I remember as a kid giving a 2-inch tall porcelain skunk to my dad and telling him I wanted to give him something but I didn’t want to spend much. It cost 25 cents. I wasn’t very smart or tactful I guess? But cut me a little slack, I was only about 5 years old at the time. But regardless, we don’t want to be that kind of gift giver, especially for Father’s Day (since my wife or daughter may be reading this article).

As you can imagine, being an outdoors writer, I get to test a ton of gear every year. For Ammoland.com alone I test and write product reviews on 52 knives per year. So with that said, here are some items I think the dad in your life may enjoy. Everyone is on a budget, so I’ve tried to list items to fit everyone’s budget.

FISHING GEAR

n Ask him specifically which lures he wants.

n You can buy quality flies on a budget at flydealflies.com.

n Dip net

n Rods and reels

n Smith’s Consumer Products fish fillet knives

n Frogg Togg rain gear

n Tackle boxes

n Pautzke Bait Co. Fireball bait

HUNTING GEAR

n Riton Optics scopes and binoculars

n Swab-Its gun cleaning swabs

n Smith’s Consumer Products 6-inch diamond stones

n Knives of Alaska Pronghorn or Elk hunter knife

n Browning hiking socks

n Crosman airgun. Check out the Steel Eagle.

n Ammo. I’ve been testing some CCI and Federal .22, .22 Magnum and .17 HMR ammo. All three are great for whistle pig hunting.

n Buy him a couple of passes to the upcoming Great Northwest Outdoor Expo in Nampa. Buy two and maybe he’ll take you with him — a devious but smart move!

n Otis gun cleaning gear.

n Quaker Boy calls

n Walker hearing enhancment ear muffs

BACKPACKING GEAR

n Adventure Medical Kits. I love their foot care items.

n Aquimira water filters. They have straws, bottles and pumps.

n XGO base layers.

n Irish Setter boots. They have many options, but check out their Drifter or Ravine models.

n Waterproof matches and Firestarter.

n Compass.

n Cooking gear

n Smith’s Consumer Products everyday carry (EDC) knives.

n Small ditty bags for segregating items. Campmor has some nice ones.

n Backpack

n Backpacking meals

n Browning hiking socks

CAMPING GEAR

n Alps Mountaineering tents, sleeping bags and pads

n Lodge Dutch ovens and black skillets

n Tarps

n Lantern

n ASP XT-DF flashlight

n Cooler

n To hold down his four-wheelers check out Shock Strap.

GOLFING GEAR{/span}

{span class=”print_trim”}No, bad gift buyer. Do not buy them anything golf related! This is not an outdoors sport. This is something made up to pass time for people that don’t fish and hunt.GRAND SLAM GIFTS

n Here’s an item you could really impress him with. A Henry’s lever action .22 Magnum or a .22. They are some super cool rifles. In fact, it might even be a cool Mother’s Day gift because my wife is trying to steal mine.

n A fishing trip to the historic Plummer’s Lodge in the Northwest Territory. My daughter and I are going up there in July. It is a premier fishing spot. Call them at 204-774-5775.

OTHER GIFTS

If he is just flat out hard to shop for, have him pick 10 items out of his favorite outdoors catalog. That way when you pick one or two of the items it will be what he wants but still be a surprise. Or what about a gift card at his favorite outdoors store? Not as personal as an actual item but he could use it to buy exactly what he wants.

And if you flat out don’t have any money for a gift, I bet if you hug him and tell him you love him and how appreciative you are that he always works so hard to take care of the family, I bet that will mean more to him than any gift in the world.

Happy Father’s Day to all of you guys out there.

Tom Claycomb lives in Idaho and has outdoors columns in newspapers in Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Colorado and Louisiana.

Our old buddy Jack Sweet told my wife Katy and I that morel mushrooms are the second-best fungi in the world, second only to the truffle in England. I have never tasted a truffle, but morels are the best food in the world that I’ve ever tasted. If you haven’t ever picked them, then you’re missing out on the best food the outdoors have to offer.

