
##2000251 Boulware stuffed Stevenson 's punt to set up the touchdown that gave the Seminoles a 10-0 lead . Photograph Boulware stuffed Stevenson 's punt to set up the touchdown that gave the Seminoles a 10-0 lead . Photograph Wadsworth and his mates launched ahead-on attack and sacked Wuerffel six times . // FOUR OF Bobby Bowden 's 20 grandchildren sat in his office late last Saturday afternoon while a small television set showed highlights of the Game of the Year . There were sacks , touchdowns and a Florida field goal attempt that would have tied the game in the fourth quarter but instead drifted just outside the right upright . " Look at that , " said Bowden , his eyes flashing like a child 's . " We finally got one of those wide rights . " He beamed at this last piece of poetic justice , and the grandchildren , teenagers all , filled the room with laughter at the memory of bitter losses , suddenly less painful in the joy of the moment . Out a window at the side of the thirdfloor office @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by fresh celebration . Huge hunks of turf were missing from the field , torn up as souvenirs . There was no goalpost in the end zone beneath Bowden 's office . A running shoe lay here , a Birkenstock there . At the other end of the stadium Florida State 's 24-21 victory remained frozen by the scoreboard lights . Bowden , 67 , fell into a spot at the end of his couch and contemplated his team 's victory over the Gators . " Before a game like this , I 'm thinking maybe I could wind up hurting for the next few days , because they 're good , and maybe they 're going to lay one on us , " he said . Then he cackled , giddy again . " Right now , I feel pretty good . " The biggest games rise on the wind of anticipation yet turn on a series of small dramas . Here was No. 1 ( Florida ) versus No. 2 ( Florida State ) , each 100 , playing for everything from the state title-no small matter , considering @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ run at the national championship . It had been eight years since No. 1 and No. 2 had met so late in the regular season , and 23 years since they had faced each other in the final regular season game with unblemished records . And when Saturday 's game was finished , and when the Seminoles had accepted their formal invitation to the Sugar Bowl with a primal roar that shook the pillars of the Doak , the game ball needed slicing . A slab here to a little running back , headed home to the bayou and a last college game in the state where he grew up . A big wedge for the defense , so fierce all season and finally recognized . A hunk for the quarterback , who had survived , held together and made a very big play after a long , difficult autumn . And one piece for the coach , not so old , not so finished after all . Bowden understood the plot as the showdown approached . This was Steve Spurrier 's time . Last year , his sixth as coach @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the national championship game . His team 's embarrassing 62-24 loss to Nebraska had been reconstructed as education , promising Florida 's return for a title shot this season , as if it were destiny . Meanwhile , whenever a prominent coaching position was vacated , Spurrier was mentioned as a possible replacement . " In the coaching business , he 's sitting on top of the world , " Bowden said in the week before the game . It used to be that way for Bowden , until he said no enough times that the overtures ceased . " I feel like Elizabeth Taylor , " Bowden said . " Used to be everybody wanted me , now I ca n't get a date . " He is n't looking for one , but in coaching , there is a simple hierarchy : You are hot or you are not . Gary Barnett and Rick Neuheisel are hot ; Paul Pasqualoni and Chuck Reedy are not . Bowden is secure and cherished , a local icon . He is not hot . Not anymore . Moreover , he has seen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Holtz of Notre Dame , Gene Stallings of Alabama and Jim Sweeney of Fresno State , all near or past age 60 , all friends of Bowden 's , have resigned this fall . " Next time I go to a convention , it 's going to be me and Joe Paterno and LaVell Edwards , and that 's about it , " Bowden said . This season , for the first time since he took over a middling Florida State program in 1976 , Bowden has completely relinquished play-calling , often shedding his beloved headset while offensive coordinator Mark Richt has called the game . And with each resignation , with each duty conceded , with each article extolling the genius of his neighbor to the south , Bowden was pushed closer to extinction himself . The effect was quite visceral as this game approached , and Bowden nodded briskly in addressing it : " It made me want to whip him again . " To make his players believe they could win , Bowden browbeat them with the difficulty of Florida 's task . " They 're Number 1 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he said repeatedly . " The pressure is all on them . " He kept to himself his recollections of taking a favored No. 1 team to South Bend three years ago , and losing , and his conviction that this time he had much the better team . " I believe , " he said privately last week , " we 're gon na kick their asses . " Yet all the pieces came together only very late in Saturday 's game . Barely 12 minutes remained when the Seminoles took possession on their own 25-yard line with a 17-14 lead . Florida State 's defensive players sat on an aluminum bench , gulping air . They had been brilliant , holding Florida to two second-quarter touchdowns , and Gators senior kicker Bart Edmiston had just fluttered his kick wide right from 41 yards out , leaving the Seminoles with that threepoint lead ( and recalling , deliciously for Bowden , the wide rights that had cost Florida State back-to-back Miami games , in 1991 and ' 92 ) . But the Seminoles ' anemic offense had n't scored since @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ first downs and a total of 33 yards on five possessions in the third quarter . " If they do n't score , we win , " Bowden had said at halftime . His words had seemed like rose-colored coachspeak at the time , but they had become a mandate . " We 're on the sideline , reminding each other to hold up our end of the deal , telling everybody not to give up a big play , " said Florida State junior middle linebacker Daryl Bush . " We had to be tight right then , tight as a unit . We knew what was at stake . " There is an efficiency to Florida 's attack that approaches arrogance . With Spurrier calling all the plays , and fifth-year senior quarterback Danny Wuerffel executing flawlessly , the Gators have the most lethal offense in the country . But there have been hiccups . A year ago the Seminoles sacked Wuerffel six times and held the Gators to 94 yards rushing before losing 35-24 . Nebraska crushed Florida with a punishing front four and selective blitzing . " @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ State defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews . Five days before last Saturday 's game Bowden said , " I wish I had an extra week to get ready , because there are some flaws in Steve 's blocking system , but I just do n't know if we can get everything in and get it all down . " Photograph Wuerffel 's hurried passes were ripe for the picking so Shevin Smith ( 30 ) grabbed one , and Samari Rolle snatched another . Photograph Wuerffel 's hurried passes were ripe for the picking so Shevin Smith ( 30 ) grabbed one , and Samari Rolle snatched another . // They got enough down to again sack Wuerffel six times and knock him down 20 other times , an epic pounding that contributed to his 23-for-48 , three-interception performance . " I 'm not sure Danny 's ever gotten beat up like he did today , " said Florida tailback Elijah Williams . What added fury to the Seminoles ' defense was the attention the Gators paid to defensive ends Reinard Wilson and Peter Boulware , both of whom were double-teamed most @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Wilson said . " No one man can block either one of us . " That left noseguard Andre Wadsworth and tackle Connell Spain with just one blocker each in the middle and created lanes for blitzing Seminoles that Florida 's offensive line never picked up . " If we had more time to throw , we would have killed them , " said Gators wideout Reidel Anthony , who caught 11 passes for 193 yards . Of course they would have . But Florida State did n't give them that time . It was the Seminoles ' offense , so long as much a Tallahassee staple as Spanish moss , that nearly betrayed Florida State . A 13-play , 72-yard first-quarter drive produced a field goal , but two first-half touchdown drives-the first of which followed Boulware 's block of a Robby Stevenson punt , recovered at the Florida three-yard line-required a total of only 41 yards . The group of Seminoles that shuffled onto the field in the fourth quarter following Edmiston 's wide right was wounded and failing . None of them was struggling more than junior quarterback @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the third quarter , with four near interceptions and one intentional grounding penalty . " When it rains , it pours , " Busby said later . " I was just trying to hang in there . " That would be an apt description of his season . Busby , a 6 ' 3 " , 220-pound former high school All-America from the small Florida panhandle town of Pace , was installed last spring as the heir to Charlie Ward and Danny Kanell . And , just as they once did , he has wrestled with the complex fast-break offense Florida State has used for five years . Busby has been booed , has been criticized by the media and the coaching staff and has felt his feet put to the fire by promising redshirt freshman quarterback Dan Kendra . " I knew it would be tough , " he said , " and it has been . " The soothing of Busby 's spirits has become a family project of sorts . Two weeks ago Busby suffered a slight left-knee sprain in a 48-10 win over Maryland at Pro Player @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ drove through Tallahassee en route to Pace . His father , Ken , waited 90 minutes for a film session to end so he could have a brief visit with Thad , and the two of them walked from the football building together into the evening . " I see my dad a lot , and it helps , " Thad said on Saturday . The family was back in Tallahassee last week , and Thad 's mother , Teresa , cooked Thanksgiving dinner at his off-campus house . It has been a difficult autumn for the parents , watching their son fight to improve , hearing criticism around them in the stands . Reminders of Thad 's insecurity are inescapable : The Busbys ' 12year-old daughter is named Kendra . On Saturday , however , Busby never caved in , never made the critical error that would have bailed out Florida . He fumbled while scrambling on the Seminoles ' last possession of the first half , but only 20 seconds remained , and the Gators did n't convert . Bowden blistered Busby in the locker room at halftime . @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ " Bowden recalled after the game . " That and some other nasty things . " But as quickly as he drilled Busby , Bowden backed off , apologizing , trying to protect his quarterback 's psyche . " I did n't want to hurt his feelings or get him rattled , " Bowden said . " I just went back and told him , Hey , forget about that , just play . ' " And indeed , Busby helped win the game . On third-and-six from his own 29 , he threw 29 yards to Peter Warrick on a deep crossing route , giving Florida State a first down at the Florida 42 with 10:30 remaining . It was the single most important play of the game , cutting the tension of a defensive stalemate . " Ca n't keep your head down too long , that 's how you get beat , " Busby said later . Make of this statistic what you like , but neither Ward nor Kanell quarterbacked an 11-0 team . Busby has . After that vital completion , Warrick Dunn , the Seminoles @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ covered 41 yards on three plays : a catch-and-run , a direct snap from the shotgun and a straight isolation play to the left side on which he popped outside to the Gators ' one . That set up 286-pound fullback Clarence ( Pooh Bear ) Williams 's touchdown run for a 24-14 lead with 7:15 to play . For Dunn , the last flurry was a fitting finish to a brilliant game in which he rushed for a career-high 185 yards on 24 carries , caught four passes for 24 yards and completed one pass for 10 yards . In five games against Florida he has accounted for 862 yards in offense . " Dunn was sensational , " Spurrier said . " He won the game for them . " Photograph Anthony 's 11 catches included a two-yard touchdown that he skyjacked from Mario Edwards ( 15 ) . Photograph Grandpa Bowden ( left ) is no longer " hot " the way Spurrier is , but he holds a 5-2-1 edge in the series . // Such things were in Dunn 's plans nearly a