I don’t want to say that hunting — and — fishing has eternal consequences but since most people are going to break their new year’s resolutions let’s at least make some temporal outdoor New Year’s resolutions.

Here’s why I say this and am writing this article. I meet a million people every year that in talking to me tell me that they used to hunt a lot as a kid, used to fish a lot until they had kids, used to elk hunt a lot until their buddies moved/died and on and on the list goes. Or it may be as simple as you just moved to Idaho and don’t know where to hunt/fish anymore. But whatever the scenario, let’s make plans to get you back in the outdoors.

I’m a believer that if something is the right thing to do, then do it right now. So with that said, let’s get started.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY/MARCH

ICE FISHING — Ice fishing is relatively inexpensive. Buy an auger, few ice fishing rods, jigs, bait, hole scooper and you’re good to go. As you get more into it, you’ll want a gas auger.

SNOWSHOEING — Great way to get up in the mountains and hike around. There are groomed trails or you can go hit the trails in your elk hunting haunts. And for sure throw in the fixings to build a fire and heat up some hot chocolate.

COUGAR HUNTING — You can try to call one in but your chances are better if you hunt with dogs.

VARMINT HUNTING — Winter varmint hunting is great fun. Buy a FoxPro electronic call. You’ll also want some Montana Decoys.

WOLF HUNTING — As is the popular saying, kill a wolf and save 52 deer/elk per year.

SET HOME AND COMPLAIN ABOUT THE COLD — Not an option.

APRIL/MAY/JUNE

(Seasons start and stop during these three months, check the regs.)

TURKEY HUNTING — Turkey hunting is a big deal in Idaho. You’ll want to get a good call like a 4-Play Turkey Call, Montana Decoys and HEVI-Shot turkey loads.

BEAR HUNTING — I love bear hunting. Idaho has some awesome bear hunting. To get a big bruiser it’s best to put in for one of the draws.

CRAPPIE FISHING — To hear/read the Southern boys talk you’d think that they had the corner on crappie fishing. Not so. We have unbelievable crappie fishing here in Idaho/Oregon. Me and a buddy will get well over 200 every trip when things get hot and that’s in only five to seven hours of fishing.

MUSHROOM HUNTING — If you ask why I listed mushroom hunting then you’ve never eaten a morel. They’re the best fungi in the world, second only to the truffle in England.

JULY/AUGUST (Finally summer has hit in the mountains.)

BACKPACKING — What’s cooler than backpacking? You’re in the coolest country that God ever made, fishing/hiking and having a blast.

FLY FISHING — I know, many of you flyfish year-round but now you can get up in the high country. The season actually opens Labor Day but back where I go you can’t get there until after July 4.

HUCKLEBERRIES/THIMBLE BERRIES — Wild berries are the best, whether you’re eating them as fast as you pick them, making jam or homemade ice cream. You just can’t go wrong if a huckleberry is involved!

RAFTING — Idaho is the No. 1 whitewater rafting state. I’ve still got to line up a three- to five-day backcountry fly fishing rafting trip. My buddies catch a million fish.

FOUR-WHEELING — You live in Idaho. Buy a four-wheeler! There are 50,000,000 trails. Four-wheeling is a blast. P.S. Be careful. I’ve flipped a four-wheeler a couple of times and it never turned out to be a pleasant experience.

SEPTEMBER

BOW HUNTING — Actually bowhunting opens the end of August but anymore I wait until the second or third week of September when it gets cool and the elk start bugling.

GROUSE HUNTING — Grouse hunting is a good excuse to get up in the mountains and scout for elk/deer before season.

BACKCOUNTRY FLY FISHING — I’m a big bowhunter but the last five to eight years I find myself more and more fly fishing in the backcountry until the first of September. Everyone else is hunting and I have the rivers to myself. Water levels have dropped, fish are congregated and I drill them. What more can you ask for?

ANTELOPE HUNTING — I love antelope hunting. They’re a cool animal. The only thing bad is that you have to put in for a draw to get a tag.

MOOSE HUNTING — I’m sunk. I’ve already killed my lifetime cow and bull moose but moose hunting is the best. They are huge animals and will require some serious packing out. Put in for a draw and you’ll have plenty of meat for the upcoming year.

