Indholdsfortegnelse for November 2025 i Game & Fish

Allow me to be the first to wish you a very Merry Rutvember. As I type this, the lush greenery and bright midday sun of early September outside my office window make the deer rut feel impossibly distant, though I take comfort in knowing that before long we’ll be heading to the woods to partake of the most exciting and unpredictable stage of deer season. Within these pages, you’ll find loads of practical info to help you make the most of the rut where you live. In addition to the deer coverage in your respective regional section, Tony Hansen uses this month’s Bowhunting column to offer his best tips for maintaining your composure and executing the perfect shot when a buck wanders within range of your stand. In the second…

If ever there was a month made of anticipation, it is November, when there is potential in every sunrise. Big deer are on the move, and if we play our cards right, we might get a shot at one. Many of those shots, however, will be missed. Plenty of hunters know how to set stands, scout sign and run trail cams. But all that means little if you can’t make the shot when the moment of truth arrives. Call it buck fever, nerves or just plain panic, it’s the one factor that separates filled tags from stories told with empty hands. The good news? You can prepare for it. You can condition yourself to make the shot when it matters most. Let’s walk through how to keep yourself from choking…

You might recall the heated debate back in June over whether to include the sale of millions of acres of federal land in the One Big Beautiful Bill. Utah Senator Mike Lee, along with several of his Republican colleagues, had proposed selling up to 1 percent of BLM and Forest Service land to help balance the federal budget. That idea so riled up hunters and anglers that Lee eventually abandoned his idea of selling public lands across the West, which he said would have been used for affordable housing. You may have participated in this legislative drama by calling your senator or representative to tell them that, as we’re losing traditional access to private lands, and as more hunters and anglers crowd our existing public lands and waters, the idea…

Being able to pack out a whitetail on your back gives you the freedom to push farther into less accessible areas on public lands. It’s a chance to chase opportunities and remove the shackles of the deer cart or avoid a painful drag out. If you process your deer yourself, you’re going to spend time quartering it back at the barn anyway. You might as well do it in the field, especially if the walk out will involve great distance or rugged terrain. My personal favorite way to get a downed deer ready for a pack-out, and arguably the cleanest, is what’s known as the gutless method. With this technique you don’t have to open the chest cavity or gut the deer. If done correctly, the meat stays clean and…

Duck hunting conjures many images—frigid pre-dawn boat rides, steaming coffee before sunrise and wings overhead at first light. Conversely, few people wax poetic about afternoon and evening duck hunts. But maybe they should. After all, if waterfowlers are bound by family or work obligations, they might have no choice but to hunt the second shift. In fact, many veteran fowlers often prefer to sleep in and wait to chase ducks when the sun is on its downward trjectory. That might sound crazy, but in specific situations, afternoon and evening duck hunts can be extremely productive. The key is recognizing and planning for those scenarios. Consider these examples, which you might encounter this season. With a common-sense approach, they could net you a strap full of ducks without having to sacrifice…

Browning has a long history of producing quality over/under shotguns dating back to legendary gun designer John M. Browning’s final design, the Superposed shotgun. One of the first affordable—and commercially successful—over/unders, the Superposed was quite popular until rising manufacturing costs in Belgium made it too expensive, and U.S. distribution was eventually discontinued. (Custom Superposed shotguns are still available from Browning’s Custom Shop.) The Citori, introduced in 1973 and produced in Japan, drew heavily from the Superposed and proved to be a fantastic gun itself, ultimately replacing the Superposed within the company’s lineup. With more than 2 million sold since its introduction, the Citori remains one of the most popular over/unders ever. Many variations have followed, each offering new styles and improvements. One of the more significant arrived in 2012 with…

REGIONAL RUT UPDATE Game & Fish’s annual rut updates from the field are in full swing. Check out what is happening in your area and learn how to game-plan for your deer hunts this month. DEAR, SANTA … Can’t decide what to put on your Christmas list? Need ideas for what to get the hunters and anglers in your life? Check out this list of great gifts for people who enjoy the outdoors. TIPS AND TRICKS TO BAG BIG BUCKS Read how to set yourself up for success this deer hunting season. Find out how and where to tag your best buck ever in the “Learn” section. TOP WHITETAIL STATES See how the deer hunting stacks up from state to state based on hard data, including historical harvest records, trophy…

Sooner or later, almost every whitetail neighborhood has a legendary local buck that somehow beats the odds and evades hunters season after season. Especially nowadays with the proliferation of trail cameras, everyone who hunts in the area knows about him and hopes to tag him. Usually, he’s a big boy. Ours was not. Ours was Old Spike, who sported two long, single-tined antlers, each as thick as a shillelagh. One opening morning, thanks to a lucky trail cam photo, I changed my plan and went to the Creek Stand, which features a well-worn creek crossing in front of the stand and a steep ridge behind it. There’s a small oxbow to the left. Shortly after sunrise I heard crunching in the frozen grass behind me, craned my neck and saw…

They say that anticipation is half the fun. For whitetail hunters, the anticipatory high point peaks with the rut. For most, if not all, of us, it’s the single most exciting time to be in the woods each fall. Regrettably, factors seen and unseen can quash that anticipation and curb rut activity. Weather can crash your party, and so can uninvited guests, hunting pressure and unexpected activity, among other factors. Unfortunately, you often get only one shot at making the most of the rut. Therefore, you can’t let these types of elements beyond your control—which I’ll call rut suppressors—ruin your hunts. Watch for them and have a Plan B to overcome those unforeseen curve balls. HEAT WAVE The Problem: Whether you believe in climate change or merely shrug your shoulders…

