Innehållsförteckning för November 2016 från Field & Stream

OR THE LAST dozen years, FIELD & STREAM’s deer hunting experts have gone out on a limb and predicted the Best Days of the Rut to hunt. Scott Bestul, along with Rut Reporters Dave Hurteau, Will Brantley, and our network of biologists, guides, and other experts, carefully analyzes all the factors that influence whitetail activity and—most important—shares top tactics for all phases of the rut. I wish I could say that I’ve been in the field for all 84 of F&S’s Best Days over these 12 years, but sometimes life and work get in the way of my hunting plans. I’m sure most sportsmen know how that goes. Every year, however, I commit to being in the deer woods on at least three of our seven days, using the tactics…

DAY ONE Sunday, October 23 Every year in late October a switch seems to go off, and suddenly bucks are covering a little more ground and are on their feet a little earlier and later, leering and sniffing. This year, that day is going to be Oct. 23. Cooling fall temperatures combined with a crescent moon that peaks in the morning should get bucks moving, especially in the Northeast and Midwest. True rut activity might be a ways off in parts of the South, but the moon phase should keep feeding activity high for all deer. RUT PHASE: EARLY SEEKING ● In the majority of the country’s prime whitetail habitat (see the RegionalRut Dates chart, opposite, for a more detailed breakdown), this is the beginning of the seeking phase, a…

1 BEST OF THE TEST FARM TO FEET CEDAR FALLS WADER $26; FARMTOFEET.COM SPECS • Seamless toe • Outer nylon plaiting • Instep cushioning loop • 79% U.S. merino wool, 20% nylon, 1% spandex  “These socks are heavy duty. My feet stayed warm and dry for hours in 20-degree temperatures.” —Hurlburt  “Great fit and good padding throughout. I appreciated the comfort compression throughout the whole sock.” —Sofianek  “Incredibly warm and comfortable. These are now my go-to hunting socks.” —Lundgren  “Plush feel. They were a good fit around the arch and ankle. But with rubber boots, I found the socks would slide down my leg.” —Jervis 2 FITS ULTRA HEAVY BIG GAME RUGGED BOOT SOCK • $19; FITSSOCK.COM SPECS • Nylon-reinforced exterior • Double-welted top • Color-coded…

PROBLEM You have plenty of oaks on your property, but the acorn crop is light and inconsistent from year to year. DIAGNOSIS You probably have too many trees—both oaks and other species—and not enough oak varieties. Reluctance to cut oaks has led to an overabundance, meaning meaning none get the full amount of nutrients, water, or sunlight they need to reach full potential. You may also need more variety. Common red oaks typically have heavy mast crops only every two to four years, white oaks every four to seven years. RX Survey your oaks to find which trees produce the most acorns, then thin surrounding oaks so the best ones are not crowded. The crowns should not overlap, or very little. Also thin competing species such as maple, gum,…

The “shooter’s sandwich” became something of an Internet meme not long ago, triggered by a British food writer’s deeming it the best sandwich in the world. Loading a hollowed-out loaf of bread with steak, mushrooms, shallots, and a fat dose of horseradish yields a kind of portable beef Wellington— the pinnacle of British cuisine reinvented as a trail snack. Hunters like us (i.e., real shooters) saw the potential for a game version—an ideal pack-along for sustenance on a long day afield. RECIPE ON P. 22 INGREDIENTS 2 to 4 boneless venison steaks 1 sourdough boule, ciabatta, or any other unsliced loaf of bread 2⁄3 cup prepared mustard, divided 1⁄2 lb. bacon 3 Tbsp. butter, divided 8 oz. shiitake or other mushrooms, diced 2 shallots, minced 2 garlic cloves, minced…

The mallards catch us at midmorning, when our guts are growling and our guard is down. Typical of late-season ducks, the pair is within gun range before anyone notices them. Someone in the blind hisses “ducks” with the urgent tone that voids all gentlemen’s rules of calling the shot. I grab and shoulder the gun leaning up next to me. It’s not your typical duck gun. It’s a big double, a 90-year-old HE-grade Super Fox with stamped barrels. The right one reads MADE FOR NASH BUCKINGHAM; the left, BY BURT BECKER PHILA, PA. I pull the front trigger, and the gun’s report ripples through the green cypress and button willows. From here, it sounds like any other 12-gauge. But the guys at camp a quarter mile away later say they…

