F&S Readers

Fuel for Thought

fieldandstream-editor — Tue, 01 Mar 2005 07:15:00 -0500

Reader reaction to Ted Kerasote's "Drilling the Wild" (F&S Report) in our October issue was extremely heavy and highly varied. While a handful of readers threatened to cancel their subscriptions over the piece, the other extreme asked permission to make copies so they could edify friends and colleagues.
-THE EDITORS

I'm writing regarding "Drilling the Wild" by Ted Kerasote. Horrible. Disgustingly slanted. This article is heavy on the rhetoric and light on the facts. If Kerasote has his way, most of the "offroad" initiatives passed by an earlier administration would lock us out of the public lands. His liberal, Earth-first politics are not what your readers are about. We are about public use and public stewardship. Do not turn this magazine into the Sierra Club Monthly.
KEN JOHNSON
Boise, Idaho

Every American who values outdoor heritage should read Ted Kerasote's "Drilling the Wild." The Bush administration has pursued an agenda of aggressive oil and gas drilling on public lands. President Bush should seek a balanced energy policy that respects the investment sportsmen have made in America's natural heritage, and that does not sacrifice the hunting and fishing opportunities we cherish.
CARL POPE
Sierra Club Executive Director

As a blue-collar Wyoming resident, I feel compelled to respond to Kerasote's attack. In Wyoming, it's the oil and gas extraction industries that foot the bill for our schools, highways, and other state-funded projects. Other people are up in arms over the current cost of heating oil, gasoline, and diesel fuel. It's easy to complain about it. Here in Wyoming, we're doing something about it-we're making more. When you all quit using it, we'll quit making it.
DAN WILLIAMS
Casper, Wyo.

If the Bush administration moves forward with their horrible energy policy, we can look forward to using our guns as wall decorations. There are other ways to create energy that do not make a profit for wealthy campaign contributors. The rape of the environment continues until we get rid of the best government that money can buy.
KEVIN SIME
Via e-mail

Recent letters and articles suggest we vote Bush out. As a Ducks Unlimited and NRA member, I think this is a sterling idea. With the other party in power, we won't have guns or hunting seasons or be able to afford the gas prices for recreation. Good thinking, guys!
RON RUSSELL
Salt Lake City, Utah

Thank you so much for printing the harm this administration is doing to the habitat that supports our hunting and fishing. The desecration of our land will be the legacy left for our children. What has happened to the party of Teddy?
JEROME LIPETZKYT
Alpine, Calif.

Thanks for having the courage to eat crow and print something critical of George Bush. Editors of outdoor magazines got bruises patting themselves on the back for helping to elect pro-gun George Bush. Now, they're stunned that oilman Bush didn't mean to work for wildlife or outdoor recreation. If you single-issue vote [BRACKET "for"] gun rights, you get what you deserve.
LANNY SCHWARTZ
Via e-mail

Interesting. After reading Kerasote's article, I counted three ads for trucks and numerous pitches for ATVs in your magazine. What do we run them on? Salad oil? When the Alaska pipeline went in, environmental Armageddon was predicted. I've yet to see it happen. But we all witnessed what the geopolitical reality of foreign energy dependence got us on 9/11. Of course, we could ditch our ATVs and opt for mules. Life is a vale of tears.
J.M. JOHNSON
Brookings, Ore.

BREAKDOWN ON TAKEDOWN
The sentences received by the three main poachers in "Takedown" by Hal Herring do not even qualify as a slap on the wrist. Two to ffour months in jail is an insult to hunters, taxpayers, and the law enforcement officers that spent two years investigating these criminals. Their sentences make me wonder if the judge was one of Lodis Williams' hunting buddies.
DAVID BOYLES
Bainbridge, Ga.

"Takedown" is an excellent example of how a few bad apples can ruin the reputations of all sportsmen. Thank you to the California game wardens for putting ruthless poachers and their disgusting practices behind bars.
BRYAN BUHR
Frazee, Minn.

In an otherwise informative article, Hal Herring states in the second paragraph of "Takedown" that poachers "spooked a small herd of whitetails." This is a mistake because there are no whitetail deer in the state of California (excluding zoos and ranches).
PHILIP LATTEIER
Rowland Heights, Calif.

