Fishing & Hunting News Magazine

If you like to fish or hunt, this may be the best magazine you'll find on your hobby. The reason I think so is because the magazine is tailored for the state you live in.

The news in each is very specific to your location. It has more specific maps for finding those out of the way areas. It gives specific hunting seasons for specific game animals, and likewise for fishing seasons. There is information on what type of bait seems to be working with which type of fish at a particular location. Or what type of decoys are working with what types of game birds. It talks about the best time of day for hunting or fishing in certain locations. You can't get any better advice than this!

There are several features that are regularly published in this magazine. There is a photo contest and a trophy tale. There is a section on how to find outfitters. There is a section on how to find information on the internet. The main articles are divided into three main sections. It is kind of odd, but the main fishing section takes up the first 15 pages or so. Then the next 25 or so pages are taken up by fishing news. These middle pages are "sub-pages" of page 28. Its kind of an odd way to paginate. Then the last section will be hunting news. The emphasis will switch from fishing to hunting as the seasons switch.

What I really like about this magazine is that it covers the entire state. Not just the populous west (and wet) side of our state (Washington). It covers all over the eastern side too and some fairly remote areas. Just because there isn't much population in an area doesn't mean there aren't game animals and fish to go after. This is really refreshing, when our side of the state often gets ignored in publications. You can imagine that this also leads to a very diverse number of game to shoot for in both the wet, forested landscape and the dry, desert landscape. Both landscapes are covered equally well, with sometimes the dry side getting maximum coverage.

The magazine is definitely for the experienced angler or hunter. It gives details of what types of bait or leaders or rods to use when fishing. There are accounts of what decoys, scents, calls, guns, etc. to use when hunting specific types of game. The articles largely assume you know what these items are. It does not explain what these items are, only why one is preferrable or another. Articles are derived from reports from people who are fishing and hunting in the areas being written about, so the information is very timely, much like outdoor sections of a newspaper.

The magazine is now published twice a month at $2.99 cover price. Subscriptions are much cheaper. The magazine can be ordered on-line at www.fishingandhuntingnews.com. Perhaps its only drawback is that it is not a glossy magazine. But that is how it can be offered so cheaply. The newsprint quality pages aren't really a problem, though, except in the pictures. Pictures of different game animals and fish are not the best of quality and probably should not be relied upon if you are unsure of identification of species because the color isn't very true. For those of you who look at the ads, the pictures aren't much help there either, but enough to give you an idea of what is offered. At least the ads are geared toward the outdoorsman and not the banker.

Overall, though, I find this magazine extremely informative. We use it as a guide to help us decide where we might like to go on our next fishing excursion. Shortly the fishing season will wind down and the focus will be on the hunting news, with fishing taking more of a back seat. That's okay; I don't like the cold.