Jennifer Kuroda started a not-for-profit organization called the Illinois Bobcat Foundation after the state opened the season on the bobcat. Since then, she’s been an outspoken critic of the practice. Kuroda says she understands that bobcats are one of the most adaptable mammals on the continent, but that’s besides the point.

“There’s definitely not any concern for the status of bobcats in the United States right now,” she said. “But do we need to hunt them?”

For the past seven years Kuroda has lined up for one of the bobcat hunting permits Illinois issues each year — with plans to leave it unused and possibly save at least one of the wildcats.

“I have applied for a permit not to use since the very beginning, and I’ve never received one,” said Kuroda. “So the odds are unlikely, but I still feel it’s a method for me to be involved and have a voice in the conservation of bobcats.”

Wildcat

The bobcat is a medium-sized lynx with a short bobbed tail, hence the name, and dense brown-gray fur along its back, with a whitish underside speckled with black. That makes it prized by hunters and trappers of furbearers. The best pelts can fetch hundreds of dollars, with pelts from the western U.S. typically going for a higher premium than those from the east.

Viorel Popescu is an associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Ohio University in Athens, where he researches quantitative wildlife ecology and lately, bobcat populations. He says that habitat destruction coupled with the fur trade led to a decline in bobcat populations by the 1850s throughout the Midwest.

“They were never in danger of extinction,” said Popescu. “But they had been extirpated from several Midwest states like Ohio, Indiana, Illinois.”

The bobcat is not a federally endangered species. They’re one of the most widely distributed, medium-sized mammals in the country, second only to the raccoon. Popescu adds that today the lynx’s range spans nearly the entire United States, and parts of Canada and Mexico.

Still, a handful of states, including Indiana and Ohio, continue to ban bobcat hunting. Indiana, for example, shot down a 2019 proposal to open a season for the lynx. That same year, California officials closed their bobcat season until further notice.

Popescu says that although bobcat populations were able to return to Midwestern states, arriving at any official count or estimate of the total existing population is complicated by the cryptic nature of the species.

“And the estimates of total numbers of bobcats are really unknown,” he said. “What we know for sure are some very localized densities from very focused studies.”

Open season

Currently there is no population estimate of the number of bobcats in Illinois, and the whole northeast quadrant of the state is off limits to bobcat trappers and hunters. Some counties are cut right down the middle, where hunting is allowed on one side but not the other.

Similarly, Oklahoma does not have a solid number to point at when it comes to bobcat populations. Jerrod Davis, a senior biologist with the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, says that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

“If you have a very accurate estimate of how many animals you have in a state, you have a problem,” said Davis.

For others, that’s a cause for concern.

Laura Nirenberg founded the Center for Wildlife Ethics in Indiana and has been executive director for three decades. She’d like to to keep bobcat season closed in the state, even though just across the state line in Illinois, it’s allowed. She says that the self-reported sightings don’t necessarily translate to verifiable proof.

“I can’t tell you how many times people see a stray dog and say that they’ve got a coyote. My point is they’re not trained,” said Nirenberg. “Their intentions might be pure, they might want to help the bobcat and or the department, but that doesn’t mean that the information being gathered is valid.”

Many of those who tucked into a large turkey on Thanksgiving will have fought over the tiny end part of the cooked bird. They may even have waged a religious war over its name.

In an article in June in The Arkansas Democrat Gazette, David Lipschitz recalled an old family meal. “I loved chicken skin, and remember well fighting with my sisters for the vestigial tail of the chicken or turkey, what we called the Parson’s Nose – pure fat.”

In an article last April in the British newspaper The Independent, food writer Clarissa Dickson Wright wrote: “When I was a child, chicken was what you had for best – for Sunday lunch. There was great excitement about having it and, if you were very lucky, you got the pope’s nose.”

In the same month, Bennett Kirkpatrick wrote in The News and Observer in Raleigh, N.C., of “a syringe for injecting the liquid into the ‘Pope’s nose’ of the turkey’s tail.”

The expressions are certainly not new. In Tales of Old Dartmoor, a memorable 1956 episode of the British radio program The Goon Show, hero Ned Seagoon shouted, “Men, load all guns with roast turkey, with the parson’s nose outwards.” To which the villain Moriarty replied, “Sapristi, you devil! With the parson’s nose outwards? If you hit him with those, he’ll go to the bottom.”

The derogatory expression “pope’s nose” appears to have been coined in Britain as a result of anti-Catholic feeling after the reign of James II (1685-88). It was well in place by 1796, when Grose’s Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue defined it as “the rump of a turkey.” The expression “parson’s nose” appears to have arisen as a response, wry or otherwise, directed at the Protestant clergy. Other variations over the centuries have included bishop’s nose and recorder’s nose (after a form of British judge). It’s enough to put more than a few noses out of joint.

Elsewhere, sound-alike words continue to cause trouble. Consider NBC’s written transcript of a segment that Today co-host Katie Couric devoted on Tuesday to the death of actor Christopher Reeve.

The text includes excerpts from a 2002 television interview in which Reeve, recalling his movie role of Superman, told Couric that he supported the superhero’s devotion to “truth, justice and the American way.” However, “the American way is a little bit confusing right now. So is the word patriotism – confusing because patriotism should not be confused with, you know, the right to descent.”

Reeve was not, as you will have divined, referring to the right of Superman to touch down after flying across town faster than a speeding bullet. He meant dissent.

“In other words,” he continued, “it’s equally patriotic to challenge what our government is doing, what our politicians are doing.”

One thing that politicians are doing, along with the rest of us, is speaking of brainstorming sessions in which ideas are generated. Republican Senator Mitch McConnell told the U.S. Senate on Oct. 6 that he worked with other politicians “to brainstorm new ideas and improvements to our oversight of the intelligence community.”

(Yes, well, we already know about a few of the intelligence community’s oversights.)

In Britain, at least one political-correctness patrol has begun an assault on this sense of “brainstorm,” a sense that dates back at least to 1925 in North America. The magazine Private Eye reports that, in a training session at the British Broadcasting Corporation, a course director told a junior manager the word was no longer allowed in its colloquial sense, because “it is offensive to those suffering from epilepsy.” She was told instead to use “thoughtshower.” It would be fascinating to read a dictionary written by that director.

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Recently, a post on the Friends of the Little Red River Facebook caught my attention for a couple of distinct reasons.

The post, which showed a smiling young man holding a huge fly rod and a large brown trout from the river, was reason enough as it read:

“Personal Best Brown. Was Speechless. Sorry, I don’t have a weight or length, wanted to get it back in the water after the battle it put up. Considering the length of my net, was definitely close to or shy of 30-(inches). Hope to see someone else enjoy this fish down the road!”

The young man who caught the fish is Shen Catteau, a great friend of my two sons, Zach and Will. He’s from our hometown in North Texas and was the valedictorian at Denison High School when he graduated. After moving to Searcy, Ark., to attend Harding University, he was smitten with the fly rod, brown trout, and the nearby Little Red.

So, obviously, with a fish that was likely north of 15 pounds, and being caught and released by a hometown friend of my two boys, there was reason enough to smile. And I’d like to think that somewhere, the late Howard “Rip” Collins would think so too, beaming a huge heavenly grin from the other side of eternity.

If the name of Rip Collins rings a bell with fishing-history buffs—and fly anglers who love the trout-rich Ozark tailwaters in Arkansas—it should. Because 30 years ago, one of the most remarkable anniversaries in American angling history passed by quietly, probably just the way that Collins would have wanted it. More on that in a minute.

The Stuff of Angling Legend

As astute observers might remember, it was Colins’ huge fish catch a generation ago near the river’s Swinging Bridge area (now called Barnett’s Access), that drew the attention of the angling world and really put the Little Red on the map. That catch came on May 9, 1992—Mother’s Day, that year—when Collins took an impromptu fishing trip and landed a then-world record brown trout from the chilly waters of the Little Red River tailwater near Heber Springs, Ark.

While the White River and Norfork River to the north were already well-known for huge brown trout catches—including a 1988 world-record catch of 38 pounds, 9 ounces in the Norfork River by Huey Manley—the Little Red was a bit more carefully guarded secret, a tailwater popular with anglers from Arkansas, to Memphis, Tenn., eastern Oklahoma and North Texas.

Collins—who has been gone for a number of years after a bout with cancer in the late 1990s—changed all of that in 1992, with a catch that went viral even before the Internet was going strong and social media was hardly a dream.

As angling history buffs might recall, Collins was a retired lieutenant colonel—one report says in the U.S. Army and another says in the U.S. Air Force-and normally a serious fly angler, according to a story by Sports Illustrated writer Robert H. Boyle.

But when the then 64-year old Heber Springs resident took his boat out to test a balky engine on Mother’s Day, May 9, 1992, he brought along angling buddy Van Cooper and a spinning rod. After tying on a 1/32-ounce olive green marabou jig to the four-pound test line, Collins then made a cast heard around the world about 11 a.m. that morning.