Reader Latteier is correct. California has only blacktails and mule deer.
-THE EDITORS

COVER LETTER
I found your October cover particularly offensive. Your depiction of a man returning from a hunt with nothing but antlers, presumably leaving the remainder of the caribou as waste, glorifies the most irresponsible and reprehensible of practices. This illustrates beautifully why sport hunting is a cruel waste of our wildlife and needs to be outlawed.
KIM HANKS
Sacramento, Calif.

How about outlawing ignorant letters? Under Alaska regulations, you are required to bring out the meat from all big-game animals, and you may not pack out antlers until all the meat has been brought to your point of departure. This means that the antlers usually come out alone on the last trip. Any other issues you'd like to address?
-THE EDITORS

LIFE OF THE PARTY
For "Party Animal" by Bill Heavey, I say, "thank you." Early on I learned that hunting is as much about discovering who I am as it is about putting meat on the table. And I'd bet that I'm not alone in that belief. It's too bad your article couldn't be presented to all the antis out there. It might open their minds a bit.
NATE GROVE
Durham, N.H.

A Rookie Takes the Field

fieldandstream-editor — Tue, 01 Mar 2005 07:15:00 -0500

I want to commend Field & Stream for featuring a hunting article about a woman ("Zero to Deer" by Kimberly Hiss). I thoroughly enjoyed it. Being a teenage woman hunter myself, I get excited when I see women hunters on TV or in articles. There aren't many of us, but our numbers are growing. Thank you, and I look forward to future articles of this sort.
Nicole Pearson, Buckner, Ky.

Okay guys, it seems that what we have here is the makings of a traditional archer. So, Kim, this is what you do: Get yourself a good traditional bow and head out to see me in Arizona. Your shot, if you get one, will be in feet, not yards. The music you hear will be the wind and birds. The only engine you hear will be your heart.
Michael P. Wanat, via e-mail

Kimberly Hiss reconfirmed to me that we who have been blessed with hunting as an everyday part of our lives from childhood need to take action by teaching others what we know. If more people (especially teens) had the opportunity to successfully hunt one time, they would value life more.

Hiss touched on that after she bagged her deer. She just wanted to celebrate her success in her way, which came across as a pure, unadulterated awe of what she had just accomplished.
Terry Overdorf, via e-mail

It was with great pleasure that I read "Zero to Deer." Hiss got a great many things right and did not ignore or tiptoe discreetly past certain aspects of her experience. Forty years ago, you ascertained that your deer was down to stay, looked at him, and marveled at the whole thing. Or, at least, I did. Now we have the end-zone dance, the high five, and a host of other regrettable displays aired regularly on the Outdoor Channel. Of all the young writers I have read in a long time, I have not been so sure of any as I am of Hiss. She's starting on the high moral ground, and I see no reason not to stay there.
John Hewitt, Fairbanks, Alaska

I'm wondering why the assistant editor of a magazine that covers hunting and fishing had never hunted or fished. Maybe you're going to go the route of Sports Afield and switch to sailing and backpacking as the primary coverage. If that's the case I want to be the first to cancel my subscription. Also I think that if you have free hunting trips to give away, why not give it to your readers instead of someone from New York City who will probably never hunt again.
Gene Gordon, via e-mail

Gene, let's get a couple of things straight. One, we will never switch to sailing and backpacking. And two, if you want to get invited on a women-only NRA hunt, they can do amazing things with transgender surgery these days. -THE EDITORS

[NEXT "DON'T SHOOT!"] DON'T SHOOT!
I must reply to the finest article I've ever read: "The Science of Shooting Deer" written by those four young fellers (David E. Petzal, Craig Boddington, Wayne van Zwoll, Layne Simpson). Every word follows my own experiences of hunting deer for three-quarters of a century. Thanks for a very informative article.
Allan Kielczewski, Fort Frances, Ontario

Your article validates my lifelong belief that it's unethical to shoot at a running deer. Despite the fact that "four of the country's top hunting marksmen" were shooting at a target on a known path moving at a slow speed, they could only make five vital-zone hits out of 12 opportunities. When you factor in the variables and consider that 99 percent of the hunting population are not top marksmen, the only conclusion that a responsible hunter can have is to never shoot at a running deer.
Kent Messersmith, Niles, Mich.

