T2019 archery tournaments are in full speed, and you might be wondering the equipment that’s being used in the highest levels of competition. Improve your overall accuracy and competitive-edge with these top compound target bows.

Mathews – TRX 38

Built off of the proven design of the longer TRX models, the 38 inch axle-to-axle TRX38 fills the void perfectly for shooters looking for a shorter, lighter, more comfortable bow for their draw length. Draw lengths range 23 inches to 30 inches and draw weight goes from 50 pounds up to 70 pounds on the TRX 38. The new 70V percent mod gives shooters a deeper valley while the 80 and standard 70 percent mods remain an option. A true-center nocking point ensures straight and level nock travel, further enhancing shot-to-shot consistency and a 7.5-inch brace height provides unmatched forgiveness. Learn more at Mathews’ website.

Xpedition – Perfexion XL

The Perfexion XL brings to bear the full scope of Xpedition’s aerospace pedigree to influence archery design and unparalleled precision manufacturing. The Perfexion XL’s features the PXT dual limb stop hybrid cam with an unprecedented 6” of draw length adjustment on one base cam, ½” modular draw adjustment and Xpedition’s signature adjustability. The Perfexion XL is fast enough for 3D in spite of its 8” plus brace height, yet still prioritizes the smooth draw that target archers require. Its rigid riser defies flex and recovers with the consistency that had previously been reserved for shoot through designs. It is engineered and assembled to make scores climb and X rings easier to hit. Learn more at Xpedition Archery’s website.

Martin – Axxon 36

The Martin Axxon 36 features the new Tri Loc system. The Tri Loc Axle Cap allowing calibrated cam system clearance and minimal friction for maximum performance and the Tri Loc Axle Cap ensures the setscrew locks into the riser. The Tri Loc Limb Pocket bolts into limbs for the perfect lock and alignment. Balanced Bow Technology provides proper grip location, parallel limbs and weight distribution providing an extremely adjustable and stable shooting platform. The Axxon 36 features Dual Sync Technology providing a smooth draw, quick arrow speeds, and easy tuning for proper arrow flight. No need to worry about cam lean and serving wear thanks to the Helix Cam with the Helix Groove. Limbs come in a 35-50 pound option, adjustable in 5-pound increments, with the Helix Short Draw. The Axxon 36 delivers speeds of 333 fps with a brace height of 6 7/8 inches and 36 ½ inch axle-to-axle length. Learn more at Martin Archery’s website.

Elite – Victory X

Elite Archery’s Victory X target bow is sculpted with Elite shootability and consistency. The Victory X is a bow that delivers 327 fps speeds and starts at 50 pound draw weight and 26 inch draw length. Weighing only 4.4 pounds, the Victory X is built on the high performing Victory platform and features perfect synchronization of the famed two-track cam system. Dual track binary cams with inset mods give the shooter a stable, noise free, draw length specific cam that will remain true to its original setting. The Victory X weighs a mere 4.4 pounds meaning that you can shoot heavy large diameter arrows in tournaments where speed is limited. Learn more at Elite Archery’s website.

Bowtech – Reckoning

The Reckoning was engineered as the first bow to feature DeadLock technology, providing reliable accuracy. This premier bow focuses on a “crossover” product role, and is at home equally as a Target/3D bow in addition to a longer length axle-to-axle hunting bow option. The Bowtech Reckoning features DeadLock Cams offering the ability to quickly and easily adjust the string path and put the energy directly behind the arrow without a bow press. DeadLock features a patented adjustment system that adjusts the cams left or right to perfect the string path and locks down for accuracy that is precise for life with the simple turn of a screw. Deadlock Pocket Locks the entire bow structure as one and eliminates unwanted, accuracy-robbing component movement shot-to-shot. Deadlock Cable Containment reduces torque and increases forgiveness on every shot, translating into consistent accuracy. Learn more at Bowtech’s website.

Hoyt – Prevail Series

The Hoyt target compound lineup is legendary for setting the standard of tournament level accuracy. The Prevail series boasts the XT2000 limb, SVX and X3 Cam & ½ Performance Systems, and more. You will also appreciate the additional rear stabilizer location, which is compatible with Hoyt’s hard-lock rear stabilizer system. The Prevail includes proven Shoot-Thru Riser Technology, 4-angle modular grip system, and adjustable 4-position cable guard technology. The modular grip system allows fine-tuning your grip pressure by changing the angle of the grip with 4 different grip modules: 0, +2, +4 and +6 degrees, with 0 being the standard angle. Top and bottom cams are fused together by a harness system, ensuring they fire at the exact same time, every time, for ultimate consistency and accuracy. Learn more at Hoyt’s website.

According to Yamaha, the 1000cc class is, by far, the largest in the sport/utility segment among trail riders and explorers. Since its public release on Sept. 3, Yamaha’s brand new sport/utility Wolverine RMAX2 and RMAX4 have created a firestorm of positivity and excitement among SXS enthusiasts not seen for a Japanese machine since the time when the Yamaha Rhino 660 was the sportiest machine on the market.

If a manufacturer wants to create excitement that turns into sales instead of criticism, they have to build SXSs with class leading specifications that deliver on the promise of quality and performance without major compromises. That’s exactly what Yamaha has done with their new Wolverine RMAX 1000, and enthusiasts have responded accordingly with many of our viewers split between elation over putting money down on a new RMAX and those suffering with buyer’s regret over last year’s purchase.

Many of the RMAX’ specifications are not only leading in the sport/utility class, they’re competitive or more impressive than some sport models we’ve tested. Infected with enthusiasm shared with our viewers, we met up with Factory Yamaha at Mild to Wild Off-Road in Sparta, Kentucky for a private one-on-one test day with the RMAX2. Open twice a year for public riding, Mild to Wild is the private testing grounds for our pro level test driver, Justin Frasure, owner of RAZR Sharp Customs and a former pro rock bouncer. His company builds SXS chassis, suspension parts, roll cages, bumpers, as well as complete turnkey trail and rock bouncer builds. Justin was joined by UTV on Demand editor, Chad Westcott. Chad is an avid off-roader who teaches SXS driving courses to first responders. With two drivers and 7 plus hours of seat time under our belts, we’re ready to share our impression of Yamaha’s exciting new RMAX2.

Trim Packages

The RMAX is currently available in 3 trim packages: the $19,799 base model; our test unit, the $21,999 XT-R edition; and the $23,299 Limited Edition. The standard model comes with GBC’s new Dirt Commander 2.0 radial tires with Maxxis Carnivores used on the XT-R and LE models. The XT-R and LE models also benefit from various digital throttle modes, backlit switches, blue LED interior lights, removable Adventure Pro GPS/tablet integration, Pre-installed VRX 4,500 Warn winch controlled by a switch on the dash, and upgraded front bumpers with four light pod mounts vs 2 on the standard bumper. Limited editions also benefit from a factory installed SSV Works stereo and Yamaha’s removable key controlled Speed Management system, which limits top-speed to 25MPH while still allowing full power for work or hills. Base models can be easily upgraded with any or all of the before mentioned features found on the XT-R and LE models. One item not easily upgraded are the Fox IQS shocks, which are tunable from inside the cabin. More on that later.

Engine Performance

At the heart of the new RMAX is a brand new 999cc, liquid-cooled, parallel twin-cylinder engine featuring 4 valves and double overhead cams per cylinder. Its 270° firing order helps increase torque and traction. Premium pump gas is recommended with the engine’s sport class worthy 11.2:1 compression ratio. It’s said to produce class leading horsepower and torque peaking out at 108hp at 8,500rpms with a 9,250 RPM redline. That’s 8 more HP than the General XP 1000, the 60” sport class, 4HP more than the Talon 1000, and within 2hp of the RZR XP 1000.

Yamaha is claiming a 4% reduction in rotating mass compared to the 850cc class Wolverine X2/X4 models for improved rev-ability. A counter balancer and 4-point rubber engine mounts were employed to keep vibration to a minimum.

Oil is circulated via dry-sump lubrication with an oil cooler for added cooling. A shallow sump profile on the bottom and inclined engine layout allow for a more compact design with a lower center of gravity.

Air intakes for the engine and CVT are mounted high under the hood making ingesting dirt and water less likely. There’s tool-free access to the primary foam filter with a secondary paper filter Yamaha claims will not pass dirt. Fuel is delivered via Yamaha Fuel Injection with dual, 48mm throttle bodies.

A fully automatic Yamaha’s Ultramatic CVT transmission relies on a primary wet clutch to handle engagement eliminating the need to slip the drive belt on take-offs or getting back on the gas, greatly reducing wear allowing Yamaha to cover the RMAX with their 10 year belt warranty. This type of transmission is a bit harder to tune with aftermarket clutch kits, though. Exhaust from the CVT is utilized to cool the exhaust pipe and spark plug coils. Spiral

beveled and helical cut gears with rigid gears nestled in a detached transmission along with single inline front and rear driveshafts help keep the drivetrain running smooth and quiet. Yamaha’s On-Command drive system delivers the capability of 2wd, 4wd, and 4wd with front differential lock. Available on XT-R and LE models, for the first time, Yamaha is offering multiple drive modes on a SXS with their Yamaha Chip Controlled Throttle offering sport, trail, and crawl modes. Each mode delivers full power with sport mode tuned for quick acceleration and responsiveness to throttle input. Trail mode is tuned for a more linear response and acceleration similar to a cable actuated throttle. Crawl mode offers slower response for greater traction in rocks or mud. Drive modes also affect engine braking. Trail and crawl modes offer full engine braking with sport mode tuned for smoother engine braking, preferable when coming down from speed in whooped out or choppy terrain.

The engine fires right up emitting a mild sporty rumble from the exhaust with db levels we find acceptable inside the cabin for a work capable SXS with sporty intentions. The transmission shifts smoothly and effortlessly between high, low, neutral and reverse regardless of situation. Rolling on the gas from a dead stop or getting in and out of the throttle at speed, clutch engagement is magically smooth and gearbox like with no feel of belt lash like some other CVT equipped machines. It’s one of the smoothest, most natural, feeling CVT transmission he’s experienced.

The butter smooth clutching feeds in the engine’s seamless power delivery. It’s linear, yet fun; controllable, but fast enough to provide a thrill level missing from the X2 and X4. Low-end power is respectable, easily getting the car moving on flat or slow technical terrain. Seamlessly building power into the midrange, the RMAX can generate decent trail speed without having to rev the engine hard. A strong torque curve entering the midrange allows the RMAX to tackle impressively long steep climbs instilling confidence that you’re not going to run out of power.