What happened next is the stuff of angling legend, as Collins hooked a 40-pound, 4-ounce behemoth brown trout from the Little Red that would become an International Game Fish Association world record.

Were it not for the excellent account of Collins’ world-record catch in my friend Steve Wright’s book Ozark Trout Tales, many of the details surrounding the moment might have been lost to the passage of time.

A World-Record Tale

Wright, who has gone on to be one of the top story writers for B.A.S.S. down through the years—including this year’s Bassmaster Classic won by Jason Christie—got his outdoors journalism start in northwestern Arkansas, where he spent a year traveling the region’s rich trout waters, gathering stories and interviews in the shadow of the Boston Mountains. Eventually, those tales formed the backbone of his great book, an out-of-print volume still available on Amazon, eBay, Alibris and the like.

According to Wright’s tale of Collins and his epic catch, the angler was losing interest in the Little Red River and wasn’t even planning on fishing that fateful day. Instead, the troublesome outboard motor needing a test drive lured him out with his neighbor, Van Cooper.

While Cooper initially out-fished Collins, a tip from the late hall-of-fame fly angler Lefty Kreh lodged in Collins’ mind about matching flies and lures to the color of a riverbed, caused the angler to switch jig colors from white to olive green.

Moments later, Collins pitched his jig near a historically good beaver hut spot and began the retrieve. When the take came, he thought he had initially hooked a log. Seconds later, however, as the 4 ½ foot Browning spinning rod doubled over and the thin monofilament line pulled away from the Shimano Mark I reel, he knew otherwise.

And when the angler saw the huge fish—which later measured at 40 ¼ inches in length—he quickly knew that a different game was afoot than the other big trout and bass he had previously hooked in his angling lifetime that began as a boy in Indiana, continued in the military overseas, and finally came full circle as he retired to the Arkansas Ozarks.

“It looked like Shamu the whale,” Collins told Wright of his late-morning catch.

During the course of the long fight, Collins adjusted the drag pressure down almost all of the way, as the fish swam upstream and eventually tried to break off in a thick moss bed.

As Collins told Wright, that was an unusual tactic for the longtime angler. But given the trout’s enormous size, the abundance of laydowns and moss beds in the Little Red, and the lengthy fight that took around 20 minutes, it was totally necessary.

“Never in my lifetime have I changed the drag when I was fishing,” Collins is quoted in Wright’s Ozark Trout Tales. “But if I had left that drag setting the way it was, I would never have landed that fish.”

We Need a Bigger Net

Eventually, after repeated threats of getting into moss beds and breaking off, Collins had the fish positioned to land it. Since Collins and his angling buddy had hit the water simply looking to test the motor out. The addition of spinning gear was almost an afterthought and neither man had a net handy.

And when a nearby boat was flagged down, the first possible net was too small. Finally, another boat happened by with a big net and the fish was finally secured. Sort of, that is, since only its head went in the net and no one could reportedly lift the trout aboard.

Collins knew he had caught a monster, but still didn’t know that it was world-record class. A stickler for catch-and-release tactics, he took the big fish back to a nearby dock and put it in a submerged wire cage to keep it alive.

Later that day, as word of the huge trout began to spread around the Ozarks, outdoor writer Bryan Hendricks picked up the story in an article he wrote earlier this year about the iconic photograph that Gregg Patterson took of Collins standing waist deep in the river and carefully cradling the huge fish.

In Hendrick’s Jan. 23, 2022 story in Little Rock’s Arkansas Democrat Gazette newspaper, the tale is told about how Collins summoned Patterson, then with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, and told him about the huge fish.

“Rip said that he thought he’d caught a line class record, and he asked me to come up and verify it for him,” Patterson told Hendricks.

Special Delivery at Post Office

Since the catch was on Mother’s Day, Patterson reportedly told Collins that he’d come up later in the day, after church services had let out. When he arrived that evening, the journalist was startled by the size of the exceptionally large trout.

“I took one look, and I said, ‘Rip, I’m sorry, but this isn’t a line-class record,’ ” Patterson said to Hendricks. “He looked all disappointed. I said, ‘Hold on, Rip. This is THE world record. The all-tackle world record!”

Indeed, it was, as a crazy and historic angling tale continued to unfold in the Ozarks. A hatchery truck from the nearby Greer’s Ferry National Fish Hatchery was eventually summoned early the next day and the fish was transported to the Heber Springs Post Office location—where a certified scale awaited—to be officially weighed.

“There were seven or eight people in line at the post office waiting to do their post office stuff,” Patterson said in the newspaper story earlier this year. “We came in the door with this great big fish wrapped in a sheet. Big trout are a big deal in Heber Springs. They’re a big part of their economy. The guy working the counter knew exactly what was going on.”

When the fish was quickly weighed, the scale settled on 40 pounds, 4 ounces. The IGFA confirmed the world-record application and the Collins brown trout became the species’ benchmark, a spot that it would hold for almost two decades. Incidentally, there was/is much speculation that Collins’ fish weighed even more, perhaps as much as 43 or 44 pounds, since it wasn’t weighed until 24 hours later.

Collins’ world record was eventually supplanted in 2009, when a 41-pound, 7-ounce brown trout from Michigan’s Manistee River took the top spot. And today, the world record is held by a controversial trout from New Zealand, one that weighs 44-5.

Unfortunately, the stress on Collins’ world record was too much and it died before it could be released, or even be transported to an aquarium like the one at the nearby Springfield, Mo., location of Bass Pro Shops. If you’re into angling history, you might remember that’s where the one-time Texas state record largemouth bass, a fish named “Ethel” by the guide, Mark Stevenson, who caught her in Nov. 1986 at famed Lake Fork—had lived for several years.

“Due to my own stupidity and inexperience, I killed her,” Collins told Wright.

From either the catch, the loss of the record catch, or both, Collins went on to form the Friends of the Little Red River conservation organization prior to his death, an organization that continues to this day.

And while Collins and his big trout are both gone, their memories live on 30 years after their brush with fame. As do the huge brown trout of the Little Red River and the even bigger smiles by anglers like Shen Catteau.

Yes indeed, somewhere, Rip Collins is smiling.

These bright fungi are rather unusual looking, and if you’re trying them for the first time, you may be a little skeptical about their edibility.

But they’re extremely popular with foragers, very versatile in the kitchen and many people consider them the best mushroom to substitute for chicken.

So, if you’re looking for a healthy vegetarian alternative to chicken and live in an area where they thrive, these may be the perfect mushrooms for you.

Read on to learn more about chicken of the woods mushrooms, including where they grow, how to correctly identify them, what they taste like and how to harvest, store, clean and cook them.

What Are Chicken of The Woods Mushrooms?

Chicken of the woods mushrooms are striking, brightly-colored edible mushrooms that grow on old, dying or dead trees.

They’re the fruiting bodies of polypore, bracket fungi and appear in large tiered clusters of bright yellow to orange mushrooms with fan-shaped caps.

They’re occasionally parasitic on elderly trees where they cause brown rot, but usually saprotrophic, feeding on dead and decaying hardwood trees.

There are several species of chicken of the woods mushrooms that vary slightly in color and taste. Three of the most common are Laetiporus sulphureus, Laetiporus cincinnatus and Laetiporus gilbertsonii.

All three produce delicious edible mushrooms that look similar but grow on different trees.

Like other mushrooms, chicken of the woods has several names, including sulfur shelf or chicken mushrooms, sulfur shelf fungus or chicken fungus.

Can You Eat Chicken of the Woods Mushroom?

Yes, you can eat chicken of the woods, and it gets its name from the fact that its dense fibrous flesh has a texture very similar to cooked chicken.

Where Does Chicken of the Woods Grow?

Chicken of the woods grow in deciduous woodlands, and you’ll find them in a range of woodland habitats, including the edges of natural forests and urban parks and gardens.

They’re widespread in the United Kingdom, North America, and Europe and are most often found growing on trunks or stumps of deciduous hardwood trees like oaks, maples and beeches.

But you’ll sometimes find them growing on willow, wild cherry, sweet chestnut, eucalyptus and yew.

Laetiporus sulphureus and Laetiporus cincinnatus enjoy oak and beech trees, while Laetiporus gilbertsonii is usually found on oak or eucalyptus trees.

Some mycologists advise against harvesting chicken of the woods mushrooms that grow on yew trees as they could absorb the toxic alkaloids found in the yew tree. But others report having eaten these mushrooms without incident.

Is Chicken of the Woods Hard to Find?

Chicken of the woods are not hard to find, but although they’re brightly colored, easy to identify and relatively common, it’s not always as easy to find them at the right stage for eating, and you have to know where to look.

They grow best on dead and dying oak trees and enjoy humid, low-lying locations and cool temperatures. But can be unpredictable and will fruit throughout the year when conditions are favorable.

Usually, the best time to find them is fall, but foragers report coming across them anywhere from late spring through to fall, especially after heavy rains.

