As hunting season is getting into full swing, I hope that you’re prepared. You’re practiced up with your bow, your rifle is sighted in, and if you’re out of shape then you’ve been working out. But one minor detail that most people overlook, which in a very short amount of time will become a big deal, is if your knife is sharp or not. In all actuality, it’s not that most hunters overlook this task; they just flat out don’t know how to sharpen a knife.

I always say that 100 percent of the outdoorsmen use a knife and yet I bet less than 5 percent can sharpen one. That’s why I’ve conducted knife-sharpening seminars from Texas on up to Alaska, at the SHOT in Vegas, SCI Convention in Reno, DSC Convention & Expo in Dallas and everywhere else in between.

While it does take some skill to sharpen a knife, it doesn’t take a Ph.D. It’s somewhat scientific and somewhat touchy feely (artistic). Here’s what I mean by that. You engineers want step 1, 2 and 3. You’re the kind that designed the pre-set systems. And they work but I say learn to do it the old way by hand and then you’ll have a sense of pride at learning your new skill. You’ll even be able to impress your guides.

To master this skill, you do have to learn the basics and adhere to them to be successful, but your artistic flavor is also necessary because it does vary somewhat knife to knife.

In the old days, the metal in knives was softer so our dads/grandads only used a smooth Arkansas whetstone. Now, the knives are so hard that you’d work forever with one so I recommend using a diamond stone which is a metal plate with impregnated diamond chips. There are cheaper ones on the market but Smith’s Consumer Products makes the best. Their surface has a consistent texture.

Smith’s color codes their stones according to the coarseness of the surface. Yellow (325 grit) is coarse and orange is fine (750 grit). I advise using the orange. I only use the coarse stone in my knife-sharpening seminars when someone comes in with a really dull, chipped or mushroomed edge knife. Don’t let your knife get that bad. Keep it touched up.

If your edge gets too chipped up you may have to regrind the edge or, you can just keep using it and over time you will grind past the chip. But while cutting you will snag on the chip. It’s not that your knife is dull, what you’re cutting is just snagging and stopping. Make sense?

What is the best angle? Just use whatever angle came from the factory. Used to be, edges were around 30 degrees. Then you started seeing 25-, 22-, 20-, then 18-, some 16- and now even 14-degree angles. In the old days, they couldn’t be that steep. The metal was too soft so the edge would have rolled or chipped.

So if you see a knife with a steep angle then you know that the metal is hard. No biggie, use a diamond stone otherwise it’d take all day to sharpen in on an Arkansas stone.

It doesn’t matter if you cut into the stone or push away. The big deal is to do the same number of strokes on each side and keep the same angle all the way down the blade. When it starts getting sharp the strokes will feel smoother. Like the edge is sliding on glass. That tells you it’s sharp.

Before you start, look at the edge. If the light reflects off the edge, that’s a flat (or dull) spot. Really bad edges may be mushroomed or rolled. If so, don’t cut into the stone, push away. Also, if it’s really bad, I lay the knife down flatter the first three or four revolutions and then go back to the correct angle after the metal is lined back up.

Finish up on an Arkansas stone. I had a buddy in college that then progressed to a leather strop and resin and he could get a wicked edge.

The ultimate set-up is the Smith’s 8-inch Tri-hone stone. It’s elevated and has a coarse diamond stone, a fine diamond stone and an Arkansas stone. Everyone has a budget so if you can only afford one stone, I’d recommend the Smith’s 6-inch fine diamond. It’s elevated about 1 inch which aids in being able to comfortably access the stone.

There are a lot of ways to sharpen a knife but I think the way I teach is the easiest method. My brother uses a little 4-inch flat piece of diamond impregnated metal and he can get a knife just as sharp as I can. So if what you’re doing is working, don’t change.

As we come to a close don’t give up if it takes you a minute to master this skill. While it is a simple concept it will take a month or so to get the hang of.

To help speed up your learning process here are a couple of helps. I have a short e-article on Amazon Kindle and a YouTube on Ron Spomer Outdoors.

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 titled this article Sighting In Your Rifle For Big Game Hunting but the same concept applies if you’re hunting with a bow or even a spear! Whatever method you choose, you need to sight in your choice of weapon PLUS become proficient. If not, at best you will miss and at worst you will wound an animal.

Nothing kicks you in the stomach like wounding an animal and not finding it. That makes you feel like wrapping your gun/bow around a tree and quitting hunting.

Once I took a buddy black powder hunting to my honey hole. He missed 10 or 11 shots. I finally figured out that he hadn’t even sighted in his rifle. It is crazy to spend all of the money, take vacation, and work so hard to get into the position to take a shot and not be prepared for it. It surprises me how many people don’t really sight in their rifle so let’s cover that today.

* To begin, you need to have a good rest so you can obtain a good group.Leaning over the hood of the pickup won’t cut it. You may be thinking well, I don’t have a bench while hunting. Duh, no kidding. What we’re talking about right now, though, is getting your rifle sighted in, not how to shoot free handed.