If you don’t know what you’re doing, though, take an old timer with you the first season. Because if you accidentally pick the angel of death, well, let’s just say that you and God had better be pretty good friends.

Years ago, I thought, “You know, it’s crazy that I only feel safe picking one species of mushrooms. I spend all that time hunting and hiking around for them. Why not be able to identify three or four edible species?” So I took a class. But I’m still not comfortable, so I just pick two species.

But take heart, morels are easy to identify out West. (I hear that there are some false morels back East that you don’t want to eat.) I don’t know how many states have morels but quite a few do. Back in Nebraska and Iowa, picking morels is a big deal, according to one of my old bosses, but theirs come in season near the first to middle of April. Ours don’t come in season until the middle of May. And I went hunting today and only found one. So next weekend it should be show time.

Places that were good last year should be good this year. And last year’s forest fire areas are magical. I’ve filled up two 5-gallon buckets in a short amount of time in forest fire zones. So last year’s burns are the absolute No. 1 spot to hunt.

I’ve hunted morels for 39 years, so you’d think I could tell you where to be successful, but sorry, I can’t. I have a good spot that is just ever so slightly a depression and it has scattered skunk weed. But not all such spots even in that same locale have them.

Everyone tells you to look around old logs. Well I have news for you. There are a lot of old logs laying around in the woods and not all of them have morels. In fact, hardly any of them do. Today the only one that I found was just sitting by itself in the middle of a semi grassy spot in the woods. Nothing special. So it seems like they’re where they are.

But the general rule of thought is that when it finally starts warming up, and we get a shower, that triggers them to pop up. It was warm today, so I thought they’d be out but it’s just a hair too early.

The hardcore pickers admonish you to carry a cloth (open type of weave) bag to carry your freshly picked mushrooms in. This allows the spores to fall out. They also use a knife to clip them off at the ground so the root stays to help spread spores. At the La Grande gun show this year, I met Lars Hansen from Pendleton. He sells some cool Scandinavian knives, one of which is very unique. It is a mushroom knife and has a bristle brush on the hilt of the handle to dust off the dirt. It is a super cool knife and the handle is made out of reindeer horns and the sheath is made out of reindeer leather. You have to get one of these if you want to be a cool mushroom picker.

Morels are weather dependent, triggered by the temp and moisture. In talking to a lady once at the Forest Service office, she asked me if I had ever taken a temp of the dirt. No. Hmmm, maybe a good idea.

The surest bet is to go the Forest Service office or online and ask them where there were forest fires last year. There will be millions there. Look alongside, almost underneath logs laying on the ground. Nearly a guarantee that burned-out stump holes will have them. I think because they hold more moisture.

I’ve never marked one to see exactly how long they last before they deteriorate and start crumbling but I’m going to say only a few days. You want them to be firm and not crumbly.

There are a million ways to cook them but my favorite method is to crack a couple of eggs in a bowl and splash in a little milk. Pre-cut the morels lengthwise and soak in salted water in the fridge overnight to kill the bugs (although I always cook up a batch the first night).

After dipping in the egg mixture, roll in flour and throw in a hot skillet. When getting golden brown flip, brown the other side and then pull them out and wolf them down. While cooking, I sprinkle them with original Tony Chachere’s seasoning.

So when this weekend hits, get out there. But stay outta my spots!

Tom Claycomb lives in Idaho and has outdoors columns in newspapers in Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Colorado and Louisiana.

It is that time of year — in fact, a little past that time of year. If you haven’t already done so, it’s time to start baiting for bears. Twenty-five years ago, no matter how deep the snow, you’d have found me snowshoeing in 5 miles, dragging a sled full of bear bait. Maybe I’ve slowed down, or maybe I’ve just gotten smarter, but now I wait until I don’t have to haul it so far. Or maybe I just don’t take as many kids bear hunting as I used to do, so I don’t have to worry about getting as many bears now as I have in years gone by.

It’s still smart to get your bait out early, but truth be known, if you’re having to snowshoe it in 5 miles, then the bears have hardly (if at all) come out of hibernation in your spot anyway. Plus, the first few weeks, their stomachs are queasy after fasting for four to five months.

