Table of contents for October 2015 in Field & Stream

FOR MORE AND MORE of us, spraying down has become part of the deer hunting ritual. We slip on our camo and immediately mist it in a no-scent fog. We slide into rubber boots and shower the soles before taking a step. We hang a bow, a pack, or a trail cam and—you got it—douse it with deodorizing spray. The question is, does all this spritzing actually help you beat a buck’s nose? TEST ONE: B.O. IN A BOX This is our sixth scent test—and it has actually been a few years in the making. Back in 2012, with the help of Houston County, Minn., sheriff’s deputy Tracie Erickson and his German shepherd K-9, Chance, we proved that no-scent soaps and carbon suits have zero effect on how long…

Early October can be a frustrating time period for whitetail hunters. Fresh buck sign is appearing daily, and telemetry studies show buck movement is on the rise. Yet, you sit your favorite stand and don’t see squat. What gives? It’s probably the dinner table. QDMA biologist Matt Ross says the amount of food on the landscape is shrinking in October, and a whitetail’s dietary requirements are switching from summer foods to fall foods. You just need to know what those foods are and make a switch of your own. SOFT MAST If hard mast is the daily bread for October deer, soft mast is the peanut butter and jelly. Persimmons and apples, ripening right now, are irresistible to whitetails. So are honey-locust pods and even the hips from multiflora rosebushes.…

It’s October, pheasant season is open, and your bird dogs are raring to go. The kids are back in school, too, with full schedules of football and band practice. You can maybe squeeze in a couple of hours to hunt. So we posed this question to three pheasant fanatics: If you have two hours free, how do you make them count? BOB ST. PIERRE VP of marketing, Pheasants Forever Hunting Area: Great Plains public land Years’ Experience: 30 Bird Dogs of Choice: German shorthaired pointers Hunt Plan: “I’m definitely going to be out during the last two hours of the day. Pheasants leave standing crops just before the sun goes down and return to grassy habitat for overnight roosting. If you hunt agricultural field edges at this time of day,…

Just seeing a black bear in the wilderness is exciting, but when a beady-eyed bruin busts from the brush looking at you like you’re covered in honey, well, that does something to your soul. Here’s how to bring an apex predator into range by pretending you are prey. READ THE SIGN Cold calling rarely works, so spend some time scouting for sign. Grassy flats and oak groves are a few of the fall food sources canyon- country bears prefer. In the dry Southwest, water is also key. Look for fresh sign near creeks, seeps, and other wet areas. WATCH YOUR BACK Find a spot downwind of cover. Bruins don’t have great vision but do have a keen sense of smell. Elevation and clear shooting lanes will let you get a…

To the uninitiated, pronghorns may seem like cowards— critters that will turn tail for the horizon at the first hint of danger. That all changes during the rut. A dominant buck will run over any interloper looking to steal one of his does. Here’s how to exploit that aggressiveness and bring a pronghorn into bow range. TAKE HIS TEMPERATURE Spend a bit of time watching how the buck tends his harem. Often, he’d rather gather up his ladies than fight a rival. But a buck that’s actively chasing off satellite bucks will be more susceptible to a decoy. CLOSE THE GAP You want the buck to consider you a threat. Before deploying the deke, get in his wheelhouse by crawling as close as you can. In my experience, 200 yards…

BILL WHITE MAKES me question everything I’ve heard about wild bobwhite quail hunting for the past 20 years: The land has changed too much for coveys to thrive. What the hawks don’t eat, the coyotes will. There are no birds left. There’s no way to turn back time. Sportsmen seem to have long ago agreed that, while you can hunt bobwhites as a curiosity and keep a bird dog as a memento of yesteryear, wild quail hunting as a popular pursuit is on its last tired legs. At the moment, however, Bill is up to his eyeballs in foxtail and Indian grass as he crashes through a Missouri oak savanna. His sons Andrew and Tony trail 40 yards behind him and me, working through tangles of honey locust and Osage…