year ago when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ year . " That , and school , but not in that order , " Dunn said after Saturday 's game . He sat on a wooden stool in front of his dressing cubicle , slowly pulling on his clothes while two of his five siblings , Travis and Bricson , waited . Since 1993 , when his mother , a Baton Rouge police officer , was killed during an attempted robbery , Dunn has helped his grandmother raise the family , and there would have been scarcely a dissenting voice if he had left school for the certain and substantial money of the NFL . But he declined that option . " And since then , I 've never heard him talk about personal goals , " said Richt . " It 's always been , ' I want to win the national championship . ' " In the end the Gators were forced far from their script and into desperation . Wuerffel , beaten but indestructible , took Florida into the end zone with 1:19 to go , cutting the Seminoles ' lead to 24-21 . But an onside @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is no consolation game for the Gators . There was only one acceptable finish : Florida needed to get to the Sugar Bowl , and it needed Nebraska to be there too . The Gators still must play Alabama on Saturday in the SEC championship game , but even that trophy means little now . The failure will fall at Spurrier 's feet . He is 2-5-1 against Florida State , and he exited last Saturday by tossing a chunk of the blame at Wuerffel . " Danny left on some bad protections , " he said , referring to Wuerffel 's failure to audible correctly against several of Florida State 's blitzes . It was an unseemly criticism of a player who had performed bravely under enormous pressure . After all , it is Spurrier 's system that is given credit for Wuerffel 's many NCAA and SEC passing records . And it was Spurrier who in the second half abandoned the shuffle passes , quick screens and draws that had worked effectively early in the game . Justly , it is Spurrier who must defend a program that owns @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or win a national title . He left Tallahassee not quite as wise and not quite as young as when the day began . Bowden , on the other hand , followed his cordon of grandchildren to a red Ford Explorer , shaking hands along the way with the easy grace of a politician and posing for pictures , including one with a Tallahassee couple and their infant son . Seventeen-year-old Beau Bowden opened the door for his grandfather , who slipped into the driver 's seat and rolled into the warm evening , reborn . <p> 
##2000259 THE MACHINERY of menace ground to a halt last Saturday . Just like that , Mike Tyson 's dangerous leer was wiped from his bloodied face . He was n't so tough . He was n't that tough . These things can be discovered very suddenly . You could almost hear the clanking in the desert air , the train cars piling into one another as this engine of fear was wrenched to a standstill . An economic empire had been built on Tyson 's ability to paralyze opponents as much with his dark stare as with his ripping uppercut . Four times since his release from prison in March 1995 , he had immobilized a foe , the job done long before the two boxers entered . It was a little disappointing , of course , when a socalled heavyweight champion fainted at the whiff of a left hook , as Bruce Seldon did two months ago . Still , these bouts had a perverse entertainment value . They were no longer sport . They were a spectacle of humiliation . And the promoters , even the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ box-office power . " Thirty million a whop , " Tyson said smugly . To see a guy give up his manhood . It was a hateful thing , but there was no stopping it . The heavyweights were lined up from here to there . Tyson , untested in these four fights , was nevertheless assigned the ability to destroy all comers . The quickness of his bouts guaranteed his invincibility . There was no question that Evander Holyfield , too , would be run over on Saturday at Tyson 's home court casino , the MGM Grand in Las Vegas . Perhaps Holyfield 's confidence would not be shattered , as the others ' had been , but he was certain to be consumed by Tyson 's terrible force . In fact , various agencies had worked mightily to diminish their culpability in the event of the worst-case calamity . The Nevada State Athletic Commission forced Holyfield , who was once told that he had a heart condition , to go through a battery of medical exams . A pay-per-view retailer offered its customers a by-the-round price so that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one-round blowout . Holyfield , 34 , though used up by years of hard fighting and only 43 in his last seven bouts , was nonetheless an overachiever who might endure just long enough to offer the fans a colorful palette of gore in the WBA title bout . Tyson , 30 , apparently stronger and stronger as his comeback progressed , would cut through this man whom he had been picked to beat when this bout was scheduled to take place five years ago , then postponed by a training injury to Tyson and later canceled by Tyson 's rape conviction . As late as the boxers ' walk to the ring on Saturday night , there was nothing to make you feel that Holyfield could join Muhammad Ali as the only three-time world heavyweight champion . Holyfield sauntered in to a soft ballad , singing along quietly . Tyson , preceded by his professional yeller , Crocodile , arrived at a gallop . He gave the impression of barely controlled anger , a desire to hurt that had found a satisfying and legal venue . Photograph Though Tyson showed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Holyfield rarely let himself be hit squarely . Photograph A right hook by Holyfield to Tyson 's head in the 11th round helped to finish off the champion . Photograph A right hook by Holyfield to Tyson 's head in the 11th round helped to finish off the champion . Photograph Though Tyson showed glimpses of his old power early on , a resolute Holyfield rarely let himself be hit squarely . Photograph The battered Tyson would be unable to remember the brutal body shot that left him belly-up in the sixth round . Photograph The battered Tyson would be unable to remember the brutal body shot that left him belly-up in the sixth round . // Not even what had happened in Tokyo six years ago , when an out-of-shape Tyson succumbed to Buster Douglas , prepared you for what happened next . Douglas-Tyson , called one of the biggest upsets in sports history , can always be explained away by Tyson 's lack of conditioning and desire . In this bout he suffered no lapse of preparation , no diminished lust for violence . Tyson and Holyfield met in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ engaged in the kind of furious combat that no heavyweight fight fan had seen in years . They swung wildly and then collapsed into clinches , shoved each other away and finally resumed battle as the cycle began again . It was breathtaking , especially when it became clear that Holyfield would not be flattened by Tyson 's straight-ahead fusillades . Suddenly Holyfield , the built-up cruiserweight , seemed formidable at 215 pounds , his 771h-inch reach putting him out of range of Tyson 's 71 inches . In the second round Holyfield , who is not known as a big puncher , hit Tyson with a left hand that seemed to stagger him . At the end of the round Tyson paused on his way to his corner and looked at Holyfield as if puzzled . In fact he was , as he admitted later , " blacked out . " The fight went eight more rounds , until referee Mitch Halpern stopped it less than a minute into the 11th , but afterward Tyson could recall none of them . For everyone else the bout was unforgettable . Holyfield @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ efforts of Tyson 's previous opponents , but the challenger was providing something more than action . By crowding in , he was taking away Tyson 's hook , which is more effective from outside , and generally he was keeping Tyson too occupied to put together more than two punches . Tyson was always a threat , of course , and in the fifth round he unleashed a right to Holyfield 's body and an uppercut to his chin , reminding everyone of his power . But Tyson was plainly befuddled , strangely ineffective . The two fighters would clash , tie up and get broken apart by the referee , and there Holyfield would be , still standing in front of Tyson . Later Tyson would say he remembered nothing from the third round on . Not the sixth round , when Holyfield opened a small cut above Tyson 's left eye with an unintentional head butt and then decked him with a left hand as 16,325 people chanted Holyfield 's name . Tyson was definitely in trouble . In the seventh he kept looking to Halpern , complaining @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Holyfield face-first and inadvertently smashed his left eye into Holyfield 's shaved head . Tyson gasped in pain , stood straight up and appealed to the ref again . A sense that Holyfield really could win swept the crowd , and chants of " Let 's go , Mike ! " were squashed by choruses of " Holy-field ! " Tyson tried trading punches with Holyfield in the 10th , but that turned ugly for him when Holyfield hit him with a powerful combination , followed shortly by a right to the head and , with eight unanswered punches , backed him into the ropes . In all , Holyfield hit Tyson 23 times in the 10th . It had been a long time since anyone had seen Tyson saved by the bell . The fight was effectively over , but it went 37 seconds into the 11th round , when a big right to Tyson 's head slammed him into the ropes again and Halpern embraced him in protection . " I do n't remember that round , " Tyson would say . " I got caught in something strange @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Holyfield savored being , lilco hli. three-time heavyweight champ . // Tyson , though dangerous even in his cloudy state , was completely dominated by a fighter who had been , by the consensus of the boxing world , shot . Tyson 's attempts to bore in were preempted by right hands from Holyfield . " I 've been watching him for years and years , " said Holyfield , who goes back with Tyson to the early ' 80s , when the two were fighting as amateurs . " And when he dips and throws a left hook , either you get hit or you hit him first with a right hand . You have to beat him to the punch . " In truth , though , that did n't seem a masterpiece of strategy . It had long been observed that by hitting Tyson first you could make him pause , derail his reflexes a bit . But his fists were so fast and his power so enormous that making him pause briefly only delayed the inevitable briefly . Outcomes such as Saturday 's are a mystery @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ training procedures . It 's true that before this fight Holyfield worked much longer than he usually does , up to 16 weeks instead of the normal six or so , and much smarter , employing a Tyson lookalike named Gary Bell for quick-burst sparring . But there 's no reconciling Holyfield 's performance with his increasingly uneven career , which had many of his followers calling for his retirement . Shelly Finkel , who quit as Holyfield 's manager when Holyfield refused to hang up the gloves after losing his title to Michael Moorer in 1994 , said last week that there were only two types of fighters who could beat Tyson : big punchers and big men . Holyfield is neither . " But he has a great ability to rationalize , " Finkel said . " I believe he believes he will find a way in the ring . " Moorer 's trainer , Teddy Atlas , who helped train Tyson during Tyson 's amateur days , said three days before Saturdays bout that Holyfield rationalizes too much and too often . Referring to Holyfield 's contention that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by doctors after the Moorer fight ( a diagnosis later reversed by doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester , Minn. , and the Emory Clinic in Atlanta ) , was cured by televangelist Benny Hinn , Atlas said , " No offense to anyone 's beliefs , but that does say something about the guy 's ability to deal with reality . " Atlas was also concerned about Holyfield 's mileage . His three fights with Riddick Bowe were wars and might have taken their toll . " I hate to say this , " Atlas continued , " but he looked almost talentless in his last fight , against Bobby Czyz last May . I have a lot of wonderment about what I did n't see in that fight . " The Nevada commission wondered enough to run Holyfield through the Mayo Clinic but , as reluctant as it was to permit this bout , had to go along with the clinic 's findings , which showed Holyfield to be in good health . Holyfield was unperturbed by the fuss . He is literally a self-made man , having @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a calm confidence that he can perform any task put before him . Also , he has a faith in God that can be