Innehållsförteckning för December/January 2019-20 från Field & Stream

YOU CAN’T SHOOT ducks from the couch, but you can’t shoot them with the truck stuck in the road ditch either, so I waited until the plows cleared the roads and finally ventured out around sunrise. Now that I’m here, I can’t even seem to shoot ducks from my layout blind. The mallards trading up and down the river swing over the half-frozen pond I’m guarding and look down from a safe height, but that’s all. I know they can’t spot me. I dug the blind into deep, fresh snow at the water’s edge with a bank behind, and I tucked grass into the stubble straps of the hide’s snow cover. I even remembered to wear my white beanie and neck gaiter. I’m like the picture of the polar…

There are all sorts of little shortcuts when it comes to making meat. Some are kind of iffy. Have you ever tried to peel a deer with a golf ball, a rope, and a truck? It can work. On the other hand, you might want to YouTube it first. Search “Deer skinning gone wrong.” Others are truly handy. My favorite is a quick way to breast a grouse. I’ve done it dozens and dozens of times, and it works flawlessly if you do it right. You need a fairly fresh grouse, for starters. Lay it on the ground breast-up, step on the wings, grab the feet, and gently p-u-l-l. As long as you don’t yank too hard or too fast, everything, including the innards, will pull free as the…

The school is strung out for 300 yards, the dark mangroves of Cape Sable in the background, the water barely ruffled, broken by silver tails, heads, bellies, and entire bodies. There are dozens of fish, 100 or better, the closest within an easy cast of my Tarpon Toad. On the poling platform, my guide, Chris Witt-man, shakes his head slowly, afraid to break the spell. “I hope you know how special this is,” he says softly. “You could fish a very long time and not see tarpon like this.” The pain of missing four tarpon eats in a row, thanks to lifting the rod on the set, still stings. Now I lay out another cast to the silver kings, and let the line and fly sink. I focus on…

Cali showed me three large steel ball bearings in the palm of one hand while shaking aNo. 5 duck load in the other. He winked and said, “Capybara.” I understood that he aimed to dump the shot out of the duck load, replace it with the bearings, and go hunting for a giant South American rodent. I didn’t love the idea of firing that through my brand-new Benelli Super Black Eagle III, though. Then again, I didn’t see any buckshot loads for sale in that swamp either, 10 hours from Buenos Aires. Cali was my Argentine guide, and we’d met in the duck blind the day before. I muttered something in Spanish, but he laughed and said, “No comprende.” “Well, you don’t speak a damn bit better English than…

I know, I know—there’s always a battle for the bow, but just give it to him. Trust me. You’re not actually being as courteous as it seems. If the game is anchoring on rising fish, you’ll be taking turns anyway, so there’s no disadvantage to bringing up the rear. But if you know you’re fishing streamers, nymphs, or mouse flies, take the back. It’s not uncommon for the first presentation to “wake them up,” if you will, but as the trout is coming to attention, snack one is already gone. Enter snack two from the back of the boat—and bang. Even when the bow angler seems to be leading the race, don’t get wrapped up in the mindset that you’re beating water that has already been fished. Instead, pay…

What’s the most important quality a PH can have? Well, the typical day is 16 hours, most of which is one-on-one with the client. That’s far more time than I spend with my wife. You need great people skills. What about the client? He needs a sense of humor and flexibility. If you’re after an elephant and you get news that there’s a hell of a buffalo around, it’s buffalo time. Have you ever thought, This time, I really am going to die? I’ve been in two squashings by elephant, two clawings by leopard, and dozens of charges by all of the Dangerous Four. In the moment, you’re too focused on the job at hand to think about getting killed. It’s afterward that you realize how dangerous it was.…

STEPPING INTO THE MIDdle of a tightly wadded covey of quail will do things to your heart that would concern a cardiologist. But when a ruffed grouse erupts from beneath a mantle of unblemished snow, the percussion all but drops you in your tracks. You see the snow begin to move, and you think, What the… Then the world explodes. At this point, you’re faced with two problems: The first is pulling yourself together so you can bring your shotgun into play and function as a hunter. The second is finding your target through the dreamlike crystal cloud hanging in the air between you and the grouse—which is exiting the scene at an alarming rate. That’s pretty much how things went down on a hunt in Wisconsin last winter.…

