skills

The Latest Tips, Tricks, And Advice from Master Outdoorsman Jerome B. Robinson

fieldandstream-editor — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 01:30:00 -0400

Slide Show: This Week's Tips from Jerome B. Robinson

fieldandstream-editor — Sat, 20 May 2006 07:00:00 -0400

An Expert Guide to the Latest Techniques in Bass Fishing

fieldandstream-editor — Fri, 19 May 2006 13:00:00 -0400

Slide Show: This Week's Tips from Jerome B. Robinson

fieldandstream-editor — Tue, 16 May 2006 07:00:00 -0400

Walleye Fishing Tips: How to Stick 'Em

fieldandstream-editor — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 05:25:00 -0400

Walleyes have a reputation for being short strikers. They'll hit the bait without getting hooked. But walleyes aren't tentative eaters, says South Dakota walleye pro Mike McClelland.

"Usually, the walleye makes a sincere attempt to eat the bait. The fisherman just didn't allow the fish to succeed."

Avoiding this problem-and consequently hooking more fish-is a two-step process, according to McClelland. Step one is to understand how a walleye eats. "Sometimes a walleye will slash a bait like a pike or a muskie does," he says. "But usually they'll swim up to it and flare their gills, inhaling their prey and the water surrounding it. If anything happens to interrupt that flow of water, you get a short strike, or nothing at all."

Step two, says McClelland, is adapting your presentation to decrease resistance in the lure-and-line combination, and thereby permit your bait to flow right into the walleye's mouth. To that end, he offers the following six tips:

1: Use Light Line Light (4- and 6-pound-test), thin-diameter lines offer less drag, or resistance, on a lure. This lets a walleye suck it in more easily.

2: Bounce the Bait When you're using live bait, McClelland recommends also using a bottom-bouncer rig. Bouncers are L-shaped wires that have a lead weight molded to the shaft. As an angler retrieves the rig, the weight bounces off the bottom and creates slack in the line, which allows the fish to inhale the bait more easily.

3: Shorten the Stroke Many jig fishermen pump their rods too vigorously, using long vertical strokes that can pull the bait out of a fish's mouth. Use short lifts instead and you'll hook more walleyes.

4: Offer a Bigger Bite Adding a plastic body to a jig also helps by increasing the surface area to which the fish's sucking force is applied. It may seem counterintuitive, says McClelland, but a slightly bigger bait is easier for the fish to inhale.

5: Pump a Crank With crankbaits, steady retrieves may hook aggressive walleyes, but a stop-and-go technique is better for deliberate feeders. Once the lure achieves proper depth, lift the rod tip, reel in the slack, and repeat.

6: Troll With the Flow When the water has a chop, trolling with the waves imparts that necessary slight slack in the line. Also, keep a close eye on your inside planer board as you make a turn; it will give you that small amount of slack that allows for more solid strikes-and more walleyes in the boat.

Fly of the Month: The Partridge and Orange

fieldandstream-editor — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 04:15:00 -0500

MATERIALS
Hook: Wet fly, 1XL shank, size 10Â¿Â¿Â¿16 Thread/Abdomen: Hot Orange Pearsall's Gossamer silk thread Thorax: Hare's ear dubbing Hackle: Grouse hackle

DIRECTIONS
Step 1 Attach thread behind the hook eye and make three wraps toward the bend. Peel the fuzz from the base of a grouse hackle and strip off the fibers on its right half (as you look at its convex side). Use the correct hackle size. The lowermost fibers should be as long as the hook.

Step 2 Mount the hackle atop the shank, with the concave side up and the tip over the eye. Clip the stem, and continue wrapping the thread in close, touching turns to a point on the shank just above the barb. Reverse direction and wrap back, stopping a third of a shank-length behind the eye.

Step 3 Dub a ball-like thorax halfway to the hook eye. Position the thread in front of the dubbing.

Step 4 Take two wraps of the hackle toward the bend. Then capture the hackle tip with one wrap of thread.

Step 5 Wrap the thread forward once through the hackle. Secure it with three half hitches, clip off the hackle tip, and dab tying cement to the head.

Jerry's Tips: February, 2006

fieldandstream-editor — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 04:15:00 -0500

Train Your Dog to "Give"
A retriever takes pride in carrying a bird, so don't rush to grab it away. Instead, command him to heel and have him walk at your side. Let him enjoy his accomplishment for a while. Praise the dog, then tell him to sit, and gently take the bird from his mouth. Dogs soon form the habit of holding the bird until you want it if you don't snatch it away.

