Innehållsförteckning för February/March 2017 från Field & Stream

David E. Petzal Q: Does Bob Dylan deserve the Nobel Prize in Literature? —KENT COLLINS, ST. LOUIS, MO. A: Let’s put this in historical context. Henry Kissinger, whose contribution to American foreign policy was the bombing of Cambodia, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973. Barack Obama, who had not done much of anything, won it in 2009. It’s obvious that the Nobel jury is either deranged, or smoking too much weed, or has a hell of a sense of humor. Therefore, why shouldn’t Dylan win it for literature? God knows he can’t sing. Q: Which company would you say makes the best scope- mounting system? —JAKE DEVINE, LEXINGTON, KY. A: I am compelled to say Talley Manufacturing. Its rings and bases are so good that custom rifle makers now…

WE PICKED UP the eland’s track at dawn and followed in single file behind Buti, our Namibian tracker, who somehow sorted the bull’s print from the thousands of others pressed into the blazing Kalahari sand. The track had wended roughly 10 kilometers when, around 11 A.M., I caught the bull’s silhouette in the shade of a camel thorn tree 200 yards out. I slammed my rifle into the V of the shooting sticks and found the bull in the scope. Afraid he’d bolt and assuming I couldn’t miss such a huge target, I mashed the trigger—and whiffed. I had proved, the hard way, that while executing a proper trigger pull is not terribly difficult, doing it when everything is on the line is. No matter how much you’ve practiced, no…

I DRUM MY FINGERS on top of the open freezer door. A lot of choices this time of year: venison, goose, duck, grouse, wahoo, tuna. There’s also the wild pig from nearly a year ago, or the freezer-burned squirrel that I can’t bring myself to toss. I’ll figure out something to do with it, but not for this meal. It’s just the two of us. I need simple. I rifle through the freezer bags, searching for something small that will thaw in an hour or two. One bag catches my eye like an ace in a card deck. It’s marked with Sharpie ink: MALLARD/BLACK X 3. Look no further. That’s the one. Man, that was a hunt. WILD-GAME CHANGER I can’t guess at how many duck breasts I’ve cooked…

BRIGHT IDEA Toss a small metal pencil sharpener in your pack. The shavings from sharpened twigs make great tinder. WHEN YOU NEED RESCUING… Build a Tripod Signal Fire ■ You don’t build a signal fire to provide heat, comfort, or a cooking platform for s’mores, so don’t build it anything like a typical blaze. A signal fire should be prepared in advance, be quick to light, and be designed to pump out towering plumes of black or white smoke. You need a hot fire on an elevated pyre, and here’s how to get it. Step 1 Cut three stout poles of green wood 8 to 9 feet long. When cutting off twigs and branches, leave 6-inch stubs. Lash together a tripod to create a freestanding structure. Next, lash three more…

RIFLES SHOTGUNS DRILL NO. 1 RACE TO THE TARGET → The Goal: Stop thinking and shoot! Taking too much time on flushing birds can cause you to measure the lead—and miss. Shooting too soon means whiffs or blown-up birds. Racing to the target helps you find your timing. → The Rundown: Stand side by side with a buddy on the 16-yard line of a trap field or behind an electric trap. Load one shell each. When you’re both ready, have the puller throw a going-away bird. Your job is simple: Shoot the target before your friend does. With your mind occupied on beating your buddy, you react to the target instead of overthinking it. After a few rounds, you’ll find that you can shoot quickly and accurately without measuring. You’ll…

• THE SEASON • FISHING • ASK PETZAL • THE WILD CHEF • SPORTSMAN’S NOTEBOOK • RIFLES • SHOTGUNS • HUNTING • THE TOTAL OUTDOORSMAN • CONSERVATION LATE IN THE MORNING, the dogs freeze at the top of a draw. “Phil,” whispers Chad Smith, my host. I look over for direction, expecting a hand signal. Instead, Smith waves expansively and says, “Take it all in.” Looking up, I can see clear to Mexico, miles of hills cut with steep valleys covered with tan nutgrass and scrubby oaks. Taller peaks form the background against a clear blue sky. Closer, I see the brace of white dogs, tails straight up like arrows shot into the ground, the setter locked on a covey of birds, the pointer backing. It’s February, zero degrees back…

IT WAS EASY TO pass by the new guns in the rack and let my eyes fall on the J.P. Sauer Habicht 12-gauge double at my local store. The gun had a story to tell. Made in Suhl, Germany, in November of 1940, it must have come to the U.S. in a G.I. duffel bag at the end of World War II. It was light and lively at 6½ pounds with 28½-inch barrels. They don’t make them like that anymore—at least none that I can afford—by the hands of craftsmen before CNC machines, laser engraving, and computer checkering. The price was right, too. I had to have it. It was a dangerous moment. When an old gun grabs you, it is easy to just grab for your wallet. But that…