maddening to those who believe God might not be a boxing fan in general or a Holyfield fan in particular . " This fight is blessed , " he said five days before the bout , meaning Evander Holyfield is blessed . Holyfield believes that his boxing success is a good platform from which to spread the gospel . Before Saturday he believed that people would watch the fight thinking , I want to see what God is going to do for him against Tyson . " I will beat Mike Tyson , " Holyfield told one interviewer . " There is no way I can not , if I just trust in God . God is that good . " If this faith is irksome to some-Tyson , for example , wondered why God would shine on one side of the street and not the other-it can be comical to others . During the Philadelphia revival meeting at which he allegedly healed Holyfield 's heart , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was at the same meeting . Sure enough , Janice Itson , who was there , became Holyfield 's wife last month . They share his 54,000-square-foot house in suburban Atlanta , the care of his six children and , apparently , simple tastes . After they were married in a small private ceremony , they celebrated with dinner at Shoney 's . In the end it seemed things other than Holyfield 's religious faith were at the core of his success in this fight . Principally , there was Holyfield 's huge-hearted determination . He prays a lot , but he does n't leave it at that . His work ethic is renowned , his capacity for concentration phenomenal . And he has focused on Tyson almost his whole boxing life . Holyfield says he knew in 1984 , when he and Tyson were trying to make the U.S. Olympic team , that they were destined to meet in the ring . Back then Tyson was the heavyweight sensation and Holyfield the light heavyweight . As they stormed through the ranks , it was natural to wonder if they 'd @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for Tyson date back to that time . He recognized the lisping 17-year-old as an outcast , a little like himself , the Georgian everybody called Country . Both fighters were ridiculed by the other Olympic hopefuls . Holyfield , however , saw how hard Tyson worked " Nobody worked harder , " he says . He befriended Tyson and , on one memorable day , sparred with him . That session was cut short when the coach saw how hard they were going at each other . Tyson became the more famous fighter , and although Holyfield became wealthy from bouts against George Foreman and Bowe , among others-earning more than $100 million-he always yearned to prove himself against the man he considered the best . " When Mike went away , I lost my desire , " he said after the bout , referring to Tyson 's three years in jail . After that , nobody really got me up to fight . " With Tyson back , the desire was rekindled . But what of Tyson ? He is proving to be increasingly mysterious . There 's still @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ time . He 'll show selected interviewersRoseanne , for instance-his Nevada house , with its statues of Genghis Khan and Hannibal , and for the sake of news footage he 'll roughhouse with his pet white tiger , Kenya , who weighs more than 200 pounds . But another side to him is growing dominant . In a wide-ranging discussion with boxing writers in Las Vegas four days before the fight against Holyfield , Tyson was relaxed , more pragmatic than pathological , almost suburban . He can change diapers in a pinch , he said , but otherwise he is n't sure what kind of father he can be to three daughters , including one with his girlfriend , Monica Turner , a graduate of Georgetown University 's medical school . " I know I 've got to tell them what I did was bad , " he said , " but I 'm not looking forward to looking like an ass in front of my kids . " He is becoming the kind of citizen who boasts that he is the first generation of his family not on welfare @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vote or escape his past . He ca n't make sense of that past , either . " I 'd like to think I was the way I was because of financial reasons , " said Tyson , " and I 'd like to think it was because of environmental reasons , but I do n't really believe that . " He is clearly at odds with himself . Sitting in promoter Don King 's house in Vegas , with Mozart piano music playing in the background , he did n't seem like much of a monster . He was just a guy who was stretched a little thin . His pride in his achievements could n't quite crowd out the disappointments of his past . He said his life is over ; from now on it 's just a matter of providing for his children . He seemed tired . " All I know is that Saturday I 'll pick up $30 million , " he said , " then Monday I 'll sign up for another $30 million . " Photograph After earning $30 million for a bad day @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . // It was a joyless approach . " I 'm just here to render my services , " he said . That was before Saturday , when his life got a little less joyful . Well , someday he will surely sign up for another $30 million , perhaps in a rematch with Holyfield , who earned $11 million on Saturday and stands to make more by fighting Tyson again than by taking on any other opponent . But after losing the fight , Tyson , his forehead bruised purple , suddenly seemed a pitiful sight , almost as frightening in his new mortality as he had been in his invincibility . Turned out he was n't monstrous at alljust another working stiff , just a guy who might not like his job so much anymore . Asked if he would come back from this defeat , he spread his hands and said he had to . " I make so much money to fight , " he said , " how can I not come back ? " It seemed like a question he had already asked himself , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 
##2000261 A scrawny son of former hippies is now the slithering , scrambling , take-charge quarterback for Arizona State by Tim Layden Headnote Daniel Huffman knew if he gave up a kidney to save his grandmother , Headnote he had to give up football , too . He did n't hesitate // ON A JANUARY night in 1993 , Arizona State football coach Bruce Snyder sat slumped at the edge of his bed in a budget motel room in Boise , Idaho , every minute of his 52 years weighing on him like a slab of granite . He had flown in from Phoenix that afternoon and ridden through a snowstorm to visit the rural home of an 18-yearold high school quarterback named Jake Plummer . Following the meeting Snyder had trudged into the wet snow-in a business suit , without boots , gloves or topcoatand pushed a rented Cadillac driven by assistant coach Bobby Petrino down a dirt driveway and across a narrow wooden bridge to the pavement on Hill Road . For all that effort Snyder had not even gotten an oral commitment from Plummer , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ kid who had already told a local television station and a national recruiting magazine that he was probably going to sign with Washington State . It was almost 11 p.m . Snyder 's ruined shoes were stuffed against a heater , and the frustrations of his life 's work had been encapsulated in one cold evening . " I 'd just finished a hard year of coaching his first at Arizona State , in which the Sun Devils had gone 6-5 , and now I 'm away from my family , I 've ruined a new , $300 pair of shoes , and for what ? This mousy little kid with long hair who might not turn out to be any good ? Who knows with recruits ? Maybe somebody knew with Bo Jackson , but usually you do n't know . And I did n't think Jake was going to call me back . I do n't know if it was depression , but I was definitely taking an inventory of my life and my career . " Photograph Three Sun Devils wins resulted from Plummer 's late-game derring-do. // @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the 30 minutes since Snyder had slogged away from the Plummer home , Jake had talked with his mother , Marilyn , his father , Steve , his 24-year-old brother , Brett , and his coach at Boise 's Capital High , Steve Vogel . Jake had thought about the silly little board game , a recruiting gimmick , that Snyder had set up on the Plummers ' living room floor . Snyder had asked Jake to compare Arizona State with Washington State in all 12 categories on the game board , among them WEATHER , EARN DEGREE and , most important to Plummer , NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP . The Sun Devils had come out ahead . Now Plummer was calling Snyder to invite him back through the snow to accept his scholarship offer . Signing day was weeks away , so when Snyder reached the house , he and Plummer sealed their agreement with an embrace . " Welcome to the family , " Snyder said . " I 'm a Sun Devil , " Plummer told his friends the next day at school . He was one player among many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of potential , albeit at a vital position . A little shy of midnight in Boise , Snyder collapsed on his stiff motel bed , victorious , exhausted , most of all uncertain . " Even at the moment you do something , in recruiting and probably in a lot of jobs , " says Snyder , " you seldom appreciate how important it might be , how much it might mean down the road . " Nearly four years later Snyder knows . It has led to the development of a frail recruit into a Heisman Trophy candidate and an NFL prospect , to the rebirth of a program , to the elevation of a coaching career and to the sweetest , most improbable story of this college football season , this autumn 's Northwestern . It has meant everything . In last Saturday 's 41-9 waxing of Stanford , Plummer , now familiar to Sun Devils fans as Snake , completed 21 of 34 passes for 316 yards and two touchdowns , and ran for another score , a routine performance in a season that has defied convention . @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , their most impressive win having been an epochal 19-0 upset of then No. 1-ranked Nebraska on Sept. 21 , and they are on pace to make their first Rose Bowl appearance since 1987 . Three times Plummer has virtually dragged Arizona State to victory by force of his will , first in a seasonopening , last-play 45-42 win over Washington and then in successive , desperate comeback victories over UCLA and USC . " He 's this thoroughbred , running fast , and we 've just jumped on his back , " says Sun Devils quarterbacks coach John Pettas . Photograph Three Sun Devils wins resulted from Plummer 's late-game derring-do. // After Saturday 's victory Plummer walked briskly up a steep hillside leading from the visitors ' locker room at Stanford Stadium to a wide , full parking lot . He pulled the sleeves of his white turtleneck over his hands to fight the steady , cool breeze and wore a baseball cap turned backward . At the gate to the lot Plummer was besieged for autographs . He signed hats , programs and posters , affixing to each @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ last he pulled free and crunched across dry leaves to meet his family and friends , two dozen strong . Theirs was a brief celebration , percolating with fresh energy , the by-product of sudden success Steve Plummer hugged his son and then stepped back from the scrum . " What a year , " he said . " What a wild year . " Plummer is a senior who has started 36 consecutive games , beginning in the middle of his true freshman year , but only now has he seized Arizona State by its collective throat and carried it into contention for the Pac-10 title , the Rose Bowl and the national championship . " The way he performs under pressure , I think he 'd make a great emergency room surgeon , " says Kirk Robertson , Arizona State 's fifthyear senior center and a zoology major . " He 's got the kind of personality I 'd like to see in somebody working on me in that situation . " Adds senior Juan Roque , the Sun Devils ' 6 ' 8 " , 320-pound All-America left @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ A rare few college football players have about them an indefinable magic . Having this magic does n't mean they will win the Heisman ( some do , some do n't ) or become pro stars ( ditto ) , only that they will make memories and sometimes create victories from dust . Archie Manning was such a player at Ole Miss . So were Doug Flutie at Boston College and Tommie Frazier at Nebraska . Plummer has the magic . He has grown to 192 pounds , but he is neither strong ( 250 pounds , max , in the bench press ) nor fast ( 4.9 for the 40 ) . His gifts are subtle : courage , quick feet , quicker release and an ethereal cool that deepens in the fourth quarter . Having led Arizona State to 12 wins in its last 13 games , he has become a folk hero of sorts . In Phoenix , country music radio station KMLE has fashioned a song about him . After the victory over Southern Cal , Trojans coach John Robinson compared Plummer with Joe Montana . The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for 40 yards on six carries in a victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers , he said , " I was just trying to be like Jake Plummer . " That night Plummer went grocery shopping at 11 o'clock and signed autographs in the store for 15 minutes . All of this adoration , all of this esteem , all this success leaves Plummer uncharacteristically flat-footed . " I do n't know how to explain what 's happening this year , " he says . " I 'm just pretty much going full speed , every game , every play . There is n't any time to think about it . Right now I guess I feel like I 'm bulletproof . " They would laugh at all this in Boise , where Jason Steven Plummer was born , the youngest of Marilyn and Steve Plummer 's three sons . They would laugh because for so many years Jake was a scrawny tagalong , the youngest of nine male cousins living in Boise . Yet they would understand , too , because Jake grew strong from the experience of getting beaten @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of them all . On the Thursday before this year 's game against Stanford , a cluster of friends and family members gathered in Marilyn 's kitchen ( Marilyn and Steve were divorced in 1983 , when Jake was eight ; she raised Jake , but he remains close to his father , a lumber wholesaler who lives in Coeur d'Alene , Idaho ) and traded tales of Jake 's youth . On one point they all agreed : " We watch these comebacks every weekend and say , We 've seen him do this since he was 12 , ' " said family friend Robert Wikle . Photograph Against Stanford , Mustafa showed that like his pal Plummer , he relishes a chance to dish out a hit . // Marilyn and Steve were sufficiently countercultural ( " I guess you could call us hippies , " says Marilyn ) that in 1977 , when Jake was three , they moved their family from Boise to the tiny community of Smiley Creek ( pop . 