Catch More Tournament-Size Bass
Competition anglers commonly release their best fish right after a tournament's weigh-in. And for a week or so after one of these events, many of the largest bass in a lake will be concentrated by the release site. Expect to find them schooled near the closest structure (such as a gentle dropoff) to the competition's weigh-in area, feeding on baitfish.

Track Game Through Leaf Litter
Big-game tracks on leaf-covered ground are tough to see from a standing position. If you lose an animal's trail, crouch down to get your eyes close to the ground. Look for a series of disturbances in the fallen leaves in the direction the track was last headed. Sight this path as far as possible, then walk to the point where it disappears and take another low-angle view.

Injure Fewer Bass
It's fun to see bass inhale topwater lures. But because most are built on offset hooks, which catch easily in the gills or gullet, you'll mortally wound many fish when you're using these baits. Try bending the hook in with pliers until the point lines up with the eye. Your lure will now slide out of the fish's throat and snag instead on the hard edge of its lip.

Show More Fish Your Bait
Instead of simply dropping your bait to the bottom, try suspending it by a couple of inches. You'll catch more fish. To do so, attach your sinker 3 feet above your hook. Then clip a small bobber to the line 12 inches from the hook. Fish can see a floating bait more easily, and the semislack leader allows them to take it without feeling resistance from the weight.

Survival Skills, Part III: Finding Food

fieldandstream-editor — Sun, 22 Jan 2006 04:10:00 -0500

Snares
Small-game snares can be made from the interior strands of parachute cord, braided strands of sinew, or fishing line. Snares stout enough to secure game as large as deer need to be made of rawhide or parachute cord.

skill Ground Snare (picture)
Position the snare at head height and tie off the end to a tree, a stake in the ground, or a log that the animal can only drag a short distance as the noose tightens. Make snares from cord, fishing line, or wire if available.

skill Spring Snare (picture)
This set employs a trigger that snatches game into the air as it strains against the noose. It's good for rabbits and game as large as deer.

Deadfall Traps
Deadfalls that use logs or rocks to squash prey are typically baited, but they also work along trails or outside burrows when a passing animal or bird brushes against the trigger.

skill Spring Deadfall (picture)
One of the easiest traps to make and set, the spring deadfall (see page 59) depends upon the game worrying the bait, so it's best used for carnivorous animals and rodents such as pack rats.

Tension Traps
Employing fire-hardened spear points under tension, these can be deadly to predator and prey alike. Always set and approach an impaling trap cautiously from behind and use only in an emergency in remote areas, where another human or domestic animals are not going to blunder past.

skill Spring Spear Trap (picture)
This trip-wire set is effective for wild pigs, deer, or other game that regularly sticks to defined game trails. Make certain the horizontal thrust of the spear is at a level that will impale the body of the game sought. This is an extremely dangerous trap; use it with caution.

Bird Traps
Birds can be much easier to trap than mammals and should be among your first targets for a meal.

skill Ojibwa Bird Pole (picture)
Set this trap in a large clearing where birds will naturally seek it out as a landing place.

Step One Sharpen both ends of a 6-foot pole and drill a small hole near one end. Drive the other end into the ground until it is secure.
Step Two Cut a 6-inch-long stick that will loosely fit into the hole. Tie a rock to a thin cord and pass the cord through the hole in the pole, then make a slip noose that drapes over the perch.
Step Three Tie an overhand knot in the cord in back of the slip noose and place the stick against the hole. Tension should hold it in position. When a bird flies down and perches, it will displace the stick, the rock will fall, and its feet will be caught as the loop quickly slides through the hole.

Fish Traps
Fish swim next to banks at night or move from deep holes into shallow water to feed. They can often be directed into traps from which they are unlikely to escape.

skill Funnel Trap (picture)
Make the walls of the funnel trap with piled-up stones or tightly spaced sticks driven solidly into the river or lakebed. Close the entrance to the trap, roil the water, then either spear the fish or net them with a seine made by tying a shirt or other cloth between two stout poles.

Making Stone Points
Points and blades chipped from cryptocrystalline rocks such as chert, flint, and obsidian make the sharpest knives, arrowheads, and spear tips, although efficiently using the latter two requires lots of practice.