You’ll often find chicken of the woods growing on the same tree or log year after year until the fungus has fully decomposed the wood.

So once you have found a flush of chicken of the woods mushrooms, you can return to the same spot the following year when conditions are right and will hopefully discover more.

Where to Buy Chicken of the Woods Mushrooms

If the thought of finding and identifying chicken of the woods mushrooms in the wild is intimidating, don’t worry.

Chicken of the woods mushrooms are sought after, and in many places, you’ll find fresh chicken of the woods at local farmer’s markets or specialty food stores.

Some CSA projects also offer foraged or homegrown mushrooms as part of their weekly food parcel and may include chicken of the woods.

How to Identify Chicken of the Woods Mushrooms

Chicken of the woods are very striking and have few look-alikes making them an ideal species for beginner mushroom foragers.

They grow in overlapping layers, resemble small wavy shelves and vary in appearance from smooth to finely wrinkled.

Their broad fan-shaped caps can get very big and range from 2 to 12 inches (5 to 30 cm) across, with a velvet or suede-like feel when young that becomes leathery as they mature.

Chicken of the woods are polypores, meaning they do not have gills. Instead, the underside of their caps have lots of tiny tubes that look like pores, and these produce their spores.

Chicken of the woods mushrooms don’t have stems, the brackets emerge directly from the tree, but they sometimes have short pseudo or “false stems” that are actually part of the cap.

Their color varies from species to species, and as they mature, their bright colors fade and change, becoming tan or light brown.

The upper surface of Laetiporus sulphureus, often called the sulfur shelf mushroom, is orange-red to orange-yellow, usually with bright yellow wavy edges. The underside is bright sulfurous yellow with tiny pores.

Laetiporus cincinnatus, also known as the white-pored chicken of the woods, has a pale pinkish to peachy colored upper surface, and the underside is white with tiny pores.

The upper surface of Laetiporus gilbertsonii is pale pinkish orange or orangish-yellow, and the pore surface varies from lemon-yellow to pale lemon-yellow.

Chicken of the Woods vs. Hen of the Woods

Chicken of the woods and Hen of the woods are very different mushrooms. And although they’re not look-alikes, their similar names often cause confusion.

Hen of the woods or maitake is a delicious edible polypore mushroom that grows in clusters at the base of hardwood trees. And like some chicken of the woods prefers oaks.

But this is where the similarity ends.

Hen of the woods mushrooms have flattened brown caps with white edges and get their name from the fact that the dense cluster of mushrooms resembles the ruffled feathers of a sitting hen.

Chicken of the woods is brightly colored, looks nothing like a hen and gets its name because, when cooked, its taste and texture are similar to chicken meat.

Hen of the woods mushrooms taste nothing like chicken and have a rich earthy aroma and taste and unique texture.

How to Harvest Chicken of the Woods Mushrooms

It’s easiest to harvest chicken of the woods with a sharp knife, but some foragers pull the entire cluster off the tree.

Pulling often results in more wood particles and dirt that you’ll have to clean off the mushrooms later. It also damages the decomposing wood, which may result in fewer mushrooms the following year.

With a sharp knife you can harvest the entire cluster by cutting it off at the base or trim tender bits off the edges of mature caps.

Harvesting chicken of the woods mushrooms at the right stage is important if you want to eat them fresh.

When is the Best Time to Harvest Chicken of the Woods?

The best time to harvest chicken of the woods mushrooms is when they are still young, with vibrant colors and a firm, slightly spongy texture.

They grow fast and can get past their prime in as little as 2 to 3 days, so if you find young chicken of the woods, it’s best to harvest them the same day or come back the following day.

Immature chicken of the woods mushrooms appear from dead trees as bumpy cyst-like knobs and a few days later start forming brackets.

They’re most tender before the brackets form. If you find them at this stage, it’s the perfect time to harvest them.

Prime edible chicken of the woods usually have brackets less than 8 inches (20cm) across with moist flesh, bright colors and a pleasant mushroomy smell. When crushed, they exude a watery, yellowish liquid.

As they mature and their brackets expand, the center part becomes tougher, but the outer edges remain tender. They also often become hosts to bugs and worms that enjoy their flesh.

At this stage, some foragers feel it’s best to cut off any soft sections on the edges and leave the rest for the bugs. But others harvest the entire cluster and use any tough sections to make a deciduous, savory chicken of the woods mushroom powder.

When a chicken of the woods reaches full maturity, the entire mushroom becomes tough and woody, and the colors fade.

At this stage it’s way past its prime and probably best left in the woods, although some people still use mature chicken of the woods for mushroom powder.

Chicken of the Woods Mushroom Look-Alikes

Chicken of the woods is one of the easiest mushroom species to identify, and there are no false chicken of the woods mushrooms.

Although some bright mushrooms may look similar from a distance, it’s easy to tell them apart when you get closer.

Bright yellow to orange mushrooms that grow in similar conditions are delicious edible chanterelles, parasitic honey mushrooms and toxic jack-o-lanterns.

But none of these mushrooms are bracket fungi, and they all have gills, so a quick look at the underside of their caps will quickly remove any confusion.

There is one polypore fungus, Phaeolus schweinitzii, that people sometimes confuse with chicken of the woods. It’s called the velvet-top fungus or dyer’s polypore.

It grows in similar conditions to chicken of the woods and, when young, is often bright yellow or orange, but the upper surface of the fan-shaped cap is velvety brown in the center.

The velvet-top fungus is not poisonous. But it’s also not edible as it has a very tough texture. People use these mushrooms to make natural green, yellow, gold, or brown fabric dyes, hence their second name.

Can You Grow Chicken of the Woods Mushrooms at Home?

You can grow chicken of the woods mushrooms at home, both indoors on sawdust blocks and outdoors on logs.

They’re one of the more challenging species to grow indoors, as colonization takes a very long time.

Because of this, indoor cultivation is usually only recommended for experienced growers who’ll enjoy the challenge.

But, if you have a shady spot in your garden, it’s easy to grow them outdoors on large-diameter logs and stumps. They prefer oak but will grow on most hardwood logs.

To inoculate the logs or stumps, you’ll need to drill holes in them, insert plug spawn or sawdust spawn and seal the holes with wax.

It takes six months to a year from when you inoculate your logs for the first flush of mushrooms. But then you should get mushrooms from your logs for another 3 to 5 years.

Our ultimate guide to growing mushrooms on logs takes you through this process step-by-step.

What Does Chicken of the Woods Mushroom Taste Like?

Chicken of the woods mushrooms have a mild flavor with lemony undertones that people describe as similar to chicken, lobster or crab.

But it’s their sinewy texture, so similar to succulent cooked chicken meat, that gives them their name and makes them a great meat replacement in vegetarian and vegan dishes.

Like other mushrooms, chicken of the woods absorbs liquids well and will take on the flavors of other ingredients in dishes.

Can You Eat Chicken of the Woods Mushroom Raw?

You should not eat raw chicken of the woods mushrooms as they may cause stomach problems.

In fact, chefs advise cooking them thoroughly and, if necessary, boiling them before sauteing them to ensure they’re cooked through.

Some people are allergic to chicken of the woods mushrooms even when well cooked.

As with any mushroom you’re eating for the first time, it’s best to try a small portion first to see if you have any allergic reactions.

How to Clean Chicken of the Woods Mushrooms

If you’ve harvested an entire cluster of chicken of the woods, the first step is to separate the brackets and trim off any woody bits, bruises and insect damage.

Chicken of the woods growing at the base of tree trunks can sometimes get extremely dirty. Foragers recommend brushing them gently with a soft-bristle brush or wiping them with a damp cloth to remove any loose dust and debris.

You can also rinse them under cold running water to remove stubborn dirt. Then pat them dry with a clean paper or kitchen towel. Avoid soaking chicken of the woods as they’ll absorb a lot of water and become soggy.

Our article, “How to Clean Mushrooms: A Step-by-Step Guide,” has more information on the best ways to clean mushrooms.

How to Store Chicken of the Woods Mushrooms

Here are three of the easiest ways to store your chicken of the woods mushrooms:

1. In the Refrigerator

You can store fresh chicken of the woods for 7 to 10 days in the refrigerator in a paper bag or breathable fabric bag, but there are a few things to remember to help them last longer:

• Store them on a shelf in your fridge, not in the crisper drawer.
• Take care not to place them next to strong-smelling foods.
• Avoid putting anything on top of them, as young mushrooms bruise easily.

Also, do not wash your chicken of the woods until just before you plan on using them.

2. In the Freezer

Because chicken of the woods often grows in large groups of several clusters, you’ll often end up with more than you can fit in your fridge or eat in a week.

In cases like this, you need long-term storage solutions, and freezing and drying are the best options for chicken of the woods.

Unlike most other mushrooms that need cooking before freezing, raw chicken of the woods freezes well and retains its meaty texture when defrosted.

