Table of contents for October 2016 in Field & Stream

LIKE ALL PROFESSIONAL WRITERS, we at FIELD & STREAM try to avoid easy clichés. People use clichés because they’re often true, however, and one kept popping into my head as we put this issue together: You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone. I kept thinking about this because as we were working on our cover story about public-land elk hunting (“Your Land, Your Elk,” p. 46), a debate is raging around the idea of transferring the ownership of federal lands to the states. I’ll be blunt: I think this is a disastrous idea, and I’m very worried that some of the hunters and anglers in this country don’t appreciate what an incredible resource our public lands are and don’t understand how easily we could lose them. Our plentiful…

TREESTAND TOMES Readers dish on which books keep them entertained while they wait for a bruiser to cruise by THE TRACKER BY TOM BROWN JR. An Apache scout taught the author how to track, and there are so many great adventures in this book about his life in the wilderness. —DAVE WALKER ZIPPING MY FLY BY RICH TOSCHES This book is hilarious and poignant, and speaks to the core of every outdoorsperson. —MARK STEVEN SCHNELL JR. BIG WOODS BY WILLIAM FAULKNER It was interesting to contrast hunting back in Faulkner’s time versus how it is now, while reading the book in my stand. —CODY P. PRIVETTE THE OLD MAN AND THE BOY BY ROBERT RUARK This book is a classic. I count myself fortunate to have had a similar upbringing…

Few things grace a upland bird, however plucking isn’t an as their bronzedskinned birds couldn’t be plate as dramatically as a whole plucked ever it’s cooked. But sometimes, for any number of reasons, option. In this dish, skinned birds supply as much wow factor skinned brethren— maybe even more, in the flavor department. Cooking the easier: You drop them into a bubbling pot of wine and stock, turn off the heat, and forget about them for a while. Almost any bird will shine here. INGREDIENTS 8 quail, skinned 1 bottle riesling or other white wine 4 cups chicken stock 4 oz. fresh chorizo or other sausage 2 shallots, minced 1 Tbsp. garlic, minced 2/3 cup olive oil 2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar 1 medium butternut squash 9 oz. Brussels sprouts…

T HE WHITE RIVER in Arkansas is big water, and as far as I’m concerned, there are only two ways to fish it. Either you go for numbers, or you swing big in hopes of pulling out one of the massive browns that make the White famous. Veteran guide Pete Cobb agrees, and the last time we fished the White together, he couldn’t have been happier to have an angler willing to rip 41/2-inch Rattlin’ Rogue stickbaits all day. The other boats in our group bounced small jigs and little hard baits just like Cobb’s usual clients. We got outfished by a long shot, no doubt, but of the eight browns we hooked, the smallest measured 18 inches and the biggest, 23. Still peanuts by White standards, but only one…

EMMA AND I ARE in the car, which parenting experts say is a good time to talk to your teen, especially if you have automatic door locks. Monk? You’ve probably noticed that your college fund is short $7,673.89. I did this for your sake. Well, mostly. O.K., I’d put the figure at 16 percent. I wanted to reduce any pressure you may be feeling about going to college just to please your mom and me. As you know, we live in an age of narcissistic parents who overidentify with their children. It’s if these parents want to become their children. They do their child’s homework. They threaten legal action against coaches who don’t let the child play the entire game. This prevents the child from developing resiliency and selfreliance. You…

A Big Old Buck A truly mature whitetail is practically a different animal, and you need to hunt differently to tag one. Here’s how Once a buck reaches the age of 4, he crosses a point where he seems to evolve into a whole other animal than naïve young whitetails. He becomes extra cautious, wary, and reclusive. In short: a survivor. And he becomes extremely difficult to hunt. Part of the reason is that most of us use tactics developed for average bucks from 1 to 3 years old. If you want to tag that elusive buck with the Roman nose, deep chest, and 5-inch bases this fall, you need to forget everything you know about hunting those younger bucks and shift your focus to new strategies tailored toward the…

• THE SEASON • RIFLES • THE WILD CHEF • ASK PETZAL • SPORTSMAN’S NOTEBOOK • FISHING • THE TOTAL OUTDOORSMAN • ESCAPES • HUNTING PRECIOUS MINUTES A wood-duck roost shoot can happen in a flash. Make sure you’re ready when the birds come to bed ByPHIL BOURJAILY FIVE WOOD-DUCK DECOYS, a spinner, a bucket, and a gun aren’t much to carry, but that’s all I need to shoot the wood-duck roost. All I’m missing is the most important thing: clouds. If this clear sky holds, I’ll sit until shooting hours end at sunset and unload my gun, and only then, as I retrieve my spread, will the ducks appear. The weatherman has promised me that clouds will come in an hour before sunset. They won’t be black ones laden…