Pushing the limits of the engine’s performance racing from corner to corner on the roomy trails, you quickly forget that there’s a dump bed behind you. It delivers the type of engine performance we’ve come to expect from the naturally aspirated sport class, all-be-it very refined. When you ask for it, the RMAX has enough thrust to push you back in your seat. We got the tires spinning cresting mild rollers in the trail and it’s possible to break loose and steer a bit with the back end in corners, even in limited slip 4WD. We had our machine close to 60mph on one of the longer straightaways we encountered with the RMAX apparently topping out at 73MPH, so cruising at 50mph on smooth, fast trails shouldn’t be an issue.

Exploring the drive modes, crawl mode allowed us to easily crawl our way through big creek rocks with plenty of power to keep crawling and no sign of wheel spin. On the other hand, with full power on tap, Justin tackled one of the longest, steepest climbs we came across in crawl mode. Even if full power wasn’t necessary, it was there, if needed, which is brilliant.

Trail mode provides a very natural feeling acceleration that seems proportional to the demand placed on the gas pedal. It works well for any type of driving from technical to sporty; good thing as this is the only mode available on the stock base model. The gas pedal, while improved over the one on the older Wolverine X models, still drew mixed reviews with Justin wishing for a heel pocket. Fortunately, low-speed pedal bob is no longer an issue in trail or crawl modes with the digital throttle filtering out most unwanted input without feeling laggy.

Sport mode is sort of similar to slapping a ¼ turn twist throttle on your dirt bike. It doesn’t change the power capabilities of the engine; it simply delivers more gas with less movement of the throttle. Sport mode’s snappy delivery right off idle can reintroduce some unwanted pedal bob that translates to forward momentum at crawling speeds if you’re not precise with your foot. Sport mode is not about babysitting the gas, though; it’s about getting immediately into the heart of the power and it does it well. Sport mode is our mode of choice for motoring or humbling sport SXS owners on the trail.

Variable engine braking seemed perfectly matched with the different drive modes. The normal, higher level of engine braking provided in crawl and trail modes do notably better at keeping speed in check on downhills. Sport mode’s reduced engine braking does well at allowing you to coast a bit more through bumps and reduces the feeling of throwing out the Anker when letting off the gas to set up for turns.

The increased traction of Crawl mode increases the capability of what’s possible, even in limited slip 4WD. However, when negotiating slick, muddy, steep, rutted climb where all four tires are spinning, it’s nice knowing that the front differential is locked with all four tires clawing for traction regardless of what we did with the throttle or if available grip changed from one side to the other.

Overall, the engine is well mannered for all day work with performance that feels worthy of a sport SXS. The General could be out gunned.

Chassis and Suspension

The RMAX is built on a brand new steel frame. Its 64” width is ideal for adapting well to nearly all types of terrain. Most of the underside of the frame is covered by a welded on steel skid plate with a front plastic skid plate and rear CV guards. Kickouts on the lower frame rails help pretend snagging rear wheels on trees of other obstacles. Our unit came outfitted with a set of 3/8” thick, UHMWPE skid plates, protecting the underside of the frame’s armor, which we’d rather not scratch up. Plus, they help slide over rocks more easily. They’d be our number one accessory pic.

Winch-ready steel bumpers feature very overbuilt looking tie down hooks for easy trailering. A channel in the grill allows an observer to keep an eye on the winch cable helping prevent tangling and binding.

The RMAX2 utilizes dual A-Arms front with wide-arc lower arms for improved ground clearance. Dual control arms out back utilize single stamped designed lower arms for improved strength. We were impressed with the thick shock mounts and stout appearance of the exposed frame and suspension parts. Justin felt construction appeared beyond what the competition is delivering at this time.

Fox Podium 2.0 QS3 shocks are used on the standard and XT-R models with Fox IQS shocks used on the LE model. Both shocks feature nitrogen reservoirs, dual rate springs with preload adjustment, and three-way compression damping adjustability with comfort, medium, and firm settings for different speeds, terrains, and uses.. The QS3 shocks have three position dials on the shocks’ reservoirs, while the IQS system allows you to select between the different compressions’ damping settings via a switch inside the cockpit.

According to Yamaha, the shocks were optimized for maximum low-speed comfort and maximum articulation while still offering a high-level of bottoming resistance.

The RMAX2 features class-leading suspension travel at both ends with 14.2” front and 16.9” rear. That’s nearly 3” more rear suspension travel than General XP 1000, within 1/10” of an inch of Yamaha’s YXZ1000R sport SXS, and more overall travel than the 64” wide Honda Talon X sport model. Equipped with a sway bar up front, it foregoes a rear sway bar for maximum articulation.

The RMAX2’s 86.7” wheelbase is claimed to improve the contact to ground feeling on steep climbs and descents compared to the 83” wheelbase of the General XP 1000. Rolling on 30X10-14” radial tires on 14” aluminum wheels, the RMAX2 delivers the square wheel tire setup we prefer. Ground clearance is class leading at 13.8”.

Optimized for use with 29-30” tires, Yamaha’s electric power steering is now offering a 2nd mode that automatically engages to make steering easier when the front differential is locked.

Yamaha is claiming a wet weight for the RMAX2 XT-R edition of 1876.1 lbs, around 172 pounds more than the slightly more compact, but similarly appointed, 850 class Wolverine X2 XT-R, which produces 69hp in comparison to the RMAX2 108hp. The RMAX certainly enjoys a substantial power to weight advantage.

Suspension performance was outstanding on the trails we tested on. The factory suspension settings are designed for two occupants with 150lbs in the bed with room to stiffen or soften the ride. That’s where we left it for our first day of testing, although Justin said he would soften the settings a bit for driving alone. We managed to bottom the suspension on a major G-out, which Justin said pushed most sport SXS’s shocks to their limits. Even then, the RMAX never bottomed harshly and quickly regained its composure.

Even with good bottoming resistance, during rock crawling, the shocks do an excellent job of absorbing square edge impacts and allowing the suspension to respond to the demands of the terrain aided greatly by the lack of a rear sway bar. It rolls over rocks and fills in holes with the rest of the RMAX and its occupants flying along comfortably above turbulence. Come to think of it, that’s kind of how the RMAX rides when you’re flying down the trail at speed. Small bumps aren’t harsh; the suspension never seems to bottom harshly; and everything in between is well dampened while still leaving you feeling very connected to the trail. Rebound damping was quick enough that the suspension is always ready for the next bump in the rocks, emitting a fun, responsive, and lively feeling over mildly rolling trail. The RMAX2 had a lot of suspension travel and it felt like it no matter how we drove it.

Driving in limited slip 4wd a majority of the time to maximize handling, entering corners at speed dive and body roll were well controlled with just enough front-end squat and weight transfer to the outside tire to get the front end hooked up and steering precisely. Justin proclaimed that the RMAX2 is the most accurate steering SXS he’s driven! In bumpy corners where the car might start to bobble, the suspension quickly settles things down. Stability in turns is very good with the feeling of a pretty low center of gravity. When you hammer down exiting corners, you feel the back end squat and transfer its weight to the outside tire, settling into the turn like a trophy truck. Even then, the rear suspension remains very responsive to bumps keeping the ride comfortable and the driver in control.

Power steering is near perfection as we’ve come to expect on all Yamaha models. It’s light with the perfect amount of feedback keeping you feeling connected to the trail while eliminating unwanted bump feedback. The only time any real effort is required to turn the front wheels is at a dead stop with the front differential lock engaged.

Stable with precise handling, and forgiving suspension. What more can you ask for from a sport SXS, we mean sport/utility?

Brakes

The RMAX are slowed by four-wheel hydraulic disc brakes. 255mm rotors with 32mm calipers are used up front with 244.5mm rotors and 27mm calipers out back. Dual piston calipers are found at both ends. Steel-braided brake lines are used for enhanced power and feel.

The brakes deliver good feel and power, but both Chad and Justin felt the pedal required more pressure than they would like. Braking improved a bit throughout the day, but still required a good amount of pedal pressure to get the most out of the brakes.

Work Capability

While we didn’t get a chance to do any hauling or towing, with all this performance comes the capability to get work done or haul more gear out for the weekend. The RMAX2 features a cosmetically well disguised, hydraulically assisted, composite dump bed with multiple steel tie-down points and 600lb of cargo capacity. A 2” hitch receiver is rated to tow an additional ton even with the bed loaded.

Interior and Other Details

Interior comfort and attention to detail are first rate on the RMAX. Entering and exiting has been made much easier compared to older X2 models. New 3-piece doors feature interior door handles located farther from flying mud. Integrated door speaker pods are designed to make installing speakers easier with improved acoustics.

A blue backlit LED display is mounted just behind the steering wheel and is easy to read at a glance. Compared to the previous Wolverine X2 and X4, the automotive style cockpit is roomier for all occupants with nearly ½” more rearward movement for the driver’s seat. Soft touch points are located throughout. The seats feature increased bolstering with new cut and sewn seat covers. The seat belts feature tool free, 6-point adjustability in 20mm increments.

Gas and brake pedals are newly designed. A 17° tilt adjustable steering wheel is constructed of a softer durometer rubber. The passenger benefits from a new quick adjust, T-shaped grab handle with 95mm of adjustment that can be adjusted in 4mm increments.

Getting comfortable in the machine is pretty easy for most body types. At 6’2”, Chad felt that he had plenty of legroom on either side. As wide as an NFL player, his shoulder rubbed the shoulder bolster a bit when he was driving although it wasn’t serious. The steering wheel is rigid, yet soft to the touch, offering plenty of adjustment. The seats are comfortable with a design that’s well balanced for easy exiting from the car while still offering a decent amount of bolstering for aggressive driving. They seem well placed in the chassis, in relationship to the front and rear wheels, minimizing rider movement traversing bumps. While the passenger grab bar is comfortable, we hardly felt the need for it unless we were on monster descents. The three-point belts are among the most comfortable we’ve used with no uncomfortable pressure points, and we genuinely appreciated the added comfort of the soft touch points, which seemed perfectly placed . All of the switches and handles feel high quality.

Riding in the RMAX is a joy with no rattles squeaks or irritating vibrations from anywhere on the machine. There’s just the pleasant sound of the engine and a slight turbo sounding hiss from the CVT.