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER/DECEMBER (Showtime! Big game season is in full swing. This is why we live in Idaho.)

DEER, ELK, BEAR, BIG HORN, GOAT, WOLF HUNTING — Idaho is at her finest and is shining in all of her splendor!

WATERFOWL HUNTING — Many hunters live for waterfowl hunting. It can provide high speed fun shooting.

I am way out of room but Idaho has a million more activities to offer than I’ve listed above. Sorry if I didn’t get to list your favorite activity but the editor has turned off the ink and is shutting me down. I didn’t even get to talk about putting in for drawings. We’re over blessed here in Idaho.

Tom Claycomb lives in Idaho and has outdoors columns in newspapers in Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Colorado and Louisiana. He also writes for various outdoors magazines and teaches outdoors seminars at stores like Cabela’s, Sportsman’s Warehouse and Bass Pro Shop.

Soon after getting married, Katy told me that I was the eternal tightwad. I told her that I wasn’t a tightwad, I was just thrifty. She puts her hands on her hips and says, “Well, you’ve carried it to a new level.”

I told her I didn’t have much as a kid and learned to get by with what I had. She informed me that I was no longer a kid and I had a real job, a good job and I needed to loosen up some.

So with the above said, there are some items on the market that can make working on your guns a lot simpler. Let’s cover a few of those items. Up until … OK, maybe 10 years ago, anytime I was going to clean a rifle or mount a scope I’d pile some blankets on the kitchen table to cradle my rifle. Needless to say, that didn’t provide for a very stable work station.

When mounting a scope, it is not conducive to obtaining good results if the rifle slips and bounces off the table. Ditto with the scope. You need something firm and steady holding your rifle. Same when cleaning your guns.

The ultimate tool to solve the above problems is the Otis Elite Range Box. It is like a giant tackle box. Remove the top and put the two forks in place to cradle your rifle. Now you’re ready to work. Another big feature is that it has ample room to store all of your cleaning patches, oils, solvents and tools. On the side of the forks are slots to hold your cleaning rods. I love these boxes for cleaning my rifles/shotguns and for mounting scopes or working on them. You can also carry it to the gun range. After you get one you’ll wonder how you ever lived without one.

Another important thing is a stable bench to shoot off of. Ninety percent of the time I go out on the prairies to do my shooting/sighting in my rifles and shotguns. That way I don’t have to work around anyone at the gun range and hold them up or vice versa. But one benefit that a gun range has is that they have a steady bench and seat.

For a few years I shot off the tailgate. Then I started taking a chair and then I really moved up and for years used a card table and chair and piled blankets/coats on the table to rest my rifle on. Still not the ultimate.

Replace the blankets with range bags. It seems for every different gun that you need a little bit different of elevation to get comfortable so get a variety of bags to accommodate your different needs.

Now I use a Caldwell Stable Table. It is a collapsible table and seat. It is durable and easy to slap up or fold-up and store at home. It’s handy.

Another item that came out years ago was the Caldwell Lead Sled. It was a device that held your rifle so you could shoot and it wouldn’t kick you as bad. This is a big deal if you’re shooting a lot of rifles or big bore guns. If you’re flinching then you can’t get good groups. To reduce recoil, you lay lead shot bags on the sled, hence the name Lead Sled.

But a couple of years ago Caldwell came out with their Hydro Sled. It has a reservoir that you fill with water to give it weight which reduces recoil. I use it now instead of my Lead Sled.

If I’ve got many rifles to sight in, I always take my sled. If not, by the time I get two to three new rifles sighted in it is hard not to flinch which prevents me from obtaining decent groups.

But where I really got to loving my Lead Sled was years ago. I was doing an article for Bass Pro Shop on the best turkey loads and had to sample a ton of different turkey loads. You want to talk about getting pounded! Go shoot a couple of boxes of 3 ½-inch HEVI Shot ga. Turkey loads. That will make you cry Uncle. But with my Caldwell Lead Sled, no problemo.

SUMMARY

So to ease your pains when mounting a scope, putting a red dot scope on your shotgun, cleaning your rifle/shotgun or just to keep all of your cleaning supplies and gun tools organized, get a range box.

To provide a stable rest for sighting in your rifles, patterning your shotguns and seeing what your gun is actually capable of shooting, invest in a Caldwell Stable Table and some bench bags.