Each year in early to mid October, hunters start singing the blues. The go-to tactic of targeting bachelor buck groups goes cold. Deer sightings dwindle. Success rates plummet. The reason given: the dreaded “October lull.” But recent telemetry studies in Maryland and Ohio show buck activity actually increases steadily through October. So why do deer sightings decline? Four changes take place, and there are solutions for each. CHANGE NO. 1 Bachelor groups break up. It’s easier to miss seeing a single deer than a herd of bucks. And when they disperse, these bucks choose new hideouts in thick cover—spots previous trail-cam reconnaissance won’t show because the cams were focused on current movement. ADAPT BY… Patterning individual bucks. Don’t focus on bachelor herds. Use trail cameras to pin down new single-deer…

During the waterfowl season, ducks favor refuge—and for puddle ducks, that often means a puddle, where they can chow down on duckweed, pondweed, and smartweed in relative peace and quiet. Sometimes the puddle is nothing more than a slowing or widen ing of a stream that seeps into a field. It could even be a knee-deep drainage ditch or a beaver pond. Mallards, teal, and other dabblers don’t need much in the way of water; they’re called puddle ducks for a reason. PLACE AND TIME Scout before you hunt. Puddles close to big public marshes often have ducks. Note the time of day the birds show up, where they land, and the general spot they prefer in the puddle. Those three elements offer a template for your arrival and the…

NEWS AND STORIES FROM THE EXPERTS FOUR HOURS in brutal traffic. That’s the price I was paying to reach Montauk on the far east end of New York’s Long Island. As if the backup on Staten Island and the construction in Brooklyn weren’t soul-crushing enough, every half hour I’d get a call from my friend, guide Craig Cantelmo, who was already out east. “Dude, huge school of albies under the lighthouse right now.”Ugh. “They’ve moved around to the north side, acres and acres of them!” With each update, my blood pressure spiked, and without even realizing it, I began driving like Mad Max. The average Southerner would say I was crazy for risking a shot at becoming a smear on the Beltway to catch false albacore, known as “bonita” from…

AT ONE POINT I was on my hands and knees, squirreling through a tunnel gnawed in a curtain of greenbrier. For the moment it was the only way forward, and while it’s hard to imagine that any creature larger than an opossum could make its way through this wormhole in the thicket, the deer tracks told a different story. The buck came this way. That’s the way it works with swamp deer. The fact that it seems nearly impossible to move makes it all the more likely that the deer came this way. The vines were chewed off in blunted ends; deer literally ate this trail. And the old rubs on the fattest saplings told me that at least one good buck knew about the route. I had been at…

Having trouble patterning bass, walleyes, and crappies in fall? According to Steve Carey of Fish Sense Lures, blade baits are the answer. “When the water temperatures start to drop, baitfish that are sensitive to the quick change begin to die,” he says. “There is no better match for a dying baitfish than a blade bait.” Success comes from a combo of setting up in the right area of the lake, and having the magic touch. PLAY THE ANGLES A good blade-bait bite starts when water temps fall into the low 50s and lasts until the first ice of the season. During this cooling period, fish prefer to feed by moving vertically because it expends less energy than roaming large areas. According to Carey, that makes banks or channel edges with…

If you think watching a small trout take a dry fly is cool, wait until you see a 15-pound steelhead or silver salmon clock your bug on the surface. But even in ideal conditions, coaxing these fish to the top with a dry fly is a long shot that requires luck and a big leap of faith. A better option is the riffle hitch, a simple knot you can tie—and untie—that makes most streamer and classic wet flies wake along the surface. All that’s required is a couple of well-placed loops in your tippet. The knot turns the profile of the fly perpendicular to the current, which creates greater surface tension. That lifts the fly and causes it to skate on the surface, making the bug really stand out, especially…