David E. Petzal answers your questions about guns, shooting, hunting, and life Q: Oh Mighty Petzal, what .22 LR should I get? I want something accurate, yet light and small enough to go in my bug-out bag. —CODY OBERMILLER WILLOW SPRINGS, N.C. A: If you’re talking about a handgun, I vote for the Ruger Mark III Standard. If you mean a rifle, look for a used Remington Nylon 66 with the tubular magazine. If such a thing as an indestructo-gun exists, this is it. Q: I tripped and put a pretty good ding in the rounded end of my rifle’s muzzle. It still seems to shoot O.K., but should I have it repaired? —ANDY BATCHO, SEATTLE, WASH. A: A ding on the crown that touches the rifling can destroy a…

S HE STEPPED OUT in the open, right where I thought she would. A mature doe, maybe 130 pounds. A 45-yard shot would drop her in the middle of the logging road, and I could drive the truck all the way in. Wouldn’t have to drag her an inch. It was exactly what I’d come for, exactly how I’d planned it. The perfect meat doe. As easy as it gets. Except I wasn’t quite ready. Like a greenhorn, I had leaned my gun against the wrong corner of the ground blind, and I was seated too far back to rest the rifle on the shooting rail. The blind’s net walls broke up my silhouette, but I still had to move like molasses to get the rifle up and into position.…

BUYER’S GUIDE BARGAIN SHOPPER DEEP-COVER DEER SPIES Wireless trail cameras let you surveil secretive bucks, in near-real time, from your phone. It’s game-changing technology. But which model is right for you? Wireless trail cameras offer a big promise: Hang one up, then wait for your phone to ding with photos of pressuresensitive bucks, for months on end, without having to check the unit and stink up the deer woods. But wireless, or cellular, cams come with big price tags and can be a challenge to set up. To find out if they really deliver and are worth all that cash, we tested seven new models for three months under authentic conditions, then evaluated everything from their detection range and recovery time to their smartphone apps and monthly costs. Several, it…

EQUAL PLAY I loved “The New Game Changers.” This article underscored what I learned early on: Women are just as capable as men in the outdoors. My own daughter started hunting and fishing at a young age, and it’s great to see more women getting involved in the outdoor sports. Greg Baroch, Ruckersville, Va. As a woman, wife, and mother of two boys, I’m offended by the outdoorswomen reader survey. Instead of promoting the strengths of both sexes, F&S chose to disparage and poke fun at men. For decades, female factions have belittled men and infiltrated traditionally male institutions while proclaiming continued discrimination against women; the double standard is exasperating. If there is such a large movement of outdoorswomen who are offended by men’s behavior, then let them publish their…

It’s no secret that fly reels capable of playing in the salt—and putting the halt on brute fish—can set you back more than a full day’s inshore charter. Lucky for you, as quality reel components become more affordable to manufacturers, there are more reels popping up that can handle the freight-train run of an albie and the bulldog pull of a striper without forcing you to miss a truck payment. I picked up four 9-weights with sealed drags that sell for under $200, and then did my best to break them. Here’s the verdict on how they took the abuse. 1 REDINGTON BEHEMOTH $130; REDINGTON.COM Bargain Rating: Excellent Construction: Excellent Drag: Excellent Feel: Excellent Specs and Features Weight: 10.8 oz. • Backing Capacity: 200 yd./30 lb. • Deep-V spool •…

Target: Canvasbacks Can numbers are steadily climbing across the nation, putting the big duck on many hunters’ bucket lists. Here’s how to get yours He’s big. He’s brutish. He’s ruggedly handsome. If Clint Eastwood were a duck, he’d be a drake canvasback. Yeah, they’re both that cool. That’s why in the waterfowler’s world, few, if any, trophies hold such a lofty position as does the canvasback. Canvasbacks can weigh up to 3½ pounds or more and have a wingspan reaching nearly 3 feet across, making them the biggest species of diving duck found in North America. The canvasback migrates late in fall, and their flight is strong and direct, with flocks forming a distinctive V pattern high overhead. And fly they do: The canvasback is one of the fastest ducks…