of the time, when you get there you find a pool of slush or a deep crevasse and not a place to cross, so you keep moving. The search goes on like this for a couple miles or more, unless you’re lucky. Every time you check a possible crossing spot it’s important to be safe and keep these tips in mind.