Interior storage includes a 5.8L passenger glove box and 2.7L center console. There are cubbies in the center console as well as driver and passenger side storage shelves. There are also 2 cup holders.

XT-R and Limited edition RMAX models benefit from Yamaha Adventure Pro GPS tablet integration along with a USB charge port. The Adventure Pro can be locked in place for security and removed for use in your car or truck. The center console is rubber sealed with pass throughs to charge your smartphone while safely inside.

All RMAX2 models come with sun tops standard featuring integration with Yamaha’s accessory windshield, cab enclosure system and mirrors.

Its modern sporty styling is accented with new LED marker lights. 7.6W LED low beams with 15.2W reflector high beam headlights are found out front with LED tail and reverse lights found out back.

Accessory Integration

If you like to accessorize your rig like us, it’s worth noting that Yamaha already has over 100 accessories ready to go for the new Wolverines. Besides the skid plates, our RMAX also benefited from Yamaha’s polycarbonate half windshield, which is far less obtrusive to your sight line than some of the curved half windshields. You might as well pick up a Yamaha accessory windshield before you leave the dealer as well. They’re a great addition to any SXS.

Conclusion

While we are typically excited about new machines, we’re blown away with the new Yamaha Wolverine RMAX2 1000. It’s certainly a contender or best in class in the sport/utility segment, but it’s more than that. Although we didn’t get the chance to test it in whooped out terrain, the RMAX 1000 seems good enough to serve the needs of many enthusiasts who’ve been wishing for a 64” wide, CVT equipped sport SXS from a Japanese manufacturer. It’s both quicker and faster than a Teryx 1000, might give the Talon 1000X a good run, and will work better for many drivers than Yamaha’s YXZ1000R on tighter trails. Plus, it will let you haul more gear, work, or tow more than any Sport SXS. Its combination of performance, versatility, and refinement is unique and why we expect the 2021 Yamaha Wolverine RMAX 1000 to become one of the top selling SXSs on the market. That’s saying a lot, but the new Wolverine RMAX2 1000 is really that good.

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Native Region and Habitat Growing Needs for Sycamores

The American Sycamore is prevalent throughout the United States and is native in 32 states. The tree can grow in many kinds of soil but is best grown in rich, moist, and well-drained soil. They’re best planted in spring or fall. Sycamore tree maintenance is relatively easy.

Sycamore trees are highly susceptible to drought and are prone to insect and pest infestation when not watered regularly.

How To Identify a Sycamore Tree

Most sycamore trees are easy to identify, regardless of the season, if you know where to look.

Sycamore Tree Leaf Identification

Sycamore leaves are sometimes similar to those of some maple trees but have more shallow lobes and are arranged alternately. They’re sharply toothed and mostly kidney-shaped in outline.

They vary from 5 to 8 inches in size. They emerge from the bud plicate and are pale green.

When mature, they’re bright yellow-green above and paler on the bottom. Like other deciduous trees, come fall, they turn brown and wither before falling off the tree.

Sycamore Tree Bark

An American sycamore tree is easily identifiable by its mottled bark that flakes off in large portions and leaves the tree surface greenish-white and brown. The bark of all tree varieties gives way to the expanding trunk by splitting, but the sycamore exhibits the change more visually than most other trees.

The reason is because of the bark’s rigidness which isn’t as elastic as the bark of other tree varieties. It can’t stretch to accommodate the growth of the trunk it covers and thus peels off in uneven slabs.

Sycamore Tree Flowers

The sycamore tree flowers are small and exist in densely round clusters that grow from stalks that grow with the leaves in April and May. The flowers are monoecious (both male and female)and, because of their small size, can pollinate with the wind. The male flowers are red. They wither and fall off the tree after the pollen is dispersed.

Related Reading: Willow Tree Guide, Oak Tree Guide, Dogwood Tree Guide, and Cherry Blossom Tree Growing Tips

The female flowers are yellow and morph into fuzzy fruits.

Sycamore Tree Fruit (Sycamore Tree Seeds/Sycamore Tree Balls)

The sycamore tree fruit matures in small, brown balls that dangle from the branch. The ball, which isn’t a single fruit, is instead a collection of many tiny seed-like fruits called achenes, which have dense hair-like structures attached. The balls are light as a feather and can float on water, which is useful in dispersal. Their lightness also lets them ride the wind.

Birds and mammals can sometimes also help in the scattering of seeds when they eat and transport the fruit.1

How to Grow Sycamore Tree: Care Tips

Western Sycamores are a resilient bunch and quite easy to grow, except they need tons of water. They should be planted by a stream or pond, for if not, they will need lots of supplementary water about once a week.

The roots will grow downwards in search of groundwater near patios or urban environments. They tolerate a wide variety of soils and grow best in full sun. They’ll quickly grow to 30 feet in five years provided they’re watered plenty.

Planting

Dig a hole twice the size of the root ball. Place the sapling in the middle of the hole. Make sure the top of the root ball is a bit higher than the soil line. Fill the hole with water before placing the soil around the root ball.

Related Reading: How to care for Magnolia Tree types

Allow the water to soak in, then add the soil and water extensively. Place three inches of mulch around the sapling. That will reduce the tree’s water needs. Ensure the soil is moist with regular watering for the first three months.

This will make sure the roots are solid and grow deeply.

Care

The sycamore is very adaptable and grows best in full sun. Feed this tree with a slow-release fertilizer5 in early spring. If it needs pruning, do so when it’s dormant in winter or early spring. This hardy tree adapts to pollution, and drought, and is salt tolerant.

Sycamore Tree Pests And Diseases

Although the tree is very hardy, there are some pests and diseases to be aware of.

Sycamore Lace Bug

The sycamore lace bug is named for the pattern seen on the adult bug’s wings and head. The bug is only an eighth of an inch long and white with brown spots.

Adult bugs last through the winter beneath the peeling bark of the sycamore tree. They get busy in the spring when the leaves start to grow. The female lays her eggs on the leaf undersurface. The eggs attach to the leaves with brown sticky sap. The nymphs hatch a few days later.

They are wingless, darker than adult bugs, and covered with spines. Both adults and nymphs nourish on the leaves. Their piercing/sucking mouthparts are used to remove sap from the leaves.

The leaf turns yellow around the feeding areas. By late summer, the surface of the leaf is covered with dark spots of waste material and the shed skins of lace bugs. The trees aren’t seriously damaged but growth can be reduced under heavy infestations.

Plane Anthracnose Disease

The American sycamore is prone to plane anthracnose6 disease, a fungus found naturally on the Oriental plane,7 and which has developed resistance to the disease. Although rarely killed or seriously harmed, the sycamore is partially defoliated8 by the disease and dethroned of the natural good looks specimen it is.

At times confused with frost damage, the disease attacks in early spring. The new leaves wilt while the older ones turn brown at their base. Infected leaves shrivel and fall, and come summer, the tree regrows its foliage.

Cankers develop on the twigs and branches near the sick leaves and spread the disease by producing spores that weaken the tree. The cankers restrict the flow of nutrients causing the afflicted twigs and branches to expire.2

Folklore, Significance, And Medicinal Qualities of Sycamore Tree

Sycamore trees have an illustrious history in folklore that goes back to ancient Egyptian when the Holy Sycamore was said to be a conduit connecting and bridging the abyss that separates the dead and the living.

This massive tree looms over the eastern gate of heaven and from where the sun emerges to rise each new morning.

Perhaps it’s their bizarre-colored trunks that are mottled with stark patches of white and gray when the bark peels off that give them the mysterious allure.

Ancient Greeks and Persians considered the sycamores as the most handsome trees and planted them everywhere. In Sparta, the sycamore was attributed to the goddess Helen and was decorated with lotus flowers. It’s also dedicated to extra-handsome men like Apollo, Dionysus, and Hercules, who all sat beneath the canopy of the ancient sycamore while the Greek philosopher Socrates expounded philosophically with his disciples.

In the Seventeenth century, Georgian Tsar Irakli II, sat under the sycamore when he made the fateful decision to plead with the Russian Empire for protection and patronage.

One Bible prophet, Amos, was a farmer who cared for sycamore trees before delivering messages to the northern kingdom.3 In the Book of Luke, Jesus was recorded going to the home of Zacchaeus, a tax collector, who climbed into the sycamore fig tree so he could watch as Jesus passed by his house. When Jesus saw him, he called out and ended up eating with him under the sycamore tree.

Medicinal Qualities

Sycamore trees have long been used for homeopathic remedies, especially the inner bark, which acts as a disinfectant.

It has been used for everything from coughs to rashes and arthritis pain.4

History and Use of Sycamore Tree Wood

The wood from the Sycamore tree is good for many applications. Its many purposes include barber poles, wine barrels, butcher blocks, cabinets, shelves, cartwheels, flooring, a variety of furniture, interior paneling and trim, and violin backs.

Native Americans and French traders constructed canoes from sycamore lumber. Most dugouts were about 30 feet long but some were longer than 60 feet.

Because sycamore wood rots quickly when in contact with the ground, it wasn’t used for fence posts or railroad ties. The European settlers used hollowed trunks to shelter from rain or snow. Some early European settlers even acquired them as shelters until their log cabins were constructed.

They then converted the hollowed trunks into barns, silos, and stables. Smaller hollowed trunks were cut and used as troughs and tubs. Even the sycamore fruit had its use. After the ball harboring the fruit had split apart and the nutlets floated off, the core of the fruit ball, as well as the stalk and a twig, were constructed into buttons.

The button makers needed to make sure the tufted hairs of the nutlets had all dispersed because they would irritate the skin and respiratory tracts of potential clients.5

The sycamore is as sturdy and resilient as they come. It grows in cold climates, relishes the snow, loves the sun, and needs little to survive for centuries, making it excellent carbon offset trees when planted in it’s native habitat and protected by carbon offset companies working to eliminate carbon footprint from emissions. It flourishes in its native habitats and has served society in gracious and numerous ways.

So, the good news is that the Sycamore tree isn’t going anywhere in the foreseeable future and isn’t on any endangered lists.

Welcome! Please view, share, and enjoy the copyrighted, complete solution to the Fenn quest. Visual independent proof (“VIP”) exists in three different forms, while the site determined by the poem is here.

The readiest proof is found here or in the image shown on this page, which is the quest solution. The image combines an overlay of the illustration by Polt found in the epilogue of The Thrill of the Chase: A Memoir by Fenn, published in January 2010, onto an outdoor photo of the site I took in August 2018. That match proves that Fenn, who commissioned the illustration, was at the site of the photo while creating the quest.