50 ) , in the foothills of the Sawtooth Mountains in south-central Idaho . The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ grade in a tworoom schoolhouse . During their three years in the town Jason became Jake , courtesy of Buzz Cheatam and Jody Robb , a couple who operated the Smiley Creek Lodge . When little Jake would scurry about filling salt shakers and the like , they called him Jaker Baker the Money Maker . The Snake nickname came later , when Jake was in seventh grade . His next-oldest brother , Eric , three years Jake 's senior , gave him former NFL quarterback Kenny ( the Snake ) Stabler 's autobiography and threw in the nickname as part of the deal . " Good thing I became a scrambler , " says Jake . Smiley Creek forged in all the Plummer boys an independence that grew into athletic competitiveness . Yet Jake possessed something extra : not just the nimble feet that would make him such an adept scrambler , but also a passion for playing . When he was 11 he tore up a youth football game , making more than 20 tackles in an effort to impress his father , who was in Boise for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the field , and he was just killing everybody , " says Brett . " Halfway through the game he was crying , because he was so pumped up . " Three years later , during an evening session of summer pickup basketball in Coeur d'Alene , 14-year-old Jake was the youngest member of a team that included his brothers . " We 're playing this really good team of older guys from Spokane , " says Brett . " I 'm nervous , because these guys can play , but Jake just comes out and starts hitting three-pointers . That 's when I figured he might be a little different . " In the last game of his high school football career , Jake drove Capital 80 yards in the final 90 seconds to an apparent tying touchdown against Pocatello High in the Idaho Class Al title game . A missed extra point left Capital a point short , 14-13 . His physical presence impressed nobody when he arrived at Arizona State- " I saw him , and I thought , This skinny white kid is our savior ? @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ passes for 161 yards on Saturday-but Plummer started the sixth game of his freshman year and has n't been displaced since . He grew like any young quarterback . The Sun Devils went 6-5 that season but 3-8 the next . Last year 's 6-5 record included three Pac-10 losses by a total of eight points , an encouraging sign . Through all the defeats Plummer did not lose any of his competitiveness , on the football field or off . Last spring his girlfriend , Sonia Flores , a 22-year-old Arizona State senior , beat him in a game of H-O-R-S-E . " He was so mad , I just turned my back so he could n't see my face , " says Flores . When USC freshman linebacker Chris Claiborne intercepted one of his passes in this season 's game with the Trojans , Plummer tried to lay a big hit on the 235-pound Claiborne , who instead drilled Plummer in the neck and shoulder , leaving him stiff for a week . " He 's a good Gumby , " said Arizona State trainer Perry Edinger , referring @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ worked on the quarterback 's neck four days before the game with Stanford . Plummer , lying on the padded table and occasionally groaning , sounded as if he planned to be more prudent about trying to level defensive players in the future . " I 've learned , I 'm no hitter , " he said . But on Saturday , after throwing his only interception of the game , there was Plummer , searching for a defensive tackle who had been tormenting him for much of the day . This competitiveness has value : It discourages submission and fuels comebacks . Eight times in his career Plummer has brought the Sun Devils back from fourthquarter deficits , never letting a game or a play die without a struggle . " Jake is like the little kid at recess who cuts open his arm and still wants to keep playing , " says friend Isaiah Mustafa , a Sun Devils wide receiver . " Jake never wants recess to end . " Stanford learned . With Saturdays game still young and scoreless , Cardinal linebacker Brian Batson blitzed and arrived @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Plummer stepped inside Batson- " Just trying to stay alive , " he said later-and threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to J.R . Redmond . Batson was left flailing , empty-handed , trying to do what ca n't be done this autumn , trying to catch a Snake with his bare hands . .. Photograph .. Photograph .. // .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Photograph .. // <p> 
##2000771 After centuries of refinement , a coyote machine is unleashed on the plains // IN THE EARLY MORNING LIGHT , A BARE PATCH OF FLESH glowed red on the dead range cow ahead . Louis Blair , an 82year-old working cowboy and everyday hunter , squinted a bit as he read the scene . Although nothing moved , he sensed something was up . Under a Texas sun , exposed meat is soon gray , not bright red , even in January . Cautiously , as if " just drivin ' on by , " Blair maintained his pickup 's speed and direction . Then , when he was as close as he could get , he turned straight at the dead cow and gunned it . Instantly , from a crouch behind the carcass , a coyote sprang forward and raced across the range . Blair swerved his rig broadside to help his dogs see through slits in the drop doors . One spotted the fleeing coyote and barked . Blair reached over his shoulder and yanked the trip rope to the dog box . Three long-legged @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shoulders , dove out and streaked across the range . Most dogs wobble side-to-side as they run , but coursing hounds gracefully single-track , placing one foot in front of the other in a straight line ... just like the coyotes they hunt . These runners ( also called gazehounds or sighthounds because they hunt by sight , not scent ) employ a double-suspension gallop . Other dogs leave the ground only when they thrust forward from their hind legs , but coursing hounds fly a second time when they spring off their front legs . And their shoulder blades , pasterns , croups , stifles and hocks have struck such harmony that even with both fore and hind legs pumping , their backs lie perfectly flat . As they run , legs a blur , they appear to hover just above the ground like a swarm of bees . Unlike other hunting dogs , sighthounds remain almost as primitive as the wolves from which they emerged . They pack with the people who raise and feed them , but the chase , and the kill , is theirs alone . @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of perhaps 6,000 years of selective breeding . It all started with the saluki , the oldest of all hunting dogs . The Arabs are credited with taking the slender , pale-footed wolf ( Canis lupus pallipes ) and perhaps the desert wolf of Arabia ( Canis lupus arabs ) and developing them to hunt gazelles in Arabia and Persia . Actually , those wolves were already coursing gazelles . The Arabs simply teamed up with the wolves and refined them into salukis by mating best to best , a terribly slow but effective breeding method . The saluki ( its name is derived from the Arabic word slughi , meaning respected and valued dog ) still retains its wild instincts . That includes an attitude of aloof independence and an adamant intolerance for high-handed treatment . M.H. " Dutch " Salmon , author of Gazehounds and Coursing , says the primitive nature of salukis and other sighthounds makes them a hunter 's dream , the one type of dog that does its thing without training . No dog could catch a gazelle in a short sprint , so salukis evolved @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ moderate clip , letting the gazelle tire after a dragstrip dash of 500 to 1,000 yards , and then the salukis poured it on . Today , regardless of what prey they chase , salukis still reserve their sprint for the end and are still the fastest longdistance sighthounds . Salmon clocked two of his dogs chasing a jackrabbit at speeds that reached 45 mph . Salukis first appeared in Egyptian art during the 12th dynasty ( 1991-1783 B.C. ) . The first greyhounds appeared later and greatly resembled salukis , suggesting an outcross . To what ? Perhaps a small Abyssinian wolf from the south , or the African cape hunting dog . Maybe even the jackal . No one knows for sure . What is certain , though , is that all coursing breeds that followed-Afghans , borzois , Irish wolfhounds , Scottish deerhounds and whippets-were developments from , or crosses to , these early salukis and greyhounds . Yet despite their long history , few members of these breeds have the ability to run coyotes . Salukis , which evolved to handle the timid gazelle , lack the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ greyhounds , the type bred for racetracks , run so fast and recklessly that they often break toes and legs in turns and tumbles . Generations of breeding for the track has also made them fast sprinters that fade in the long chase . Afghans , borzois and the rest have had their ability sapped by show breeding . As a result , nearly every gazehound effective on coyotes is an unregistered crossbreed selected entirely on the basis of ability . From Texas to California to southern Canada , such dogs have come to be known as " staghounds " or " staghound crosses . " Their name may be a twist on the Scottish deerhound , as both resemble large , rough-coated greyhounds . Roger Preheim , South Dakota coyote courser , believes that the good blood of the early Scottish dogs is running through our staghounds , a breed in the making . Could be . General Custer and others did hunt the Scottish breed in the West . Blair 's dogs are mostly staghound , with some hot-blood greyhound thrown in for speed . Like others of their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and muzzle than registered breeds . They may not look as sleek as the American Kennel Club breeds , but the prettier dogs ca n't stay with 80 pounds of muscle moving flat-out across the range . The chase , conducted at dazzling speeds , is a contest of strength on strength . Gazehounds and coyotes alike have the courser 's conformation-oblique shoulder blades , well-bent stifles and elongated bodies well-suited to the chase . Their interaction , then , becomes a battle of wits between highspeed strategists , negotiated across miles of countryside . Rarely do we get to see the chase , but I 've read its parallel in the snow . Two coyotes wrote it as they chased a rabbit , foreshadowing their own pursuit by the hounds : Two " little wolves " -as coursers call coyotesenter an abandoned barnyard . One trots toward a rusty , broken-down combine , the other coyote hunts the laid-over dead grass and jumps a cottontail . It races for the combine . Did the first coyote anticipate this ? It steps directly into the rabbit 's path . In shock @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ amber streaks the snow . He does a one-eighty . Then a mighty bound , leaving just one signature print . Scattered fur and blood blot the snow where the second track should be . The coyote that jumped the rabbit has taken it in mid-leap . Such speed . So little effort . No wonder the coyote