I could not contain myself upon seeing your cover depicting a running deer, and I knew just what to expect in "The Science of Shooting Deer." I and my associates (New York state hunter-safety instructors) have over 100 years' teaching experience as welll as 160 or so years' hunting experience. We teach, as part of ethics, that we have a responsibility to the game we hunt to make quick, clean kills. We also teach, as part of safe firearms handling, that we do not take running shots on deer.

The editors in this shooting event are highly respected, and readers rely on them. Articles like this do a great disservice to the hard work we put into making the woods a safer place. The next time you write an article like this, maybe you should get a safety expert to complement your shooting experts!
Owen Purcell, Pleasantville, N.Y.

David E. Petzal replies: Shooting at running game is legal, and people do it, hunter-safety classes notwithstanding. Our wretched results showed very clearly that it is not something you do if you can get a better shot.

HEAVEY ON THE LOOSE
In "Hoofing It for Caribou," Bill Heavey says that you sent him to Quebec "without adult supervision." Do it again! His caribou may not be a B&C trophy, but the tale is a winner!
Arnie Steinbeck, Shady Cove, Ore.

Bill Heavey's "Why Men Love Knives" (A Sportsman's Life) was great. My wife read the title and shook her head. When I show her or my daughter a new knife, they just hold it with thumb and first finger and say, "It's nice"-if I can get them to do that much. So, I go on my way, hoping to find someone to "check it out."
Michael Sedor, Anchorage, Alaska

[NEXT "DOG DEMOGRAPHICS"] DOG DEMOGRAPHICS
Catfish'n hot dog! I really enjoyed Jonathan Miles' "Deep-fried Secrets of a Catfish Joint." We fish for cats almost exclusively here on Lake Huron. My dog (Doc Henry) is trained to alert me when the bells on the rods "ding." Works like a charm!

By the way, the subscription to F&S comes in his (the dog's) name here at the house.
Kirk HowesÂ¿Â¿Â¿erÂ¿Â¿Â¿Doc Henry, via e-mail

OVER THE TOP
I appreciate your efforts to keep us well informed about sport fishing, but don't you think your article about the two clowns in Florida offering topless bimbos as deckhands went a little too far ("Top This," Field Notes)? Don't you have to cope with enough of the gun control and animal activist people without rankling the feminists as well? The original publishers 109 years ago must be pounding their coffins.
Tom Lenweaver, Syracuse, N.Y.

Rich Tosches replies: In hindsight, I agree with you. I'd intended the story solely as a warning about the dangers of exposing the skin to harmful ultraviolet rays. But now I see how it could have been taken the wrong way.

SAY "CHEESE"
I have some advice for all the Boy Scouts that want to earn their merit badge in hunting ("The Softer Side of the Scouts," Field Notes): A deer is easier to take a picture of after you shoot it. Also, venison tastes much better than Kodak color prints.
Kevin King, Galloway, Ohio

We should be supportive of any activity that gets youngsters into the woods to learn safe hunting skills. Aldo Leopold and JosÂ¿Â¿ Ortega y Gasset are the appropriate authorities, not Baden-Powell and Seton, neither of whom ever considered the kill to be the purpose of hunting. We hunt to be a part of nature. If a kill is the definition of a successful hunt, there are many hunters less successful than the Scouts; they don't even get a photo.
Cornelius J. Carmody, Monkton, Md.

The 10th edition of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary defines hunt as "1 a: to pursue for food or in sport." Many agree that being part of nature is a very important part of hunting, but it's not the activity's literal and historical purpose. If nature is all you want, go backpacking and get your meat from Super Fresh. And the Scouts could instead establish a Being-Part-of-Nature Merit Badge. -THE EDITORS

It's A Guy Thing

fieldandstream-editor — Tue, 01 Mar 2005 07:15:00 -0500

I think Rich Tosches should take a bow for "My Johnson," after all the long nights he likely kept awake working on it. I've never suffered from such Johnson dysfunction problems; however, his artful description brought a stitch to my side and a tear to my eye. Somebody ought to write a country song about it.
Lee Greenwood, Colorado Springs, Colo.