To store chicken of the woods in the freezer, first trim and clean them and pat them dry or place them on a kitchen towel to dry.

Ensure they’re dry before freezing them because if you freeze them wet, they won’t retain their texture, and you’ll end up with soft mushy mushrooms.

Place the clean, dry chicken of the woods into ziplock bags or vacuum pack them and then freeze them. They’ll last for up to a year in the freezer.

3. Drying

If you plan on using your chicken of the woods in soups and stews, then drying them is also an excellent way to preserve them long term.

Trim, wash and dry your mushrooms, then slice them into half-inch (1.3 cm) pieces and dry them in a food dehydrator. Once dry, you can store them in an airtight jar or ziplock bag. They’ll last a year or more when kept in a cool and dry location.

You can also blend or grind your dried mushrooms to make chicken of the woods mushrooms powder for seasoning dishes. This is the best way to use older mushrooms that are too tough to eat but still have lots of flavor.

How to Cook Chicken of the Woods Mushrooms

Like other mushrooms, chicken of the woods is very versatile with many culinary applications.

You can fry, saute, blanch, roast or bake chicken of the woods and use them as you would other mushrooms or as a substitute for chicken or tofu in recipes.

What is Chicken of the Woods Mushroom Good For?

One of the easiest ways to enjoy the flavor and texture of these mushrooms is to sauté them in olive oil with garlic, shallots, white wine and fresh herbs.

But they also work well in pasta dishes, curries, casseroles, risottos and egg-based dishes like quiches, omelets and frittatas.

Below is a chicken of the woods mushroom recipe that really makes the most of their similarity to chicken meat.

And to provide more inspiration, we have put together 30 of our favorite mushroom recipes as well as 25 delicious vegan mushroom recipes.

Crispy Fried Chicken of the Woods Recipe

This recipe, adapted from the Forager Chef, uses the traditional chicken fried steak recipe to create tender, juicy mushroom steaks with a crispy outer coating.

You can serve these delicious steaks with any sauce and your choice of vegetables, creating endless possibilities.

Ingredients

• 4 pieces of young chicken of the woods, around 2 oz (57 grams) or the size of a smallish fist
• 1 cup all-purpose flour or as needed for breading.
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 pinch of sweet paprika
• 1 small pinch of cayenne pepper
• 3 eggs beaten
• 4 tablespoons of cooking oil
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• A few sprigs of fresh thyme (optional)
• 1 small clove of garlic, crushed (optional)
• Lemon wedges for serving

Instructions

1. Trim off the tough parts of your chicken of the woods mushrooms, rinse and dry them well, as this helps the seasonings adhere.
2. In a bowl, combine the flour with salt, pepper, paprika and cayenne to taste, and place the beaten eggs in another bowl.
3. Toss the mushrooms first in flour, then in egg, then in flour again.
4. Heat a pan and add the cooking oil and butter. When the butter has melted, add your breaded chicken of the woods, the crushed clove of garlic, and the thyme.
5. Sauté the chicken of the woods until they are golden brown on each side, about 4-5 minutes, adding extra oil or butter if the pan gets dry.
6. When ready, remove the mushrooms from the pan, quickly blot them on a paper towel to remove excess oil, sprinkle with salt and serve immediately.

Health and Nutritional Benefits of Chicken of the Woods

Like many other mushrooms, chicken of the woods is high in protein and digestive fiber and low in fat, making it a healthy meat replacement.

It’s also a good source of potassium, vitamin C and vitamin A.

The nutritional value of chicken of the woods varies depending on the environment and growing conditions.

But studies on the nutritional value and chemical composition of chicken of the woods show that, on average, a 100g serving contains:

• 6 g of dietary fiber
• 21g of Protein
• 2g of fat
• 150mg of potassium

Chicken of the woods also contains numerous bioactive compounds with antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor properties.

Final Thoughts

Chicken of the woods are delicious, edible mushrooms that are more often foraged than cultivated.

If you’re fortunate enough to live somewhere they grow, you could find fresh chicken of the woods in the wild, at your local farmers market or even grow them outdoors on logs.

Because they often grow in large clumps, you’ll have enough mushrooms to last a while and can store them in the freezer for a year-round supply of tender, meaty mushroom steaks.

To learn more about mushrooms and how they grow, visit our Mushroom Education Hub.

And if you’re hoping to grow mushrooms at home, our Mushroom Growing Hub has loads of valuable resources to help you get started.

This firearm transported me back in time and reminded me how shooting can just be plain fun.

Twenty years of law enforcement have me constantly considering how I can be quicker to the draw, faster in my reloads, consideration of cover, and issuing commands while I’m handling my firearm.

My gun is a defender of my life and the lives of others, but there was a time when things were much simpler.

In fact, they were a hoot!

The Ruger Mark IV 22/45 took me back there and I’m going to tell you how it can take you there too.

The Evolution of Fun

Ruger took me back to simpler times when the .22 long rifle was the next logical progression from a BB gun.

Young people growing up in rural areas might be called upon to save their town from the ravages of Black Bart or some other villain.

I had known about the Mark series pistols for some time but had heard mixed reviews because of the engineering behind the handguns. Things have changed significantly.

The order of business when I received the pistol was to take it apart. It really couldn’t have been easier. I made sure it was safe and empty, pressed a button, and it disassembled into four distinct parts which I could tell would be easy to clean.

The worst of my fears abated, I endeavored to see what joy might be gleaned from this modernized shooter.

Outfitting

Heading out to the range a total of five times I endeavored to put the pistol through its paces with four brands of ammo as well as a suppressor to test the gun’s versatility (Ruger makes a variant with a threaded barrel for just such purposes).

Perhaps most importantly, I mounted a Vortex Razor with a 3 MOA dot to give it that modern accuracy, and quick sight acquisition flair.

The 22/45 comes with adjustable iron sights but I wanted to plink with the greatest of ease. It also has a Picatinny rail which I mounted, then bolted on the Vortex. With just a little bit of time to get the Razor adjusted, I dialed it in and soon was plinking away like the days of old. Or wait, not like the days of old, better than the days of old!

By dialing the red dot brightness up or down depending on the lighting conditions, I was able to pull up on target, find my red dot, and start shooting. This was much easier than aligning the front and rear sights like I was used to; it was a modern marvel!

Performance

The trigger had about 1.5 mm of slack before it started to snug, then broke at an average of 3.12 lbs on my Lyman Digital Trigger Gauge. Loading the magazine was interesting too until I learned to pull down on the spring tension release button which held the follower at bay.

The controls were all easily accessible, particularly because I had selected the Ruger Mark IV 22/45. Although I wanted to get away from the responsibility-laden shooting of law enforcement, this model made for an easier bridge.

With one magazine, once you shot the 10 rounds, you were done.

No need to conduct a rapid reload, no need to seek cover or call for some! I soon began to relax and enjoy the sheer simplicities of marksmanship, sending rounds downrange with great accuracy and little regard for heavy recoil or a booming percussion.

A moment of brilliance tugged at my mind’s edge. Hey, this is good enough that my kids might like it.

Despite the attractive nature of the gaming world, most children still crave analog experiences whether they realize it or not—especially when those experiences are shared with loved ones. I took my kids to the range and let them try the Ruger Mark IV also.

My son liked it.

He was comfortable enough that neither the recoil nor the pop of the .22 LR was really an issue for him.

He was big enough to grip the pistol easily and used the Vortex red dot to narrow in on his target and press the trigger back to complete, consistently emptying the magazine, hitting most of what he was aiming for.

My daughter was a bit too small to truly get a good grip on the pistol and reach the trigger also. So, we compromised. She held the gun and aimed intuitively through the Vortex while I provided a little support and pressed the trigger when she was on and said “ready”.

The result was magnificent. Using an old west splatter target, she shot bad guys aplenty and even peppered an errant horse in the butt for being in the vicinity. Much fun was had by both and an entertaining experience was shared by all.

I eventually had to stop shooting for the sheer pleasure and needed to remember I was reviewing this pistol for you, dear reader. I took my four ammo types and set out a target 12 yards away, then carefully fired an entire magazine of each for accuracy.

It wasn’t supported but it was about as accurate a test as you’d need to utilize to measure this plinking marvel.

I used three brands and four types of .22 long rifle. First was CCI, the 40-grain gold standard of plinkers everywhere.

Next were two varieties of Aguila, both 40-grain, one being standard velocity and the other being high velocity.

Finally, I used Federal Premium, also in a 40-grain.

The last I used only during testing of the Gemtech suppressor, and this was Gemtech 42-grain subsonics.

The groupings came in as follows: CCI came in at two inches for ten whole rounds. The ammo was solid, reliable, and predictable with no failures to fire. Both Aguilas performed well, with only a slightly stronger pop distinguishing the high velocity from the standard.

With the high velocity, I achieved a 1.34-inch group and with the standard, I got approximately 2 inches. The Federal also averaged in at a group of 2 inches. All of these ammunitions were reliable and provided an economical level of fun with reasonable accuracy.