Then if you want to go all out and hit the next level you might want to check out these two items.

1. Caldwell Ballistic Precision Target Camera. The younger techie crowd will like this. With the app and using your cell phone it allows you to observe where your bullet hits the target.

2. Caldwell Chronograph to measure bullet speeds. These are an aid to tell you your reloading results. I like to know how fast my airguns fly, when I start losing accuracy or performance etc.

SECOND SUMMARY

As Katy would say, “Boys and their toys.”

Tom Claycomb lives in Idaho and has outdoors columns in newspapers in Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Colorado and Louisiana. He also writes for various outdoors magazines and teaches outdoors seminars at stores like Cabela’s, Sportsman’s Warehouse and Bass Pro Shop.

Soon after getting married, Katy told me that I was the eternal tightwad. I told her that I wasn’t a tightwad, I was just thrifty. She puts her hands on her hips and says, “Well, you’ve carried it to a new level.”

I told her I didn’t have much as a kid and learned to get by with what I had. She informed me that I was no longer a kid and I had a real job, a good job and I needed to loosen up some.

So with the above said, there are some items on the market that can make working on your guns a lot simpler. Let’s cover a few of those items. Up until … OK, maybe 10 years ago, anytime I was going to clean a rifle or mount a scope I’d pile some blankets on the kitchen table to cradle my rifle. Needless to say, that didn’t provide for a very stable work station.

When mounting a scope, it is not conducive to obtaining good results if the rifle slips and bounces off the table. Ditto with the scope. You need something firm and steady holding your rifle. Same when cleaning your guns.

The ultimate tool to solve the above problems is the Otis Elite Range Box. It is like a giant tackle box. Remove the top and put the two forks in place to cradle your rifle. Now you’re ready to work. Another big feature is that it has ample room to store all of your cleaning patches, oils, solvents and tools. On the side of the forks are slots to hold your cleaning rods. I love these boxes for cleaning my rifles/shotguns and for mounting scopes or working on them. You can also carry it to the gun range. After you get one you’ll wonder how you ever lived without one.

Another important thing is a stable bench to shoot off of. Ninety percent of the time I go out on the prairies to do my shooting/sighting in my rifles and shotguns. That way I don’t have to work around anyone at the gun range and hold them up or vice versa. But one benefit that a gun range has is that they have a steady bench and seat.

For a few years I shot off the tailgate. Then I started taking a chair and then I really moved up and for years used a card table and chair and piled blankets/coats on the table to rest my rifle on. Still not the ultimate.

Replace the blankets with range bags. It seems for every different gun that you need a little bit different of elevation to get comfortable so get a variety of bags to accommodate your different needs.

Now I use a Caldwell Stable Table. It is a collapsible table and seat. It is durable and easy to slap up or fold-up and store at home. It’s handy.

Another item that came out years ago was the Caldwell Lead Sled. It was a device that held your rifle so you could shoot and it wouldn’t kick you as bad. This is a big deal if you’re shooting a lot of rifles or big bore guns. If you’re flinching then you can’t get good groups. To reduce recoil, you lay lead shot bags on the sled, hence the name Lead Sled.

But a couple of years ago Caldwell came out with their Hydro Sled. It has a reservoir that you fill with water to give it weight which reduces recoil. I use it now instead of my Lead Sled.

If I’ve got many rifles to sight in, I always take my sled. If not, by the time I get two to three new rifles sighted in it is hard not to flinch which prevents me from obtaining decent groups.

But where I really got to loving my Lead Sled was years ago. I was doing an article for Bass Pro Shop on the best turkey loads and had to sample a ton of different turkey loads. You want to talk about getting pounded! Go shoot a couple of boxes of 3 ½-inch HEVI Shot ga. Turkey loads. That will make you cry Uncle. But with my Caldwell Lead Sled, no problemo.

SUMMARY

So to ease your pains when mounting a scope, putting a red dot scope on your shotgun, cleaning your rifle/shotgun or just to keep all of your cleaning supplies and gun tools organized, get a range box.

To provide a stable rest for sighting in your rifles, patterning your shotguns and seeing what your gun is actually capable of shooting, invest in a Caldwell Stable Table and some bench bags.

Then if you want to go all out and hit the next level you might want to check out these two items.