As a member of the estrogen-driven minority who reads your magazine, I have to say that I was touched by Mr. Tosches' ability to talk about his problem so frankly. I hope that his admission will open the door for other men who are experiencing this embarrassing problem and allow them to see that there's help out there.
Barbara Peace, Clarksburg, Pa.

I feel that the Laughs column was anything but laughable. We diligently try to ensure the future of the great sports of hunting and fishing by reaching out to all, especially women and children. Is this distasteful attempt at humor how we do it? Do you want to explain this article to your son or daughter? Articles such as this help to perpetuate the "slob" image that the anti groups try to portray. Thanks a lot!
George P. Kinstle, Hinckley, Ohio

You're very welcome, but explain what? This is a sweet and touching story about a man whose mighty engine would no longer rev, and how the loss of this old and trusted friend brought him to the brink of despair. Where are your feelings, man? -THE EDITORS

THE WAY COVERS USED TO BE
Your Total Outdoorsman Challenge issue is outstanding from cover to cover-or rather from inside cover to inside cover. What were you thinking when you chose your cover photograph? Call me old-fashioned, but I much prefer true art over the shallow "extreme" crappola du jour. I know, I shouldn't whine-I can use the cover to help kindle my emergency survival fire.
Don Cuppett, Bronx, N.Y.

GEAR WEARY
The June table of contents starts, "Too many sportsmen think that being able to power up a GPS or start a fire with a lighter is a measure of outdoor competence." HmmmÂ¿Â¿Â¿I wonder where they might have gotten that notion? In the same issue Gearing Up features the ultra-maxi-mini-magnum weatherproof lighter gizmo, the $6 million bionic Dog-e-Tag, and a high-tech digital compass. Maybe the real test of a modern outdoorsman is whether he can get the digital compass to interface with the electronic dog tag. As Petzal laments in the Editor's Notes, "This, dear friends, is a shame. We are a magazine for outdoorsmen." Yeah, right. This sounds like nostalgic whimpering, considering that Field & Stream is guilty of complicity by featuring the very products that Petzal is criticizing sportsmen for buying, using, and depending on. Keith Collins, Brunswick, Md.

David E. Petzal replies: Dogs whimper. I do not. I curse, complain, cavil, and spew calumny in every direction. But no whimpering.

WHERE AM I?
I was reading "Low-Tech Navigation" (in the Total Outdoorsman Challenge), and either the map is wrong or I'm totally lost. I took the challenge and was okay up to bearing D. Your answer is 20 degrees (back bearing 200 degrees). My readings are 44 degrees (back bearing 224 degrees). Help. Am I lost or is this a misprint?
Basil Doucette Jr., Tewksbury, Mass.

Keith McCafferty replies: The problem is that you're navigating from the black dot at the outlet stream. The instructions for Bearing D tell you to walk east up the outlet from where the dot is located to the second pond, then take your last bearing from there. It will be 20 degrees.

BE IT EVER SO HUMBLE
"The Deer Next Door" was hilarious. Bill Heavey's message is true, fellow sportsmen. Sometimes you need not look beyond your own backyard. How many times have we traveled hundreds of miles only to find, years later, that we were passing all the good spots on the way?
George Gooley, South Portland, Maine

One Helluva Mousetrap

fieldandstream-editor — Tue, 01 Mar 2005 07:15:00 -0500

I just read "Truly, a Better Mousetrap" in the March Sportsman's Notebook, and I want to assure you that it works so well you'll never need anything else. I've been using it for 20 years and have captured up to 20 mice a day.
Tom Warner
Castleton, N.Y.

The Adirondack mousetrap bears a striking resemblance to the Magalloway mousetrap, used at Camp Magalloway in New Hampshire. I fashioned the trap 10 years ago, and it has probably been responsible for more "game" in those years than all the guns in camp over the last 35!
Jim Black
Northport, Ala.