RUMORS OF COYOTES began circulating through the Southeast in the mid-20th century. Over the next several decades, the rumors became newspaper reports, and then roadside sightings. Still, coyotes remained mostly a curiosity. But in the 1990s, everything seemed to change. “Suddenly, people were seeing coyotes in Georgia and North Carolina, and all over the Atlantic Coast,” recalls Michael Chamberlain, a dedicated deer hunter and professor at the University of Georgia (UGA). “Those were places coyotes weren’t supposed to be.” DOG DAYS Like many biologists in the Southeast, Chamberlain took notice of the coyote issue around the turn of the millennium. The Western predator was expanding beyond its strongholds, quietly scattering across the South. At the time, the greatest threat to deer in that region was their own overabundance, so…

BRIGHT IDEA When all else fails, light a greasy potato chip. ➞ We know we should be saving all that dryer lint for fire starter and shaving pine branches into feather sticks. But some of us are just plain lazy. Lucky for us, there are plenty of very good fire starters and fire accelerants on the store shelves, and it’s just as smart an idea to stash a few of these in the bottom of your daypack as it is to hoard a bunch of cardboard egg cartons. Here are 10 store-bought fire aids to toss in the shopping cart. 1. FATWOOD It might not burn as hot as magnesium flakes, but fatwood produces a low, steady burn. You can order fatwood from places like Amazon or L.L. Bean, or…

Soft-plastic swimbaits have been around for well over 20 years. The differences between what you got in the early days, however, and what you’ll find on tackleshop pegboards today are staggering. What started out as somewhat fish-shaped, often rigid lures that required an external jighead has evolved into countless varieties of pre-rigged, pre-weighted swimbaits that come in every color, profile, and pattern imaginable. There are also hundreds of unrigged styles in any size you could possibly need. What they all share is an action and feel that many argue is more lifelike than any other style of lure. They have also become far more affordable than they were even a decade ago. While swimbaits can score on almost any species at any point in the year, they are particularly potent…

LOCATION: FALL RIVER, CENTRAL OREGON ➞ “A crazy cold front had come in from Alaska the day before, but we were bored, so we decided to go fishing,” says photographer Arian Stevens about this frigid morning with his buddy Jake Dodd on the Fall River. This tiny spring-fed arm of the Deschutes was the only fishable local water. “It was minus 5, minus 10 degrees. I’ve gone out when you could make 10 casts before everything freezes, but every cast, Jake had to peel the ice off his fly line. Our flies were crystallizing the second we got them out of the water.” Dodd— who surveyed the creek in hopes of finding a spot to sight-fish, only to discover floating chunks of ice—says, “We were gung ho at first. We’d…

DOGFISH. GRINNEL. Mudfish. None of the regional names for bowfins are particularly flattering. That’s not surprising. With that mouth full of teeth, snakelike body, and viciously cold stare, a bowfin sighting conjures an icky reaction for many anglers. Bowfins thrive in anything from mucky swamplands to pristine lakes and rivers, and when one mangles a perfectly good spinnerbait, cuss words fly among bass anglers. The funny thing is that in a fishing culture so worried about invasive species and preserving native fish, the bowfin is often falsely touted as a bad guy. The truth is that they were around millions of years before every gamefish we love. They have remained largely unchanged since the time of the dinosaurs, and I only had to catch one to decide I’d take…

EARLY-SEASON gobblers can be tough. Often, the birds are still gathered in large groups, and they do as much silent strutting as raucous gobbling. Competition from other hunters is high. Worst of all, freezing temperatures, stiff winds, and snowfall can spoil the outlook. But none of that is an excuse to sleep in. We posed three common earlyseason challenges to three turkey pros for their best advice on killing a gobbler on opening week.…

OBSCENE. Out of touch. Insane. That’s what F&S readers think about today’s compound bow prices, at least as expressed in the many letters and comments we get reacting to our annual flagship bow test. The least expensive of our top 12 bows last year listed at $949. The priciest was $1,500. Add in arrows and accessories, and you’re looking at $1,200 to $2K. If you can’t stomach that, you’re hardly alone—and it represents a major shift in the bowhunting culture. Less than a decade ago, many serious bowhunters bought new bows every season or two. For years, the pillars of the bowhunting business have rested on the idea that hunters need the latest technology to stay in the game. That’s why you still routinely see Papaw’s old deer rifle in…

VENISON KEBABS Nearly every culture has a tradition of meat threaded onto a stick and cooked over an open fire. In Russia, these meat kebabs go by the name shashlik, and every babushka has her secret recipe. This particular version goes well with deer, elk, or other venison, bringing a bit of vinegary tang to the tongue, along with a little heat from cayenne that can be cooled with a garlicky dipping sauce. INGREDIENTS 1–2 lb. venison roast, cut into 11⁄2-inch cubes 2 medium white onions, divided ⅓ cup red wine vinegar 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil 2 bay leaves 1 tsp. ground coriander 1 tsp. paprika 1 tsp. kosher salt 1 tsp. black pepper ½ tsp. cayenne 1 green bell pepper, cut in 1-inch pieces FOR THE DIPPING SAUCE: 8…