In that book, where “EPILOGUE” heads the last chapter title page, the letters “LOG” are centered above the illustration. The Greek root of “epilogue” is “ἐπί” or “epi” meaning “above.” In often referencing “under a log” or “turning over a log” while searching, Fenn refers to this image, not to the natural remains of a tree. The key image under, or labeled by, the letters “LOG,” when overlaid onto the correct photo and faded, proves the correct site, again underneath.

More independent proof is found here in the clear connections between the site and the Colorado state seal. The three VIPs often interconnect. For example, the fasces in the state seal matches the “ax in the wood” portion of the overlay image, while the Fenn directive to “turn over a log” matches the key 1794 Battle of Fallen Timbers, fought near Toledo.

Details are found in the full solution.

Only the correct site and its surroundings were visited in the context of the quest. Identifying the area was straightforward. The difficulty lay first in narrowing down the site, which took about one year, then in perceiving that the quest is not a scavenger hunt for treasure but rather a test of grit: of character, disentitlement, productivity, and resilience in adversity, culminating in independent proof. Creating at least one form of independent proof took over two years, and creating others took almost three.

The rugged site, dominated by willows, is of limited extent, about 1 acre (0.4 ha), yet multiple, thorough searches yielded nothing. Anyone is welcome to explore and search the site. Outdoor safety precautions in all particulars must be taken as the site is at 9,000 feet (2,743 m) of altitude and is accessed only by wading a river.

The solution is publicly revealed. To be clear, the quest is solved, the answer to the puzzle is independently proved, and treasure is absent at the site.

Three forms of VIP would not be needed if treasure, proof enough, were present. The status of treasure is unknown. In my opinion, a real treasure exists, and Fenn securely retains it to award as he sees fit — which is also common sense: the poem ends, “I give you title to the gold.” Many “treasure searchers” might misunderstand the quest, setting the wrong success standard and guaranteeing failure by insisting on finding and retrieving a literal treasure, when the “treasure in the woods” is figurative or metaphorical. A metaphorical test of grit solved by creativity and reference to history, literature, and images is consistent with the personal profile of a combat pilot turned artist and best-selling author. Literally abandoning treasure in the woods, a foolish act inconsistent with a brilliant man, also would deprive Fenn of control over the quest.

Many thanks to Fenn, Polt, family, friends, and public safety authorities. Fenn is a man of service, creativity, and intellect, whom I respect and admire. I am humbled to have solved his amazing quest and would be privileged to meet him in person. We have never mutually corresponded. My name and contact are found atop this page and at the bottom of the cover page of the solution document.

“If I cannot move heaven, I will raise hell.” – Virgil, The Aeneid of Virgil, Book Seven, Line 312

A cousin of mad cow disease that eats holes in the brains of deer could be the tipping point that pushes Kansas to join other states that bar people from baiting the animals with piles of food.

Wildlife commissioners hope restricting the popular practice could slow the spread of chronic wasting disease and curb other deer-related problems, such as crop damage.

In northwest Kansas, biologists estimate at least one-third of 2.5-year-old bucks now have the fatal disease.

But opponents of a feed ban — so far, primarily people with financial interests — are raising heated complaints. That includes feed sellers, rural land brokers and hunting lodge owners.

Some Kansas lodges charge out-of-state hunters upward of $4,000 each for weeklong stays on properties where deer baiting and feeding ensures strong numbers of the country’s most popular game animal.

Lodge owners argue a ban would hurt their businesses and rural communities.

“When an outfitter or a landowner gets a thousand dollars in his pocket from outside, he don’t put it in his pocket,” Kenny Graham, who runs the 23,000-acre CK Outfitters lodge about an hour south of Topeka in Osage City, told commissioners at their June meeting. “He spends it with (a grain) elevator. He spends it to buy gas. He spends it to live on.”

Whitetail Properties Real Estate, which specializes in hunting land, is battling the potential restrictions. So is Hunter Nation, a politically conservative group that includes Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach on the board of directors.

Whitetail Properties salesperson Todd Bigbee said rules would cause land values to drop, leading to “massive” losses.

“Especially to rural Kansas landowners who sell recreational land and lease hunting rights to others,” he said in an email to the Kansas News Service.

Biologists and veterinarians, though, have won over an increasing number of states to ban the practice of laying out corn, apples, peanuts and other food for deer.

They warn that these unnatural buffets gather deer in close proximity and spread sickness.

The National Deer Association, which promotes hunting and healthy deer populations, shares that concern. It has nothing against baiting and feeding under normal circumstances, but it supports a ban in areas with chronic wasting disease.

“There’s no doubt from the science side that baiting increases disease spread,” said wildlife biologist Kip Adams, the group’s head of conservation. “That’s very, very clear … The vast majority of wildlife professionals agree.”

Feed sellers and others who want to continue baiting in areas with disease aren’t convinced that shutting down feeding makes sense. They note that chronic wasting disease persists in states without legal baiting.

Surveys of Kansas hunters and landowners

Crowding around feed undermines a key evolutionary trait — a kind of deer version of social distancing.

“Maternal family groups actually do a pretty good job of spatially segregating,” North Dakota wildlife veterinarian Charlie Bahnson told Kansas wildlife commissioners at the June meeting. “That tends to all break down when you put artificial feed on the landscape.”

A sick deer standing over a bait pile covers it in pee, poop and saliva. Other deer chowing down at the same spot pick up germs.

They could catch bovine tuberculosis, for example. Or they could swallow the prions that cause the always-fatal chronic wasting disease.

Kansas wildlife officials are revving up a public education campaign. Hunter Nation has launched a counter-campaign.

A ban would make hunting harder for many people, said Kansas lawyer Keith Mark, the group’s founder and president.

If young people can’t get close enough to animals to hit their targets, hunting won’t hold enough appeal to coax kids away from computer games and other entertainment, he said. The U.S. needs to replenish the ranks of its aging hunters.

“Being able to attract deer to a close proximity is certainly better for young hunters — really all hunters,” to kill as many deer as permitted, he said. “Isn’t that what we’re trying to do here?”

“I don’t buy that,” Adams said. “There’s a lot of places (where) kids and new hunters are shooting deer with rifles, shotguns and bows — where they cannot use bait.”

Adams wrote this month that the number of states that allow baiting has fallen from 26 to 22 in the past five years. He expects the number will keep falling as chronic wasting disease spreads.

In Kansas, wildlife biologists estimate based on carcass samples that somewhere between 33% and 48% of 2.5-year-old bucks in northwest Kansas counties now have the disease, which first cropped up in Kansas two decades ago.

They peg the rates at 10-16% in north-central Kansas, 9%-21% in southwestern Kansas, 1%-4% in south-central Kansas and about 1% for eastern Kansas.

Skeptics reject those estimates and want more testing.

Tim Neuman, a wildlife biologist employed by feed and supplement manufacturer Ani-logics Outdoors, argues that banning the use of these products would be “counterproductive” because some landowners would ignore that and carry on. Then more animals would end up congregating at those spots.

“It makes it worse because it concentrates deer even more,” he said, so “there’s only half as much (feed), but there’s still the same amount of deer.”

He urged Kansas to hold off and see if researchers can find preventive treatments.

“We are still in the infancy with the knowledge of chronic wasting disease,” he said.

Many Kansans enjoy increasing their chances of shooting a deer or watching and photographing the creatures by putting out food.

The Kansas Bowhunters Association will remain neutral on potential regulations, because its membership is torn, president Bob McCartney said. The group’s executive council has decided to support whatever decision the state wildlife agency reaches.

In 2020, the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks surveyed hunters and found 54% of respondents would oppose a total ban on bait and mineral supplements that attract game.

Last year, the department commissioned a survey of landowners that found 45% either feed deer on their land or allow someone else to do it.

Still, the state’s wildlife commissioners feel compelled by science to push toward regulation.

“I think the commission would all vote to ban baiting today,” commissioner Troy Sporer said in June. He asked department staff to make clear to the public that the state’s wildlife commissioners want “to ban baiting, in time.”

“They need to know (that) is our intention,” he said.

The seven-person commission guides the department’s actions. Its members are appointed to staggered four-year terms by the governor.

Staff will schedule town hall meetings in coming months. They’re also hoping to convince the public that it’s better to support deer by creating healthy habitats.

Deer benefit when landowners remove invasive trees and restore prairie, for example. The animals forage and hide in the grasses, which help fawns avoid hypothermia.

Landowners can also plant fields of buckwheat, cowpeas and other deer favorites. States consider this less hazardous than laying out food because deer keep their mouths farther away from bodily fluids on the ground and don’t crowd around a pile.

What do other states do?

It’s not clear whether Kansas wildlife commissioners will ultimately vote on a statewide, yearlong ban on baiting and feeding game or some kind of partial limitations.

A dozen Midwest states have various kinds of restrictions on the practices.

Baiting and feeding are terms used differently by various agencies and groups. Some distinguish between the two based on the goals or quality of the food. However, both words refer to setting out food in piles or with a dispenser.

Illinois opted for a statewide ban. In Nebraska, hunters can put out food but can’t shoot deer within 200 yards of it.

North Dakota bans baiting and feeding in areas with confirmed chronic wasting disease.

Bahnson, the North Dakota veterinarian, said officials take flak when they act.

“It generates a lot of pretty strong emotional responses,” he said. “Frankly, it’s not very fun to deal with from an agency standpoint.”

North Dakota lawmakers tried this year to strip the state’s wildlife officials of their ability to limit baiting, but they ultimately failed.

Bahnson said North Dakota hunters generally didn’t bait deer until a few decades ago. It became common at lodges, he said, and popular with bowhunters.

The story of chronic wasting disease

Wild elk started testing positive for chronic wasting disease in the 1980s in Colorado. Today, the disease has reached 30 more states and parts of Canada.

The prion — a kind of deformed protein — infects deer, elk and similar animals, slowly destroying their brains.

No people have gotten sick, but health authorities worry. Human exposure to mad cow disease has killed more than 200 people worldwide since its discovery in the 1990s.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urges hunters to don impermeable gloves before cutting carcasses. Hunters should extract a sample for a chronic wasting disease test and shouldn’t eat the meat if it tests positive.

Kansas officials found a first case in 2001 in a captive elk southwest of Wichita. Wild animals started testing positive elsewhere in the state starting in 2005.