I have to dispute the name "Adirondack." I believe this mousetrap originates from Finnish immigrants who came to the Upper Peninsula during the copper mining boom. Camps here have the tradition that the first person to arrive empties the "Finnish mousetrap," which, in my mind, is a great reason to bring up the rear.
Debbie Pindral
Painesdale, Mich.

ACT REACTION

In "Freedom to Overfish," George Reiger asserts that conservation-minded saltwater anglers and groups like the Recreational Fishing Alliance are aiding overfishing and habitat destruction, when nothing could be further from the truth. The Freedom to Fish Act is being promoted to protect recreational fishermen from unwarranted and scientifically unjustified "no-take reserves." Mr. Reiger claims that the legislation will weaken federal regulations and allow increased commercial overfishing. But Freedom to Fish does not limit management options or make it "impossible" to establish marine protected areas. The RFA has great respect for Reiger as a writer and conservationist. But the groups working to pass Freedom to Fish have been recognized for their work in fighting for better management of marine resources. They deserve support, not a rebuke.
Jim Donofrio, Executive Director
Recreational Fishing Alliance

George Reiger replies: A phrase like freedom to fish sounds good, but the devil's in the details. As presently written, the federal Freedom to Fish Act contains wording that would further hobble already politically pressured managers from sustaining optimum levels of marine fishes. These flawed details should be addressed before they're written into law. Once a bill is cast in congressional concrete, amendments are more easily talked about than passed.

THE JIG IS UP
I was surprised by your Big Bass Contest, in which you offered a prize package worth $50,000 to the angler who catches the next world-record largemouth. First, I suspect that you must have compelling reasons to offer this prize now. Second, I dislike your attempt to rob a skilled angler of $1,000,000-plus of endorsements. You want to pay the winner 50 grand for a fish worth millions. A person might be better served by simply catching the world record and charging you $100,000 for an interview. They could then take $50,000 and hire an attorney, and still have the original $50,000 prize. If the next world record is caught this year, hopefully it will be by someone who wasn't duped by what was once a reputable magazine.
Rev. Frank Zenobia III
Kewaskum, Wis.

The reverend is correct; we're offering the prize now because we wanted to hoodwink the lucky angler out of his/her endorsement money. However, we would never pay $100,000 for an interview. Our cap is $39.99 plus a package of beef jerky. -The Editors

WHERE LOCALS FEAR TO TREAD
I live three hours from the Gunnison River in the Black Canyon ("Vertical Trout" by Bob Butz) and have often looked with hunger at the river and what it holds. But I haven't the guts to go down or, worse yet, climb back up. Kudos to Bob Butz for doing it. A helluva story!
Earle Wilson
Wellington, Colo.

FOR LOVE OF THE LURE
It's bad enough to read about overpriced gear, but that $101,2000 collectible fishing lure ("Q&A Tracey Shirey," Field Notes) took the cake! Think of the good that could have been done with that money: resource education, habitat restoration. If this lure is so important, why doesn't Mr. Shirey put it in a museum? Instead, he hoards it away in a safe deposit box. I can't imagine such a "big part of our history" instilling any passions for the outdoors in there.
Eric Alder
Westland, Mich.

If Shirey wanted the lure badly enough to spend that much on it, he can do whatever he pleases with the thing. If we had anything worth a hundred grand, we'd lock it up too.-The Editors

Howling About ANWR

fieldandstream-editor — Tue, 01 Mar 2005 07:15:00 -0500

Congratulations to Philip Caputo ("The Old Man and the Mountains," February) for putting into words the differences between hunters and environmentalists-and how self-defeating these groups are. Tucked away in his story are six of the most concisely worded paragraphs ever written on this subject. He hit the X ring in describing our differences and pointed out the consequences of not getting past our prejudices. If Bubba and Granola Boy would stop fighting and combine their efforts to stop our common enemy-loss of habitat to out-of-control industrialization-together we could secure the future of the wildlife and pristine environment we all treasure.