Heading to Liberty Firearms Institute on a slow day I was able to test the Gemtech GM-22 out with the Ruger Mark IV. This was a match made in heaven. Unscrewing the thread protector, I removed it and the crush washer before screwing on the suppressor.

I just so happened to be wearing a suit and tie at the time so admonishments from Q came ringing to my ears as a testy “double oh seven!”

I tried three ammo types and measured the difference in sound with a decibel meter about ear’s distance from the muzzle.

There was an ambient noise of approximately 70 dbl. in the range. Using various loads, I noticed a trend. The GM-22 took the rounds down in decibels to just above 100 decibels, removing the sonic crack one typically experiences.

Now, sound experts say 100 decibels will damage your hearing after 8 hours of steady exposure. All I noticed was a slight pop and the action of the bolt clicking.

For its diminutive size, the GM-22 is awesome.

Check out our field-strip video since there’s a few idiosyncrasies on the Mark IV.

By the Numbers

Reliability 5/5

I really racked up a tally with this pistol. Between me and my family, we ran approximately 1,500 rounds through the Ruger Mark IV 22/45. The only hiccup was shooter initiated. The base of the magazine sits deeply into the magwell and I failed to properly seat it once, causing a failure to feed. This was quickly remedied and not duplicated. The gun provided flawless performance and was only cleaned once during testing.

Ergonomics 4/5

The ergos on this pistol are wonderful. I like the slim profile of the grip, just like a 1911, and this also gives it less aesthetically in common with a Luger. The controls are all pretty easy to get to and even smaller hands can make use of them. There is a good design to the backstrap, protecting the shooter’s hand from the bolt that blows back. It is super easy to operate, from loading, firing, to cleaning.

Accuracy 3.5/5

I wouldn’t call the standard 22/45 a card splitting dynamo, but it does really well in what it is designed for. Imagine a few hours on a warm afternoon, plinking at bottles or cans set up in your favorite shooting spot. Or, perhaps you might hang a target such as Dastardly Dan, and work on fundamentals of shooting. The gun’s performance is solid and predictable. Using the Vortex Razor helped simplify things in my mind. For my children, only one address was necessary—put the red dot on what you want to hit!

Customization 4/5

There is a ridiculous amount to customization available to these guns. Ever hear the name Volquartsen or Tandemkross?

You can change out triggers, barrels, grips, heck, just about anything you’d like and upgrade this gun ‘til your heart’s content. I wouldn’t call the market robust, but there are plenty of options out these for those looking to upgrade. Having the ability to add optics like the Vortex Razor and GM-22 suppressor also widen the variety of customization possible with this gun.

Value 4/5

These little pistols are an excellent value. Listed on a few websites between $400 and $500 (depending on model) you can’t go wrong. Is this the all-time home defender pistol? No. Is this the gun you spend quality time teaching your wife or children how to shoot and have countless hours of fun? Yes.

Overall 4/5

Hats off to Ruger for bringing the joy of shooting back to me in a way that is difficult to express.

Field Strip & Reassembly

The field strip and reassembly is a little different so we made a quick video to help you out.

Conclusion

The Ruger Mark IV is fun and easy to shoot. It’s a breeze to clean, it’s economical to feed, the reliability is flawless, and we loved that this little .22LR pistol fits any shooter, even the kids. The accuracy could be tuned up a little, but for a plinker, it’s hard to go wrong.

You can spend a lot of time teaching important fundamentals on this firearm that later translate to other systems. You can bond with members of your family and have a blast while plinking away. You can upgrade it into a race gun also, but it’s simply wonderful just the way it is.

Special thanks to Liberty Firearms Institute for transfers and also for holding the Gemtech suppressor and allowing me to shoot it before my tax stamp was settled.

Do you run a suppressor on your .22lr pistol or rifle? What is your favorite plinker? Let us know in the comments or drop a review below! And if you need ammo for that .22, check out the Best .22 Long Rifle Ammo!

Or looking to mount a red dot? Check out Best Pistol Red Dots.

Cast Iron Cleaning With Electrolysis

Among the variety of restoration tools available to the dedicated vintage cast iron cookware collector, perhaps the most useful of all is cleaning by electrolysis. While a bit more work and expense than other methods to set up, a properly designed and implemented electrolysis tank can remove both rust and build-up in relatively short order.

The term electrolysis comes from two Greek words, and essentially means “to break down using electricity”. Some may remember high school science class experiments in which electrolysis was demonstrated to break down water into its molecular components of hydrogen and oxygen. But an electrolytic cell can also affect the electrodes to which the voltage source is attached, either by adding material, removing material, or both. The process, under conditions of high voltage and temperature, is the basis for electroplating such as that of decorative chrome on automobile parts.

For our purposes, electrolysis cleaning works somewhat like chrome plating in reverse. By connecting the positive and negative wires the opposite of the plating process, you get crud and rust removal.

The most common set up for an electrolysis iron cleaning tank involves a plastic storage container or the like, sturdy enough to be capable of holding eight or more gallons of water, and a car battery charger. You’ll need a piece of metal, either iron or steel, that will serve as a “sacrificial anode” to which the electrical current will flow from the piece being cleaned.

You’ll also need turn the water in the tank into what’s called an electrolyte, making it more conductive so the current will flow more readily through it. For this, we use Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda™ (not baking soda), available in the laundry additives section (medium size yellow box), at the rate of 1-2 tablespoons per gallon of water. Washing soda is primarily sodium carbonate, whereas baking soda is sodium bicarbonate. Some people use a swimming pool water conditioner called pH+, which consists of sodium carbonate. Some advanced hobbyists use sodium hydroxide aka lye to achieve a double-acting electrolyte/cleaning solution, but for most, the simpler and less-hazardous washing soda will do.

Gallons of WaterWashing Soda 55-10 T.1/3 – 2/3 C. 1010-20 T.2/3 – 1-1/3 C. 1515-30 T.1 – 2 C. 2020-40 T.1-1/3 – 2-2/3 C. 2525-50 T.1-2/3 – 3-1/3 C.

To properly connect the voltage source, you just have to remember the blacK (negative) wire goes on the sKillet. Also, the battery charger you use must be a manual one, or have a manual charge mode. An automatic charger will see the electrolysis tank as a charged battery and shut itself down.

If you already own a fully automatic charger and don’t wish to purchase a manual one, there is a workaround, although it necessitates the use of a 12V car battery. Hooking up an automatic charger to the battery as if to charge it, you can then use jumper cables from the battery to your electrolysis setup. Current stored in the battery will flow to the pan and sacrificial metal, and the charger will happily supply current to the depleted battery. Heightened care is required using this setup as you must be diligent in properly maintaining the positive-to-positive and negative-to-negative connections between charger and battery. You must also ensure that the positive and negative leads from the battery do not directly touch. Additionally, the terminals and clamps can become hot.

I use a 2amp/10amp switchable manual Die Hard™ Charger from Sears. I understand Sam’s Club has some inexpensive manual chargers as well.

Manual car battery chargers have become increasingly harder to find. Another relatively affordable alternative is a variable DC power supply. Normally used for electronic equipment testing and repair, they offer advantages such as adjustable voltage and current. Set the unit to deliver and maintain a desired constant current (amperage) to achieve the best results.

I place a length of 2×2 wood across the top of my container, and suspend the pans in the water from it with coat hanger wire, attaching the black connector to the unsubmerged tip of the handle of the pan. The other, red connector goes to a piece of air conditioner cabinet steel sheet metal I get from an HVAC guy who often has panels of new, unpainted metal left over from his installations.

Other options for cheap anodes include rebar or used lawn mower blades. Larger steel cans like those for fruit juices with top and bottom removed, cut down the side and flattened are another inexpensive alternative. Anodes with more surface area tend to be the most efficient.

For best results, make sure the connectors make good electrical contact with both the piece being cleaned and the sacrificial metal. Use your wire brush or stainless steel scrubber to remove some of the rust and/or crud at the spot on your piece to which you will be attaching the charger connector.

In the long term, to keep your clamps away from corrosive moisture or being affected by the electrolytic process, you may opt to not connect your charger clamps directly to the piece, instead attaching them to the metal bracket or wire the piece is hung from. Adequate current should still be able to flow if all attachment points are relatively clean, bare metal. Poor connections cause increased electrical resistance and excessive heat. Clean metal-to-metal connections will assure the most efficient cleaning and the least damage to charger leads over time. Charger clamps becoming noticeably hot during use is an indication of poor contact.

Also, don’t be tempted to add more washing soda than recommended; it can cause excessive current and overheating problems which may make the charger shut down or melt cable wire insulation. You’ll know you have good current flowing when you see a mist of fine bubbles forming around the piece and your charger’s amp meter reads towards the upper end of its scale.