Since then, the Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostic Lab has confirmed cases in most counties. Western Kansas is a particular hotspot.

But hunting fuels a corner of the economy that often clashes with regulation.

In the book Deerland, writer and hunter Al Cambronne documents the political backlash in Wisconsin from feed mills in the early 2000s.

They won over state lawmakers to undo baiting restrictions that the state had imposed to slow the spread of chronic wasting disease.

One family-run feed mill said it lost more than $85,000 in a single winter during the ban.

Today, baiting is allowed in a few Wisconsin counties, but prohibited in most.

Businessowners in Kansas fear major losses, too.

In Osage County and Coffee County alone, anti-feeding rules would put three people out of business, lodge owner Graham warned Kansas wildlife commissioners.

“We contribute to the economy,” he said. “We care about the habitat.”

Hunter Nation also makes an economic case. It points to data from the Sportsmen’s Alliance, whose membership includes major hunting retailers and ammunition suppliers.

A report commissioned by the group estimates people seeking to hunt deer and other animals forked out more than $500 million on equipment, travel and related services in Kansas in 2020.

The report does not indicate how a ban on baiting and feeding would affect this spending.

Wildlife officials are considering putting a stop to baiting and feeding not just to slow the spread of disease, but also because the practices can lead to extra high deer numbers in some areas.

This can lead, for example, to localized damage to bird and pollinator habitat or complaints from farmers about crop damage.

Biologists are also concerned that corn is the most common deer feed.

If deer eat too much corn, this can give them health conditions. Yet the animals can’t turn down the starches in it, said Levi Jaster, a biologist and big game coordinator at the wildlife department. It’s the cervid version of potato chips.

“I like potato chips,” he said. “Rarely do I open a bag and eat (just) one … even though I know they’re bad for me.”

Critics of the agency shoot back that corn is so ubiquitous on Kansas farmland that the animals will eat plenty of it no matter what.

Celia Llopis-Jepsen is the environment reporter for the Kansas News Service. You can follow her on Twitter @celia_LJ or email her at celia (at) kcur (dot) org.

The Kansas News Service is a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio focused on health, the social determinants of health and their connection to public policy.

Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished by news media at no cost with proper attribution and a link to ksnewsservice.org.

Meat sticks, snack sticks, beef sticks, slim jims, whatever you want to call them, these on-the-go meat snacks are a staple in sausage making. A cousin of jerky, this semi-dry sausage is thinner in diameter and can be made from pork, beef, venison or other combinations of wild game.

Meat sticks are ground then stuffed in either collagen or natural casings. They can be seasoned with virtually any profile and enhanced with add-ins like high-temp cheese, encapsulated citric acid or cultures. No matter how you flavor your meat sticks, they’re the perfect hand-held meat snack and are a great way to utilize your venison or leftover trimmings.

Tools of the Trade

• Meat Grinder with 3/8” and 3/16” plates
• Meat Mixer or Your Hands
• Meat Lug or Large Food-Safe Container
• Stuffer (13 or 16mm horn)
• Smokehouse

Meat (and Fat) Instructions for Meat Sticks

For this venison snack stick recipe, making sure you have the right meat-to-fat ratio is important. For the best meat sticks, you’ll want to shoot for a range of 15-25% fat and 85-75% lean for the finished product. Any leaner, and you risk a dry and crumbly texture in your snack sticks. This is especially important when making deer sticks. When working with venison, we recommend adding about 50% venison and 50% pork trim with 50% fat content into your snack sticks. Pork trim, or the trimmings from the shoulder or butt, are typically available at your local butcher shop (make sure to call ahead!). If you want to be really precise, you can separate the visible fat from the meat and weigh them out separately to get the exact ratios right for your venison sticks.

Grinding & Mixing for Snack Sticks

Meat sticks don’t require a very fine grind, as you’ll want to retain some visual separation of fat and meat in your final beef sticks. To get the right snack stick texture, we recommend grinding twice; the first pass through a 3/8“ plate then twice through a 3/16” plate.

Pro tip: Remember to always keep your sausage stick’s meat cold! We recommend popping your meat block back into the cooler between grinds to prevent smearing.

Once each of your proteins has been ground, you can begin mixing either by hand or by using a meat mixer. We recommend doing it by hand for batches less than 25 lbs as you don’t want to break the any encapsulated citric acid or high-temp cheese you’re adding into your snack sticks.

Beef Sticks Seasoning & Additives

Begin by adding your seasoning to your meat sticks. Whether you’re making pork, venison, beef sticks, we recommend our No. 765 Honey BBQ Snack Stick Seasoning or No 769 Willie’s Seasoning. Both have a great depth of flavor that are equally good on their own or mixed with other additives like high-temp cheese. Other favorite meat stick seasonings are:

• No. 769 Honey Sriracha Seasoning: Sweet with just the right amount of heat. Comes with Speed Cure. Perfect for beef sticks.
• No 491 Seven Pepper Seasoning: Feel the burn! This blend is just like the name implies with chili, jalapeno, chipotle, habanero and red peppers. Comes with Speed Cure. Amazing for venison sticks.
• No. 798 Pepperoni Stick Seasoning: The delicious taste of pepperoni in a snack form. Comes with Maple Cure. Best for pork sticks.

If your seasoning doesn’t have any larger pieces, you can season after the first grind and have the grinder do some of the distribution for you.

All of our meat stick seasonings come complete with cure for up to 25 lbs. of meat. Nitrites help preserve the red in the meat in the absence of oxygen and also kill bacteria that can result in food-borne illnesses. Add the appropriate amount of cure for your meat batch to your water and stir to combine.

Once the seasonings and cure have been well incorporated into your meat stick mix, this is the time to add in any other flavorings. We like to add in high-temp cheddar cheese and encapsulated citric acid. Encapsulated citric acid gives a mouthwatering tang to your finished sausage sticks and because it’s coated, won’t break down the texture of the meat.

For meat snack sticks, you’ll want to get a good amount of protein extraction before stuffing. The end results should be sticky and pasty, with seasonings well incorporated throughout. For proper jerky stick flavor and color development, refrigerate your meat mixture overnight or for several hours before stuffing.

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Meat Sticks Casings

Meat sticks have a smaller diameter and are typically made with either natural sheep casings or small collagen casings. We prefer the irresistible “snap” that comes from natural sheep casings, but collagen casings will offer better uniformity and rich mahogany color for your snack sticks. For the best beef sticks, we recommend:

• 20-22 mm Natural Sheep Casings (Home Pack)

• 20-22 mm Natural Sheep Casings (Preflushed)

• 21 mm Mahogany Processed Collage Casings

• 21 mm Clear Processed Collagen Casings

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Meat Sticks Processing

One of the trickiest parts of making meat sticks is the processing or smoking process. If the sausages heat too quickly, the fat has the potential of melting out of the beef stick and the encapsulated acid can break down. The key is to gradually increase the temperature to ensure there’s no fat or additive loss inside the snack sticks.

The type of combustible you will use for smoking also has an impact on the taste and smoking process of your meat sticks. It is best to do some research and figure out which material you should use to obtain the best beef sticks.

To make the best smoked snack sticks, we recommend using a high quality electric smokehouse, like the Pro Smoker PK-100, which uses sawdust as smoke fuel. Always refer to your manufacturers instructions for smoking times and temperatures, but as a general rule, our recommend processing schedule is:

• Set smokehouse to 120° F. Hung sausage sticks and set in the smokehouse to dry for ½ hour (no smoke)
• Increase temperature to 130° F and smoke for 1 hour (dampers closed 75%)
• Increase temperature to 150° F and smoke for 1 hour
• Increase temperature to 170° F and remove smoke
• Cook until internal temperature of the snack stick reaches 155° F degrees

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Cooling

There are two ways to cool down sausages and snack sticks after the smoking process: air drying or ice bath. If you choose to air dry, let the meat sticks rest at room temperature for about ½ hour to bring the internal temperature of the snack sticks down to 110 degrees before placing them in the fridge to cool completely. The ice bath method goes faster, but both processes with get the casings to firm up and create the nice snap texture when you bite into your beef sticks.

Once in the fridge, wait until the snack sticks reach an internal temperature of 39 degrees before vacuum packing or storing. If properly sealed and packaged, snack sticks can last in the freezer for several months or in the refrigerator for 2-3 weeks.

Enjoy Your Homemade Beef Sticks!

You now have succeeded in making your own homemade meat sticks! Whether you chose to follow it as a venison or beef sticks recipe, we are sure you will feel proud every time you go for a quick meat snack!

Don’t hesitate to check out all our sausage recipes and meat & sausage tips!

For printable instructions, see our recipe for Honey BBQ Venison Snack Sticks.

Most of us omnivores eschew turkey tendons, the elastic strands that get in the way of a forkful of pure dark- or light-meat delight. For a team of Brown University researchers, however, these dinner discards are providing some new insights into how our bodies move and protect important muscle fibers.

High-impact activities, such as hiking down a mountain, can be hard on our muscles, as the hard shock of landings damages fibers (fascicles) during descent.

Muscles, however, are not acting alone, it turns out. “We used to think that all of the motion of the body could be explained from the action of our muscle motors,” Thomas Roberts, an associate professor of biology at Brown and co-author of the study, said in a prepared statement. “It is becoming increasingly apparent that springy tendons are a big part of what makes us go.” And what help us stop, according to the new turkey research, published online Tuesday in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Turkeys happen to have a similar muscle and tendon structure in their legs as humans do, even though their knees bend the opposite way. So the researchers dropped half a dozen wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) and used high-speed sensors and cameras to observe their landings. How do you drop a 9.5-pound turkey, scientifically? The birds were placed in harnesses, lifted 1.5 meters into the air and then released (a height from which, the researchers noted, “the animals were able to land safely, repeatedly in a controlled fashion”). Foil strain gauges glued to turkey’s tendons were used to measure changes in muscle fibers 1,000 times a second via sonomicrometry.

The turkey landing data suggested that tendons can protect surrounding muscle fibers by taking in a good portion of the initial energy from a hard landing—then releasing it back to surrounding muscles more slowly.

“Something has to take up the slack, and it falls to the tendon,” Nicolai Konow, a postdoctoral research in ecology and evolutionary biology at Brown, and paper co-author, said in a prepared statement.