in front of Blair 's dogs was squandering its head start by slowing a moment to look back . He thought nothing could catch him . Maybe he had good reason to think that . Blair 's dogs have lost coyotes here before , one in an overgrown homestead , another that got to a river bottom and a third that saw our rig coming from more than 1,000 yards away . Hustling over the prairie , it looked like a speck leaving a dust-colored contrail . PREDATORS , ESPECIALLY LARGE ONES , HAVE come into great favor in recent times . The reason ? Obviously , they are of little or no threat in the cities where most people live today . But tell that to a farmer with sheep , goats @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lost three terriers to coyotes , despite the bloody efforts of a Great Pyrenees to fight them off . Tell that to my trigger finger when I caught a coyote stalking my beagle so intently that it never saw me coming . We need to control the coyote population , but what few realize is that coursing hounds are one of our most effective methods . The chase has only two possible outcomes-an unharmed coyote or a clean , swift kill . The hound 's technique is refined . A fast " trip dog " rolls the coyote , and then one or two others pin the animal 's neck to the ground . No dog grabs from the rear because it delays the kill by pulling the coyote away from the kill dog . Blair 's dogs were rapidly gaining on the wolf . One pulled up alongside , trying to reach out and throw the coyote off balance . He grabbed thin air just as the coyote did a quick ninety . The first dog overran it , but a second made a pass from the opposite side . @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but slower , kill dog was closing . On the third turn , the coyote crossed its path . They rolled . The two speedsters skidded to a stop , throwing a cloud of glittering frost around the drama . The last act was finished before the glistening veil settled to the ground . The pelt was a tad wet and dirty , but not torn . It would serve again as a warm coat . Photograph FOCUSED AGGRESSION : Staghounds still retain the predatory instincts of their wolf ancestry , and when it comes to chasing coyotes they are all of one mind . // <p> 
##2000772 The rifles are bizarre , the technology is formidable .. and the results are nothing short of incredible // What are the chances of a rifleman hitting a target the size of a playing card at a distance of 1,000 yards ? In July 1995 , John Voneida , a high school shop teacher , hit the card not once but 10 times in a row , with 5 of the shots so close together they would have cut the center out of the ace of spades ! That 's about the same as scoring backto-back holes in one at the Master 's Tournament . Voneida , 47 , whose record-setting 10-shot group measured an official 3.151 inches between the centers of the widest shots , is a member of the Original Pennsylvania 1,000 Yard Benchrest Club , Inc . Their game at regularly scheduled competitions consists of punching unbelievably tiny clusters of shots at incredible distances on a massive shooting range near Williamsport , Penn . Prior to Voneida 's mark , the record of 3.960 inches had stood for two years ; before that a 4.375-inch @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unbeatable . Though shooting at 1,000 yardsover half a mile-is a surrealist fantasy for most shooters , the sport is surprisingly widespread and is played in a number of ways , the most popular being the long-range events in NRAstyle high-powered rifle tournaments . Held every August , this type of competition-which includes the famed Wimbledon match at the National Rifle Championship at Camp Perry , Ohio-is fired from the unsupported prone position , putting the emphasis on human marksmanship . Super Heavyweights In the Williamsport brand of 1,000yard shooting , the human element is eliminated by firing from rock-solid benches , with the rifles weighing as much as 90 pounds . Which means they can be fired only from a rest . It does n't mean , however , that the need for personal marksmanship is eliminated , or that shooting the big rifles is merely an exercise in trigger pulling . As with all benchrest shooting , marksmanship is elevated to a battle with accuracy 's enduring enemy-Mother Nature . Many shooters consider gravity to be the prime adversary of a bullet 's flight . But in terms of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ constants , so its very predictability is a comfort . The real enemy is wind , which leaps unseen to beat or seduce a bullet from its straight and true path . At usual shooting distances wind is n't that much of a problem , but stretch the distance to 1,000 yards and a 2-mph zephyr will nudge a 130-grain bullet from your .270 Winchester 2 feet off course . And that 's not the worst of it . Ma Nature makes sure the wind swirls and eddies , constantly changing its speed and direction , so that a bullet trying to make headway across 3,000 feet of this roiling ocean of air might be tugged this way and that before burrowing its way through the target . And then she restacks the deck for the next bullet . To compound the marksman 's task , the impact point of each shot is not signaled by range personnel so that the marksman can make corrective sight changes-as it is in NRA competitions . In this contest , the benchrester " flies blind " once he begins the string of 10 shots @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and , needless to say , he ca n't see where his shots are hitting because ordinary telescopes do n't pick up bullet holes at 41/2 furlongs . All of which makes it sound like 1,000-yard benchresters suffer some sort of quixotic compulsion to do battle against overwhelming odds . Actually , though , there are some pretty neat ballistic tricks that help even the odds , and it is here that the spiritand science-of long-range shooting reveals itself . Obeying Speed Limits One way is with horsepower . It 's no secret that the faster a bullet travels the less it is affected by crosswinds , and if there is any one trait the winningest long-range cartridges share it 's speed . Many of the cartridges used in long-range benchrest competition are wildcats designed for that specific purpose . Voneida , who teaches metalworking at Williamsport High School , made his own record-breaking cartridge by reforming the big .375 H &H; Magnum case and necking it down to fire a .30-caliber bullet . A similar cartridge , the .308 Baer , designed by long-range gunsmith/guru Bruce Baer and currently the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a 220-grain .30-caliber bullet out the muzzle at some 3,050 fps . At this muzzle velocity the bullet will be drifted about 27 inches off course by a steady 5-mph crosswind , which sounds like a lot , but if the same bullet were loaded to maximum velocity in a .30/06 , the wind would have its way by an additional 10 inches . // RIFLES FABRICATED SPECIFICALLY for 1,000-yard competitions often have barrels a yard long and as fat as a man 's wrist . This one , built by Bruce Baer and owned by Wayne Linsenbach , is chambered for a .308 Baer cartridge . // Which is why more than one eager soul has come to the hopeful conclusion that glory at long range is simply a matter of more velocity . To that end , cartridge cases such as the giant .378 Weatherby have been necked down to fire the highly accurate .30caliber match bullets made by Sierra and a few other bullet makers . The theory being that big boiler rooms hold and burn a lot of powder , and more powder means more velocity . @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ heat is the scourge of fine rifle barrels . In other words , when velocity goes up , barrel life goes down . So much so that some overcapacity cartridges can burn away a new barrel 's accuracy almost by the time the rifle is sighted-not a very appealing prospect considering that barrel replacement runs in the neighborhood of $400 . By keeping muzzle velocities in the 3,000-fps range , a good barrel has an accuracy life of about 2,000 rounds , which gives an active competitor two or three years of service . Since muzzle velocity per se is selflimiting , the best alternative is using bullets that outsmart Mother Nature by retaining a relatively high percentage of their initial velocity . Think of it this way , it 's not so important how fast a bullet begins its flight as how fast it 's going when it gets to the target . The differences can be astonishing . As noted , a 220-grain .30-caliber Sierra Match King bullet will drift some 27 inches in a 5-mph crosswind when loaded to a 3,050 fps muzzle velocity . But compare that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weight and loaded to the same velocity . The roundnose will be drifted over six feet sideways in an identical crosswind . The reason for this jaw-dropping difference is that Match King bullets have a super-streamlined shape that slips through the atmosphere more easily and retains more velocity . This reduced aerodynamic drag factor spurred a race to produce increasingly " slippery " bullets , and long-range riflemen could well be shooting needlelike projectiles were it not for yet another self-limiting factor . Without getting technical , let 's just say that superstreamlined bullets get temperamental . Some exhibit a mind of their own as to which route to follow to the target or if , in fact , they want to go at all . An opposite path to taking the mischief out of Mother Nature is to use larger and heavier bullets , but if this Pandora 's box were opened some shooters would soon be using .50-caliber " bullets " and from there the long-range game would become a virtual artillery duel . So the Benchrest Club at Williamsport decreed that .40 caliber is the limit . Another @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so that they slide through the atmosphere the way a greased ball bearing slips through your fingers . One such technique called " Moly coating " -is a doit-yourself process , and similarly coated bullets are also commercially available . It Is n't Just Tricks Despite all this high-tech trickery , the happy truth is that most tournaments are won the old-fashioned way-with accurate rifles and by shooters who know when to pull the trigger . Bruce Baer , whose rifles and cartridges are by far the most widely used at the Williamsport matches , is an example . And though he is famous for his monster guns , the core of his success is actually in applying long-range know-how to traditional-looking hunting rifles . Most of Baer 's rifles are built around Hall or Geske custom bolt-actions or ordinary Remington M-700 actions that he stiffens with a sleeve . All are fitted with adjustable triggers , usually set to let go at a twoounce touch . His clientele 's taste in barrels runs mainly to those made by Hart , Obermeyer , Lilja and Kreiger ( in that order ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and as big around as a man 's wrist . Such massive pipes can weigh 15 pounds , which , combined with a proportionally massive stock made of synthetics or laminated wood , accounts for the 50- to 60-pound heft of a typical Baer bench rifle . And if all this still seems a bit much , John Voneida 's do-it-yourself recordbreaking rifle-also fabricated in his shop class-is built on an action salvaged from a 1950s vintage M-721 Remington hunting rifle . The stock is made of laminated walnut , and with its 281/2-inch Hart barrel and 24X Leupold scope , it weighs about 30 pounds . Many other 1,000-yard benchresters are amateur gunsmiths , and though their creations may look bizarre , a close examination usually reveals points in common-meticulous craftsmanship and striking originality . Synthetic stocks , otherwise as bland as ironing boards , are often made into works of pop art with paint schemes that emulate a hot-rodder 's fantasy . Needless to say , most of these rifles are so accurate they 're scary ; even categorizing them within our usual definitions of accuracy can be misleading @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can be determined at one distance and applied to another . A rifle that shoots one-inch groups at 100 yards will not necessarily shoot a 10-inch group when the distance is increased tenfold . If it worked that way , Voneida 's 3.151-inch group would equate to a ho-hum .315inch by 100-yard standards . But the fact of the matter is that a hot varmint rifle that delivers quarter-inch groups at 100 yards might not group inside a garbage truck at 1,000 yards and , conversely , equipment that shines at long range may only sputter up close . Which is why most die-hard long-range specialists do n't even bother to test their rigs at what they deride as " sissy distances . " Though the big rifles get most of the attention and set the most impressive records , there are actually three classes of rifles in the Williamsport brand of shooting . The " unlimited " class includes just about anything you can haul to the firing line so long as it is less than .40 caliber