Step One (picture)
Strike flakes from a tool stone by hitting it with a hard rock. This is called "percussion flaking." Some flakes will be suitable as is for knives; others will require more flaking.

Step Two (picture)
Place the tip of an antler tine or bone point against the flake and apply a twisting push toward the edge of the stone. Continue flaking off small cones near the edge until the point of the stone is evenly chipped and razor sharp.

Survival Skills, Part II: Fire

fieldandstream-editor — Sat, 21 Jan 2006 04:10:00 -0500

Friction-Based Fire Making
Rubbing two sticks together is likely the oldest of all fire-starting techniques, and also the most difficult. Besides proper technique, you have to choose the right wood for the fireboard and spindle. Sets made from dry softwoods, including aspen, willow, cottonwood, and juniper, are preferred, although a spindle made from a slightly harder wood, combined with a softer fireboard, can also work. The friction of the spindle against an indentation in the fireboard grinds particles from both surfaces, which must heat to 800 degrees F before a glowing coal forms. This must then be transferred to tinder and gently blown to life.

Hand Drill (picture)
Using a hand drill is one of the simplest friction methods, but high speed can be difficult to maintain because only the hands are used to rotate the spindle. It works best in dry climates. Step One Cut a V-shaped notch in the fireboard, then start a small depression adjacent to it with a rock or knife tip. Set a piece of bark underneath the notch to catch the ember. Step Two Place the spindle, which should be 2 feet long, in the depression and, maintaining pressure, roll it between the palms of your hands, running them quickly down the spindle in a burst of speed. Repeat until the spindle tip glows red and an ember is formed. Step Three Tap the fireboard to deposit the ember onto the bark, then transfer it to a tinder bundle (see "Tinder Bundle" on page 56) and blow it to flame.

Two-Man Friction Drill (picture)
Two people can do a better job of maintaining the speed and pressure needed to create an ember using this string variation of a friction drill.

Step One Have one person apply downward pressure to the drill while the other uses a thong or shoelace to rapidly rotate the spindle.

Fire Plough (picture)
This produces its own tinder by pushing out particles of wood ahead of the friction.

Step One Cut a groove in the softwood fireboard, then plough or rub the tip of a slightly harder shaft up and down the groove. The friction will push out dusty particles of the fireboard, which will ignite as the temperature increases.

Pump Fire Drill (picture)
The Iroquois invented this ingenious pump drill, which uses a flywheel to generate friction. The crossbar and flywheel are made of hardwood; the spindle and fireboard are made from softwoods (as in the hand drill).

Step One Bore a hole in the center of a rounded piece of hardwood and force the spindle in so that it fits tightly. Select wood for the crossbar and bore a larger hole that will slide freely on the spindle.
Step Two Attach the crossbar to the top of the spindle with a leather thong or sturdy shoelace.
Step Three Wind up the flywheel so that the thong twists around the spindle, then press down. The momentum will rewind the crossbar in the opposite direction. Repeat until friction creates a glowing ember.

Bow Drill (picture)
Of all the friction fire-starting methods, the bow drill is the most efficient at maintaining the speed and pressure needed to produce a coal, and the easiest to master. The combination of the right fireboard and spindle is the key to success, so experiment with different dry softwoods until you find a set that produces. Remember that the drill must be as hard or slightly harder than the fireboard.

Step One Cut a notch at the edge of a round impression bored into the fireboard, as you would for a hand drill. Loosely affix the string to a stick bow, which can be any stout wood.
Step Two Place the end of a wood drill the diameter of your thumb into the round impression, bear down on it with a socket (a wood block or stone with a hollow ground into it), catch the drill in a loop of the bowstring, then vigorously saw back and forth until the friction of the spinning drill produces a coal.
Step Three Drop the glowing coal into a bird's nest of fine tinder, lift the nest in your cupped hands, and lightly blow until it catches fire.

Spark-Based Fire Making
Human beings have been starting fires from sparks since the days of the cave dwellers of the Paleolithic era. It is still a vital survival skill for modern hunters and fishermen to learn. If conditions are wet or windy and matches are extremely difficult to light, a glowing spark in tinder uses wind to its advantage to burst into flame.

Flint and Steel (picture)
Striking the softer steel against the harder flint will produce sparks to flame your fire. The curved steel striker provided with flint and steel kits is easiest to use, although with some practice you can produce sparks by using the back of a carbon-steel knife blade. (Stainless-steel knives are usually much too hard to shave sparks from.) An old bastard file or an axe head will also work.