The process of electrolysis converts red rust (ferric oxide) to ferrous oxide, sometimes called black rust. The process also both coats and rots the “sacrificial” piece of metal over time, so it will need to be scraped down occasionally, or flipped so that a clean side faces the piece being cleaned. Eventually, it will need to be replaced.

A byproduct of the electrolytic process is the formation of potentially flammable hydrogen gas. It is prudent, therefore, to insure the area around the setup is well-ventilated, or, better, to consider doing it outdoors.

Electrolysis is largely a line-of-sight process, meaning the side of the piece closest to the sacrificial metal will become cleaner first. If you put something between the piece and the metal, a “shadow” of crud will be left on the piece where the object blocked the flow of current from the piece. Some people’s set-ups have metal on both sides, or surrounding the piece for faster action. I just turn the piece around from time to time. Visually, built-up crud loosens, and peels or flakes off like old paint. In some places, it sticks tighter, and takes longer to come off. The red rust will turn into a fine, soft black residue that easily wipes or scrubs off. The process is finished when the metal is bare and gray. Some darker staining may remain in spots that were particularly cruddy, but that’s OK, it can be dealt with.

Tip: If the rust is only on the inside, large format pieces like cauldrons and washing kettles can become their own electrolysis tank. Fill with water and dissolve an appropriate amount of washing soda for the volume. Use a 2×4, a piece of PVC pipe or other non-conductive material as a crossbar and hang a piece of sacrificial metal from it. Attach the negative cable of a manual battery charger to the side of the pot and the positive to the sacrificial anode.

How long does the electrolysis take? Before I started using lye, cleaning an average piece using electrolysis alone might have taken a couple of sessions, maybe 8 hours each. Softening things up with the lye first reduces that to about one afternoon session of a few hours. Hanging the piece to be cleaned as close as possible but without touching the sacrificial metal also tends to speed up the process.

Two identically rusted Lodge #7s, before and after electrolysis:

Other Thoughts

As you read about the usage of electrolysis for cast iron cleaning, you will often encounter a few caveats about the choice of materials for the sacrificial anode.

Many frequent electrolysis users, unhappy with the constant need for anode replacement, have turned to stainless steel, some even going so far as to create a 360° setup by using a stainless steel barrel as both container and anode. The advantage to stainless steel is that it does not corrode as readily as do other types of steel or iron. It is not unusual, however, to see comments that using stainless steel in an electrolysis setup creates a hazardous byproduct called hexavalent chromium. “Hex chrome”, as it is referred to in the electroplating industry, is indeed a problem for those working in that industry, where, at the temperatures and voltages employed, it can be produced, vaporized, and released into the atmosphere. At the far lower voltages and temperatures commonly used for cast iron cleaning, however, hex chrome is not a concern.

Similar warnings are seen against using galvanized metals, and the possibility that zinc may be released into the electrolyte, where it may come into contact with the piece being cleaned. Again, the voltages used should not be sufficient to cause concern.

To avoid the foregoing types of concerns altogether, the use of graphite as an anode appears to fit the bill quite nicely. Graphite is a form of carbon that happens to be electrically conductive, but at the same time is far less reactive to the electrolytic process than the majority of metals. As such, the only thing that it can possibly introduce back into the electrolyte or to the piece being cleaned is plain carbon. Graphite also has the advantage of not becoming coated with iron oxide as do typical metal anodes. It therefore needs no regular cleaning to maintain its performance. Storing the anode dry between cleaning sessions is recommended.

Although not as inexpensive as plain sheet metal or scrap iron, graphite can be had, considering its expected duty life, quite reasonably. Bars, rods, or plates of compressed extruded graphite are available from a variety of sources. Look online for liquidation sales of lots of remaindered graphite forms, avoiding those which mention other materials like copper in their composition.

It is important to note that, over time, any anode material used for electrolysis cleaning will deteriorate and will eventually need to be replaced.

Some users have found a hybrid electrolysis/lye method works well. Using the same concentration of sodium hydroxide as that used for a lye bath as the electrolyte can provide some advantages, including a “dual action” cleaning and increased metal anode life. The same cautions for using lye alone apply (if not more so).

Proper disposal of used electrolyte should include avoidance of soil contamination near vegetable gardens. And, as with any cleaning process, proper protocols should include thoroughly washing and rinsing the cleaned piece before beginning any seasoning regimen.

Finally, electrolysis should only be used to clean bare cast iron ware. Aluminum pieces will dissolve. Enameled cast iron pieces may also have their coatings compromised. Chrome or nickel-plated iron pieces may or may not be adversely affected, depending upon whether or not areas of plating have already begun to release or flake off.

Among the myriad campfire discussions regarding the choice—and performance—of hunting cartridges, there are two words which have become a source of controversy over the last twenty years: “Six Five.” There was a time in the not-too-distant past, where very few hunters or shooters paid any attention to the 6.5mm cartridges. Despite the attempts by Winchester and Remington—with the .264 Winchester Magnum and 6.5 Remington Magnum, respectively—the bore diameter never really caught on here.

My first experience with the 6.5s was when a friend asked me to mount and zero a scope on his rifle—a 6.5×55 Swedish. He had sent along a couple of boxes of older Norma ammunition with 156-grain round nose softpoint ammo, and I was immediately intrigued by those long, lean bullets and lack of recoil. Looking into the ballistics, I couldn’t understand why the caliber wasn’t more popular. The .260 Remington was just a few years old at the time, and hadn’t really made huge waves yet, and the handful of .264 Winchester Magnums that were floating around were a rarity at best.

Fast forward fifteen years, and the 6.5 Creedmoor would be gaining a good head of steam, despite a relatively slow start. Garnering a following among the target crowd first, and ultimately among hunters, the Creedmoor seemed to bring the 6.5mm diameter to the masses, while the .260 Remington and 6.5-284 Norma just couldn’t achieve that level of popularity. Why would the Creedmoor gain acceptance, when we had such a similar level of performance in a cartridge released at the end of the 19th century? Let’s pit them against one another to find out.

The 6.5×55 Swedish is a rimless cartridge with a case head diameter slightly larger than the 7mm and 8mm Mausers (0.479-inch vs. 0.473-inch), with a 25-degree, 17½-minute shoulder, and a case length of 55mm (2.165 inches). With a cartridge overall length of 3.150 inches (or 80.0mm), the 6.5×55 can be crammed into a short-action receiver, but is best served by a long-action. Introduced as a military cartridge simultaneously by Norway and Sweden in the 1890s after a series of military trials, the 6.5x55mm cartridge remains a very popular cartridge among the Scandinavian countries, being used for game species as large as European moose. You may find several names for this cartridge, including 6.5x55SE (the European CIP designation), 6.5×55 SKAN (in Scandinavia) and 6.5×55 Swedish Mauser; the SAAMI-approved name for the cartridge is 6.5×55 Swedish. Depending on the brand of ammunition, the 6.5x55mm will drive a 140-grain bullet to a muzzle velocity ranging from 2,500 fps to as high as 2,735 fps. Most of the major manufacturers have a load or two for the Swede, though some have become seasonal or are made in limited runs. Lapua offers a 155-grain load at 2,559 fps and Federal loads their 156-grain Fusion at 2500 fps, for those who appreciate the advantage of heavier projectiles. There are a good number of rifles available in 6.5×55, including the Tikka T3 and Sako 85, and over the years the Remington 700, Winchester 70 and Ruger No. 1 have all been chambered for the Swede.

The 6.5 Creedmoor was developed by Hornady, and is the .30 T/C cartridge necked down to hold 6.5mm projectiles. Also a rimless cartridge, the Creedmoor uses a 30-degree shoulder for headspacing and a 1.920-inch case to allow longer bullets to be used in a standard short-action magazine. Developed as a long-range target cartridge, the high sectional density and ballistic coefficient of the 6.5mm bullets were certainly put to use with good effect, and though the Creedmoor didn’t exactly explode onto the scene, it became a buzzword by 2013 and 2014. Driving a 140-grain bullet to just over 2700 fps, the Creedmoor has all but knocked the .308 Winchester out of the spotlight among long range target shooters, and has developed a reputation as a sound hunting cartridge for game animals all the way up to elk and moose, though I feel there are better tools for the largest ungulates. The Creedmoor has been hailed by some as the “be-all-and-end-all” cartridge, capable of killing any game animal on earth, and well, that’s just not the truth. It is, undeniably, a great deer and antelope cartridge. It is perfectly suited for a short-action bolt rifle, as well as the AR-10 platform.

Almost all rifle manufacturers offer a gun chambered for 6.5 Creedmoor, even down to the lever-actions like the Henry Long Ranger. If you were looking for a rifle to do double duty as a hunting gun and a long range target rifle, the 6.5 Creedmoor is a perfectly sensible choice. Recoil is minimal, and that is also another of the Creedmoor’s appeal.