BY THE TIME PUMPKIN-SPICE salsa and mayonnaise are back in stores, I’m losing my appetite for smallmouths. I love them dearly, but I spend so many days targeting them in spring and summer that when the temperature starts to drop here in the Northeast, I’d rather don long undies for stripers, pike, and steelhead. I’ve never really had regrets about it either. Until this year, anyway, after I had a chat with Michigan-based guide Mike Schultz. He calls the Huron River his home water, and while the rest of us deal with stuff like Christmas shopping, New Year’s resolutions, and February, he’s still chasing local bass. And no, he’s not twitching a jig painfully slowly in one hole for hours. He’s rowing a raft, working streamers with a fly…

ASK THE COUNTRY’S BEST WHITETAIL GUIDES, and they’ll tell you that the late season is a killer time to drop a great buck. They’ll also tell you that when the mercury plummets, even the wariest deer will hit the best food sources during daylight. They’ll tell you where to set up, what to bring, whether to rattle or call or use a decoy, and even how far to shoot. How do we know all this? We asked. F&S surveyed dozens of top deer guides to pick their brains on late-season buck behavior, top tactics, favorite gear, and more. Some answered anonymously, most gave their names and outfits, but all offered expert tips and advice to help you wrap up your season with a wall-hanger. DEER BEHAVIOR Where is a…

You’re sitting in a seminar at the annual deer show, listening to a hunting celebrity talk about scrape lines. He’s an expert outdoorsman and a fine speaker. But you’re having trouble concentrating on his licking-branch wisdom because he has a sparkling fleur-de-lis right across the ass of his jeans. You might think that pants adorned with studs from an arts-and-crafts kit marketed to 12-year-old girls would be at odds with the outdoor tough-guy image, but it isn’t. Lots of TV guys and pro staffers wear them. While I can’t imagine ever pulling on a pair of spangled trousers myself, I do think I get it. Bedazzled jeans are the outdoor celeb’s version of a rodeo guy’s big belt buckle. They tell the world who you are. You get all…

I once shot a doe with a muzzle loader way back in the big woods. It was a long drag out, made a lot tougher because the doe’s orphaned fawn, which I hadn’t seen before I shot, followed me all the way back to the truck. Ouch. I didn’t sleep much that night. Or the night after. And I swore off shooting mama does for years. But eventually, I slept fine—and I’ve shot a few does with fawns since. Is it OK? Yes. Every biologist I’ve asked has said so. With few exceptions, fawns are long since weaned by fall, and most states time antlerless seasons so that orphaned fawns are old enough to survive on their own. As the season progresses, it becomes less and less of a…

Not long ago, I received this email from a reader: I’ve been a serious hunter for all of my 61 years. I’ve chased virtually every game species in the Western U.S. and Alaska. But I have a problem. Over the past couple of years, I’ve had trouble pulling the trigger. Mechanically I’m fine. Mentally, not so much. I just don’t enjoy the killing part anymore. What the hell is wrong with me? My answer: Probably the same thing that’s wrong with me. Having hunted for 60 years, I now do very little of it, probably for the same reasons as you. As hunters get older, and presumably wiser, a number of things become clear. The first of these was stated by a Greek philosopher who lived between 335 and…

Rick has always been kind of a jerk, but he’s become unbearable lately, always claiming the best stands, never showing up to the work party, and bringing his in-laws for the first week of the rut every year. Ideally, the group would sit him down and say, “Rick, you’re a perfectly nice guy, but none of us can stand you.” Since you’re not likely to do that, you need to make him think that leaving is his idea. Start by voting in a new management plan where anyone taking a buck with fewer than 6 points on one side gets a $1,000 fine and a boot on his truck. Plan a meeting where one of you suggests staging nightly dramatic literary readings and the rest of you heartily agree.…