Take a card table, chair and some Caldwell sand bags to shoot off of and go out to the desert and find a good backstop. It’s best to not have any wind but that day will never happen so try to go when there are minimal winds. If you have a rifle that kicks like a mule use a Caldwell Lead Sled or a Caldwell Hydro Sled. That way you won’t flinch. Also wear double ear protection to prevent flinching.

Shoot three shots to determine your group and then adjust the scope/sights. If you’re not getting a good group then you need to determine the cause. This can be caused by multiple things so you have to systematically eliminate each cause.

1. Scope is loose.

2. Scope mounts are loose.

3. Rifle is no good.

4. After multiple shots a thin barrel will heat up and you’ll lose your accuracy.

5. You could be using the wrong brand/grain of ammo.

6. Rifle barrel is dirty. Non gilded metal bullets shoot best out of a clean barrel. Your groups will widen as the barrel gets dirty. Clean the barrel and watch your groups tighten up.

7. You’re a horrible shot (OK, had to throw this one in for humor).

8. May be other causes but this list is pretty inclusive.

Let’s say you’re getting a good group but it is off to one side. Make adjustments and shoot again. Or, to save ammo have someone hold the rifle steady on the rest. Have them hold the crosshairs on the bullseye and you click the adjustments until they are on the bullet hole. It should now be on target.

Ammo can vary greatly between manufacturers. Brand X may be 2 inches low and Brand Y is 2 inches to the left.

You have to sight in your rifle for whatever brand of ammo that you’re going to be shooting. Also, for whatever reason, some rifles like certain ammo. I’ve had good luck with Hornaday and Nosler. For pellets JSB is the best with Sig Sauer & Benjamin right behind them.

Also, you need to figure out which grain bullet shoots best in your rifle. For instance, everyone will tell you that 165 grain is the best size for a 30-06. Sure, 180 or 220 grain is better for moose as far as killing properties but they won’t be as accurate. But is it still accurate enough to shoot in your rifle? Maybe for up to 150 yard shots? Experiment. In your .223/5.56 according to the twist of the rifling certain grain bullets will shoot better.

Don’t be bashful. Call the gun manufacturer and ask them which brand of ammo and what grain is the most accurate in your rifle. This may save buying a lot of different brands of ammo. It constantly amazes me as to how ammo varies. I remember one time I was testing out different ammo performance in a Mossberg Patriot 30-06. I had 15 or so different boxes of ammo to test. It varied widely but a couple were definitely the most accurate.

Next, set up targets at 50, 100, 200, 300 and 400 yards. How long are you comfortable shooting? The rage now is long range shooting but in all actuality, 400 yards is a long shot.

Figure out what you are comfortable at and limit yourself to no further shots. Practice so you know how much to hold over and either carry a range finder of learn to judge distances.

My buddy Ron Spomer teaches a system he calls … I can’t remember the exact terminology but it is something like “Point Blank Shooting.” He teaches to sight in your rifle at 200 yards then if you aim at center mass — anywhere from 50-400 yards — you will have a dead animal.

You have to come to the realization that just because you can see them doesn’t mean you can shoot. Especially when hunting down in the Owyhees. I’ve seen a lot of elk wayyyyyyyyyy out there. There was no cover to sneak closer so I was sunk. That’s life.

Well, there’s a lot more that we could cover but that’s some of the basics to get you started. Good luck.

• A good rest is a good stable table to shoot off of and sand bags (when sighting in your rifle at the range). If you’re up hunting a good rest can mean you had a strong limb to lay your rifle on or a rock and you laid your backpack on top of the rock and were able to get steady so you could make a good shot.
• The group means the bullets all are close together. So let’s say you take 3 shots. You don’t want one on the bullseye, the 2nd shot 6 inches high and the 3rd shot 10 inches to the right. Then you’d worry where the bullet was going to actually hit. You want them all w/in 1 inch of each other (or better yet, all bullets touching). Even if the group is 4 inches low, no big deal if it is tight. Just turn your scope 16 clicks and it should now be on the bullseye.

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.

A week ago, I was showing a couple of talented college students how to rappel. Neither had ever done it despite being good climbers.

We were at the top of a new rock climbing cliff along the Blackfoot River Canyon and rappelling seemed to be the best way down.

I remember telling them, “Rappelling is easy and fun but probably the most dangerous thing climbers do.” I told them that there is no margin for error. Mistakes tend to end catastrophically bad.

Then looking on Facebook the next day, I read how a long-time climbing friend died in an accident coming down Granite Peak in Montana with his father and two brothers. He had set up a rappel anchored to a large block, but the car-sized block rolled down on top of him. A brother who was rappelling at the time, fell about 15 feet and was injured. A search and rescue helicopter removed the climbers from the mountain.

I remember looking through an old issue of “Accidents in North America Climbing” and reading a comment from one of its editors about how that particular year (and most years) more incidents occurred when climbers were coming down a mountain than when going up. Most involved rappelling.

My friend Kevin Hansen, a graduate of Idaho Falls High School, was climbing the peak with his father and two brothers. The accident was one of those things that would have been nearly impossible to foresee, like a large truck suddenly swerving into oncoming traffic and hitting you head on.