The process of landing turns out to be similar to what we already know about how the tendons and muscles work together to take off for a jump. When a person—or domestic fowl—jumps up, the power initially generated by the muscle is, in part, stored by the tendon, which provides the quick-release burst of energy. Just the opposite happens upon landing to dissipate the energy, the new findings suggest: “Power attenuation is similar to the familiar mechanisms of power amplification,” the research team wrote in their study. “In both cases, the tendon allows a separation in time of the muscular event and the movement event.” On the turkeys’ landings, the muscle fibers stiffened against the impact, sending energy to the tendon, which then released it some 2.4 times more slowly back to the muscle fibers.

The findings could have an impact, so to speak, on reconstructive tendon surgery as well as sports training, where the results might come as somewhat of a shock. After all, tendons are often thought of as the vulnerable links, owing in part to the major problems they can cause if they snap (think of poor Achilles). But perhaps we can think of the tendons as protectors, too. “We can say that in real ways, the muscle has a safety net with the tendon there protecting it,” Konow said.

Are you a newcomer to the world of crossbow hunting. Or have you been away from the sport for a few years and just need a refresher on the basics? Either way, having a working knowledge of all the components of your crossbow is both useful and critical.

Being familiar with the parts that make up your crossbow and how each part works will make it easier to maintain your bow. Proper maintenance will help you get optimal performance from your crossbow when you need it.

Main Parts of a Crossbow

Two different styles of crossbows exist – compound bows and recurve bows. These crossbows do share some common basic parts. In its simplest form, a crossbow resembles a rifle with a horizontal bow mounted to the stock. It launches a bolt (or arrow) from the rail fixed on top of the barrel instead of firing a bullet.

How does each component of a crossbow work? Here’s an overview of each part and how it functions:

A. Stock

The portion of the crossbow you hold, away from any danger points, when you shoot a bolt. It rests against a shooter’s shoulder when in use. A stock is usually composed of wood or is injection molded from plastic or other composite materials. It serves as the functional base of the crossbow, tying the barrel, trigger and sight bridge together. Stocks are available in many configurations.

B. Foregrip

Your aiming hand rests under this part of the crossbow. Foregrips help give you better control of your shot so that you don’t fire off an errant bolt as easily. It helps you steady your aim and keep lined up with your target. Some crossbows feature removable foregrips or collapsible foregrips.

C. Trigger & Safety

The trigger is what releases the string and fires your bolt. Trigger mechanisms utilize two basic designs. It is either located directly underneath the latch that holds the string in a cocked position or the latch mounted behind the trigger. A safety prevents accidental release of a bolt and may engage manually or automatically once a crossbow is cocked. Some crossbows feature a dual safety system.

D. Barrel

A component also known as a rail or track, the barrel features a grooved track on top that aligns a bolt with the string. This creates consistent accuracy each time you shoot. Barrels can be composed of multiple materials. Polymers or plastic are common material for barrels in cheaper bows. Aluminum barrels are more common in higher end crossbows. It is light and stronger than plastic and stays straight. Carbon fiber barrels are also becoming more popular because they reduce overall weight on the crossbow.

E. Risers

This is the section of the crossbow where the limbs attach. Risers come in multiple configurations. It serves a primary purpose of holding the limbs of the bow at a certain angle. Typically risers are made from cast aluminum or machined aluminum. Some crossbows will feature a magnesium riser. Carbon fiber risers are also becoming an option.

F. Limbs

These are the ends of a horizontally mounted bow. Limbs are longer in recurve bows than compound bows because the length is needed to create similar power to that generated in a compound crossbow. The string connects to the end of each limb. Limbs on a crossbow are much heavier than on a vertical bow because the power stroke in a crossbow can be more than half as short as a typical vertical bow.

G. Cams

In a compound crossbow, cams are wheels mounted at the end of each limb. The string is attached to the cams and when it is pulled back, the wheels turn. This motion bends the limbs and stores a large amount of kinetic energy, which is then released once the trigger is pulled. These wheels can be round or oval shaped. The shape dictates the draw force curve of a bow and how much energy is transferred and stored when the string is pulled back.

H. Cable

Another component that is exclusively found on compound crossbows. The cable works in tandem with the cams for the purpose of reinforcing the crossbow and adjusting its firing power. Cams act like pulleys in keeping the cable taut underneath the barrel as the string is pulled back.

I. String

The most essential crossbow component. It is what propels a bolt forward. A string will influence the crossbow’s firing power and performance. It determines the feet per second (FPS) that a crossbow launches a bolt. Commonly used string materials include polyester fiber, synthetic fiber, and natural fiber. The material is chosen based on breaking strength, weight, and stretch capability. A string must be both light and durable in order to effectively transfer maximum energy from the bow to the bolt.

J. Serving

Wound tightly around the string, a serving protects a string from the arrow retention spring which holds it in the cocked position. The serving is approximately four inches long. It contacts and rides across the rail once the trigger is activated and the crossbow is fired at its intended target. It should always be centered on either side of the latch to assure that each shot will be consistent.

K. Flight Groove

A grooved track on top of the barrel between bow and latch. The flight groove serves an extremely important purpose. It allows the arrow to lie in perfect alignment with the bow’s string. This creates consistent accuracy each time a bolt is shot at an intended target. The flight groove goes right down the center of the barrel and allows the fletching to glide down the barrel without interference.

L. Arrow Retention Spring

A metal bar designed to hold the bolt in the flight groove until the trigger releases the latch. It keeps the bolt from slipping out so that you can transport the crossbow from one location to another and keep it cocked so it is ready to fire if an animal suddenly emerges. You can flip it over or point it straight down without jarring the bolt loose. The retention spring is typically molded using steel or plastic.

M. Latch

This is the mechanism that’s designed to capture the string when the crossbow is drawn. The latch works by holding the string in place and keeps it taut until it is released by pressing the trigger.

N. Sight

Aids in aligning the bolt with the intended target to improve accuracy when a shot is fired. Three types of crossbow sights include pin and peep, red dot and scope. Pin and peep sights feature an adjustable pin as a front aiming point and a rear sight peep hole molded from metal or plastic. This type of sight does not fog up or require batteries. Red dot sights are battery operated and have one to three aiming points. Scopes are the most widely used sighting method and offer multiple options in aiming points and magnification. Crossbow specific scopes vary from a rifle scope in that they are specially designed to meet ballistic performance and vibration of a crossbow.

O. Sight Bridge

This is where you mount a sight on the crossbow and hold it in place. It is a vital feature for any crossbow. A sturdy sight bridge gives a sight a solid base and that is so crucial for achieving consistent accuracy with each shot. Some crossbows connected the sight bridge to the trigger housing. Others bolt it to the stock. Sight bridges are typically made from a strong lightweight metal like aluminum.

P. Cocking Stirrup

A metal foothold used to aid in cocking the crossbow. It is a hoop-shaped piece of metal at the front of the crossbow. You place your foot directly inside the stirrup to prevent the bow from slipping while you draw back the string into cocking position. It is mounted to the end of the barrel or riser. The stirrup also protects the end of the bolt from being damaged while on the move.

Q. Quiver

Container for carrying bolts. Quivers are available in multiple shapes, sizes, and configurations. You can mount a quiver under the bow or on top of it. Some quivers can also be mounted parallel to the bow itself or mounted parallel to the barrel. A typical quiver holds 3 to 4 bolts and includes a plastic hood to protect broadhead blades from getting damaged or causing damage.

Parts of a Crossbow Bolt

Crossbow bolts are hunting arrows specifically designed to use with a crossbow. A traditional compound bow cannot fire a bolt. They work exclusively with crossbows. The design is similar to hunting arrows, but bolts are shorter in length because of the power stroke difference with a crossbow. Most bolts range from 16 inches to 22 inches long. 20 inches is the average length.

Bolts are composed of these specific elements:

A. Shaft

This is the main body of a bolt. The shaft is typically composed of aluminum or carbon fiber. These materials are lightweight and do not splinter like wood or cheap plastic. They are also highly resistant to bending.

B. Spine

Each shaft offers varying degrees of stiffness or resistance to bending. This stiffness is termed as the shaft’s spine. Greater resistance to bending means a shaft has more spine.

C. Grains

This is the unit used to measure the weight of the shaft. Manufacturers will either list the total weight of grains on a bolt or list a grains per inch (GPI) value for the bolt. To calculate the total weight of a bolt from its GPI value, just multiply the GPI value by the length of the shaft. You can covert the weight from grains to grams simply by multiplying the total number by 0.0648.

D. Nock

A plastic or aluminum attachment that fits directly onto the back of the shaft. The nock serves the purpose of keeping the bolt in place while you line up to take a shot. Multiple varieties of nocks are available. The primary types are the half-moon nock or flat nock. Capture nocks, multi-groove nocks, and Omni nocks are other options. Different nocks carry different requirements. With a half-moon nock, for example, it has a groove you need to align with the bow’s string before firing a bolt.

E. Fletching

The vanes or wings at the back of a bolt. Arrow fletching is located in close proximity to the nock. It helps stabilize the bolt during flight. The fletching keeps the bolt from pitching or swaying in the air and keeps it going in the right direction toward the intended target. It causes the bolt to spin on its axis after it is released from the bow in order to increase stability. Bolts typically come pre-fletched with vanes molded from plastic and varying in length. Longer fletching is used with longer bolts.

F. Head

Crossbow bolts use two types of heads: field points and broadheads. Field points are ideal for target practice. They offer a pointy tip and no sharp edges. Field points aren’t recommended for hunting anything except some small game because they won’t strike with enough force and do enough damage to quickly kill larger prey. Most field points weigh from 125 to 150 grains and can be screwed into the front of the bolt shaft. Broadheads possess a sharp blade and are used for hunting. Crossbow shafts can utilize three different types of broadheads – fixed blade, removable blade, and expandable blade. Just like field points, they weigh from 125 to 150 grains. You can shoot regular compound bow broadheads, but you’ll get the very best performance with the specialized crossbow heads.

Time to Go Shoot!

One of the best parts of using a crossbow is learning how each component works. It helps you understand how to properly use it and care for it. Now that you know every inch of your crossbow from top to bottom, there’s only one thing left to do. Time to get it tuned up and get yourself ready to enjoy hunting season!

The health benefits of fish are numerous, as fish are rich in healthy omega-3 fatty acids. But those looking for a luxurious fish dinner experience might want to skip the cod and canned tuna and opt for a high-quality, tasty fish.

