Slaton L. White

Goodyear DuraTrac Tires

Online Editors — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:38:19 -0500

Without question, one of the fondest dreams of any hunter or angler is a four-wheel-drive truck devoted exclusively to hunting and fishing. Call it the mobile man cave, it’s always full of hunting and fishing gear, and it’s always ready to take us to our favorite woods and waters.

Still Hunting Tip: Tracking Bucks Through Clear-Cuts

Online Editors — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:14:40 -0500

You won’t find Jim Lepage sitting in a treestand, waiting for a deer to show up. A vice president at Orvis, Lepage, who has stalked whitetails for 40 years, hunts the old-fashioned way—by tracking a moving deer. Lepage hunts in the Allagash wilderness of northern Maine, where the deer are less pressured, but the general principles translate to any hunter who goes after deer in big forests.

Get The Most Out Of A New Set of Truck Tires

Joe_Cermele — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:37:22 -0400

It didn’t take me very long to learn how to tell a brown trout from a rainbow or brookie. And I easily mastered the differences between a pumpkinseed and a bluegill. But when confronted with the redear, redbreast, or longear sunfish, things got a good deal more complicated. Even now, I occasionally consult a field guide to be sure.

F&S Guide to Truck Wheels

Joe_Cermele — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:19:12 -0400

The hand-drawn map was pinched between my thumb and the steering wheel. According to the smeared lines, I would be able to see the river after the next curve. I had been told that the pullout overlooked a great stretch of pocket water. “Big ‘bows,” my friend had said over the phone. “Even better, almost no one fishes this stretch.”

“Why?” I asked.

“The road is really in miserable shape. A lot of it washed out last winter. Take it slow.”

Winching How-To: Never Get Your Truck Stuck Again

Joe_Cermele — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:08:44 -0400

While fishing for steelhead on Michigan’s Pere Marquette River one spring, I crossed paths with Dan Suman, a steelheader out of Mears, Michigan. When we took a break for coffee, the talk fell naturally to another of Suman’s abiding passions--deer hunting. A few minutes later, he said, “Look, I’ve got a nice piece of woods; why don’t you hunt it with me this fall?”

“You bet. Thanks.”

The Simple Guide to Maintaining and Upgrading Truck Transmissions

Joe_Cermele — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:53:17 -0400

Part 1, Hot Isn’t Cool: “I think the vision an outdoorsman has of a hunting or fishing trip is a lake filled with jumping trout or a big deer stepping out into view at first light. I don’t think it’s peering under a truck, watching boiling transmission oil pour out onto the ground.”

F&S Guide to Truck Suspension and Lifts

Joe_Cermele — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:23:17 -0400

Part 1, Troubleshooting the Suspension: Out of sight, out of mind. That pretty much sums up how most outdoorsmen view the suspension on their 4x4--until the truck starts bottoming out on rutted trails or groaning like some ghoul in a third-rate direct-to-video horror movie. By this point, you’ve no doubt figured out that something is dreadfully wrong with the vehicle’s ride or handling, but you can’t exactly nail down the problem. What do you do?

Fitting Your Truck with Aftermarket Exhaust

Joe_Cermele — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:07:19 -0400

The Holy Grail for many hunters and fishermen isn’t an in-your-face largemouth that straightens a 2/0 hook or a big whitetail that makes the book. It’s a 4x4 with more power. Guys who push a four-wheel-drive pickup or sport utility to the limit by climbing high mountain offroad trails or horsing a boat and trailer off a steep, muddy boat ramp have learned that modern 4x4s all too often come up a bit short in the power department.

How to Buy a Used 4X4

Joe_Cermele — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 11:19:35 -0400

One of my father’s ironclad rules of life was, “Never buy someone else’s trouble.” Of course, the first time I heard that pronouncement was right after I came home with my first used car, purchased “as is” from a lot near the construction site where I had sweated out a summer in purgatory carrying armored cable and 3/4-inch electrical pipe.

How to Buy a New 4X4

Joe_Cermele — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 11:03:07 -0400

On my last hunting trip Down South, I stopped at one of those roadside eateries that cater to folks like me who can’t resist hand-lettered “BBQ” signs. Once inside the screen door, I stared a long time at the menu, which was nothing more than a painted board nailed above the counter. Finally, the counterman took pity on me.

“It’s simple,” he said. “Beef.”

I nodded.