Shadowing a herd and saddled with little more than a sleeping bag and tarp, a backcountry hunter increases his chance of killing a worldclass bull. The real thrill of a bivvy hunt isn’t about the score of the antlers. Instead, it’s the experience of living with a herd for days until the perfect shot presents itself. GO DEEP One mile from the trailhead, you’ll leave most of your competition behind. Three miles or more, you’ll have the mountains to yourself. On day one, hike as far as you can, then spend the rest of your hunt shadowing the herd. CAMP CLOSE Pitch your tarp within earshot of the herd—no farther than 1∕2 mile. Pay attention to the wind: Cool air will seep down the mountainside through the night, taking your…

A duck boat the size of a dance hall is great—right up until pressured birds take refuge in 6-inch backwaters. Then how do you get at them? With a lightweight, portable duck skiff. Designed for one or two hunters, these low-profile, shallow-draft craft function as water-based layout blinds. You can easily unload one from your pickup or small trailer and access those hard-to-reach places where other hunters are scarce and wary ducks are plentiful. Conceal them with natural material or raffia grass, lie back, and you’re ready to shoot. Check out four of today’s best models here. One could be right for you. CARSTENS INDUSTRIES PINTAIL $910; carstensindustries.com The 13-foot 4-inch Pintail has a roomy cockpit that offers ample space for man and hound. At 100 pounds, the fiberglass skiff…

PROBLEM Broadleaf weeds and grasses are overrunning your perennial plots. DIAGNOSIS Weeds and grasses can quickly outcompete clover and alfalfa, squeezing them out in the battle for nutrients, sunlight, and moisture. A plot that should last three to five years can become a virtual weedfield in a year unless you combat them. Rx First, check your soil’s pH. Weeds thrive in acidic soils. The pH level should be 6 or higher, preferably 6.5. If it’s not, add powdered or pelletized lime to neutralize acidity. Second, identify the enemy and choose your weapon. Broadleaf weeds can be reduced with selective herbicides such as 2, 4-DB (Butyrac 200) or Slay. If the problem is mostly grasses, use a sethoxydimor clethodim-based chemical spray such as Arrest, Arrow, Select, Weed Reaper, or Poast Plus.…

+ LOCATION: ST. JOSEPH, MO. As Martin Teeter, Brian Roushar, and Mike Schulenberg brushed the blinds before an evening mallard hunt last December near St. Joseph, Mo., Chase, a 6-yearold Lab, lounged in his hut while watching passing birds. “He’s the perfect blend between a family dog and a hunting dog,” says Roushar (center), a dog trainer from Minnesota. “His poise is what makes him a great hunter.” A dog as good as Chase deserves to take it easy every now and then. Since he began competing in hunting tournaments as a pup, he has placed within the top five in more than 80 events. In 2012, he earned a Master Hunter title—one of the highest honors for gun dogs—from the American Kennel Club. On this hunt, Chase lived up…

Q:I want the perfect caliber for a lightweight rifle used to take elk out to 400 yards. I’ve narrowed it down to .280 Rem. or .280 AI. Which would you choose? —JIM BROWN, ERIE, PA. A: I’m not a fan of the .280 Ackley Improved. In my experience you get a minimal increase in velocity at the expense of a big increase in pressure. Stick with the standard .280 Rem., and load strong 160-grain bullets. Q:I want to put a suppressor on my .270 Browning A-Bolt. Do I need a new threaded barrel, or can I have mine threaded? —PAUL D. ERWIN, CHATHAM, VA. A: There’s no need for a new tube. Threading a barrel for a suppressor is no big deal; any good gunsmith can do it. Get a…

IN THIS, the best of all possible worlds, you can spend very little money and get a very good rifle in the bargain. It will be accurate, function reliably, and serve you for years and years. The hitch is, it will likely be a gun that looks, feels, and is cheap. If none of that is important to you, fine. But there are shooters who are driven to barking madness by mediocre machinery. If you are one of those to whom a rifle is more than a tool for turning live animals into dead ones, you have not been forgotten— and you do not have to spend a fortune to satisfy your refined taste. As a class, superior-quality rifles that cost half of what they could are not new. They…