The most expensive fish to eat is bluefin tuna, especially specimens caught off the coast of Japan. A single bluefin tuna can sell for more than $2 million! If you’re looking for a domestic fish to chow down on, you’ll want to choose an American glass eel, as these cost upwards of $2,000 per pound.

Let’s take a gander at the most expensive edible fish so that you can choose a luxury-quality filet for your next fish dinner.

Why Are Some Tasty Fish Expensive?

A standard can of tuna often costs less than $2, but it’s bound to pale in comparison to the tastiest (and most expensive) fish in the world. So for the most refined palate-pleasing experience, you’ll need to pay far more.

Still, you might find yourself wondering, “What qualities make some tasty fish so expensive?” Typically, the three factors that contribute to a dinner-friendly fish’s cost include:

• Rarity
• High demand
• Legal restrictions

Let’s take a quick moment to explore why these aspects influence cost.

Rarity

Rare fish are often the most expensive type of seafood, as diners are willing to pay a high price to enjoy something that few ever get to enjoy. But a rare and tasty fish is even costlier, as it tastes far better than the standard fish filet and is nearly impossible to obtain.

But scarcity alone doesn’t make an edible fish expensive. High demand is just as crucial to a fish’s price.

High Demand

What do the most expensive steak cuts and fish have in common? The tastier they are, the more people want to try a bite!

The most costly types of fish have unique flavors and melt-in-your-mouth textures that make them culinary delights. Unlike a fried cod filet, these tasty fish are often served lightly cooked or raw to ensure diners get an unspoiled experience.

Legal Restrictions

For better or worse, some of the world’s priciest fish are endangered or close to reaching endangerment. After all, the more scarce and delicious a fish is, the more demand there is!

Some regions have strict regulations about specific fish species, limiting the number of certain types of fish that anglers are allowed to catch each year. Unfortunately, these legal restrictions only make these delectable fish more valuable and desirable. An estimated 20% of wild-caught fish imported to the United States are illegal in some way.

Still, if you’re determined to try the priciest fish in the sea, be sure that you’re choosing specimens that are legally obtained. Otherwise, you could be looking at some hefty fines that outdo the initial cost of the fish.

Most Expensive Fish to Eat: Summary List

1. Bluefin Tuna
2. American Glass Eel
3. Pufferfish
4. Alaskan Wild King Salmon
5. Swordfish
6. Yellowfin Tuna
7. Chinook Salmon
8. Halibut
9. Dover Sole
10. Sockeye Salmon

10. Sockeye Salmon

Salmon is one of the priciest fish species in the world, though some types are more expensive than others. Sockeye salmon tends to fall on the lower spectrum in terms of price, though it’s one of the tastiest types of fish you can add to your shopping list.

Notably, this type of salmon is hard to forget, especially if ordered whole. It has bright red scales across most of its body but a distinctly green head. Overall, this fish is considered the most flavorful salmon, though it’s often smoked to accentuate its natural taste.

At $20 per pound, sockeye salmon isn’t the priciest type of salmon, but it will cost you more than cod, tilapia, or mackerel.

Why It’s Expensive

Wild-caught sockeye salmon tend to command the highest prices, as they’re often much larger than farm-bred fish. Larger fish means heftier portions, so heavier specimens always cost more than smaller ones. Still, high demand and transportation costs have helped make this fish comparatively expensive.

9. Dover Sole

The Dover sole might look like the most appetizing fish. It has a muddy brown body that’s far flatter than a fresh-caught, round-bellied tuna. But it has a uniquely sweet flavor that’s often compared to spiced chicken or beef.

This flavor profile is unusual, as the Dover sole are saltwater fish. Still, they’re the least “fishy” type of fish you can enjoy, making them an ideal choice for those that tend to avoid seafood.

And with a price tag of about $29 per pound, these flatfish are far costlier than other species of edible fish. Naturally, wild-caught specimens are more expensive than farmed options.

Why It’s Expensive

The primary reason Dover sole fish are expensive is that they’re so tasty. This species is also easy to prepare, with most professional chefs and at-home cooks baking them whole. Because they have a mild flavor profile, they’re a favorite among diners that enjoy the benefits of eating fish but don’t enjoy the taste of seafood.

8. Halibut

Halibut is also a type of flatfish, but they can grow to jaw-dropping sizes, making full-grown Dover sole fish look like babies. For example, Pacific halibut can weigh more than 400lbs, and their Atlantic cousins often weigh in at more than 300lbs.

This species is also notable for its low fat content and sweet taste. Many people compare the taste of halibut to tilapia, but milder and thicker. As a result, halibut filets are ideal for fish burgers or filling fish dinners.

However, wild-caught halibut isn’t as common as it once was, making it one of the pricier types of edible fish. Generally, you can expect to spend about $30 per pound to enjoy this saltwater fish.

Why It’s Expensive

Halibut is one of the tastiest and most filling types of fish, and as a result, it’s become one of the most popular types of fish around the world. However, this high demand has boosted the price of halibut filets and made wild specimens scarce. These factors make it pricier than similarly flavored species like tilapia.

7. Chinook Salmon

Unlike sockeye salmon, Chinook salmon tend to have greenish-white bodies with small brushstrokes of red along their abdomens. However, they can be almost as enormous as their bright ride relatives, making them easy to slice into hefty portions ideal for meals.

Native to the Pacific Ocean, these fish are prized for their savory, buttery flavor and soft texture. But this mouthwatering taste has also made Chinook salmon endangered in some areas and rare in others.

You’ll likely spend about $30 per pound on farmed Chinook salmon.

Why It’s Expensive

There are two reasons why Chinook salmon is one of the most expensive types of edible fish. Firstly, they’re well-known for being one of the most delicious types of salmon, with a rich flavor that’s rarely found in other species.

However, Chinook salmon are also threatened by overfishing, making them increasingly scarce. This rarity and superior flavor profile make it pricier than other anadromous (living in saltwater and freshwater environments) fish.

6. Yellowfin Tuna

Yellowfin tuna (ahi) are gorgeous edible fish with glittering silver bellies and colorful blue-green spines. Native to tropical waters, particularly those off the coastlines of Hawaii, these fish tend to grow into enormous creatures. It’s not uncommon to see anglers catching 300lb or 400lb yellowfin tuna.

Because these fish can grow to impressive sizes, they’re often used for a variety of meals, including sushi and fish patties. But their mild taste and significant portions also make them a popular choice. Ahi typically costs about $30 per pound, but prices may be higher for those living far from tropical regions or coastal areas.

Still, once you’ve tried yellowfin tuna for yourself, you might never be able to go back to albacore! Adding a small handful of some of the world’s most expensive mushrooms to your tuna dinner can make things even better.

Why It’s Expensive

Yellowfin tuna is pricier than other types of fish because it’s gigantic, tasty, and in high demand. Additionally, some diners may pay more for this fish due to high transport costs.

5. Swordfish

The swordfish gets its name from the long, blade-like protrusion sticking out from its head. It’s been a treasured catch among anglers for centuries, but it’s also prized for its meaty filets and mild flavor.

Like other costly fish from around the world, swordfish can grow to jaw-dropping sizes. While it might not be quite as hefty as some tuna or salmon, the average swordfish can weigh about 200lbs. Consequently, a single swordfish can feed quite a few people!

At about $60 per pound, this tasty fish is also one of the most expensive types of seafood.

Why It’s Expensive

It’s impossible to raise swordfish on standard fish farms, as these fish require plenty of space and saltwater to thrive. But marine fisheries are far more costly to maintain than terrestrial fish farms. Additionally, wild-caught swordfish are becoming a rare sight to the high demand for this delicately flavored fish.

4. Alaskan Wild King Salmon

Technically, Alaskan Wild King salmon and Chinook salmon are the same species. However, Chinook salmon is the more generic term and often refers to fish bred on fish farms or wild-caught throughout the continental United States.

On the other hand, Alaskan Wild King salmon is almost always a wild-caught Chinook originating from Alaska’s pristine rivers and coastlines. Because these fish have more unspoiled areas to explore and thrive in, they can grow larger than their continental cousins.

Diners may prefer Alaskan Wild King salmon over farm-bred Chinook due to the cleaner Alaskan environment. But the higher demand for Alaskan-caught Chinook salmon results in a noticeable price difference of over $30. For example, Alaskan Wild King salmon often costs $70 or more per pound.

Why It’s Expensive

A cleaner and more expansive environment can result in better-tasting and larger fish. Of course, the same is true of any other commonly eaten animal, including chickens and cows. So you can think of Alaskan Wild King salmon as free-range or grass-fed beef.

It’s higher quality than standard Chinook salmon, which means that folks are often willing to pay a higher price for it. And because it’s caught in Alaska (almost 3,000 miles away from the continental United States), transportation costs are high.

3. Pufferfish

The pufferfish (also called fugu) is one of the most expensive seafood items on the planet. Unfortunately, it also happens to be one of the most dangerous, as pufferfish contain a combination of potentially lethal toxins.

If prepared incorrectly, pufferfish toxin can kill you in just four hours! And while you might think that this dangerous quality makes pufferfish one of the least-desired fish in the world, it only increases demand.

The most skillful chefs in the world know how to prepare pufferfish in a way that makes it entirely safe to consume. As such, many daredevil diners are more than willing to give this fish a try.

Still, you’ll need to be willing to invest some money to give this fish a try. A single fugu sushi dish can cost $60, and this fish is known to cost $200 or more per pound.

Why It’s Expensive

Pufferfish has a taste that’s challenging to describe, with most diners describing it as absolutely unforgettable. But it can also prove deadly if poorly prepared.

This combination of unique flavor and high risk makes it fugu an attractive experience for many. Still, the primary reason it’s expensive is the skillful preparation needed to make it safe to eat.

2. American Glass Eel

The American glass eel (sometimes called the bay eel) is native to northeast coastlines in North America. However, it’s not nearly as common as it used to be. As a result, anglers in Maine can now charge outrageous prices for a single pound of fresh-caught eel.

In 2009, the per-pound price for Maine glass eels was about $100. But in 2019, that price tag stood at a hefty $3,000 per pound!

Still, eel typically isn’t the first dish people imagine an exquisite and expensive fish dinner. So, why is the price of American glass eels so high?

Why It’s Expensive

The glass eel is often compared to chicken and catfish in terms of taste, and it’s not beloved due to its flavor profile. That said, this slim snake-like fish is one of the most expensive because it’s become scarce.