Jim Day
Via e-mail

Caputo misleads readers about President Bush's proposal to allow energy exploration on a small sliver of Alaska's Northern Coastal Plain. The area being proposed for exploration is not a designated wilderness area. In 1980, President Carter and a Democrat-controlled Congress specifically set [BRACKET "it"] aside for potential oil and gas development. In doing so, Congress reserved for itself the right to determine whether and under what conditions development would be allowed. This area holds the key to America's largest onshore prospect for oil and gas. We need domestic sources of energy to heat our homes and to provide jobs-not to mention to power the planes that allow sportsmen like Caputo to reach their Alaskan dreams.

Mark Pfeifle, Press Secretary
U.S. Department of the Interior

As I read Phil Caputo's story, I was reminded of the week I spent in an Athabaskan village in 2002. Looking out over the Yakutak River valley, I asked an older gentleman if the caribou migrated down the river. "They used to," he said. "Since the pipeline, they don't anymore. I miss my caribou meat." Every time I hear the administration say that drilling in ANWR won't damage the wildlife population, I hear that man wishing the caribou back.

Paul Ehlert
Carlisle, Iowa

Caputo wrote his story supposedly about hunting in ANWR, when in fact it was a thinly veiled political piece for the radical environmental movement. Not one of the pictures accompanying the article was of the plain where the oil lies. The Arctic Coastal Plain is hardly a cathedral of any sort. It's cold, windswept, flat, and barren. He sure didn't hunt there. We in Alaska are sick and tired of being the environmental conscience for the rest of the country. If you in the Lower 48 want parks and wilderness, create your own. Alaska has more federal parkland and protected land than the remainder of the entire United States. Let Alaska have some economic development just like you enjoy. Focus on where you live. We'll take care of Alaska. That's why we live here.

Donald Smith
Anchorage, Alaska

Philip Caputo replies: Mr. Pfeifle: True, the proposed drilling area is not designated wilderness, but it is public land that belongs to all citizens, not just to the industries who want to see it developed. Mr. Smith: As a taxpayer, I own as much of ANWR as you.

WINNING WAYS
"Close Encounters" by Lisa Knight (winner of the Young Writers Contest) is one of the best one-page stories on hunting I have read in many a year. Your magazine is one of the best, and she certainly added a lot to it this month.

Perry Swanson
Tionesta, Pa.

Field & Stream scores again. Thank you for adding even more classy writers to your magazine. Lisa Knight's essay simply says why we are all out there. At her young age, she's ahead of the game with enjoying all aspects of time spent afield, whether or not something is killed. The youth represent the future of hunting and fishing. I hope there are a lot more like her.

Eric Chytka
Via e-mail

The photo of Lisa Knight was the worst example of a hunter I've ever seen. It looks completely posed, andd she looks as though she had never held a gun before. Her hair is down around her shoulders as if it had been combed that way. She looks scared to death. The article is okay, but the picture stinks.

Tracy A. Arbaugh
Inglewood, Calif.

Tracy, Tracy. Do you have these kinds of feelings often? Have you ever talked with anyone about them? You might feel better. -The Editors

CHEERS FOR THE JEERS
I wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed reading February's Cheers & Jeers. I love how so many people got so offended by Thomas McIntyre's remarks about feral horses. I'd like to thank you for making so much controversy because honestly, I just love seeing ignorant fools raise hell in your magazine.

Nick Seanor
Geneva, Fla.

ALL IN A DAY'S WORK
I'm writing from Baghdad to thank you for a great magazine and morale booster. I'm a CH-470 pilot who's moved all over Iraq. My wife's letters and Field & Stream have kept me going all this time. First Shot shows beautiful scenery and near-perfect photography, while Bill Heavey shows the not-so-beautiful and never-so-perfect with sincerity and candor. Dave Petzal is a bastion of unbridled, honest opinion. I desperately yearn for the next deer season I can get back on the stand in the great American woods. I have been away from my family for a long time but it's the simple things, like your magazine, that have kept my morale up. For all of the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines who are part of Operation Iraqi Freedom, I send my regards.

Capt. C. Paul Colbert
U.S. Army

THOSE WILY WOLVES
The map accompanying Thomas McIntyre's article "Return of the Wolf" might mislead some of your readers. It indicates that wolves were reintroduced to Northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Wolves were expatriated from the southern shore of Lake Superior but returned through natural dispersal, making reintroduction unnecessary.