I used to carry in meat, but after a long winter of not eating, meat is not the best choice. No doubt, I’ve hauled literally tens of thousands of pounds of meat up for bears to dine on, but there are better choices. They’ll come in and nibble on it, but if you throw out big chunks they’ll grab a piece and run off in the brush to eat. You want them staying in front of you.

So there are better choices for bait than meat. Small bait is better. By this I mean things like popcorn and dog food — stuff that they have to scoop up by the handfuls so they can’t grab a piece and run off and eat it in the brush, out of sight. They love donuts as well.

It works to pour old, used cooking grease over the top of your bait. They love that, plus they track it off from your bait, which leaves a scent trail in every which direction to draw in more bears. I also like to hang a scent bag so the thermals carry the scent up and down the mountains.

You’ll want to use a barrel for multiple reasons. First off, it keeps a bear from gorging and then leaving. Cut an 8-inch (or thereabouts, I’ve never measured mine) hole about two-thirds of the way up the barrel for the bear to reach in and retrieve bait. Make a smooth cut so they don’t cut up their arms.

Chain or strap the barrel to a tree. You’d be surprised how far a bear can roll, carry or whatever they can do to steal your barrel. One time I had a 20-gallon barrel set up for my old bear hunting buddy Roy Snethen. It disappeared. I finally found it out in the middle of a willow thicket. I don’t have a clue how they got it out there. I could hardly get it out with it thrown over my shoulder.

Once the bears start hitting your bait, you’ll want to keep it full. You don’t want it to get empty and then them move on. You want them staying around your bait. When they start hitting it hard, you’ll find their beds nearby. Many times in steep country they’ll lay on the uphill side of a big yellow pine. You’ll find their beds there.

At first, you’ll want to have scent bags hanging, but eventually, and hopefully, with them tracking out grease, you’ll have drawn in all of the neighborhood bears. And if at first all you have showing up are sows, don’t panic. That’s the best bait that you could have.

The later in the season it gets, the more important it is to sows around. They’ll start going into heat the end of May on into June. I’ve had baits with nothing but sows and small bears and then suddenly the big daddy shows up out of the blue.

And one last thing. You’ll want to get in the backcountry so hound hunters don’t run bears off of your bait. That’s frustrating to haul bait to a spot for three to four weeks, then take vacation and go set on your bait only to discover that someone has been running your bait.

Get a big one!

Tom Claycomb lives in Idaho and has outdoors columns in newspapers in Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Colorado and Louisiana.

Springtime in Idaho is magical. We have a flurry of outdoor activities. Bear hunting, turkey hunting, mushroom hunting, crappie fishing and, last but not least, whistle pig hunting! I love whistle pig hunting.

How can you not? It’s a low-key hunt, there’s a ton of shooting, and it’s a great hunt to start kids on. The last few years, I’ve written articles on the top three whistle pig guns and titled it “The whistle pig trifecta.”

I’ve been swamped this year with seminars and articles and have not gotten to whistle pig hunt as much as normal. Don’t get me wrong; I’ve gotten out, just not as much as I want. Now, I leave for Texas to hog hunt with a Caracal .300 Blk., Riton Optics scope, Puma SGB knives and Roxor quads. In the spring, even with extended daylight, there are still just not enough hours in the day.

But back to the trifecta. What is it when you have five guns instead of three? Is it a five-fecta? So with that, here are my top five guns I’ll be using this spring.

BENJAMIN MARAUDER

Don’t discount airguns as a good choice. They’re quieter, so whistle pigs pop back up faster, and they’re safer because they don’t skip across the prairies like others might. I use a .22 cal. as opposed to a .17 because they have better killing power. You’ll want to use high-quality pellets to obtain maximum accuracy. I’ve had good luck with their Premier Ultra Magnum Hunting Pellets and hit one last week at 66 yards. My Marauder is my most accurate airgun.

