Handsome, new book is a treasure trove from an award-winning writer

Putnam Valley, NY—The first collection of articles —167 of them—by veteran and prize-winning author Glenn Sapir has been thoughtfully selected and published in a new, leatherette-bound volume, “A Sapir Sampler: Favorites by an Outdoor Writer.” Sapir has enjoyed a long and storied career, not only having written for a wide variety of publications, but also having been the first person to serve on the editorial staffs of what was considered “The Big Three” of outdoor magazines—Field & Stream, Outdoor Life and Sports Afield. His writing has been recognized with an impressive list of awards, including lifetime excellence in craft honors from the Outdoor Writers Association of America and the Association of Great Lakes Outdoor Writers. He has been inducted into the New York Outdoorsman’s Hall of Fame.

“Having retired from full-time work in 2014, after first beginning my career in 1970, I had amassed a tremendous collection of feature articles and columns I’d written for a variety of magazines and newspapers,” Sapir said. “I wanted to select some of my favorites from 1970 until, as it turned out, 2018, and share them with family, friends and interested readers.”

What was originally envisioned to be a small collection grew to a 480-page book. The articles are divided into four categories—Family and Friends, Destinations and Adventures, Interesting People and Mixed Bag—and the articles range from fishing for char in an Arctic Ocean tributary to angling for peacock bass in the Amazon basis. The hunting articles vary from pursuing caribou and moose in remote Newfoundland to stalking mule deer in Montana’s Missouri Breaks. Mixed with those many far-flung adventures are accounts of outings close to home in the author’s beloved Hudson Valley in New York. Read more

BIRMINGHAM, AL — For nearly four decades, Summit has proudly provided hunters with the industry’s safest, most innovative, and most comfortable treestands. For 2019, the company’s passion for putting hunters in a position to succeed is on display once more in an all-new series of state-of-the-art ground blinds. Comprising four different models, Summit ground blinds deliver the premium design characteristics and exceptional manufacturing for which the brand is known—and at truly affordable prices.

The flagship blind in the series—the Viper—is available in 3- and 4-person versions. The Viper combines numerous proprietary technologies designed to give you every advantage when hunting from the ground. Its Hush Silent Hatch hinged doorway system enables stealthy entry/exit without using a zipper. The windows feature TruViewTM panels, which perfectly match the blind’s camouflage exterior, but allow for an unobstructed, near-360-degree view from the inside. The panels silently adjust up and down the integrated tracks of the Split Silent Slide system for easy concealment customization and for when shot opportunities present themselves.

Gone are the days of wrestling your ground blind back into its carry bag. The Viper features the innovative yet super-simple Snap WrapTM carry system—a durable nylon sheet that securely holds the folded blind during transport and doubles as an in-blind gear organizer during the hunt. The Snap WrapTM features five large pockets for all of your hunting accessories. Read more

Once again Lucky Duck sets the bar high for motion decoys. The new Super Goose Flapper HDi is going to change the way you hunt and the way you flag birds.

With an innovative and patent pending design, the Super Goose Flapper has an increased range of motion that is as natural as it gets. This is the first goose flapper to operate on a lithium-ion battery, which means it can withstand any weather and provide consistent power. The battery and remote receiver are stored in a completely sealed battery box that keeps weather out. Module has external charging, on/off operation, and remote program. This flapping wing decoy is designed to be used similar to a flag by keeping the focus away from the hunter and blind. The magnetic wings are reversible, with life-like wing print on one side and solid black on the other for long range visibility. Made of durable EVA plastic that will withstand years of punishment, flocked head for added realism, and 5 speed settings that are controlled by the HD remote. The Super Goose Flapper has a wing span of 50” and the head is 25” off the ground. Shop now on Lucky Duck’s website: Super Goose Flapper HDi. Also available in Snow Goose and Specklebelly Goose. Read more

Option to donate your deer to help others

A late antlerless firearm hunt on private land in southern Alpena County will be held Jan. 3-6 and 10-13. The Department of Natural Resources is offering this season to provide an opportunity for deer management at a localized scale in the bovine tuberculosis (bTB) area. The hunt area is private land south of Highway M-32 in Alpena County. Read more

By Glen Wunderlich

The final three weeks of deer hunting seasons are under way and some hunters actually prefer the late seasons of muzzleloading and antlerless deer hunting to get those freezers filled.  Although less deer are certainly present and that fact may offer fewer opportunities, less hunting pressure and the probability of snow on the ground and colder temperatures can be good or bad depending on how hunters are prepared.  Good table fare begins with good preparation – both afield and at home.

I am one of those hunters that looks forward to our generous late seasons, because a return to normalcy is a return to predictability.  Colder weather means that deer must consume more food to fight the elements; find food and find the deer.  Being prepared, however, means more than dressing with warm clothes and includes a plan after the shot. 

Late-season doe

Failure to care for the meat from field to freezer can spell the difference between good and bad meat.  As is typical for this time of year in Michigan, night temperatures are below 32 degrees or freezing.  Therefore, hunters not only want to recover deer before they have a chance to freeze, they also do not have the luxury of hanging deer to cool them without freezing or to age the meat.  We do not want an unprocessed deer to freeze before the butchering operation, because it will have to be thawed before packaging and freezing, once more.  Done improperly, the meat can not only have an offensive taste, it can be downright spoiled with bacteria and that can cause illness.

