Table of contents for August 2017 in Field & Stream

I COULDN’T WAIT TO see the target up close. I was in upstate New York with deputy editor Dave Hurteau and rifles editor David E. Petzal, testing shooting skills for a magazine story. Petzal had just fired a threeshot group, kneeling, at 200 yards while I eyed the target through a spotting scope. If you’d seen what I just saw, you’d have been in a hurry to get to that target, too. “Wait till you see what Petzal just did,” I told Hurteau. We reached the target and there it was: a three-bullet clover that you could’ve covered with a nickel. Hurteau and I were at a loss for words; Petzal himself had few. Sure, he was pleased, but there was not one boastful word, not a whiff of ego.…

People ask me: “You write about all these rifles, but what do you use?” Here it is. I’ve either owned (as in spent my own money for), or shot at great length, every one of them. I’ve also gotten to shoot a lot of junk over the years, some of it with very impressive price tags. Those guns are not here. What is here are rifles that have worked for me, and that will work for you. Because you cannot hunt with a gun alone, I’ve also provided specific cartridge and scope recommendations, by species. And along with my top pick for each critter, I’ve offered a second choice based on value. This is mostly because my editors made me, but also because some of today’s low-cost rifles are astoundingly…

GEAR REVIEWS YOU CAN TRUST Back in March, F&S deputy editor Dave Hurteau traveled to Kentucky to meet with me and former archery proshop owner Danny Hinton for our annual flagship bow and crossbow shootout. As always, we spent four full days shooting, measuring, taking notes, crunching numbers, and arguing. Lots of arguing. This year, the crossbow test was dominated by a newcomer that simply blew away the competition— even though the competition was strong. The compound test was a much tighter race, with only 2.5 points separating the top three. Here’s the scoop. —W.B. THE COMPOUNDTES First we fit each bow with a Trophy Ridge Whisker Biscuit rest and React sight. We set the draw weight at 60 pounds and the draw length at 28 inches. Next we…

CUTTING-EDGE STRATEGY FOR THE BOWHUNTING FANATIC TACTICS • SKILLS The air is stifling, the temperature outrageous. Limiting your scent dispersal will be a challenge just while getting to your stand. Let’s face it: On many days during early bow season, the thought of sipping a cold brew in an air-conditioned room is very tempting compared with the prospect of sitting in a tree. ¶ But you won’t mind the sweat when the end of the day sees you gripping the antler bases of a reclusive early-season buck, or maybe the top dog in a bachelor group, that you just arrowed. PICK YOUR DAYS Right now you’re hunting only a few members of the local deer herd—mature bucks that are skittish, secretive, and not seen regularly on food plots or cropfields…

In the fall of 2014, Mike Chamberlain killed one of the largest bucks tagged during the Minnesota season. The rack of the behemoth whitetail stood in stark contrast to the size of Chamberlain’s hunting property: The buck scored 198 B&C, yet Chamberlain arrowed the giant on a 5-acre chunk of timber that bordered his backyard. Whitetail aficionados share a common fantasy—hunting a massive farm crammed with prime habitat, abundant food, and giant deer. Reality paints a different picture for many of us. Due to a number of factors (urban sprawl, rural development, a challenging farm economy, etc.), the large acreages that once dominated rural America are now parceled up. More and more of us are forced to hunt small, or not at all. The good news is that it’s entirely…

Adam Voorhes and Robin Finlay are the talented husband-and-wife team behind the photographs for this issue’s cover and cover story. She styles, he shoots, and we all benefit from their amazing photos. Favorite animal to hunt: AV: Dove hunting is, like, my jam. RF: I really enjoy squirrel hunting. They’re delicious. I actually found my favorite squirrel recipe in F&S (Oct. 2013). Favorite firearm: AV: I love my Caesar Guerini over/under, and Robin has a Beretta Silver Pigeon that’s super nice, too. Favorite gun you’ve photographed for F&S: AV: The hog rifle for “The Ultimate Pig Rig” (Apr. 2015). It was this souped-up AR-10-style gun with thermal vision and a suppressor. Biggest challenge of photo graphing guns: RF: Most guns are a lot alike, so it’s about highlighting each one’s…