and does n't have a muzzle brake . The other two classes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 11 pounds . The middleweight class allows singleshot actions with varmint-style stocks that ride steady on the sandbags , while the 11-pound class requires that the guns look and work like ordinary magazine-fed hunting rifles . This light-rifle class is a wise idea for several reasons : Not only does it attract new shooters who have only a hunting rifle and beginners not ready to lay out three grand for a fullblown unlimited rig from the Baer works , but it also condenses technology learned with the big rifles into more practical packages . As of this writing , the record group for the 16-1/22-pound class is 7.656 inches , which shows that there really is n't much of an accuracy gap between the big and little rifles . The 11-pound class is shot for score only , but groups can be remarkably small for hunting rifles . One competitor , using a varmint rifle chambered for the .22 CHeetah cartridge introduced by OUTDOOR LIFE in 1985 , regularly delivers groups in the 10- to lS-inch range ... to the amazement and acute discomfort of the big-gun crowd . Laymen often @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all but mechanical challenge . All they see is funny-looking rifles held motionless on sandbags while the shooters ' only duty is feeding ammo and touching the trigger . In truth , benchrest shooting is postgraduate marksmanship in which the difference between victory and defeat might be measured in thousandths of an inch , and a momentary lapse of concentration-or failure to detect a slight shift in strength or direction of a breezecan cost a championship . At Williamsport , where there may be upwards of 100 competitors during major tournaments , 12 shooters are on the firing line during each relay . Firing on an early relay , when wind and mirage are usually minimal , is often a distinct advantage , so a lottery system is used to rotate relay positions during the season . Once the rifles are in position , six minutes are allowed for sighting-in , during which time the presence of a coach or a spotter , plus help from the pit crew , is allowed . Photograph Getting a 1,000-yard rifle to the line can be a two-man task . // After sighting-in , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that count . Some shooters use their full time allotment , studying the flags and streamers spaced at various ranges , hoping to decipher minute changes in atmospheric conditions that will alter their bullet 's flight . Most shooters , however , rattle off their shots as quickly as possible , sometimes firing all 10 shots within two minutes . Their reasoning is that it 's better to get all shots downrange before conditions change . This is the procedure I followed when I competed at Williamsport . Using a rifle borrowed from Baer , I hummed off the rounds as fast as I could work the bolt . Somewhere during that string Mother Nature figured out what I was up to and lured a couple of bullets about a foot out of what was otherwise a tidy cluster of holes . Which meant that I was out of the running and missed the tournament-ending Championship Shootoff between the high scorers on each relay . So other than being the passion of a handful of ballistic technoids and super marksmen , what has the long-range game contributed , if anything , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has been considerable . Like other forms of benchrest shooting , which have long been wellsprings of ideas and technology for the gun industry , long-distance shooting has focused attention not just on its spectacular feats but also on the realities and possibilities of long-range target shooting and hunting . Remington 's M-700 " Sendero " rifle , for example , is a " long-range-specific " rifle , as is Winchester 's M-70 Custom Classic Sharpshooter and the new Weatherby " Accumark . " Weatherby 's newly introduced .20/378 Magnum cartridge was born and bred on the 1,000-yard firing line , and some factory ammo is now available with low-drag bullets that yield flatter trajectories and better wind resistance for long-range shooting . One example is Remington 's " ER " extended-range bullets . If anything bad can be said about long-range benchrest shooting at Williamsport it 's just that-it 's all been at Williamsport and nowhere else . But that 's changing fast , with scheduled tournaments also being held in Arizona , Colorado , North Carolina and Virginia , and with clubs in other states and countries now building @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years there will be a network of 20 to 30 clubs offering regular tournaments . Which may make you wonder if shooting at 1,000 yards is as far as the game 's going to go . Hardly . There 's a club in Scotland where they shoot a mile-without telescopic sights . For more information about long-range clubs and their tournaments , call : in Arizona , 602-582-9635 ; North Carolina , 704-864-7525 ; Virginia , 540-337-8351 ; Williamsport , 717-323-8752. // Carmichel checks on Ma Nature 's machinations . // <p> 
##2000773 Three Montanans talk about war and peace between the West 's two surest predators-coyote and man // DAVE NELSON 'S NOSE EARNS ITS keep perversely . Sinus surgeries have wrecked his olfactory nerves . " Ca n't smell a thing , " Nelson says , smiling and inhaling . The fetid , flyblown sheep and cattle carcasses that he skins are nothing to sniff at , but what snuffed them is . " These ranchers who call me in must think I 'm some kind of weirdo , " he says . " They stand back 50 feet , ready to puke , while I skin their livestock . " Predators leave characteristic clues . If he makes it in time , Nelson inspects kills for tooth and claw tracks in muscle tissue and hemorrhaging under the hide , and from this evidence he fingers a culprit species . " Timing is everything , " he says . In two days a predator and subsequent scavengers can reduce a 400-pound calf to a skull plate and ear tag . " You would n't know if it was poachers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ liberties with the typical Montanan 's compulsion for alliteration . Nelson is an investigator with the United States Department of Agriculture 's Bureau of Animal Damage Control ( ADC ) . He supervises nine government trappers in Western Montana- " field specialists , " as the official euphemism goes-who trapped 4,820 coyotes and 9 mountain lions in 1995 at the behest of ranchers whose predator-related livestock losses had reached critical levels . Coyotes are n't a " managed " species in need of government protection . Indeed , according to Guy Connolly , an ADC wildlife biologist who has studied coyotes for 23 years , there are as many as 2 million coyotes in 17 western states . Managing sheep profitably in their midst requires private vigilantism and government action . Nationwide , in 1995 , coyotes killed more than twice as many sheep as did bears , lions , bobcats , wolves , foxes , dogs and eagles combined . In Montana in 1995 , coyotes dined on 28,000 sheep and lambs worth $1.5 million , according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service . And , especially in winter , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on deer and elk . When these critters treat our livelihood or recreation as a source of food , we , as a sentimental species , get vengeful . Or we get the government in on it . " We only work for people who request us because they 're having specific , unacceptably significant losses , " Nelson explains . " We do n't just roam around trapping coyotes . " Nelson also makes it a point that he does n't enjoy the moment he kills a coyote . But he does enjoy arriving at ranches in distress , like a white knight in his white Dodge pickup . He even sounds chivalrous about the job : " We 're only after the ones that get into sheep . " People who deal with coyotes seem beguiled by and infatuated with them . Given their track record , it 's significant that just about everyone who lives around them mentions defensively that not all coyotes are sheep killers . It 's clear that no one wants to see how far out of balance the food chain would get without them. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ " land counts against the individual animal that deviates from its predominant prey base of rodents and young ungulates to cultivate a taste for mutton . With all the other losses they suffer-from disease , birthing complications and weather , all of which rank ahead of predationsheep producers ca n't let a whole lot go unanswered . Humans defend their territory jealously-trapping , snaring , poisoning , shooting offhand and putting the dogs on the competition . Ranchers and trappers whose lives are entwined with coyotes become keen predators themselves . Because of the territoriality of coyotes , the ADC has more than a prayer . " If we can get to a fresh kill and determine that it 's coyote predation , " Nelson says , " there 's a very high probability that we 'll get the animal that caused it . When the killing stops , we know that we got the job done for that producer . " Still , producers must factor in depredation each year . " Some losses due to coyotes are inevitable , " Chase Hibbard shrugs . The Sieben Livestock Company-the Hibbard @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Cascade , Mont . They lose an average of 6 percent of their lambs every year , with coyotes accounting for one third of the losses . " I do n't have a quarrel with coyotes , " Hibbard says . " They 'll always be here and we 'll always lose lambs . But we live in constant fear of those nights when we lose 10 or more . It 's a fair assumption that that kind of depredation will recur until we kill the culprits . That 's when the ADC helps . " He tilts back in his grandfather 's office chair and it yawps like one of those dying-rabbit predator lures . I point out the squeak . Hibbard rocks and listens , rocks again and ponders that . Everyone in the sheep business is looking for some new trick to get an edge on the coyotes . I can picture Chase Hibbard out to pasture in 30 years , judiciously rocking in Henry Sieben 's ancient chair , cradling a .222 and luring coyotes . ADC field specialists recommend nonlethal predator aversion techniques before they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ewes during lambing season , hiring summer herders for each big flock-the most effective predator deterrent-and Great Pyrenees dogs . Yet for all the care the Sieben ranch takes , it can still lose several hundred lambs between spring turnout and autumn weaning . Photograph Dave Nelson laying down the ( poison ) law Photograph Chase Hibbard and a survivor ready for market // " This is a business with slim margins , " Hibbard says . " Without the ADC to control and limit damages , a bunch of sheep producers would go out of business . " But some sheep producers , most notably in Montana , are intolerant of armed government agents of any stripe . Some ranchers feel that government interference could make ranch life less tenable than predators , and they snub the Feds . " Predator problems ? Shoot , shovel and shut up , " a trenchant cattleperson alliterates anonymously . " If you can shoot a couple of coyotes , the killing stops before you can even figure out what was in their stomach . " I broached the effects of swift and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thinks that some coyotes are smart enough to get a scare from potshotting cowboys and stay out of trouble . But just listen any night of the year in coyote country and the howls sound as lusty and abundant as ever . In the perpetual war between ranchers and coyotes , the ranchers only take so much before taking lethal action . Then the predators are eliminated by the victims , so to speak , and life goes on . Ironically , one breed in the human/coyote continuum that has always been the predator now seems victimized : Thanks to an ever-decreasing demand for coyote pelts , fur trappers are in danger of extinction . Don Forbes has harvested coyote hides for more than 60 years . He 'll turn 82 this trapping season . Local ranchers gave him permission to trap on their land decades ago , but , he says , they 've never really encouraged him . This winter he 'll walk up on a coyote in a leg-hold trap 30 or 40 times ; there will be a patch of snow worried into a pink slush , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pretty good , but they lay down in a minute , " he says . When the coyote settles he 'll unholster and level the .22 Colt he bought in Alaska in 1937 and shoot the coyote in the head . Then he 'll bend his 5-foot S-inch , 120pound body under the flaccid 35-pound carcass and trudge through the hushed winterscape to his pickup . Forbes does n't field dress his coyotes . He has a proper fleshing board and stretchers in the shed behind his tidy white home that nestles against the Garnet Range foothills at the edge of the tiny ranching community of Avon , Mont . Until the late 