1. Caldwell Ballistic Precision Target Camera. The younger techie crowd will like this. With the app and using your cell phone it allows you to observe where your bullet hits the target.

2. Caldwell Chronograph to measure bullet speeds. These are an aid to tell you your reloading results. I like to know how fast my airguns fly, when I start losing accuracy or performance etc.

SECOND SUMMARY

As Katy would say, “Boys and their toys.”

Tom Claycomb lives in Idaho and has outdoors columns in newspapers in Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Colorado and Louisiana. He also writes for various outdoors magazines and teaches outdoors seminars at stores like Cabela’s, Sportsman’s Warehouse and Bass Pro Shop.

I had COVID-19 in April and didn’t recoup until May 6. For six weeks prior to that I was helping a buddy over in South Dakota. I left there and it was pretty much still winter and by the time I got well, spring was in full swing, crappie fishing was on the tail end slide and the mushroom season was over. When I went to sleep it was winter and when I woke up and it was almost summer. I felt like Rip Van Winkle.

I got to make the most of summer but still, even now I feel a little time disoriented. And suddenly it’s almost Christmas and here I am writing my annual Christmas list. Wow.

Well, here’s a list of some of the cool items that I got to test out this year and some that are old-time favorites. I say something to this effect every year but if you take time to investigate what your little outdoor honey wants/needs, you can really rack up some points. Most of our outdoor endeavors are pretty specific so investigate before you make a purchase.

I’ve never thrown this angle in before, but with the COVID-19 panic ravaging businesses in America try to shop in your community if at all possible and keep the dollars at home. That way your friends and neighbors can maintain their jobs and businesses. If your health is compromised then, yes, you can probably do almost all of your shopping online. I just wanted to remind everyone that local businesses are what supports the community that you live in.

If you buy a unique or much-needed item, you’ll sweep your outdoor lover off their feet. And you don’t always have to spend a lot of money. Well, let’s get started:

HUNTING

• SneakyHunter BootLamps
• Smith’s Folding Limb Saw
• Knives of Alaska Professional Boning Knife
• Umarex airguns. Check out the Gauntlet, Origin or the Yukon Magnum break barrel.
• mytopomaps. They will make a map of wherever or however detailed that you want. I use them.
• Hi Mountain seasoning to make your own jerky and sausage.
• Chard Pro Former Jerky Gun. I just got one. Can’t wait to use it.
• .511 cool tactical pants, great for hunting.
• Spyderco makes a cool little hunting knife called the Bow River knife.
• Scopes/Binoculars. There’s an up and coming new company called Riton Optics. Check out their offerings.
• For shooters, Caldwell makes a lot of must-have items. Shooting bags, Hydrosled and their Stable Table. These items help you have a stable rest when sighting in your rifles.
• Otis Elite Range Box. This is a great help when mounting scopes or cleaning your guns.

BACKPACKING ITEMS

• Alps Mountaineering Dash chair
• Alps Chaos 2 tent
• Alps Nimble pad
• Camp Chef Stryker 200 stove
• Aquimira filtered water bottles and straws
• Adventure Medical Kits duct tape, mole skin
• Irish Setter Canyons hiking boots
• Hiking socks — these are worth their weight in gold.
• Eating utensils, Outdoor Edge Chowpal, Collapsible cooking utensils.
• Uberleben Stoker Flatpack is a cool little collapsible stove.
• Smith’s Consumer Products offers I don’t know how many folding knives that are great for backpacking.
• Backpacking meals

FISHING

• Heybo makes some cool fishing shirts.
• Mister Twister plastics. I like their tube jigs for crappie fishing.
• I’ve been using a Honda BF 2.3 motor to fish with this summer. I like it better than my trolling motor.
• Sunglasses. Check out the Hobie El Matador model for full eye coverage.
• Hire a fishing guide to float a river.
• Fishing rod & reel.
• Fish filleting knives. Smith’s Consumer Products makes a variety of sizes.

CAMPING

• Daisy Powerline 51 slingshot, great fun for kids (and Katy) for shooting cans around camp.
• Grizzly 60 cooler. This is a well-built, stout cooler.
• Camp Chef Rainer 2X camp stove
• Smith’s Consumer Products sharpening stones. My favorite is their 8-inch Tri-hone set but I also love their 6-inch fine diamond stone.
• Lodge Dutch oven with legs
• Tent
• Backpack

STOCKING STUFFERS

This is where you can score some points on cheap little knickknacks that they’ll value.