Step One Grasp a shard of hard rock, such as flint or quartzite, between your thumb and forefinger with a sharp edge protruding an inch or two.
Step Two Tightly clamp a piece of your homemade char cloth or a lump of birch tinder fungus under the thumb holding the piece of flint. Grasping the back of the striker, knife blade, or file in your other hand, strike a glancing blow against the edge of flint, using a quick wrist motion. If you're using an axe, hold the head still and sharply strike the flint near the blade, where the steel is harder. Molten sparks from the steel will fly off and eventually be caught by an edge of the char cloth, causing it to glow.
Step Three Carefully fold the cloth into a tinder nest and gently blow on it until it catches flame.

Another option is to use a magnesium-and-steel tool, which is an updated version of an ancient method that creates a strong shower of sparks. The advantage of this method is that the magnesium shavings flame briefly at an extremely high temperature, eliminating the need for char cloth or tinder fungus.

Step One Using a knife blade or striker, shave a pile of magnesium flecks into a nest of tinder.
Step Two Strike the steel edge of the tool with the back of a knife blade or the scraper provided to direct sparks onto the tinder.
Step Three When the tinder starts to smolder, gently blow on it until it bursts into flames.

Primitive Survival Skills: Part 1, Shelters

fieldandstream-editor — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 04:25:00 -0500

Introduction:
Last November, my son, Tom, and I weathered a snowstorm in Montana's Crazy Mountains while hunting elk. At the height of the storm, when whiteout conditions made it difficult to see where we were going, I found a sheltered spot and gathered some downfall to build a wickiup, a primitive half-tepee. I sparked a fire by glancing the back of a knife blade against a piece of flint and lighting some bark tinder. With shelter and warmth, we rode out the storm, eating sandwiches and talking elk.

At the same time, a 49-year-old hunter was lost and in serious trouble in the Absaroka Range a few dozen miles to the south. Rescuers with search dogs unraveled a 6-mile scent trail the man had left before finding him collapsed on a logging road, hypothermic and barely breathing. Despite their attempts to warm him, he died six hours later. Apparently he had been unprepared for the storm, but it was not a terribly cold day, and had he been able to build a fire or construct almost any kind of primitive shelter before sweating through his clothing, this tragedy might have been avoided.

Primitive is the key here. Our ancestors depended on three basic skills to survive: They knew how to shelter themselves from harsh climates; they were able to spark fire to heat those structures; and they could trap and gather food. Sadly, many of their skills have been forgotten.

Most sportsmen rarely find themselves in life-or-death situations. But it can happen, and not just when you're hunting or fishing. What if your car broke down in the middle of nowhere, or your plane had to make an emergency landing in the wilderness? What if all you had was a knife and your wits? Could you survive the way your ancestors did? Read this, and you just might make it. [NEXT "Body-Heat Shelters"]

Part I: Body-Heat Shelters
In its simplest form, a shelter is nothing more than a shell that traps a pocket of dead air warmed solely by body heat. In tree belts, such shelters are constructed of decomposing leaf litter and other organic debris; in barren, polar regions, they are made of snow.

skill 1 Debris Hut (picture)
Heap up a big mound of duff and detritus from the forest floor, then excavate a pocket that is large enough to crawl into. After getting inside, partially block the doorway to minimize air circulation. If it isn't cramped and dirty, you've made the air space too big for your body to heat it sufficiently.

skill 2 Quintze (picture)
Properly constructed, this poor man's igloo can be body-heated to above freezing on a 20-below day, higher if you light a candle.

Step One: Build up snow to a depth of at least 8 inches and pack it down to make a floor.
Step Two: Heap loose snow onto the floor. Piling the snow over a backpack or mound of branches will let you create a hollow, which hastens the excavation process, but it isn't necessary. Let the snow consolidate for an hour or more, until it is set up hard enough to form snowballs.
Step Three: Tunnel through the mound at opposite ends to dig out the center efficiently, fill in the unused entrance, and crawl inside to shape the interior. Ideally, the quintze should be narrow at the foot end, with a bed long enough to lie down on, and just tall enough at the head end for you to sit up. The walls and roof need to be at least a foot thick (check this with a stick).
Step Four: Poke out an air vent overhead and dig a well at the entrance for the cold air to settle into. Cut a snow block for a door. Glaze interior wallsith a candle to prevent dripping.