Poaching and illegal catching are significant problems, leading to substantial catching restrictions that have inflated the price of these fish. The American glass eel can also grow to an astounding length, occasionally reaching up to six feet long.

This quality makes them ideal specimens for sushi, and the most expensive sushi platters often include at least one cut of glass eel.

1. Bluefin Tuna

Bluefin tuna is the most expensive edible fish on the planet. In 2019, a whopping 600-pound bluefin tuna sold for ¥333.6 million (that’s about $3 million). That’s nearly $5,000 per pound!

This type of tuna is native to the North Atlantic Ocean and the Meditteranean Sea. But the costliest specimens are often found in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Japan.

While many types of tuna fish grow to enormous sizes, bluefin tuna is one of the largest types of tasty fish. It’s also considered a delicacy due to its increasing rarity and distinct flavor. Still, these aren’t the only reasons bluefin tuna are so expensive.

Why It’s Expensive

Bluefin tuna is one of the most prized sushi ingredients. It’s also constantly in high demand due to its international reputation for being the best-tasting type of tuna.

But this massive and tasty fish isn’t plentiful, primarily due to overfishing and enormous demand. In addition, larger specimens have become increasingly rare over the last several decades, making the heaviest catches incredibly expensive.

Try These Tasty Fish

The most expensive fish to eat is Japanese bluefin tuna. That’s because these fish are massive, rare, and in high demand. That said, bluefin tuna isn’t the only tasty fish that costs a pretty penny.

If you’re feeling in the mood to treat yourself, be sure to consider any of the above options. Though your wallet might be lighter, your belly is bound to feel a little fuller!

Are you hungry for more of the world’s most expensive foods, experiences, and items? If so, be sure to check out our blog now!

From marshy backwaters and iced-over lakes to clear cobbly mountain rivers, from tidal flats and murky bays to the wild blue outback of the offshore ocean, anglers in North America enjoy the pursuit of some of the finest game fish anywhere. And here at Mountain House, we’ve been helping fuel fishing trips since 1969-including with just-add-water meals that pair nicely with fresh-caught trout or panfish!

To celebrate the marvelous diversity of North American game fish, let’s put the spotlight on some of the most popular—and some of the most all-out legendary—from both freshwater and saltwater habitats. (That includes the “anadromous” game fish, such as salmon, that run between fresh- and saltwater.)

We’ll start things off by looking at those fish that, statistics suggest, are the most-cast-for among anglers in the United States, and then celebrate a non-exhaustive roster of game fish that can be called genuine finned legends.

The Most Popular Game Fish in the U.S.

According to the most recent (2016) National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation produced by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, these are the most popular game fish in the U.S.

Freshwater—excepting the Great Lakes:

1. Black Bass (Largemouth, Smallmouth)
2. Panfish
3. Trout
4. Catfish/Bullhead
5. Crappie
6. White Bass, Striped Bass, and Striped-Bass Hybrids

Freshwater—Great Lakes:

1. Walleye/Sauger
2. Salmon
3. Steelhead

Saltwater:

1. Red Drum (Redfish)
2. Striped Bass
3. Flatfish (Flounder, Hybrid)
4. Sea Trout (Weakfish)
5. Bluefish
6. Salmon

Greatest Game Fish of North America

We don’t have the room to do a truly comprehensive runthrough of the most all-out esteemed freshwater and saltwater game fish of North America. But the following certainly all deserve a place on such a list. What constitutes “greatest?” Well, it’s certainly subjective, but these fish all demonstrate the significant fighting spirit, elusive wiliness, or impressive size—sometimes all of the above—which really fire anglers’ dreams.

(1) The Black Basses

Among the black-bass genus, Micropterus, are two of the most iconic freshwater sportfish on the continent: the largemouth and smallmouth basses. Largemouth bass strike lures across a large native range of eastern North America—from the Hudson Bay and Great Lakes drainages down into the Mississippi and throughout the South and Southeast—but have also been widely introduced elsewhere on the continent and around the world. Basis of a major multibillion-dollar recreational angling industry, largemouths favor lakes, marshes, swamps, and sluggish alluvial waters, and prey on other fish, frogs, and crayfish.

Smallmouth bass—even more renowned than largemouths for pure fighting spirit—are less tolerant of warm waters than their largemouth cousins, not extending into the Deep South. They’re also more likely to be found in colder, swifter streams and rivers.

(2) Walleye

This toothy, zombie-eyed fish, found from the Arctic Mackenzie River down to the Mississippi and introduced extensively outside this native geography, inspires obsession among warm-water and icefishing fanatics alike. Record walleyes have spanned 3.5 feet and weighed 25 pounds. Fond of big, murky, shallow lakes and boasting sharp low-light vision, walleye often hunt at night and in the crepuscular (twilight) hours. The walleye’s smaller relative, the sauger, is another prized game fish.

(3) Muskellunge

The mighty “muskie” is the king of the widespread pike clan and found only in North America, where it occupies the Hudson Bay, St. Lawrence, Great Lakes, and Mississippi basins. This apex freshwater ambush predator—which gobbles everything from other fish such as yellow perch and gizzard shad to muskrats and waterfowl—may exceed six feet in maximum length and weigh upwards of 70 pounds or more. Despite the muskie’s typical hovering or slow-cruise mode, it can burst to 30 miles per hour to strike. Besides its important role topping the aquatic ecosystems it inhabits, this “fish of 10,000 casts” is coveted and challenging quarry.

(4) Northern Pike

The muskie’s only slightly smaller relative, the northern pike also ranks as the most broadly distributed freshwater fish in the world, prowling a huge Eurasian range as well as much of northern and central North America. A common predator targeting fish, frogs, small mammals, and waterbirds in clear lakes and alluvial backwaters, northerns are also well known for their cannibalistic tendencies. The long-standing North American record for northern pike is a 46-pound, 2-oz. fish hauled from New York’s Sacandaga Lake back in 1940.

(5) Trout/Char

These beautiful salmonids haunt many an angler’s dream from the Southern Appalachians to the temperate rainforests of the Pacific coast. From brook trout in the east and “lakers” in the Northland to cutthroats, rainbows, and the anadromous steelhead, North America’s trout and char are big-time quarry for spincasters and fly-fishers alike. And boy, does trout-fishing take you into some drop-dead gorgeous country… (Check out our roundup of some of the best trout streams in the U.S.!)

(6) Salmon

With their epic journeys between pelagic ocean and interior spawning rivers—journeys involving almost unbelievable physical strength and endurance—salmon capture the imaginations of anglers and non-anglers alike. They support huge recreational and commercial fisheries. North America’s species include Atlantic, coho, Chinook (king), sockeye (including the land-locked kokanee form), chum, and pink salmon. The Atlantic salmon and the bigger-yet Chinook are the biggest, historically tipping the scales past 100 pounds.

(7) Striped Bass

The much-admired striper ranks as the largest of the temperate basses, seven species of which call North American waters home. This sturdy fish—which can reach six feet long and weigh north of 100 pounds—is, like salmon, anadromous, feeding in the ocean and spawning in rivers. Unlike most salmon, though, an individual striped bass can make multiple spawning runs in one lifetime. Stripers inhabit the Atlantic coast from about the mouth of the St. Lawrence south to the tip of Florida as well as the Gulf of Mexico, with introduced populations on the Pacific coast and in numerous landlocked lakes. Surf-casting is among the go-to methods for landing stripers, which are strong fighters and impressive jumpers.

(8) Red Drum

The hard-hitting red drum—aka redfish, aka spot-tail bass—delights inshore anglers, especially along the Gulf Coast, and especially when the migratory schools of spring and fall course through inlets and bays. Most coveted are the biggest redfish, the “bullreds,” which in exceptional cases may reach five feet and weigh on the order of 90 pounds.

(9) Mahi-Mahi

The unmistakable mahi-mahi—also called dorado or dolphinfish—is among the flashiest sportfish of the pelagic realm, what with its vivid bluish-green body, its long dorsal crest, and the agile fleetness it employs in pursuit of flying-fish and other prey. That vibrant mahi-mahi body—which can reach seven feet in length—is marvelously sleek, but the head is distinctively blunt and high-browed. Offshore anglers chase mahi-mahi on the Atlantic coast from Massachusetts southward, in the Gulf of Mexico, and off California and Hawaii.

(10) Wahoo

Sleek the mahi-mahi may be; sleeker yet is the wahoo (ono in Hawaii), that great dart-shaped speedster of the high seas. “Hoos” are big mackerels, capable of reaching six feet and more than 180 pounds, and just about everything about them—from the pointy tips of the needle-tooth jaws to the forked tail—looks sharp-edged. The thrillingly fast wahoo, which snaps up squid and small fish, is a celebrated, energetic fighter (and also popular for eating).

(11) Yellowfin Tuna

Supporting a major commercial industry, yellowfin tuna are also legendary sportfish, renowned for their size, their beauty, and their stunning speed and agility. Reaching seven feet and 400-plus pounds, yellowfins range in the Atlantic from Massachusetts south and in the Pacific as far north as California’s Central Coast.

(12) Tarpon

Easily on the shortlist of greatest saltwater game fish of North America, the tarpon is the spectacular “silver king” of the subtropical Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. These hulking, heavy-scaled fish, which may reach eight feet and weigh more than 300 pounds, would be impressive enough from a size perspective alone, but it’s their tremendous strength, mettle, and aerial ability that takes them into rarefied status.

(13) The Billfishes

Billfish account for some of the biggest, most visually striking, and swiftest of all fish, and certainly their ranks include arguably the most coveted saltwater game fish on Earth. Smaller species in North American waters (though all of them very large bony fish) include the lovely sailfish, longbill spearfish, and the white and striped marlins. The swordfish—the hulking “broadbill”—is a grand fighter that may reach 14 feet and more than half a ton. And then there’s the superlative blue marlin, that swift, high-leaping, utterly incredible giant that can exceed 16 feet and more than 1,800 pounds. It’s hard to imagine a more impressive beast on the other end of your line.

Don’t Forget Mountain House on Your Next Fishing Trip

Now, we’re entirely aware there are many fantastic species we’ve left off the above list, from heavyweight blue catfish and white sturgeon to king mackerel, permit, and bluefish. But hey, that’s the wonderful diversity of the saltwater and freshwater game fish of North America!

Meanwhile, whether they’re biting or not, make sure you’ve got some delicious, just-add-water Mountain House meals along for your next angling adventure! (Bonus: You can even use a Mountain House pouch to cook a fish.)