March Issue of Game and Fish/Sportsman Magazine: We Have Gear Covered

Editors, writers test new-product claims, report results

Sportsmen know that the right gear matters. That’s why Game & Fish/Sportsman editors are providing its readers with a brand-new department to help them evaluate and choose their hunting and fishing gear in the March issue of Game & Fish/Sportsman on newsstands now.

“Hunters and anglers don’t have the luxury of trying out new gear and comparing it before they take it home,” explained Senior Editor John Geiger. “But we do. Our new department will give our readers practical, real-world reports on how the latest outdoors gear really performs.”

The new gear section will cover a wide range of topics, including these monthly departments:

• Product Review

Editors and GF/Sportsman writers are using and abusing several products each month — from guns and turkey vests to lures and fishing reels — and reporting the results. Each time, they’ll select a “Standout” product whose performance and cost makes it the best value in its group. In the March issue (on newsstands now) editors selected Tenzing’s TP14 as their Standout turkey vest. Upcoming categories will include deep-diving crank baits, the latest sporting sunglasses, rods, reels and various guns.

• In The Bag

Senior Editor John Geiger searches out the coolest bags and boxes carried by hardcore hunters and anglers and reveals their contents. Readers will discover what’s inside a Green Beret’s bug-out bag, Casey Keefer’s Alaska backpack and Melissa Bachman’s turkey vest, to name a few.

• TechEdge

The outdoors industry is awash in new gadgets and technology, and that’s great news for adventurers. “TechEdge” shines a light on the latest electronic, digital or technical tools to help you stay warm, charge your cell, wade through outdoor apps or find your way home.

• Gear Me

Based on the magazine’s popular Readers’ Choice Awards, “Gear Me” focuses on readers’ comments in the twice-annual survey of hunting and fishing gear. Those readers’ opinions and in-the-field experiences add even more perspective on new gear, and others are encouraged to share their first-person accounts of success or failure via the magazine’s web site —gameandfishmag.com — as well as Facebook and Twitter.

The new section will also include a Q&A with a well-known outdoor star or expert, who will reveal his or her favorite gear tips. Plus, an occasional department called “Essentials” will explain exactly what gear is necessary for specific pursuits.

“It’s one thing to see a TV commercial or magazine ad touting a ‘new and improved’ product,” said Geiger, an avid hunter and angler himself. “It’s quite another thing to read an objective report about how the gear held up in the field or on the water. ”

“We take seriously our commitment to inform readers about the tools that will help them maximize their enjoyment of the outdoors,” said Geiger.