1980s , the Forbes family owned the general store in Avon , where Forbes marked prices in grease pencil and wrapped bulk cheese in butcher paper and string . He augmented the marginally profitable business with winter trapping . In the late 1970s , coyote skins were gold . Prime silver furs fetched $150 or more and good hides were worth a hundred bucks . Coyotes got hit hard for that kind of money . Spotters in small @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coyotes and clubbed them to death to spare the skins entry and exit holes . The extent of this wantonness worried Forbes , who was afraid that the coyote population would take generations to recover . But as the ADC 's studies have documented , the average litter size in regions where coyotes are hunted heavily goes from the normal four or five pups to eight or nine , until the prey base/predator balance evens out . Photograph ENDLESSLY OPPORTUNISTIC : Coyotes stop to check for fresh scent on a mule deer trail before continuing their snowbound hunt . // I asked Forbes to quantify trapping , hoping to hear that the money still makes a difference and expecting a storekeeper 's accounting of pelts and what he 'd made on them . What I got instead was the impression that Don Forbes represents a dying breed . " There are more coyotes around than ever , but other things-including walking with this bunion-are making it harder . " He points at a bulge on his left boot where the leather is stretched and cracked . " Last year , " @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ where I usually do real good that I did n't set but maybe a couple traps . " He looks at the piano across the room . " I may have been crowded out . " He pauses , points his chin toward the foothills where he and the coyotes will struggle through another season and says , " It 's a tough world out there and I 'm still in it . We 'll just see how it goes this winter . " Don Forbes has taken thousands of coyotes heedfully and without compunction . Fur trapping may have become as anachronistic as butcher paper and string , but , as he says , " If I did n't go out in the winter I 'd just get in the way and get kicked out . I do n't care where the price of hides goes . I 'll trap ' em anyway . " Forbes 's irrepressibility reminds me of the persevering ranch families that thrive in spite of coyotes . Or of a guy whose inability to smell helps him match wits with these keenly sentient critters . @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ malice . And there is nothing rough or violent about the people I met who kill them . As sentimental animals , we 're motivated by love or fear or some tangle of the two when we deal with predators ; we recognize that our relationship to the environment mirrors theirs . In protecting our families and land from them we strike a dynamic balance that keeps us cunning and watchful , always aware of our place . A Photograph Don Forbes and five feet of coyote pelt Sidebar Secrets Sidebar Coyotes are only successful in taking down ungulates during the late winter , when Sidebar the elk and deer are at the lowest point in their nutritional cycle and the snowfall is heaviest . The focus of their attention is on does and fawns . Scientists have found that in years of good deer and elk reproduction , the effects of predation are negligible . The results of increasing coyote numbers are unknown . Author Affiliation Tom Harpole has contributed to Sports Illustrated and several architecture periodicals . This is his first piece for OUTDOOR LIFE . // <p> 
##2000774 The steelhead is a rainbow trout on steroids-a muscle-bound , unpredictable , darn-near-unstoppable middle linebacker of a fish . And those who fish for them in the Midwest have to be equally tough . We 're not talking a lazy summertime cruise in teh bass boat , flipping a jig ' n pig and sipping a cold one , steelhead fishing is often an uncomfortable , frozen-fingersand-toes , snow-blind anglling exprience . And that 's before you even hook one of these bruisers who are fully capable of tearing the rod right out of your hands . What keeps fishermen out there on the icy water is the promise of a fight . Ounce for ounce the most spectacular freshwater gamefish in America , steelies are hard-charging and aerobatic , often rocketing several body lengths out of the water . Lay into one of these chrome locomotives , adn you 'll soon be wondering which one of you is really in charge . After spending three or four years cruising the Great Lakes , midwestern steelhead charge up the rivers of their birth to reproduce ( that 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that cool water , the fish are at their physical peakas anxious as schoolboys on prom night and willing to duke it out with anything that gets in their way , especially if it 's a horde of " Cabelafield " landlubbers with fishing rods . Beginning in October the action heats up quickly , and by mid-Novermber-about the time salmon fishing endsmost steelhead streams hold good numbers of fish . But do n't assume , just because steelhead are in the river , that you can land them . Even the best anglers rarely bat better than 500 against the steelies they hook , and neophytes are repeatedly humiliated before they finally bring one to net . One of the beauties of steelhead is that they offer equalopportunity frustration : You can lose them on a wide range of tackle , using myriad techniques , in practically any stream that flows into the Great Lakes , from tiny , jumpacross creeks to wide , roaring rivers . Spawn Patrol As they move upstream , steelhead feed on recently deposited salmon spawn , so it 's no surpise that salmon eggs-fished @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in chunks-are the sole bait of many steelhead anglers . The basic technique is simplicity itself : Use a long , limber rod ( at least 9 feet ) with 8-pound line and a 6-pound leader . Attach the spawn to a sharp hook-a size 4 single hook for eggs , a treble for spawn sacks-and add just enough weight to make the biat tick along the bottom . Drift the spawn downstream through deepawter runs by casting to the edge of the current and letting the stream sweep the bait along the bottom of the current seam . But pay attention : The bite can be quite subtle . If you 're not confident your frozen fingers can detect a soft strike , use a strike indicator or even a bobber to alert you to the take . Although spawn fishing is highly adaptable-you can fish from the bank , in waders or in boats-it 's limited to relatively open water . Because you want the bait ticking along the bottom , it 's almost impossible to effectively work rivers with brush piles , large rocks or logjams . And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ predatory trout-steelhead typically hole up in the kinds of cover that make bass anglers drool-you 'll do better if you adopt more sophisticated techniques to thoroughly cover the water . Power Plugs Most steelhead guides prefer to run plugs-sending diving , wide-wobbling crankbaits through the deep runs where steelhead are most often found . Plug fishing is great for beginners because the fish usually hook themselves , and it 's the top technique for cold weatheranytime the water temperature dips below the upper 30s . Not only can you keep your hands warm ( you can actually wear gloves and still present the bait properly ) , but you can even use rod holders ; there 's no missing the strike . Running plugs also allows you to extend your presentation by keeping the bait in front of the fish longer , which is especially important on cold , sunny days when steelies are lethargic and unwilling to move for bait . The best steelhead plugs have metallic finishes with bright accents : Hot'N Tots , Hot Shots and Wiggle Warts are the most popular , though Flatfish and Tadpollys also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ selection of accent colors-the darker the water , the darker the bait-metallic colors almost always produce . My favorites are chrome or gold plugs with fluorescent accents lure will not only make the plug run deeper , but it will help keep the bait snag-free by deflecting leaves and debris washed downstream in the current . The easiest way to fish plugs is simply to anchor a boat and feed a lure into the current , slowly working it downstream . Let out a foot or so of line at a time until you 've fully probed a hole . Drop-back fishing , as it 's called , pays off on cold , high-sky days when the fish seem unwilling to play , and in severely cold weather , you can actually " trigger " the fish into striking-either by pushing them into a defensive , territorial posture or by simply irritating them to the point that their " ' roid rage " kicks in . The problem with drop-back fishing is that it works well only in straight , open stretches of river . In order to work plugs under @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ boat or a boat you can control with oars ( a johnboat will do , though it 's hard work ) allowing you to slide across the surface of the stream , making sure the plugs penetrate all areas that could possibly hold steelhead . Spinners Never Quit Although plugs will produce best when the going is toughest , no technique is as exciting or as effective at covering water as fishing with spinners . With a spinner , you can pinpoint targets-a small eddy in between two logjams , for instance-that you ca n't ( green , chartreuse , orange or blue ) , and " pirate " finishesbaits with a red lip and blue or green back over gold or chrome body . If the water is murky , break out the rattling plugs , which give the fish another irritant to home in on , or large baits that produce a bigger silhouette in low visibility . bait down . Although steelhead will pursue lures when they 're active , you 'll catch them most consistently if you keep the plug within a foot or two of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is even better . Keeping the bait down is a function of both plug and line size : Crankbaits dive deeper on lighter line , and big-lipped baits run deeper than those with small lips . Most plug runners use 12-to-15-pound-test , but you can get away with less in clear water if the riverbed is not too snaggy . Always use a split ring or a snap swivel to encourage the maximum wobble from your plugs . In very deep water , a split shot several feet above the lure will not only make the plug run deeper , but it will help keep the bait snag-free by deflectign leaves and debris washed downstream in the current . The easiest way to fish plugs is simply to anchor a boat and feed a lure into the current , slowly working it downstream . Let out a foot or so of line at a time until you 've fully probed a hole . Drop-back fishing , as it 's called , pays off on cold , high-sky days when the fish seem unwilling to play , and in severely cold weather @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ striking-either by pushing then into a defensive , territorial posture or by simply irritating them to the point that their " roid rage " kicks in . The problem with drop-back fishing is that it works well only in straight , open stretches of river . In order to work plugs under logjams and other obstructions , you 'll need a drift boat or a boat you can control with oars ( a johnboat will do , though it 's hard work ) allowing you to slide across the surface of the stream , making sure the plugs penetrate all areas that could possibly hold steelhead . Spinners Never Quit Although plugs will produce best when the going is toughest , no technique is as exciting or as effective at covering water as fishing with spinners . With a spinner , you can pinpoint targets-a small eddy in between two logjams , for instance-that you ca n't get at any other way . More and more people are fishing for steelhead , and most of them are sticking with the same baits : plugs and spawn . By using spinners , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you can put a lure in front of fish that mav not have seen a bait in the previous two or three hours , or even that day . Again , one of the keys to a successful spinner presentation is to keep the bait down . On some days , you 've got to practically whack a fish on the nose with the lure to get it to bite . By quartering the bait upstream , you can use the current to keep the lure down . You want the blade turning , not buzzing , but you need to keep the lure moving quickly so that it will bump over logs without hanging up . Most spinner fishermen prefer a spinning reel with a mediumaction 7- or 7 1/2-foot rod 12- or 14-pound-test line , but I like baitcasting tackle and will use even heavier line if the snags are particularly nasty . Simple in-line spinners ( No. 5 Colorado blades ) in either gold or nickel , with a little chartreuse or orange tape added to the blades , are all you need . Use a swivel to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some lures , you might want to make your own baits , with a swivel built in . Spinner pitchers can