How do the two compare? Well, in deference to the older firearms, I feel the 6.5×55 Swedish suffers from the same fate as the 7×57 and 8×57 Mauser, in that much of the factory ammunition isn’t loaded to its full potential. When it is loaded properly—as in the Hornady Superformance line—it is fully the equal of the much more modern 6.5 Creedmoor. I feel that the 155- and 156-grain bullets, like the Lapua Mega and Norma Oryx, actually extend the versatility of the 6.5×55 Swedish, and can give it a slight advantage over the Creedmoor. Where the Creedmoor does have an advantage is in the sheer availability of the ammunition. There is a wide selection of hunting bullets, ranging from 120 to 143 grains, and of various construction methods. From the Hornady ELD-X to Federal’s Fusion and Terminal Ascent, to Nosler’s AccuBond and Barnes’ LRX, the hunter has plenty to choose from. Sadly, the same cannot be said for the 6.5×55 Swedish; the bullets are there, but the production numbers are not.

So with very similar velocities—the Creedmoor has a slight advantage—and comparable bullet weights, though the Swedish has some heavier offerings, who gets the nod? Were it not for the sheer availability of the Creedmoor rifles and ammunition, I would call this a draw; the performance is just too similar to say one is the more advantageous design. I actually prefer the 6.5×55 Swedish, primarily from a reloader’s point of view, as there is a bit more room in the case. But I’m pretty sure there isn’t a game animal which could ever tell the difference between the two cartridges. In this one, the Creedmoor—probably due to some excellent marketing on the part of Hornady—wins out; the wide selection of available factory ammo and premium hunting projectiles gives it the edge.

Looking for previous installments of our “Head to Head” series? Click here.

Jokichi Takamine, a Japanese chemist from a sake-making family, moved to New Orleans in 1884 to represent Japan at the city’s World Cotton Centennial, that year’s World Fair. He fell in love with a local wealthy white woman and they married, an unusual pairing for the time. In addition to his social iconoclasm, Takamine was a shrewd businessman who wanted to promote Japanese culture in the United States. His successes are too numerous to list in a story about koji: He patented the first hormone, adrenaline, which made him fabulously wealthy. With the money from that and other successful businesses, he financed the Japanese government’s gift of cherry trees, whose blossoms still grace Washington, D.C.’s tidal basin every April.

Takamine also introduced Americans to koji. In Japan, he had patented a process to grow koji on wheat bran, and he realized that koji and the enzymes it produced could dramatically speed up the whiskey-making process, its enzymes freeing sugar much faster than traditional malting. So Takamine partnered with his father-in-law in an attempt to transform the whiskey business.

Joan Bennett, professor at Rutgers University and former president of the American Society for Microbiology, believes that Takamine was not exactly welcomed into the world of 1800s American whiskey. Bennett has become somewhat obsessed with the Takamine story and has even written a short piece about him in Inoculum, the newsletter of the Mycological Society of America.

Bennett first discovered Takamine three decades ago, when she was a young scientist, writing her first review article on the genus Aspergillus. While amassing dates on great moments in the fungus’s history in microbiology, she discovered, to her surprise, that Takamine had patented the first fungal enzyme from Aspergillus. Six months later, wandering through the stacks at Tulane University’s library, where she worked at the time, Bennett randomly came across a narrow book about Takamine and wondered what could have been written about the Aspergillus patent holder. She discovered a vanity biography commissioned by his wife, Caroline, after he died.

Takamine did leave one koji-size mark on American history: The patent that Bennett discovered in her research was arguably the first biotechnology patent in the United States, given to him in 1891 for an enzyme created by koji he named Taka-diastase. This is the same enzyme that failed Takamine in the whiskey business, but he thought it could also be useful in aiding digestion, perhaps, says Bennett, due to a popular theory at the time that indigestion was caused by too much starch. Takamine used that enzyme to create and sell a popular Alka-Seltzer-like digestive aid called, appropriately, Takadiastase, which was a hit in late 1800s America and is still popular today in Japan. Bennett calls Takamine a “huge and somewhat overlooked figure in the history of biotechnology.”

The use of Aspergillus in biotech has continued since Takamine’s discoveries. The cholesterol-lowering drug Lovastatin is produced by a koji cousin. Aspergillus niger, used to ferment pu-ehr tea, is also employed industrially to produce citric acid.

But, other than the handful of companies making soy sauce and miso in the United States, koji’s potential as a creative ingredient in food fermentation and transformation has largely evaded American chefs. Until recently.

This post covers the best beginner compound bows for hunting for both youths and adults. These bows are excellent choices for the money and are also high-quality, making them a great value.

There’s no sense in spending a lot of money if you, a youngster, or someone you’re buying for is just getting into bowhunting. A first bow is supposed to be effective but not break the bank. That said, you don’t want to go too cheap or the bow or its parts might end up breaking or make the bow inaccurate, leading to frustration.

Fortunately, there are some great options on the market that are good quality for the price. I’ve listed some of the best beginner compound bows for hunting below.

This post contains Amazon and other affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my link, at no extra cost to you. Of course, you are not obligated to use my links, but it does help fund these posts in hopes of bringing more value to you!

Best Adult Beginner Compound Bows For Hunting

Bear Archery Cruzer G-2 RTH Compound Bow Package

The Bear G-2 has been one of the best-selling bows for beginners in the industry because it’s a ready-to-hunt (RTH) out-of-box budget compound bow package that has a smooth draw cycle, incredible adjustability, and just feels great in the hand. For these reasons, it’s won the hearts of both youth and adult beginner bowhunters.

It has an adjustable draw length of 12-30 inches and an adjustable draw weight of 5 to 70 lbs. This allows new bowhunters to grow with their bow as they progress. Also, Bear Archery is a reputable brand that has been creating bows for a long time.

As I write this post, you can still get the Cruzer G-2 at a very good price, however, Bear seems to be phasing the G-2 out and replacing it with the G-3, so get it while you can!

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Bear Archery Cruzer G-3 RTH Compound Bow Package

The G-3 is the next generation of the G-2. The G-3 has an adjustable draw length of 14-30 inches and an adjustable draw weight of 10 to 70 lbs making it slightly less adjustable than the G-2. However, the reduction in adjustability has given it improvements in performance. The most obvious is the 75% let-off, a +5% increase, making it easier for beginners to hold the bow back. All of the accessories are Trophy Ridge.

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Diamond Archery Edge 320 Compound Bow Package

Diamond is another well-known bow company that makes great bows for beginners. Their Edge 320 is one of the best bows for beginners because of its adjustability. The draw length is adjustable from 15-31 inches, and the draw weight is adjustable from 7-70lbs. You can find this bow at about the same price as the Cruzer G-3.

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Diamond by Bowtech Prism Compound Bow Package

The Diamond Prism is another great bow for youngsters and adults. The draw length is adjustable from 18-30 inches which fits the majority of hunters and the draw weight adjustable from 5-55 lbs. This bow can grow with the hunter and with these specs, it will fit both teenagers and adults.

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Sanlida Archery Dragon X8 RTH Compound Bow Package

This is one of the most popular hunting bows on Amazon because it’s cheap, adjustable, ready to hunt, and it works. It has an adjustable draw length of 18-31″ and an adjustable draw weight of 0-70 lbs.

The adjustability at this price point makes it one of the best hunting bows for the money. The 31″ max draw length is great for individuals with a longer wingspan. Most bows offer up to a 30″ draw length so it’s great to see a budget bow with a longer draw length.

I’m not sure about the build-quality long term, I suggest buying from a reputable bow company.

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Best Youth Beginner Compound Bows For Hunting

These bows are not designed for adults, they are for youth bowhunters only. Bows in this category will likely need to be upgraded once the kids get older and outgrow their bows. These bows are perfect for kids that are younger than teenagers but are adjustable enough to last them through all or most of their teenage years.

These bows offer some better benefits than the highly adjustable bows for both you and adults. For example; they are smaller and lighter weight making them more manageable to hold for smaller and younger kids. Also, they’re generally cheaper for these reasons.

Bear Archery Royale RTH Youth Compound Bow

This is one of Bear Archery’s bows designed specifically for youth hunters. It has an adjustable draw length of 12″-27″, adjustable weights of 5-50lbs, only 27″ inches axel-to-axel, and only 2.7 lbs without the accessories, making it one of the best bows for youngsters, especially for the price.

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PSE Archery Mini Burner RTS Compound Bow Package

The PSE Mini Burner is another great option. It’s a small bow with a lot of adjustability for youth hunters. For example, the bow only weighs 2.5 lbs, the draw weight can be adjusted from 5-40 lbs so any young hunter can pull it back, and the draw length is adjustable from 16 – 26.5 inches. This is one of the best sub-300$ bows for youth hunters.

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Diamond by Bowtech Atomic Youth Compound Bow Package

This is Diamond Archery’s bow is the ultimate youth bow for the youngest bowhunters. The draw length is adjustable from 12-24 inches making, so it fits the smallest of youth hunters. The draw weight is adjustable from 6 to 29 lbs, which makes it too light for deer hunting. But it’s a great bow for hunting smaller animals and introducing youngsters to bowhunting. The bow only weighs 1.9 lbs making it the lightest bow on this list. It’s only 24 inches axle to axle, also making it the shortest bow on this list.