A hundred bucks will get you one high-end custom goose decoy. For about the same price and a couple of hours’ effort, you can hunt over the real thing in the form of a taxidermied decoy. Guide Brian Mehlenbacher (backwing outfitters online.com) relies on a spread of handmade stuffer geese to consistently finish heavily pressured honkers. Here’s how he builds them. WHAT YOU’LL NEED . Large Canada goose (federal tagging and transportation laws apply) . Medium foam goose manikin ($18; rmi-online.com) . 4-lb. box of borax . Modeling clay . No. 9 steel utility wire . 1∕2" foam backer rod ($4; homedepot.com) . Dental floss . 8" x 8" square of 1∕2" plywood TOOLS . X-Acto knife or scalpel . Diagonal cutters . Small saw blade . 4" curved upholstery…

THE ADVENTURER’S CODE The most memorable trips are the ones on which you suffer the most. • The people you want to pal around with and the people you want to go into the wilderness with are rarely the same people. • Ted Trueblood said: “It will be too hot. It will be too cold. It will rain.” • You know exactly what days every state announces draw results, but you rarely ever remember your significant other’s birthday. • Once you’ve checked it, and made sure you packed it, don’t mess with it anymore. • Headlamps are to flashlights as fighter jets are to paper planes. • Have a plan and stick to it, but embrace chance encounters, which often lead to trophies not measured in antler inches. • You…

My dream hunt goes like this: A bush pilot drops a friend and me on a river in Alaska. Two weeks later he comes back—his plane empty enough to tote a load of moose meat and antlers out—then returns to ferry a pair of exhausted, but satisfied, hunters back to the real world. I enjoyed the slightly more civilized version of this hunt with my father when we drew a once-in-a-lifetime Minnesota moose permit in the Boundary Waters, a million-plus acres of boreal-taiga forest peppered with lakes and rivers that hasn’t changed much since the Ojibwa paddled birchbark canoes there. The rules preserve the experience: There are no motors allowed, so you load your gear in your canoe and start paddling. Our first camp was 7 miles deep, and we…

As legal shooting light slowly slips away, the magnificent buck you’re watching continues to feed—just out of bow range. Darkness swallows the field. Now what? The answer: Have a variety of stand exit strategies ready. One of the four at right should work for most hunting situations. 1. WAIT THEM OUT The deer feeding in front of you may seem to be settled in for the night. But whitetails rarely stay in one spot more than an hour before moving on to fresh new forage. All you need here is some time and some patience. Before heading into the woods, tell your hunting buddies or family why you may be late, or if you have a signal on your phone, text or whisper your predicament. Once the deer leave, wait…

It’s a common plight of duck hunters: There are plenty of birds, but there’s nowhere to hide. The water is too shallow for a boat, too deep for a layout blind, and there’s just enough standing vegetation to conceal a skinny meadow mouse. That’s when you slip on that raffia-grass gillie poncho and put yourself in the middle of things. Here’s how to transform into the waterfowling version of Cousin Itt. THE SUIT You can make your own, which can be labor-intensive. Stitch raffia grass, which is sold at such places as Mack’s Prairie Wings (mackspw.com) under the name of Avery KillerWeed, onto a lightweight tan or brown jacket. Buying a field-ready suit is undeniably easier. A poncho like the Ghillie Parka ($69; red rock outdoorgear.com) is all you’ll really…

Deer need water daily. If they don’t find it where you hunt, they’ll leave to get it. Smart hunters know this and put in water sources to draw and keep bucks on their land. But digging holes in hard, dry ground can be nearly impossible unless you own expensive backhoe equipment or a bulldozer (and how many of us do?). I’VE DISCOVERED an easy shortcut to making water holes on my land, though. It takes very little work, and often you also end up with a prime bedding and loafing area for bucks. The trick is to watch the weather. When strong windstorms blow through, I walk my land to check for damage. Often, several large ash, oak, pine, or hickory trees have been uprooted. The trees provide firewood, but…