RUGER 10/22

Hands down the 10/22 is the most popular .22. No doubt in part because of the amount of after-market accessories available. I put a Boyd’s stock, Brownell’s bull barrel and a Timney trigger on mine (the only original part is the action). You’ll want to carry at least two 25-shot clips because when the shooting is hot and heavy it will feel like you’re only carrying five-shot clips.

This spring, I’ve been testing Federal Champion ammo and getting 1/2- to 3/4-inch groups, but with the CCI Mini-Mag .22 LR SHP ammo, I got a .15-inch five-shot group recently. That is as good as I get with Eley ammo, which costs five times more.

HENRY LEVER ACTION .22 WMR

How can you not love a Henry .22 Magnum? Forever I’ve wanted a lever action .22 since jack rabbit hunting with a buddy who had one 40 years ago on the deserts by El Paso. But I’ve also wanted a .22 Magnum, so I opted instead for a .22 Magnum instead. In a pinch, I can even shoot hogs with it.

I’m using Federal 50-grain Champion ammo. I haven’t shot open sight in 100 years, so any inaccuracies are because of my lack of skills, but surprisingly with the Skinner sight that it came with I am getting some good groups and it’s performing great on whistle pigs.

MOSSBERG M817

Ever since the .17 HMR was introduced at the SHOT Show a few years ago, it has been a barn burner.

So for this spring I’m throwing in the Mossberg M817. Because I was going to be shooting small targets, I mounted on a Riton Optics 6-24×50 Scope. It is an awesome scope. It’s an adjustable objective scope, which is great because I’ll be shooting from 10 feet out to 150 yards.

For hunting this spring, I’m shooting CCI A17 Varmint Tip ammo. In case you wonder why people love the .17 HMR, CCI ammo zips along at 2,650 feet per second with their 17-grain bullets. That’s smoking hot.

CARACAL CAR814 A2 PATROL .300 BLACKOUT

You may think a .300 Blackout is a bit of an overkill, but in case I run into any mutant whistle pigs, I’m ready! OK, truth be known I’ve got a loaner Caracal to test on a Texas hog hunt, and I thought it’d be fun to also test it out on whistle pigs. At the SHOT Show, I stopped by the Caracal booth and told them about the upcoming hog hunt and Jeffery persuaded me to check out his .300 Blk. I immediately fell in love with it. It is a sweet shooting little gun. With their 30-round clips, I am ready to send multiple hogs to hog heaven.

I will be hunting with Slow Glow so I should be getting 10- to 20-yard shots, so I mounted a Riton Optics 2-7×32 on it. I’m only shooting at 20 yards but am getting down to .2 groups (Kicking out a flier) using Nosler Ballistic Tip 125-grain BT ammo. This will also be fun to hunt whistle pigs with.

Well, enough writing. Whistle pigs are attacking school kids at bus stops. It’s time to go out and do our civic duty and protect them!

There are some rabid turkey hunters out there — and I’m not just talking about in the Deep South where they have large numbers of birds and have hunted them for generations. I’m also talking about out West.

The big number of turkeys here in Idaho is a huge success story because of the combined efforts of the National Wild Turkey Federation and the Idaho Fish and Game. While we may not have the big numbers like I’ve seen down in the southern states, that doesn’t mean there aren’t enough to get excited about. Plus, down there, you’ll be hunting on farm ground. Out West, we have the opportunity to hunt them in the mountains, which gives us a unique twist.

I think being able to hunt them up in the mountains makes a turkey hunter get as excited as an elk hunter. I don’t want to say it is the exact same, but you are in the mountains, you set up decoys and try to call in a lovesick tom. You’re up before daylight setting up close to a roost that you had to scout to find. There are a lot of similarities to elk hunting.

So how do you hunt them? I’d recommend having a jake decoy and a couple of hens. For calls, I’m old school and still like the old box calls. I use a Quaker Boy Hurricane call.

A ton of turkey hunters like the slate plates, and push-boxes are popular, too. A 6 year-old kid can master a push box in minutes and be effective. You can also tape them to the forearm of your shotgun and operate them as you are leveling down on your gobbler. You also need to learn to use a reed.