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What To Look For In A Compound Bow For Hunting

In order to get the most for your money there are a few things to consider before purchasing your first bow to ensure you get the most out of it:

Adjustability

For a beginner, a highly adjustable bow is recommended because it will allow the bowhunter to grow with the bow and prevent the bowhunter from outgrowing the bow.

Draw Length

Youth bowhunters will want a bow that has a highly adjustable draw length because it will allow them to grow with the bow instead of outgrowing the bow and needing to buy a new bow.

Draw Weight

An adjustable draw weight is important for youth and adult hunters because as you become stronger you’ll want to increase your draw weight so you can shoot arrows faster, flatter, and more accurately. You’ll also want to be able to start at low poundage and work your way up to higher poundages gradually.

Bow Size (Length, Weight, and Width)

Take into consideration the size of the bow you’re buying. For example, if you’re hunting you might want a short, lightweight, and slim bow that is easy to carry through the brush.

Speed (to an extent)

Speed is important to an extent, but do not fixate on this as a new bowhunter and just buy the fastest bow in your price range. It is better to have a bow that feels good to use.

Draw Cycle Smoothness

The draw cycle has a lot to do with how a bow feels. A smooth drawing bow will feel better in the hand so it is important to try as many bows as you can out to see what you like best before buying a bow.

Let-off

Compound bows are great because they have let-off which reduces the lbs you hold back at full draw. This makes it easier to hold a bow back at full draw for longer periods of time, which is very helpful in hunting situations. Let off is the % of draw weight you are holding at full draw.

So, if you have a 50 lbs draw weight and you have an 80% let-off then you are only holding 10 lbs at full draw. A good let-off is helpful, especially for beginners.

Ready to Hunt Packages

Ready-to-hunt bowhunting packages are great for beginner bowhunters because you don’t have to spend time figuring out all of the accessories for a bow, the bow comes with them. This is a great way to get more for your money too.

As you improve as a bowhunter and learn more you can buy replacement accessories that are of higher quality. This is another great way compound bows grow with you.

Don’t Buy A Used Hunting Compound Bow (Beginners Only)

Many times new bowhunters will buy a used cool-looking bow from someone only to find out that the bow isn’t adjustable enough to fit them. I recommend buying new for your first bow and working with a pro shop to tune the bow and arrows specifically to your body. This way you’ll ensure the bow is shooting the way it is intended to for the most accuracy.

Don’t Buy Soley Based on Bow Specs

It’s important to get your hands on as many compound bows as possible and to try them out in the archery range before spending your money. Each bow will feel different to you. You want the bow that is most comfortable for you.

Print out this list of the best beginner compound bows and bring it with you to the archery shop near you. Try out as many as you can to see what you like best.

Even if you see a better deal online, go into the store and try them out. You’re not obligated to buy a bow after trying them out, so you can go back home and order the one you like best online. This way you’re making a more educated purchase.

More Bowhunting Resources For Beginners:

The Best Anchor Point For Drawing A Bow

27 Best Bowhunting Gifts For Bowhunters In 2024

Top 5 Most Comfortable Tree Saddles For Saddle Hunting [2024]

Reputable Hunting Bow Brands

• Bear Archery
• PSE Archery
• Diamond Archery
• Mathews Archery
• Bowtech Archery
• Hoyt Archery
• Prime Archery
• Xpedition Archery
• Elite Archery

Stores That Carry Hunting Bows

Some great places to find hunting bows include:

• Amazon – Free Two-Day Shipping For Prime Members
• Cabela’s – Free Shipping on Orders Over 50$
• L.L. Bean – Free Shipping on Orders Over 50$
• Kittery Trading Post
• Walmart
• Dick’s Sporting Goods
• Local Archery Shops

Find Me On:

• YouTube
• Facebook
• Instagram

It’s been quite a journey watching Travis “T-Bone” Turner on Bone Collector but it seems like this is the end for this extremely talented hunter. In late 2021, Travis was diagnosed with an extremely fast-growing malignant cancer, and the only way to get rid of it was to amputate his leg!

Keep reading this Travis “T-Bone” Turner Bio to learn more. 2222

What Happened To Travis “T-Bone” Turner From Bone Collector?

It was February 1, 2022, when Travis “T-Bone” Turner first revealed the devastating news via IG and FB that he was having a leg amputation surgery.

According to him, he went to a hospital in July 2021 to treat an infected tick bite. And while he was there, the star also asked an ER doctor about the knot on his right shin. Since the knot was roughly the size of a grape, the doctor told him it was likely nothing but to keep an eye on it.

By next month the knot had grown to the size of a golf ball, and he was immediately referred to a general surgeon. Furthermore, when the turn for his examination arrived, the knot was even bigger with two additional knots beside it.

And when the knot finally grew to the size of a tennis ball and was “busting through the skin and bleeding,” the doctors knew they needed to perform a biopsy.

10 days after the biopsy, Travis was informed that he had fibrosarcoma, a rare form of extremely fast-growing malignant cancer. In addition, it was so larger and intertwined that it was impossible to remove all of cancer by removing the tumors.

Thus, he was prompted to amputate his leg.

The surgery then took place on the first week of Feb 2022, and by the second week, Travis was on the recovery road. “Just a quick update. The surgery went well. My leg stump is sore. But still in great spirits and feel good other than that,” Travis updated his fans on Feb 9, via FB post.

Travis “T-Bone” Turner Weight Today

Travis “T-Bone” Turner was reportedly over 136 kg (300 lbs) as of 2022. However, after the leg amputation surgery, he must have lost a certain amount of weight.

If you don’t know, this isn’t Travis’s first surgery. Back in late 2004, he underwent stomach bypass surgery, after which his weight steadily declined from 247 kg (544 lbs) to 227 kg (501lbs) on Oct. 20, and down to 172 kg (379 lbs) on April 30, 2005.

Who Is Travis “T-Bone” Turner Wife?

Travis “T-Bone” Turner’s wife Michelle Turner is a teacher who reportedly worked at Coweta County School in Coweta County, Georgia.

The two were married back on December 23, 2003, after dating for over 2 and a half years. And even as of 2022, the lovebirds were still going strong, with Travis never shying away from flaunting her over his socials.

On Michelle’s 39th birthday (i.e on June 8, 2019), Travis took it to his FB to write, “Happy Birthday to my lovely wife Michelle. My ride or die, a partner in crime, baby mama. Main squeeze, better half, anchor of the homestead.”

Talking about their kids, Travis and Michelle welcomed their son named Archer on September 28, 2005. And yes, the name “Archer” comes from their obsession with the archery thing.

Travis “T-Bone” Turner Net Worth

Travis “T-Bone” Turner garnered a net worth of under $700 thousand by 2022.

An archery guru and hunter, Travis first made his mark in the hunting world after winning the 1991 ASA Archery World Championship. At the time, he was also working as the owner and manager of one of the largest archery shops in Georgia. And with the win, he was able to make long-standing relationships with companies such as Realtree, Hoyt, Bone Collector, and Whitetails Unlimited.

The guy then went on to work as a bow technician for national celebrities and pro athletes. Finally, in 2008, he received an invitation from Michael Waddell to join his dream team of Bone Collector and got shot to the international limelight.

Besides these, Travis also was working as a spokesman for Whitetails Unlimited.

To mention his qualifications, Travis is an ASA and APA certified professional archer who is a 4-time Georgia State Cham. He is well-versed in wildlife management, has a great reputation in the outdoor industry, and owned “TboneOutdoors.com.”

Travis “T-Bone” Turner Age

Travis “T-Bone” Turner was 41 years of age when he had his leg amputated in 2022.

He receives his birthday wishes on August 8, making him of the Leo zodiac.

Who Are Travis “T-Bone” Turner Parents?

Travis’s parents were hunters too. His dad was a fireman in Dayton, but the family then had to move to Atlanta when he was transferred. And that was where Travis learned how to hunt.

Out of all the people that influenced him, Travis said that his dad was his number one icon. “He took me squirrel hunting and fishing when I was 4 or 5 years old. He bought me my first bow for getting good grades when I was 9 or 10,” the star explained.

Unfortunately, Travis’s lost his mother to cancer in 2020.

Related FAQs

• Where Is Travis “T-Bone” Turner From?

Travis was born in Dayton, Ohio, and grew up in Atlanta.

As of 2022, he resided in Hogansville, GA, with his wife and son.

• Is Travis “T-Bone” Turner On Instagram?

Yes, here’s his IG @tboneoutdoors.

Also, find him on FB @tboneoutdoors, Twitter @tboneoutdoors, and Youtube @tboneoutdoors.

• How Tall Is Travis “T-Bone” Turner?

Travis is a 6 feet 3 inches (190 cm) big-framed guy.