After the botched stalks, after the passed shots, after all the empty hours searching through glass, I suddenly, finally, had my choice between two strong mule deer. We killed the quad’s engine. The bucks stood on opposite sides of us—and both were within range. The deer to my right, feeding in a field with a few does, was bigger, but there was nowhere for me to get into position without spooking him. The leftside buck, however, gave me a better shot. He stood broadside on the crest of a hill, about 70 yards above us, backlit by the early-morning sun. He turned his head, taunting me with a vision of a wide 4x4 rack. We rushed to the edge of the brushy fenceline, keeping low. I stuck a primer in…

NOVEMBER IS KNOWN for two important holidays, Thanksgiving and Black Friday, not necessarily in that order. Thanksgiving is a traditional family holiday and the one day of the year it’s acceptable to drink gravy directly from beer mugs. It’s also when family members who have driven hundreds of miles to visit relatives they see once a year discover that once a year is too often. Thanksgiving blends seamlessly into Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year and another holiday devoted to love of family. We express this love by camping overnight outside big-box stores in lawn chairs and taking nips of hot gravy from thermos bottles. An hour before the store opens the crowd is overwhelmed by the spirit of love. We press forward, crushing the store’s windows.…

HOT AIR I’ve often thought hunters overstate the muzzleloader “rules” (“Up in Smoke,” Sept. 2016). Thanks for clearing up these old myths.Jhjimbo, via fieldandstream GATOR DAYS I’ve fished for alligator gar for years, and I agree with Joe Cermele: They make for excellent fishing and great eating (“Biting Truths”). My best catch is a 90-pounder, which cleared the water three times after I hooked it—30 years later, it’s still one of my most memorable battles. We threw a heck of a party in the gator gar’s honor, and it was delicious every way we cooked it. I definitely have a lot of respect for these toothy beasts. Gerg, via fieldandstream.com LAY OF THE LAND Thanks, Hal Herring, for a great article about public lands (“The Land Wars,” Conservation). People like…

COME NOVEMBER, many outdoorsmen are focused on filling freezers with venison. For those still looking to secure enough crappie fillets to keep the fry grease sizzling past Christmas, this is good news. Long gone is the summer morning boat-ramp rush— not to mention the water scooters, wakeboarders, and pleasure boaters. Lake traffic throughout the country has mellowed, but slab crappies are just getting revved up. After they’ve spent the hot months in the depths with a sluggish attitude and a high degree of lockjaw, November sees crappies sliding shallower, chasing shad, and being positively piggish before winter arrives. We found three veteran slab hunters who know exactly what triggers the fall feed, and exactly where and how to target these fish. Their tips will keep you cranking on your local…

• BUYER’S GUIDE • READER TEST MORE RESULTS SEE HOW SIX OTHER MODELS FINISHED Most hunters won’t drop a grand on binoculars. We know because our readers have told us so—many times. And that’s O.K., because most don’t really need to. Truly high-class glass is a joy to behold, but mid- and even low-priced optics have improved vastly in recent years. If you make your living spotting far-off critters in big country, that’s one thing, but for the average hunter’s needs, today’s modestly priced binoculars will likely do the job. The only question is: Which one should you buy? To help you figure that out, I traveled to western New York to meet hardcore whitetail hunter and University of Rochester professor of optics James Zavislan, whose living room houses a…

It’s no secret that food sources can be hotspots right after a snowstorm. But dealing with the varied weather extremes Mother Nature can dish out during the tag end of the season can be a lot more complicated. If you’ve booked time off or only have weekends free, you can’t wait for perfect weather. You need to adapt both where you hunt and your strategy to whitetails’ weather-influenced movement patterns. Here’s a guide to hunting tactics for eight extreme late-season weather conditions. 1 HEAVY SNOWFALL/BLIZZARD You have three options here: • Hunt before it hits. Deer know when storms are coming, and they feed heavily six to 18 hours before heavy snows set in. Leave work early, take a day off, call in sick—do whatever it takes to be on…