Field & Stream December 2017/January 2018

MY FAVORITE HUNTING knife was a gift. Some backstory: I had traveled to North Carolina to hunt whitetails with my friend and F&S colleague T. Edward Nickens. As we drove to camp, he asked, almost out of the blue, “Did you bring a knife?” As soon as the K-word left his mouth, I could feel myself groan. In my rush to pack and leave for the airport, I’d left my knife back home. I remember Eddie casually shrugging off my oversight. We’d figure something out. He and I hunted together that first evening but never saw a deer. We split up the next morning; no luck then, either. Later on, we hunted a new spot, and this time, we both fired our rifles. Eddie killed a meat doe for his…

Contributing editor Hal Herring traveled to the Everglades to report on the environmental threats facing the area in “Marsh Madness,” p. 24. F&S: What bothers you most about what’s going on in Florida right now? HH: That we have known the solution to these catastrophic problems for decades, and have done almost nothing to fix them. The polluting of the St. Lucie River destroys people’s property. It disturbs me, because what’s happening to these landowners could happen to us all. F&S: What was the most troubling thing you saw? HH: The lifeless lagoon and the river—which used to be white sand, miles of seagrass beds, teeming with gamefish— are dead and buried under feet of black muck. F&S: Was there a highlight of your trip? HH: I loved learning to…

“Cap is the best Lab I’ve ever had,” says photographer Lee Thomas Kjos. After losing one dog to old age and one to cancer in the same year, he had his heart set on a dark yellow male but picked this paler pup out of the litter for always being first and last was running like the wind on long marks and blind retrieves, out to 500 yards, probably picked up 150 birds. He’s crazy good. You’d think after all that he’d be curled up, whipped, but he’d done it for three straight days and still wanted to go.” The hunters were rehashing the incredible action over coffee when Kjos looked over and saw Cap in his kennel, marking birds in the sky. “He’s only 2 years old. For him…

PAST BLASTS “Overnight Flight” (Oct. 2017, Shotguns) brought back great memories. Hunting woodcock made growing up in Michigan in the 1960s and ’70s the best. Dewman, via fieldandstream.com NAKED TRUTH I really enjoyed Will Brantley’s story of taking his first moose in “Your Wildest Dreams.” But let me get this straight: Brantley wrote that he peeled off everything but a long-underwear shirt as he broke down the bull. So I guess he was naked from the waist down? Sounds like a dangerous way to skin a moose! Seriously, though, great story. Charlie, via fieldandstream.com Brantley’s story describes exactly what hunting with guide Devin McInnis is like. You’re almost always in the middle of nowhere, in cougar country. It definitely sounds as though Brantley had a memorable adventure. Connie, via fieldandstream.com…

• THE SEASON • SPORTSMAN’S NOTEBOOK • THE WILD CHEF • CONSERVATION • ESCAPES • ASK PETZAL • SHOTGUNS THE BEST THING about timber hunting is the way ducks multiply. A pair starts to circle, and that pair becomes four, then eight. Eight turn into 20. Somehow, the sight of ducks working over a timber hole draws more ducks from everywhere. It’s almost like squirrels running out onto branches to see what the others are chattering about. It can build until you’ve got flocks working at two or three levels, and there’s less need for calling than there is for air traffic control. I’ve seen that in Arkansas, but we won’t see it here—in a duck-poor state a couple hundred miles north. The two dozen mallards wheeling over our heads…

LOTS OF trout fly anglers hang up their gear in winter, which is exactly why a lot of other fly guys love the cold season. While most bugs are gone, so are the crowds. The trade-off for having the water all to yourself, of course, is that winter trout aren’t typically as eager to pounce on a fly as they were back in spring. This time of year it’s a game of patience, persistence, and finesse, above all. Whether you’re after a post- Christmas holdover or New Year’s Day wild brown, these double fly rigs will keep rods bent despite those iced-up guides. THE BREAKFAST SAMPLER RIG • Let’s be honest, stocked trout can be lazy even during warmer times. Drop the water temperature below 40 degrees in a freestone…