[NEXT "Open Shelters"]

Open Shelters
Bough structures that reflect a fire's warmth are the most important shelters to know how to build. They can be erected without tools in an hour provided you are in an area with downed timber-less if you find a makeshift ridgepole such as a leaning or partly fallen tree to support the boughs.

skill 3 Pole and Bough Lean-to (picture)
One of the most ancient shelters, the single wall of a lean-to serves triple duty as windbreak, fire reflector, and overhead shelter.

Step One: Wedge a ridgepole into the crotches of closely growing trees (one end can rest on the ground if necessary), or support each end of the ridgepole with a tripod of upright poles lashed together near the top.
Step Two: Tilt poles against the ridgepole to make a framework. To strengthen this, lace limber boughs through the poles at right angles.
Step Three: Thatch the lean-to with slabs of bark or leafy or pine-needle branches, weaving them into the framework. Chink with sod, moss, or snow to further insulate.

skill 4 A-Frame (picture)
The pitched roof of the A-frame bough shelter offers more protection against the wind than a lean-to and can still be heated by fire at the entrance. One drawback is that the occupant can't lie down parallel to the fire for even warmth.

Step One: Lift one end of a log and either lash it or wedge it into the crotch of a tree. Tilt poles on either side to form an A-frame roof.
Step Two: Strengthen and thatch the roof as you would a bough lean-to.
Step Three: Thatch the lean-to with slabs of bark or leafy or pine-needle branches, weaving them into the framework. Chink with sod, moss, or snow to further insulate.

[NEXT "Enclosed Shelters"]

Enclosed Shelters
These take more time to build than open shelters (at least three hours), but your efforts will be doubly rewarded. Not only can the shelter be warmed by a small fire, reducing the need to collect a huge pile of wood, but the firelight reflects off the walls, providing cheery illumination for sitting out a long winter night.

skill 5 Wickiup (picture)
This forerunner of the tepee remains the quintessential primitive shelter-sturdy enough to blunt prevailing winds, weatherproof, quickly built for nomadic hunters, but comfortable enough to serve as a long-term home. It can be partially enclosed (my son and I made a half-open wickiup to sit out the snowstorm, with a fire built in front of the shelter), or fully enclosed and vented to permit an inside fire.

Step One: Tilt three poles together in tripod form and bind them together near the top. If you can find one or more poles with a Y at one end, tilt the others against the crotch, eliminating the need for cordage.
Step Two: Tilt other poles against the wedges formed by the tripod in a circular form and thatch, leaving a front opening and a vent at the top for smoke.

skill 6 Wigwam (picture)
A complex version of the wickiup, this is built with long, limber poles bent into a dome-shaped framework to maximize interior space.

Step One: Inscribe a circle and dig holes at 2-foot intervals to accommodate the framing poles.
Step Two: Drive the butt ends of the poles into the holes and bend the smaller ends over the top. Lash or weave the tops together, forming a dome-shaped framework.
Step Three: Lace thin green poles horizontally around the framework for rigidity.
Step Four: Thatch the framework, leaving entrance and vent holes.

skill 7 Salish Subterranean Shelter (picture)
Used by Pacific tribes from Alaska to present-day California, pit shelters are impractical unless you have a digging implement, but they offer better protection from extreme heat and cold than aboveground shelters.

Step One: Dig a pit the circumference of the intended shelter to a depth of 3 feet.
Step Two: Build a supporting tripod of poles, strengthening the framework with horizontally laced limbs.
Step Three: Thatch the shelter, leaving a hole at the center to serve as both a laddered entrance and a smoke vent. Use earth removed from the pit to sod and insulate the shelter walls.

Step One: Inscribe a circle and dig holes at 2-foot intervals to accommodate the framing poles.

Step Two: Drive the butt ends of the poles into the holes and bend the smaller ends over the top. Lash or weave the tops together, forming a dome-shaped framework.

Step Three: Lace thin green poles horizontally around the framework for rigidity.

Step Four: Thatch the framework, leaving entrance and vent holes.

Step One: Dig a pit the circumference of the intended shelter to a depth of 3 feet.
Step Two: Build a supporting tripod of poles, strengthening the framework with horizontally laced limbs.
Step Three: Thatch the shelter, leaving a hole at the center to serve as both a laddered entrance and a smoke vent. Use earth removed from the pit to sod and insulate the shelter walls.