• Split shots
• Fishing lures
• .22 ammo
• Waterproof matches
• Flashlight
• Substitute a day pack for a stocking!
• Talon Snap Cleaning Kit. This is a cool new kit to clean your pistol.
• Flies make great stocking stuffers. (Check out flydealflies.com use CLAYCOMB and you can get a discount.)

Tom Claycomb lives in Idaho and has outdoors columns in newspapers in Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Colorado and Louisiana. He also writes for various outdoors magazines and teaches outdoors seminars at stores like Cabela’s, Sportsman’s Warehouse and Bass Pro Shop.

As a grade-school kid, I’d read the Fur-Fish-Game magazine and dream of being a mountain man. No, read probably isn’t the right word. Devour would be the correct word. I’d read the articles about the old trappers up in Canada and of their lifestyles. In summer they’d go out in the woods, build a cabin, pack in supplies, cut a winter’s worth of firewood and then when the winter snows hit, they’d slap on a pair of snowshoes and set a trapline. They’d trap all winter and come out in the spring and sell their hides, which they’d scraped and stretched on the long winter nights in the cabin.

In junior high with my paper route earnings I bought some of the old A.R. Harding books that were advertised in FFG. In some of the books the old timers would talk about processing their moose, which would provide their meat for the upcoming winter. But they also made a big deal out of saving the bones, which they’d boil down to make broths and stews. You can visualize how they made their stew.

At daylight before they took off to run their traplines they’d load up a Dutch oven with moose bones, canned vegetables and snow and put it on the fireplace. After running their trapline all day they’d come home at dusk to a hot pot of stew.

Then nine or 10 years ago, I was helping a store up in Haines, Alaska, during the Canadian Thanksgiving spree. One day a young lady pulled up to the back of the store and asked if we could cut up her moose bones for her to make stew. We shrugged our shoulders and said sure. She opened her van and there was a whole moose carcass in back laying on a tarp. She took all of the cut-up bones back to her cabin to make stews and broths for the winter.

So, I guess these backdrops are what prompted me to save the bones/fat off of our Thanksgiving turkey and try to make a stew. Boy, am I glad that I did. Turkey stew has now come to be almost as enjoyable as eating the actual turkey itself. Plus, it’s super easy to make.

Ever since, I’ve been making turkey stew but I doubt that I’ve ever used the same recipe. I’ll list out a general list of ingredients that I use but feel free to improvise to your family’s liking. I suppose that you can throw in pretty much anything on up to the proverbial kitchen sink.

Here’s how I make it. I’ll throw in the turkey bones/fat, sliced potatoes, squash, tomato, onion and, for sure, cilantro. Cilantro is a key ingredient. I also slice up one to two jalapenos to add a little spice and then garlic, salt and pepper. I go light on the salt and let everyone add what they prefer when served.

There’s nothing sacred about following my exact recipe. Tweak it to what sounds good to you or what ingredients that you have handy. Cook until the vegetables are done. You won’t believe how good it is.

Maybe I’m too much of a mountain man/cowboy but it tastes best when cooked in a Lodge Dutch oven. For cooking at home, I use a Dutch oven without legs. They’re easier to use on the stove top or in the oven without legs.

I know you’re thinking that there has to be more to it than this. Nope, it’s that simple.

So when you carve up a turkey don’t throw away the bones and fat. Bag them up and freeze them so you can later make some turkey stew. Even on a smaller turkey you’ll have enough scraps to make two batches and can stretch it out to three to four batches on a large bird.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving and take a moment to give thanks for all of your many blessings. It always improves my outlook on life when I focus on all the blessings I have instead of the one or two things that I don’t have.

Sidenote: FFG is still going strong. In fact, I have an article in the November issue which is currently on the shelves. If you want to check out some of the old A.R. Harding books contact FFG or look on pages 40 and 44 in the current issue.

Tom Claycomb lives in Idaho and has outdoors columns in newspapers in Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Colorado and Louisiana. He also writes for various outdoors magazines and teaches outdoors seminars at stores like Cabela’s, Sportsman’s Warehouse and Bass Pro Shop.