Ridiculous Hollywood hunting scene? In The Deer Hunter, Robert De Niro steps out of the truck in Pennsylvania and into Washington’s Cascades, where he kills a red stag at 10,000 feet, mainly by running after it. —P.B. Beautiful game animal in North America? Cervus canadensis, the elk. —D.E.P. Amazing shot? Legend has it my predecessor, Bob Brister, killed a pigeon at 115 yards and, when challenged to do it again, promptly killed a second at the same distance. Someone who was actually there told me it was “only” 85 yards. Still. —P.B. Game animals taken by one hunter? I know a Zimbabwean PH who shot more than 2,000 elephants on control, as they put it, to reduce a herd. His total game bag must be in the five figures.…

Western film? Clint Eastwood’s 1992 film Unforgiven not only won the Oscar for Best Picture, but also stood every Western convention on its head. All other films of the genre are filled with killing. This one shows the consequence of killing. —D.E.P. Book about the outdoors? HORN OF THE HUNTER By Robert Ruark It’s from a time when safaris lasted for months in an Africa that no longer exists, but it is Ruark at his finest, which is better than anyone else. —D.E.P. DREAMING THE LION By Thomas McIntyre His writing is so poetic, learned, and often witty that I’d read anything he wrote on any subject. —Phil Bourjaily THE OLD MAN AND THE BOY By Robert Ruark These essays about a boy, his grandpa, and their long years…

Most folks try to avoid survival situations, but you seek them out. How come? I’m drawn to the honesty of the off-the-grid lifestyle. In the woods, life is that much simpler. There are few problems that can’t be solved with an axe and a knife. What about the wilderness scares you the most? Cold-water immersion. It is silent, kills quickly, and is a constant danger in the North. When you’re traveling by water, you should carry a firestarter in your PFD. If you go for an unexpected swim, get to shore and light a fire to dry out and warm up. What’s the nastiest thing you’ve eaten to stay alive? Does fast food count? When traveling in northern Quebec with some Cree friends of mine, I ate beaver brain…

Roadside wildlife statue? 1 National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame Muskie in Hayward, Wisconsin: 143 feet long 2 World’s Largest Pheasant in Huron, South Dakota: 40 feet tall 3 Mac the Moose in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan: 32 feet tall—D.H. Set of shed antlers ever found? Typical: THE GENERAL, a massive 12-point that roamed Nebraska in the 1950s, holds the world record for typical shed antlers, with a score of 195⅛. With an estimated spread of 236⁄8 (which some think is too low), the General would have scored 222⅜, smashing Milo Hanson’s 213⅝ world record. Nontypical: THE MINNESOTA MONARCH vanished forever in 1990 but left a set of world-record nontypical sheds totaling 310⅝ inches without a spread measurement. —D.H. Python killed in florida? Eighteen feet 8 inches, and 128 pounds,…

I’ve been around awhile. When I was born, there were men alive who had fought in the Civil War. I can remember bits and pieces of World War II, and I clearly remember life before television. ¶ I bought my first rifle in 1956, began shooting in organized competition in 1958, and got my first hunting license in 1960. After 70-some years of fart ing around on this planet, mostly out of doors, I can’t exactly tell you the meaning of it all. But as it says in the insurance ad, I know a thing or two because I’ve seen a thing or two. ¶ Here’s some of it. {1} Hunters, more than other people, are reverential of life because they know far better than others how difficult it…

It was the morning of October 28, opening day of rifle season, and I had hunted 40 days without seeing an elk. My failure stretched over three seasons, and if I didn’t shoot the one that was taunting me in the pre-dawn—bugling a full three weeks after he should have shut his mouth for the season—then I would tie my brother’s record, a dubious achievement. To compound my frustration, I had recently returned from a trip to British Columbia’s Thompson River, where eight days had passed without a tug. Some of the world’s biggest steelhead swim up the Big T, as it’s known, but its stinginess is legendary, and a week without action is par for the course. I’ve heard it said that there are three stages in a…

Tina writes: Dear Karen, For years my husband and I had a wonderful love life, but when he reached his 50s, he lost some of his old spark, especially in the bedroom. He tried every product available, but nothing worked. For the past few years, it’s felt like we were roommates, not husband and wife. Well, last month he came home from a business trip in Europe and shocked me with more energy and passion than he’s had in years. He took me in the bedroom like we were newlyweds and gave me a night I’ll never forget. It was just incredible, and our love life has been like that ever since. So here we are, closer than ever and enjoying the best sex of our lives… in our…