Says Tina Hanes, a registered dietitian with the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, “Any raw or cooked food that has been thawed can be refrozen as long as it was thawed properly — in the refrigerator, not on the counter — and hasn’t spoiled.  “Thawed properly” does not include the use of any heaters or placing the meat in room temperature.  Bacteria likes the warmer temperatures and that’s where it may become unsafe.

“You can refreeze anything as long as it’s been handled properly,” Ms. Hanes said, adding that it is safe to thaw and then refreeze frozen fruit, vegetables, breads, cakes, processed foods and other items. The process, however, may affect their texture, taste and color, making them mushy or dried out and less appetizing, depending on the item.  Refreezing, therefore, should be avoided even if it is safe.

Venison is one of those items that becomes less appetizing, even if refreezing was done “properly.”  Freezing food is a convenient method of preservation, yet it can cause the quality of the food to deteriorate.  To ensure that your meat is free from trichina and other parasites, always cook meat thoroughly.

Whether fresh, previously frozen or cooked, meat stored at zero degrees Fahrenheit or lower is safe provided it was safe when frozen. At freezing temperature, mold, bacteria and yeast molecules slow down and microbes become dormant. Preventing the microbes from growing preserves food, as they are the cause of spoiled food and resulting illnesses. Freezing meat won’t significantly change its nutritional content. Freeze it as quickly as possible to prevent the formation of ice crystals.

Wrap meat well to prevent freezer burn.  Spread packages to freeze in a single layer on the freezer’s shelves and stack them after frozen.

While we cannot control the weather, we can arrange to get our prized venison into a walk-in cooler in advance.  It will make all the difference later.

Safari Club International, Jamy Traut Hunting Safaris and Craig Boddington have teamed-up to offer an unequaled leopard hunting opportunity.

Slated to be sold at the dinner auction on Saturday night at the upcoming Safari Club International Convention in Reno, Nevada, Jan. 9-12, 2019, this spectacular safari is certain to be one of the most competitive auction items at the event.

The safari will take place in Namibia, either on the Waterberg Plateau or in Kaokoland, with the exact location to be determined by the results of extensive scouting. Both hunting areas have elegant safari camps, a professional chef and a full staff that will attend to every need. Read more

By Glen Wunderlich

Regular firearms deer season has ended but the remaining seasons of archery, muzzleloading, and late antlerless seasons still offer plenty of opportunities for those hunters hoping for venison.  And, no matter the method of take, hunters are now faced with even greater challenges to properly identify adult does and to distinguish them from other antlerless deer.  Before touching on a few tips for filling that freezer, a recent encounter with an injured whitetail is worth noting.

With only two days remaining in regular firearms deer season, my pal, Joe, wanted to venture out for one more hunt.  He’d already taken a fine buck during archery season, and with our self-imposed rule of taking only one buck each, he wasn’t looking for antlers.  On the other hand, I had not seen any of the better bucks the game cameras had indicated were in the neighborhood.  As the seasons wear on, without confirmation of new game camera evidence or personal in-field knowledge, the best way to learn anything is to get outdoors and hunt.  That’s what we did.

I was toting a Ruger American rifle in .450 Bushmaster caliber topped with a quality low-power variable scope.  Its consistent accuracy with the most common factory load available – Hornady 250-grain Flex-Tip bullets – provided all the confidence needed.  I had noted all the practical yardages of various trees within a 150-yard radius of my position with a rangefinder and watched from within a portable blind overlooking a mix of clover fields and a small brassica plot of ½ acre.

With about an hour of daylight remaining, a lone deer approached the openness and demanded a better look.  With a slight tug on my Burris binocular, the optical aid was released from the harness and slowly brought to my eyes.  To my surprise, it was not only a buck, but it had at least four antler points on a side and that meant it met our personal guidelines for consideration.  As the buck moved forward, a noticeable limp in a front leg was apparent.  That fact changed everything.

No longer do we consider if it’s a good buck or even a mature doe for that matter.  Ethical considerations to take such an animal far outweigh any desire for any other specifics.  We must assume the animal is suffering and that it will eventually succumb to its malady whatever it may be.  We could be wrong:  The deer could live a productive life with a questionable injury but our personal, ethical rules make it incumbent to dispatch such an animal.

The unmistakable sound of an audible thump after the rifle barked told me in no uncertain terms that my 139-yard shot had hit its mark; any suffering the whitetail buck had endured was over.  Upon inspection, a front leg was damaged by an unknown hunter that had taken a bad shot; I knew I had done the right thing for the sake of the animal.  Assuming a hunter has the proper license, it’s worth strong consideration for any ethical hunter to do the same regardless of what would typically be valued as worthy.

Injured 8-point buck taken by Glen

With the final month of various deer seasons, things get a bit more complicated than merely identifying deer by antler size.  Many of us hunters will be attempting to fill their antlerless tags and it behooves us to take a close look at the heads of deer to determine if that “doe” is actually a doe and not a buck that has already shed its antlers or a buck fawn that has yet to sprout headgear.  The best way to do so certainly is not on any deer drives.  Rather, it can be done calmly from the confines of a blind where opportunities tend to develop more slowly and good glass can be lifted into position with minimal chances of a hunter being picked off by movement.  In addition, a heated blind can make the usual late-season, colder weather downright enjoyable, as deer tend to return to more predictable routines from the lessened hunting pressure.  And, ethical hunters will be given more time to think.