I remember Hansen as a kind soul, loving life and lifting those around him with his sense of humor and impish antics. He was described as a fun-loving Hobbit. Poor guy wasn’t any taller than me. He had moved to the Twin Falls area after college to teach high school seminary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. More recently, he was living in Melba south of Nampa. Sadly, he leaves behind a wife and four younger children.

I only climbed with him a few times in the gym and at local crags. His main climbing love was big alpine projects and ice climbing. He often wanted to climb the hardest line on a peak. He always talked of climbing Denali Peak in Alaska. This was the year to get it done. He and another friend of mine were pounding the gym and gathering gear for the expedition. Then the pandemic hit and his Denali plans were put on hold. This summer he stuck to the nearby Rocky Mountains.

Granite Peak is Montana’s tallest point. It sits about 10 miles north of Cooke City, Montana, above the northeast corner of Yellowstone National Park. It has the reputation of being a bit harder than Idaho’s Borah Peak with some technical routes.

As I look at Facebook comments from friends and see old and recent photos of Hansen, it’s a heartbreaker. But maybe we’ll meet up in the hereafter and tie into a rope again, if that’s something that still interests us.

In the meantime, be safe out there, especially when rappelling.

Katy and I just put a Honda BF2.3 motor on our jon boat, ditched the trolling motor and are zipping around the lake slaughtering the crappie. I may have crappie addiction issues. This year, the fishing is unbelievable although it was a lot slower this past Saturday. We only caught 50 in three and a half hours. I flew home Friday night, had plane troubles and was late getting in. As we were going to bed, Katy said she wanted to go crappie fishing the next day. I’m a lucky guy.

I need to be up bow hunting this week but things are a little scattered this year. Or maybe I have to broaden out that statement and say this lifetime. Then suddenly I remembered! A few more days and it’s dove season. Yikes! School is starting and we don’t want any school kids getting attacked by dive bombing doves, do we? So, we must get out and do our civic duty and protect the kids.

Dove hunting is a blast. It’s a great hunt for many reasons. It is low-key, you can talk, it’s not too intense, you don’t have to get camo’d to the max like when whitetail hunting and the weather is mild.

It’s also a great hunt to start kids on.

When dad started me dove hunting, I couldn’t even reach the trigger of the double barrel shotgun. I couldn’t have been 6 years old. I had to tuck the butt under my arm and shoot like Granny on the “Beverly Hillbillies.” Opening day at lunch mom would come pick us up at school and take us to meet dad to hunt.

Since those days I’ve dove hunted in Idaho, Texas, Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado. Hunting is somewhat similar no matter what state you hunt. Doves are agricultural birds. What I mean by that is they prosper around farms. Hunting over milo fields is awesome or near water ponds in the evening/morning. Years ago in Nebraska, we hunted the marijuana patches that grew wild.

In Idaho I’ve had good luck around old farm yards, corrals, feedlots and water sources. They like to set in dead trees. Dove season opened Sept. 1, as far as I know, pretty much nationwide. But don’t forget another side hunt-Eurasian doves. The Eurasian dove is about one-third larger and since it is an invasive species you can hunt it year-round and there’s no limit. The daily limit on mourning doves is 15 with a possession limit of 45.

As you can see, dove hunting is a great hunt since we can hunt mourning doves and Eurasian doves at the same time. You can really rack up and get a mess of doves. Like in all hunting, if you scout, you’ll be more successful. Drive around and see if you see any flying and ask permission to hunt. Scout out grain fields, old barn yards and water sources.

They don’t really start flying good until late afternoon so you can sneak out after work and still have a great hunt. Last September, when I was working over at Burley, I had a great field that they were feeding in. And right across the dirt road was some big barns that held hundreds of Eurasian doves. I had a lot of shooting there. But right out of Nampa a buddy’s grandparents had an old farmstead that was unbelievable. I don’t remember how many we shot in less than three hours but it was close to 100. What a hunt.

So how do you hunt them? In the middle of the afternoon if they’re out in the fields feeding it can be tough to sneak up on them. You and your buddy may have to take turns jumping them so they fly around and the other one can get some shots.

Get concealed along tree rows. They like to follow them. As alluded to above and especially on dry years early/late it can be good at ponds and slow-moving rivers/creeks. Wear a camo shirt and cap and get semi-concealed for maximum shooting.

I use 7 ½ shot and either a 12-gauge or a .20. I like modified chokes because most shots will be close. A semi-auto is fun but you’re limited to three shots. I usually use low base shells but high base shells are more effective.

Cotton Ward, the old outdoor writer for the Idaho Press back when I first started writing for the IP 19 years ago, ago gave the most accurate description of the flight of a dove that I’ve ever heard. He said “when they come dipsy doodling in, they can be deceptive and hard to hit.” Even though they are smooth, beautiful fliers don’t let them deceive you, they are hauling. If you’re missing, try leading them more. And for sure follow through when shooting.

In the old days, everyone cleaned them whole. Mr. Teague used scissors to clip off the wings, the feet, the rear end and then cut up each side of the back bone and remove it and the guts. Now everyone just breasts them. They make great poppers. Have fun.

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.