Sights

I’ve never used a scope or red dot sights while turkey hunting (I know, I know, I’m old school), but with the turkey loads that they have now that can reach out to 60-plus yards, you need one. I just got a Riton Optics RT-R Mod 3 RMD red dot sight.

Ninety-nine percent of new turkey hunters think they just have to aim and shoot. It’s a shotgun, right? Wrong! I’ve never measured one, but let’s say a turkey stands 3 feet tall and you’re using some good turkey loads and a turkey choke. You need to aim at a body part just like if you were deer hunting.

Decoys

They make some really cool realistic turkey decoys. The bad thing is they’re expensive and heavy to carry. If you’re hunting on the Boise River maybe you can use them, but if you’re running and gunning in the mountains then you need to use Montana Decoys. They’re super lightweight. I like a lot of their offerings but check out their Spring Fling, Jake Purr-FECT, Miss PURR-FECT and Fanatic.

Shells and chokes

I wrote for Bass Pro Shop for more than three years, and once they had me test nearly all of the turkey loads out there. Hands down HEVI-Shot is the best, and they have a new offering they call the HEVI-X Strut that I’m about to test. But you must use a proper choke. Check out Trulock chokes.

Targets

You need to sight in your shotgun just like doing your rifle because it has a tight choke. I use Birchwood Casey turkey targets.

Other gear

As you can see, to be successful you need some specific gear. To carry all of this gear you’ll need a Scent Blocker’s Thunder Chicken Turkey Vest. It has more than 15 pockets to carry your calls, a back pouch you can stuff decoys into (and use bungee cords to strap on more), a detachable pad to set on while calling and an orange safety flag you can pull out on back. I’m not known as Mr. Safety but be careful; I think more turkey hunters get shot than in any other shooting sport.

And lastly, check out the Ameristep Throwdown blind. It’s light weight and compact. Have fun!

Tom Claycomb lives in Idaho and has outdoors columns in newspapers in Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Colorado and Louisiana.

This recipe will work for your wild turkey or a store bought turkey. I’m not a big soup and stew kind of guy, but as I get older, I do find myself eating more of both of them. Especially when it is cold outside. But today I want to share a recipe that I came up with a few years back that my family really enjoys, and that is turkey stew.

Turkey stew is super easy to make but unbelievably good. The backbone of the stew will be the bones and fat left over after you eat your smoked turkey. I came up with this recipe years ago after we had finished eating a smoked turkey that mom always sends us on Thanksgiving. She sends us a Greenberg smoked turkey, which is out of Tyler, Texas. Greenberg makes the best smoked turkey I’ve ever tasted. One year after we had polished one off, I hated to throw away any precious meat left on the bones and thought “Hmmm, I’m going to make some stew out of the leftovers.” It’s an every year event now.

You can make this turkey stew out of a Greenberg smoked turkey or out of you own smoked wild turkey. The ones from Greenberg come in a plastic bag stuffed in a paper sack. I put all of the bones and skin (fat) in the plastic bag and store in the freezer until I’m ready to cook it.

So here’s how to make the stew. It is best in a Lodge Dutch oven. Put 4 to 6 inches of water in the Dutch oven and heat it up on your stove top, or I guess you could do it in your oven. Right when you start heating the water I put in the ingredients. I throw the bones and fat in then. Since we love the stew so much, I make two batches out of one set of turkey bones.

Next you’ll put in the following ingredients:

• Chopped potatoes (4 small ones)
• One chopped squash
• One chopped onion
• 1-2 teaspoons of chopped garlic. I use bottled garlic.
• Half a bundle of chopped cilantro. Cilantro is what makes the stew so don’t leave it out.
• Tony Chachere’s seasoning and a little salt and pepper.

Bring all of the above ingredients to a boil. When the potatoes are done, throw in ¾ cup of instant rice. Let it cook for 5 to 10 minutes and you are now ready to serve. I scoop out everything with a big spoon and put in the bowls, leg bones and all. (I semi-separate the bones before cooking so all of the flavor is absorbed while cooking). Then we have a plate on the table to put the bones after you have eaten all the meat off of them.