While lakes in the northern part of the region may start icing up in November and early December, there are plenty of places that offer great open-water action through late fall, and even into winter. Some of these waters provide excellent opportunities for those willing to jig spoons. Missouri is loaded with good spoon-fishing waters, including multiple clear, deep lakes with lots of shad. Table Rock, Bull Shoals and Lake of the Ozarks are all dream vacation destinations for spoon-fishing anglers. And because they are farther south than most Midwest waters, fishing continues past Thanksgiving for folks who don’t mind bundling up. At 3,800 acres, Lake Springfield, just south of the city of Springfield, Ill., is another good spoon-fishing venue. It has a strong shad forage base that keeps the…

There’s no mystery to growing big bucks,” explained Uncle Chuck. “They need food, good genetics and a chance to age.” Shane listened intently. He’d heard about the bucks his uncle had taken over the years, and now he and his father had made the drive to Kansas to hopefully collect a wall-hanger of his own. “As for the food, that’s why I spend so much time working my plots. With genetics, either you’ve got them or you don’t. But as you can see, we’re blessed here,” he said, nodding at the mounts on the cabin’s wall. “And if a buck gets shot before he’s mature, he can’t reach full potential. That’s why we don’t shoot any bucks younger than six years old.” “Six years at least. Got it,” said Shane.…

Veterans have always driven the popularity of hunting rifles. World War I veterans moved us away from the lever gun toward the bolt action while also cementing the legend of the .30-06. After World War II and Korea, semi-auto rifles like Remington’s Model 742 and Winchester’s Model 100 were wildly popular. The AR-15 flourished after the recent Middle East conflicts, especially as the platform’s modularity grew. Thus, for the past several decades, we’ve seen many new AR-15-compatible cartridges introduced, and all of them have hunting applications. With more than a dozen such cartridges, hunters wanting to use a modern sporting rifle have many choices. Maybe the best way to select one is to think of the end purpose. There are four basic applications to consider: recreational shooting, varmint/predator hunting, deer-sized…

As much as we all look forward to the annual whitetail rut and the potential for a big-buck encounter at any moment during a hunt, the breeding season can often be feast or famine for hunters. I’ve had mornings—you probably have as well—when bucks run does this way and that, grunt, snort-wheeze and lock horns. I’ve also hunted from dawn to dark for days on end without seeing a single deer during what should’ve been the peak of the rut. One way to win the rut game, or at least improve your chances, is through the strategic placement of trail cameras to keep tabs on target bucks during a time when their movements are almost completely unpredictable. SURVEIL SCRAPES Scrapes are an excellent location to capture photos and videos of…

Hunting hits a crescendo in the Midwest this month. Deer hunters enjoy the excitement of the annual rut while upland hunters pursue pheasants, quail and grouse across the region. Waterfowl hunters, meanwhile, chase ducks and geese from the Prairie Potholes to the Ohio River Valley. Open-water fishing remains hot and uncrowded. River systems still offer everything from trout to catfish, and in the big waters remaining open up north, musky and walleye anglers continue making runs to favorite waters. Down south, on reservoirs where ice rarely appears, anglers transition to cold-water patterns. We focus on giving thanks for our blessings in November, and hunters and anglers throughout the Midwest have plenty to be grateful for right now. 1 GREEN BAY MUSKIES Muskies may be known as “the fish of 10,000…

While ruffed grouse inhabit numerous areas in many states across the northern U.S., a few spots stand out. Below are a handful of places to consider hunting early, mid-season or late. GOPHER STATE GEMS: Arguably the best place in the country to hunt ruffed grouse, Chippewa National Forest in Minnesota is one of the largest areas to hunt in the state, offering more than 660,000 acres of huntable land. Luckily for uplanders, it’s littered with ruffed grouse and woodcock. Beltrami Island State Forest is another hot spot, a place where lucky grouse hunters may run into spruce grouse and woodcock, too. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MN DNR) also has designated walking trails in what are called RGMAs (Ruffed Grouse Management Areas), which can be found by checking the…

Sandhill cranes are one of North America’s most iconic and ancient bird species, dating back millions of years. As a kid, watching them in the field behind my childhood home was about the closest thing to seeing a dinosaur that I would experience in my lifetime. I’ve even heard many jokingly refer to them as modern pterodactyls. This makes sense, as sandhill cranes are large, long-legged migratory birds that stand up to 4 feet tall and have wingspans stretching more than 6 feet. The birds, which breed in wetlands across North America, are typically gray with a red crown and are known for their distinctive churring calls and elegant, towering stature. Sandhill cranes are both admired and, in some regions, hunted. In the Midwest, crane hunting has become a topic…

In its nearly 80-year history, Ruger has introduced many rifles and handguns that have become revered by hunters and gun aficionados. The Ruger Precision Rifle (RPR), a factory chassis rifle introduced in 2015 and offering 1-MOA-or-better accuracy, is often overlooked. Now in its tenth year of production, the RPR received a facelift in early 2025 based on feedback from competitive shooters and other end users. The most notable enhancement is the redesigned foldable buttstock, which allows for intuitive and secure adjustment to conform to any shooter or style. The length of pull, cheek rest height, horizontal position and butt pad height can all be adjusted, and the new buttstock is available for current RPR owners to purchase separately ($350). Other new features include a heavier contour barrel (.850 inch), a…