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Sam Lungren

Sam Lungren
Sam Lungren is MeatEater's Fishing Editor and a former freelance writer/photographer, commercial fisherman, and editor of BHA's Backcountry Journal. Though originally from Whidbey Island, Washington, he's been in Montana for almost a decade and probably isn't leaving—except during steelhead season. Send him an email sam@themeateater.com or follow him @samlungrenmedia.

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Ice Fishing

Video: How to Choose Ice Fishing Bait
The Fur Hat Ice Tour How-To Series is brought to you by ESKIMO.
Bait selection for ice fishing can be as simple or complex as you want it to be—but you should want it to be complex. When it comes to fishing (like so many other pursuits), the more thought and effort you put in, the greater reward you’ll often receive.
In this video, MeatEater Fishing Director Miles Nolte shares his thought processes while rigging up to fish a lake containing two...

Environmental Issues

Pebble Mine Permit Denied, Conservationists Seek to Bury it Forever
The fiercely contested Pebble Mine will not receive a critical federal permit, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced on Wednesday. This action likely strikes a death blow to the contentious copper and gold project proposed for the Bristol Bay region of Southwest Alaska, but conservationists have vowed to make sure it never rises again.
“USACE determined that the applicant’s plan for the discharge of fill material does not comply with Clean...

Ice Fishing

Video: How to Sharpen Ice Auger Blades
The Fur Hat Ice Tour How-To Series is brought to you by ESKIMO.
One of my favorite elements of ice fishing is prospecting around with a sled in tow, trying to find fish, generally turning the surface of a frozen lake into Swiss cheese. Punch a hole, drop the sonar transducer, drop the jig, jig the jig, move on, repeat. Do it enough times and you’ll eventually, hopefully, find fish. This a pleasure with sharp auger blades—and a real pain in the...

Wildlife Management

Fatal Disease in Washington’s Bighorn Stronghold: Why Does This Keep Happening?
Repeating a pattern seen across the West in recent years, Washington State recently discovered the highly transmissible and fatal Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae in its bighorn sheep strongholds of the Cascade Mountains.
On Oct. 20, the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife announced that a dead lamb in the Cleman Mountain herd tested positive for the fatal bacterium, often abbreviated to “M. ovi” or simply “movi.” A ram tag holder for that area...

Ice Fishing

Video: How to Cut an Ice Spearing Hole
The Fur Hat Ice Tour How-To Series is brought to you by ESKIMO.
Before you call bratwurst, pretzel buns, and hot toddies ice fishing “traditions,” you really should take a look at ice spearing. Archeological evidence suggests that indigenous tribes have been cutting holes in hardwater in order to spear fish for more than 2,000 years. It was effective then, enjoyable now, and if you haven’t yet felt your heart stopped by a big northern pike...

Ice Fishing

Video: How to Reverse Butterfly a Fish
The Fur Hat Ice Tour How-To Series is brought to you by ESKIMO.
Cooking whole fish just feels more satisfying than fillets. Something about offering an entire fish with the head attached, whether it’s hanging over a fire on a willow stick or presented on a fancy plate with artsy sides, adds to the eating experience. Where I live, trout are the most abundant fish for table fare, but the standard method of heading and gutting just doesn’t work as...

Ice Fishing

Video: How to Set an Ice Fishing Tip-Up
The Fur Hat Ice Tour How-To Series is brought to you by ESKIMO.
Few sights inspire more anticipation and urgency in anglers than a tripped tip-up flag. Hot pursuit by a bear might inspire more motivation, but not much else.
Tip-ups, also called ice traps, fish traps, or tilts, are mechanical strike indicators that allow fishermen to suspend bait under the ice without needing to be in constant contact with their line. They provide the ability to...

Mule Deer

How to Find Big Mule Deer Bucks During the Rut
We’d barely walked a half mile from the trailhead on the first morning when a respectable, dark-horned 4×4 strode out into the icy breeze 100 yards ahead. The appearance sent my four buddies into a flurry of conversation. “Nate should shoot it; it’s his birthday.” “No, Carson, you’re up, we wanted to get your first 4-point.”
We’d already seen three other good bucks, a herd of pronghorn, and a bachelor group of ten bull elk on the short drive...

Wildlife Management

Wolves Removed from Endangered Species List: Will More Hunts Follow?
From the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge on Thursday, Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt announced that the federal government would remove gray wolves in the Lower 48 from protection under the Endangered Species Act. When (and if) this decision goes into effect, states will resume management, and some will likely begin to issue permits to hunt the apex predators.
“After more than 45 years as a listed species, the gray wolf has...

Big Game

You Don’t Actually Need a Hunting Mentor
David, Travis, and I must have invited Mason to come duck hunting with us a dozen times in high school. Sure, he didn’t have the background or equipment, (though we would’ve gladly shared) but I always got the feeling he just didn’t want to muck around in the swamp.
More than a decade later, I got a message from Mason saying that he’d come across a hunting article written by his former video store colleague—me. He had bought a bow, a Cam Hanes...