IN THE ANNALS of trophy whitetail bucks, the year 2016 will go down as one to remember. On Nov. 7, 27-year-old Tennessean Stephen Tucker killed the largest hunter-killed nontypical whitetail ever taken. With 47 scorable points, the 312-inch giant easily toppled the long-famous 3075⁄8-inch Lovstuen buck for that distinction. Just a few weeks after Tucker’s buck rocked the whitetail world, on Nov. 21 Iowan Deric Sieck arrowed a 2822⁄8-inch behemoth that now stands as the second-largest bow-killed whitetail in history. In short, monster-buck lightning struck twice in 2016—and yet the fact that these two giant whitetails fell in the same season was, oddly, predictable. In the Feb.–Mar. 2016 issue of FIELD & STREAM, we covered what was widely described as a “crash” in whitetail numbers, in which years of aggressive…

Q: When tweaking a handload to get better accuracy, what component(s) should I change first? —ALEX OLSON, VIA EMAIL A: Assuming you’ve chosen the bullet for a specific purpose, I’d leave that alone and go to the powder. After that, the primer, and then the case, although the latter usually doesn’t make any difference. Q: What does it mean to say a rifle is chassisstocked, and why is that better? —JEFFREY EVANSON, SHERIDAN, WYO. A: A chassis-stocked rifle has an AR-style fore-end and a butt that is a collection of moving parts, plus a vertical pistol grip, all on a metal framework. Chassis stocks offer a number of advantages: in-line recoil, complete adjustability, and superior ergonomics. But they’re not necessarily better than other types of rifles, as most of…

IT’S NO SECRET that on hot latesummer afternoons, bites from most freshwater species come few and far between. Largemouths, smallies, and trout often turn sluggish, which can make for a maddening day on the water. But that’s when bluegills can save the day. With a little creativity and savvy, you can coerce these little fighters to open up— and score a full stringer in the process. Here’s how three pros make it happen during the final, blistering weeks of summer. TACTIC NO. 1 MAKE A MOVE Ace guide Tim Moore spends most of the year plying the still waters of New Hampshire’s Lake Winnipesaukee. But come late summer, he shifts his efforts to local rivers and streams. The reason is simple: Moving water is cooler and more oxygenated than lakes…

THIS IS THE second time I’ve washed off the WAG bag’s outer surface, but it hasn’t helped the funk. I dunk it in the river, look for a pinhole tear but can’t find one, and scrub it with reeds yanked from an island. It still stinks. Two days of wilderness poop, baking in the hot Texas sun, right behind my kayak seat. There’s only so much you can do with a sack of crap. And my aromatic seatmate is only one challenge to making a rejuvenating river float. The wind isn’t helping things, either. It’s been 30 mph sustained, with stronger gusts. And it’s coming from everywhere. Locals call them “rotors”—winds rushing through the Devils River canyon that twist and spin as they ricochet from cliff to cliff. Just when…

THE WARM-UP The first step in shooting tighter, more consistent groups is ensuring that you and your bow are working perfectly together. Where most hunters go wrong, according to our experts, is in draw length and bow balance. Use these two warm-up exercises to get both exactly right. WARM-UP NO.1 DRILL DOWN ON DRAW INSTRUCTOR Levi Morgan, 11-time IBO/ASA World Champion, 12- time Shooter of the Year, more than 50 P&Y trophies THE GOAL Shoot the perfect draw length. “i can’t tell you how many hunters I see shooting the wrong draw length— and yet it is absolutely fundamental to consistent shooting,” Morgan says. If your draw length is even a little too short, you’ll tend to push or pull too hard at full draw, which causes left-to-right misses, he…

CUTTING-EDGE STRATEGY FOR THE WHITETAIL FANATIC TACTICS • SKILLS • AG SMARTS • GAME PLAN I called him “Mr. Mellow,” which turned out to be the most inappropriate nickname for a buck, ever. It seemed to fit the big 10-point because he was unbothered by vehicle traffic (I shot dozens of pics of him from my truck cab at distances under 50 yards), fed placidly while does and fawns cavorted around him, and wasn’t afraid to move in daylight. In other words, he exhibited totally abnormal behavior for a Midwestern buck that lived in hardhunted territory. In late July I got the first hint that my nickname sucked. That’s when I saw Mr. Mellow had broken off the end of one velvet- covered main beam. At first I guessed he’d…

No sight is more gratifying to a whitetail hunter than a forest raining acorns on leaves littered with hoofprints, droppings, scrapes, and rubs. But as we all know, acorn crops can be light, spotty, or nonexistent. When that happens, many hunters switch to food plots and cropfields. But you may find yourself seeing only does and small bucks there. Or what if your property is all wooded? Or maybe you simply like hunting forested land? The answer: Hunt alternative woods foods. Some are found near natural clearings and edges; others are deep in the heart of the forest. Here are 10 examples of woods foods that deer relish. Grab a pen, make a sketch of your property, and get out and mark their locations. When acorns are scarce, you can…