Outdoor Life Fall 2019

WAYPOINT Usually, Gator the duck dog is a chicken. He’s more beta than alpha, and deer weird him out. (His owner, Alex Brittingham, ended his blood-tracking career before it even started.) But the Jack Russell loves waterfowl—he retrieved no fewer than six sandhill cranes last season—and his terrier genes shine when it comes to recovering cripples. “He’s definitely got some disadvantages with those legs,” says Brittingham, who trains Labs for a living. “So I hunt him mostly in fields.” As a non-retrieving breed, Gator can’t compete in American Kennel Club hunt tests, but Brittingham did run him as a test dog. “He nailed it,” she says. “I had a few Labs pass that day, but they didn’t do as well. It was actually kind of embarrassing.” — N.K.…

PROVING GROUNDS The feature on custom crankbaits [“Dyed in the Wood,” Summer] was fascinating. Though I appreciate the craftsmen’s beliefs that their products are indeed better, and can do this or that with superiority over molded plastic lures, it would be nice to see actual MythBusters proof, such as comparisons with water tanks, different temperatures, etc. In other words, I’d love to see data. Because shelling out $20 to $50 for a product demands a jaundiced eye for the truth. Jeff Frischkorn, outdoorlife.com PERMISSION TO SMOKE? The “Bones of Belize” story [Summer] was nicely done. Belize is an awesome place to fish. Every time I catch a permit there, I commission a local Rastafarian wood carver to make me a permit-shaped ashtray out of local hardwood. I am up to three ashtrays so far.…

The buck on our cover might not look all that impressive compared to the deer you’ve seen on our past issues, or compared to the gigantic bucks with hulking non-typical racks you might see in other hunting magazines. But to me and a whole lot of other hunters out there, this wild 8-point backlit by fall foliage is the very picture of deer season in the real world. In my early 20s, I lived in New York and did most of my bowhunting in the Catskills. The hunting in those low, hardwood-covered mountains was outstanding—as long as you weren’t trying to kill a giant. There was public land to roam, and plenty of small bucks and does to fill a freezer. If I’d seen a Catskill buck even close to the…

CARRYING I dropped these Leupold BX-4 Pro Guide 12x50s when I was guiding in Indiana. My hunter had shot a nice 9-point buck, and in the post-hunt confusion, my binos ended up in the mud. Of course, I ran them over with my truck on the way out… and every time I went back to that property over the next week. It rained, frosted, and even snowed a little before I finally figured out where they were. I found them where they fell, half-buried and soaked. I wiped off the lenses and looked through the glass. Still clear as a bell. They look rough today, but I love ’em. —Matthew Every, associate online editor CASTING I prefer to throw flies to stripers on the flats near my home, but when the wind forces…

SNAKES. PORCUPINES. SKUNKS. CACTUS. THORNS. TRAPS. ROADS. Of all the hazards your bird dog faces, dehydration and heatstroke should be at the top of the list. This is especially true early in the season, when conditions are warm. Though often overlooked, proper hydration is essential at all times for top performance in the field. You can do more than just carry plenty of water for your dog. Dr. Jill Cline, Director of the Pet Health and Nutrition Center for Eukanuba, offers three simple strategies. PRE-HYDRATE YOUR DOG “For three to five days before a big hunt, float your dog’s dry food in water, in a 1:1 ratio, and feed it to him immediately,” says Cline. “The dog will intake extra water, and this pre-hydration really helps.” BAIT THE WATER “The day before…

Travel to some place often enough, and you begin to look forward to the subtle differences that distinguish it from home. It takes a long drive or a plane ride for me to get “out West.” Most of the time, I’m going there in the fall to chase some critter. I notice things immediately: cool mornings like I haven’t felt in months. Aspens that don’t grow anywhere near my home but, nonetheless, have bright-yellow leaves that scream hunting season. Mule deer and pronghorns standing within plain view of the roads. Whitetails, clustered by the dozens in riverbottom alfalfa fields. But I really know I’m back in the West when I notice the dust. It’s on the roads and in the hills, and it’s so fine that it coats everything smooth: binocular…