This sounds like a simple recipe, and that’s because it is. But don’t let it fool you. It will be the best turkey stew that you’ve ever had. So just because you’ve sliced every last ounce off of your smoked wild turkey this spring don’t think it’s over. No sir, whip out a steaming pot of turkey stew and impress everyone. It is also great with homemade sourdough bread, but that will be another article down the road.

Tom Claycomb lives in Idaho and has outdoors columns in newspapers in Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Colorado and Louisiana.

If you wear glasses, I’m sure that every time you buy a new pair the optometrist cautions you to only clean them with a soft lens rag. I always brushed aside their cautions. When you’re out four-wheeling, hunting or backpacking who has time for all of that detailed kind of work? For years I’d spit on my glasses and rub them clean with toilet paper, paper towel or whatever. I’d also brushed aside the cautions of only cleaning my optics with a soft rag. I’d clean them the same way.

Then one year (not that many years ago) I bought a new pair of glasses and of course received the same cleaning instructions. For some reason, I made the decision to actually commit to religiously cleaning my glasses with a lens rag or at worst a cotton cloth.

I cleaned my glasses properly for six to eight months and suddenly one day it struck me. Wow! This really works. I didn’t have one scratch on my lenses. Maybe there really was something to this old wives’ tale.

Then the next year I went on Pro-staff with Leica and right before I was about to conduct a “Glassing for Big Game” seminar in Dallas at the Dallas Safari Club Convention, I dropped by the Leica booth to get some optics to demo in the seminar (this saved me from flying down with a suitcase full of optics).

While at their booth, I was talking to Hamilton Boykin about various glassing techniques, and the topic of properly cleaning your glass popped up. His advice carried my cleaning knowledge to a new level. I’ll share with you some of his insights.

I’m going to describe how to properly clean the lenses on your binoculars, but the same principles apply to cleaning your scopes, spotting scopes and, yes, even your glasses. He said the first thing to do is to hold your binoculars upside down and blow any loose sand and dust off.

Next pour water on the lenses and again turn them upside down and hopefully more of the dirt pours off. I used to worry about pouring water on my binoculars. What if they leaked and I got moisture into them? Well, if they leak, they’re not very good binoculars anyway. Good ones shouldn’t leak.

I think most of us, even if we use a lens rag, rub the lenses to clean them. Because the lenses are small and circular, we end up rubbing them clean in a circular motion. He cautions against this. If we do this, he says we are grinding the sand into the lenses. He says we should use a brushing motion to brush off the dirt.

I then repeat this process once or twice before actually trying to rub the lenses clean. I don’t think you can be too gentle.

A few other tips. I have a buddy that carries a lens rag attached to his binoculars, but it is hanging out of the cover. This means that it is always full of dust and acts like a piece of sandpaper. Not good. I understand, if it isn’t attached to your binoculars then you’ll probably forget to carry it while hunting, but at least leave it tucked up in the small carrying bag and rinse it clean periodically.

If you’re out hunting and forget a lens rag what do you do? At worst, you can pull out the tail of your T-shirt and use it. The upper part of your T-shirt will be dusty, but hopefully the lower part will be dust-free.

I know, many of you are saying that most glass comes with lenses covers and, yes, that is true, but I have lost all of the million trillion lens covers I have ever owned within a hot second of getting out of the truck. Either I am not lens-cover compatible, or they just aren’t that functional in the real world.

I just went on Pro-staff with Riton Optics, and while typing I thought I’d check. Sure enough, I’ve already lost the top covers on my binoculars but the bottom ones are still on. I think I’ll call Riton and get another set and tie them on with a string so I don’t lose them. No doubt, covers help minimize your lenses getting dirty, especially on top.

As we close, if you buy a good set of optics like from Riton Optics and clean properly, the coating on the lenses should remain undamaged and you’ll be using them hopefully the rest of your life. Take care of your lenses. There is a lot of beauty out there to be seen if you have a pair of unscratched lenses!

Tom Claycomb lives in Idaho and has outdoors columns in newspapers in Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Colorado and Louisiana.