wade , work from shore or cast from a boat . But always work upstream , casting the lure into the fast water ahead , picking up the slack line and keeping the bait spinning as it tumbles back downstream . Even if you 're in a boat traveling downstream with the current-using oars or dragging chains to slow your progress-you should quarter-cast back upstream to give the bait a more lifelike presentation . Although steelhead sometimes take spinners delicately , you can sense the pickup when the line stops moving . Most of the time , however , the fish attempts to take the bait away , the same way a bass or pike wallops a spinner . The hook-up is often instantaneous , and the heavier line that spinners allow gives anglers more of a chance of successfully horsing a big fish away from the brush . Hit ' em While They 're Hot Steelhead move up on gravel shoals to spawn in the spring , but until @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , under overhanging banks , around curves in the river and under logjams . Remember that spot that gave up a big brown trout last summer ? It pays to run a lure or bait through there when you 're steelhead fishing . Although steelhead will move around whenever there is an increase in flow-usually after a rain or a dam release-they 're most aggressive when they first arrive in a new territory , either when they 're fresh in the river or have just moved upstream . Focus on spots where there are breaks in the current formed by seams or underwater obstructions . The best steelhead fishing occurs when the water is relatively warm-in the mid-SOs-and usually early in the run . The longer the fish are in the river , the spookier they become . If you can , wait for overcast skies following a rain that has raised the water level a bit-this gets the fish moving and makes them a little less skittish . On bright , highsky days , steelies tend to stay down in the deepest holes or retreat into the heaviest cover , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ severe cold snap can put the fish down , but even a slight warming trend will jump-start the action . A sunny day during a cold snap will usually activate the fish by late afternoon , as the sun warms the water . But there 's a lot to be said for really nasty weather , too . Bad weather is often harder on the fisherman than it is on the fish , and anglers willing to brave arctic cold snaps are rewarded with prime stretches of water that have n't been fished for days . It 's those cold , blowy , snowy days that separate the real steelhead fisherman from the dilettante . And it 's on those days that an angler 's got to be just as tough as the fish to truly appreciate the challenge . Bob Gwizdz has been a professional outdoor writer since the early ' 70s , and he 's been chasing steelhead for the past 10 years . He lives in East Lansing , Michigan . // <p> 
##2000775 ( PHOTO ) YOU THINK PREDATORS ARE A PROBLEM only in the West ? Think again . Folks do n't want to talk about " the incident , " but it has added to the rapidly growing coyote legend in the East . The members of the Rombout Hunt in New York 's tony Dutchess County were in full pursuit of what they thought was a fox . The " fox " ran south for a mile or two , then headed east toward a busy state parkway . He paused on the shoulder of the highway ; it was then that his tawny coat gave him away . The hunt was chasing a coyote ! Like a breakaway NFL back , the coyote picked a hole through the traffic in the southbound lane , paused a moment on the grass median and darted across the northbound lane . He stopped and turned to watch as cars struck the hounds-noses down , intent only on following their prey , oblivious to the bustling , lethal highway . With dog bodies littering the road , the coyote trotted safely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ clever enough to devise a tactic that would do in its pursuers is a matter for debate . The point is that the coyote is an extraordinarily savvy creature that has not only survived but has expanded its range despite being hunted , trapped and poisoned . Its scientific name , Canis latrans , is rather banal-it simply means " dog barking " -but its common name , coyote , pays high tribute not accorded to any other species : It comes from the sacred name of the revered Aztec god Coyotlinauatl .. It is questionable whether the coyote is native to the East . The odds are that it 's not . Instead , 60 to 70 years of persecution in the West prompted some to drift that way , possibly across Canada , and then move back down into the states where wolves no longer existed . In the canine pecking order , wolves come first . They kill coyotes , which in turn kill foxes . By the mid-19th century , loss of habitat and bounties had driven wolves from New York , and the coyotes moved in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the 1920s . By the 1960s coyotes were reported in many northern and southern states , and in the 1970s they reached northwestern Florida . According to the Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission , illegal transplants from western states also played a role in coyote expansion . In fact , in Polk County a not-too-bright fox hunter , believing he was augmenting a depleted local fox population , turned loose coyotes that had been sold to him as " black foxes . " Coyotes have prospered because they are opportunistic generalists in a world filled with specialists . Their diet is highly varied : sheep ( mainly lambs ) , goats , cows in labor ( a double treat ) , calves , rabbits , hogs , poultry , deer ( mainly winter fare ) , fruits , small dogs , cats , mice , squirrels , raspberries and blueberries in season , carrion , voles , woodchucks , Japanese beetles ( they gorged themselves on the beetles last year in Ohio ) , grasshoppers and-believe it or not-in Florida , even watermelons . Although not all livestock kills are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that coyotes do to farm animals . For instance , in 1995 in Ohio , which has 12,000 to 15,000 coyotes scattered throughout the state , 57 out of the 88 counties reported the loss of 102 cows , 600 sheep ( mainly young lambs ) and 25 to 30 dairy goats , according to Jack Carver , wildlife damage specialist for the Ohio Department of Agriculture . In New York , wildlife biologist Scott Smith of the state 's Department of Environmental Conservation , says , " There 's a family unit of coyotes for every 15 to 20 square miles in the state , and they 're right down to the New York City line . There are about 12,000 coyotes in the state , and Vermont and Pennsylvania run about the same . The densities that we have are really pretty thin compared to the western variety , a different subspecies . " Another predator that appears on the verge of a comeback in the East is the cougar-also known as the mountain lion , puma or panther , as it 's called in Florida . Between 30 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but they have become so inbred that they suffer from a variety of genetic defects . To correct this , a limited number of western cougars have been introduced into the state-despite protests from the public against revitalizing a predator population . Reported cougar sightings abound elsewhere , according to the Baltimore-based Eastern Puma Research Network , run by John and Linda Lutz . They maintain a 24-hour telephone hotline ( 410-254-2517 ) . In 1995 , the network received a total of 510 alleged sightings of cougars from observers in 26 states east of the Mississippi River . Pennsylvania led with 98 sightings ; New York followed with 92 . Behind them were Michigan ( 33 ) , West Virginia ( 29 ) , Virginia ( 27 ) , Ohio ( 26 ) and Maryland ( 23 ) . In contrast , Florida , the only eastern state with a studied established population , was third from the last with only four sightings . Even if 90-or 99-percent of all people who reported seeing a cougar were more anxious to see their names in the news than to advance zoology @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ written off as coming from folks just back from a flying-saucer trip . Peter O'Shea of Fine , N.Y. , a retired New York City detective , hunter , trapper and conservation chair of the St. Lawrence/Adirondack Chapter of the National Audubon Society , speaks for many residents of the Adirondacks when he says that the cougar is alive and well in that part of the world . Where , it should be added , the species is officially extinct . But , as O'Shea puts it , " Officialdom proclaims they are escapees . " ' " I have no doubt that occasionally cats are released or escape , " O'Shea says . " But considering the multiplicity of continuing sightings in diverse areas of the Northeast , I now feel strongly that it is contrary to all rational evidence that all of these sightings can be attributed to this singular hypothesis escapes . For instance , research reveals that Adirondack Park has had an uninterrupted slew of ' panther ' sightings since at least the early 1950s . The presence of these felines in the Adirondacks and their origin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mountain lion that originally occurred locally was the eastern cougar , ' Felis concolor cougar . " Curiously enough , a number of people have reported sighting black cougars . " Black felines are in the Adirondacks and other wild areas of the East , " O'Shea says . " They repeatedly get seen . I 've had state troopers on patrol and forest rangers tell me that they 've seen black animals-'melanistic ' cougars . There 's a possibility in the East of a genetic bottleneck . I and many others feel that the eastern cougar did in fact almost , but not quite , become extirpated . There was such a low number of cougars that certain genes were lost and other genes were fixed in the population , and as the population rebounds we could be seeing the strong emergence of a strain of black animals as the product of this . " No matter what the current state , Bob Byrne , wildlife program coordinator for the Wildlife Management Institute , says of the cougar potential in the Northeast : " My personal feeling is that once @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that 's only a matter of time . " Byrne 's suspicions are backed up by the stunning rebound of the cougar 's western relatives . Mountain lions require extensive individual ranges , but like all cats , they are opportunistic feeders and will make a meal out of anything they think they can kill . That includes big-game animals-as well as humans . Although one study claimed that up to 80 percent of a mountain lion 's diet consisted of deer , there are so few cats that their effect on the deer population is negligible . Cougars , coyotes and wolves , along with raccoons and foxes ( which , in particular , have a major effect on upland bird and waterfowl populations , especially in nesting stages ) and birds of prey are all natural predators . They are , or have been , integral to natural systems in the East . Not so with one unexpected predator that inflicts incredible damage upon wildlife . In terms of numbers of wildlife killed , Fluffy and her relatives are the top predators in the East , and possibly the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from rabbits and squirrels on down to shrews and birds . In fact , cats alone are estimated to kill 1 billion songbirds a vear in the United States . How do they get away with murder ? Easy : They 're subsidized by humans who let their little Garfield and Max run free outside , or who put out food to carry feral cats through the winter . Meanwhile , the decline in songbirds and gamebirds is blamed on everything from cutting down the rain forest to pesticides , with cats never called to account . Cats are an extra-special problem in the Northeast Corridor , as Thomas J.V. Cullen III discovered one day on his family 's 100-acre shooting preserve outside Goshen , N.Y . Cullen , who is also a falconer , was out with a Harris ' hawk that was following him from above by flying from tree to tree . Suddenly the hawk flew down to a rabbit hole : The keen-eyed bird had spotted a freshly chewed rabbit leg . Cullen began to wonder what predator had killed the rabbit so close to its hole @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Cullen searched out and probed all the rabbit holes he could find , and he flushed a feral cat from one in every six . There were 15 feral cats all told on the hundred acres , and they were all smaller than average . " They were breeding to fit into their environment-a rabbit hole , " says Cullen . Despite the small size of these cats , Cullen found evidence that they were also taking pheasants stocked on his and surrounding land . Pheasants ? " A piece of cake , " says Cullen . " If the average maximum life expectancy of released pheasant and quail is 14 days-and that 's according to New York state a couple of years ago-one would have to suspect that cats are taking the bulk of the birds . " Upland hunters , take note . <p> 