Philip DeWitt, Wildlife Technician
University of Wisconsin

Correction: In Where to Go, we incorrectly placed Lake Fork southwest of Dallas. It is due east. We regret the error. -The Editors

Only in Deer Camp

fieldandstream-editor — Wed, 05 Nov 2003 05:20:00 -0500

Earlier this year we asked readers to submit their best, funniest, and most outrageous deer camp stories. Nearly 200 of you responded with all sorts of tales (more than a few of them unprintable). We learned about incredible acts of marksmanship, deer that "sure looked dead," encounters with unhappy and surprisingly agile cattle, general early-morning confusion (eggs fried in Ajax cleanser was one of the more interesting foul-ups), and a wild collection of practical jokes.

The stories listed here are our favorites. Some may be hard to believe, but if you've ever gone to deer camp, you know that they're true.

Medium Rare, Please
By Jack Vroble (Amity, Pennsylvania)

My buddy, Marty, has a deer camp in Pennsylvania. He also owns and runs a successful restaurant. One year Marty invited a few friends to hunt deer at his cabin. He instructed the guys to go hunting while he stayed behind to prepare lunch. Marty really enjoys cooking. His "camp kitchen" has two slicers and two refrigerators, and Marty wears his chef's hat and apron when he cooks.

As he was making lunch, he looked out the window and saw a deer go over a rise just a short distance from the cabin. He stopped what he was doing, grabbed his rifle, and went after the deer, dropping it just below the rise. While he was dressing it out, a hunter he didn't know came by and said, "Don't move! I'll be back!" A few minutes later the hunter returned with a few friends. "See?" he said to them. "I told you this guy came prepared!"

Marty looked down and noticed he was still wearing his chef's hat and apron.

And He's Been Eating Acorns
By Tony Garcia (Lake Forest, California)

When I took Herb on his first deer hunt, I just had to set him up. It's an old trick, but it still works.

Heading out one morning with Herb and his son Brian (who was in on the joke), I pulled my truck to the side of the road, explaining that I had spotted some deer tracks in the snow. I quickly jumped out of the truck with pockets full of chocolate-covered raisins and piled them in the snow, out of Herb's sight. Kneeling down, I called for Brian. He and Herb walked over. I pointed to the pile of raisins, "explaining" that they were fresh deer droppings. Then I reached down, grabbed a few raisins, and popped them in my mouth. "It's a buck, heading east," I declared. Brian then reached down and ate a few of the raisins, too. "A 3-pointer," he said. "Gross!" said Herb. He ran off, groaning and nauseated, as Brian and I howled with laughter in the snow.

I Guess I Win
By James Haugen (Ely, Minnesota)

In-Between is a game where players are dealt two cards and bet whether or not the next card turned up will be in between the first two. Six of us were playing at the hunting shack one evening, and during the game several players had been dealt good cards and had bet the pot. But they lost, and the pot had doubled and redoubled several times.

With the pot holding a couple hundred dollars, I was dealt an ace (a low card) and a king. I bet the pot. The next card up was an ace. I hit the post next to me in disbelief. The post held the main beam, from which the gaslights were hanging. The vibrations broke both mantles and knocked them over. The shack went pitch-black.

Afterward, all the players claimed that they were making sure the money didn't get lost in the confusion, but at the moment the lights went out, six pairs of hands met in the middle of the table on top of the pot.

Using Your Head
By Dennis Shrontz (Wyoming, Michigan)

It was my son Steve's first year hunting with a rifle. He had come up to deer camp with me since he was 12, but now he was 14 and ready to hunt.

The first morning out Steve had a little mishap that he shared with us all that night at the supper table. HHe had sat against a double-trunked birch tree with his head against the vee, and it wasn't long before he fell asleep. It was windy that day, and at one point the wind had moved the trunks apart just enough for Steve's head to slip down between them and get stuck when the wind eased up. I guess that woke him up! He flopped around like a fish until the wind blew again, moving the trunks apart, and he could get his head out. As the laughter finally died down and Steve looked around the table at all of us, I think he realized that his biggest mistake wasn't getting his head caught in a tree, but letting us all know about it. He's 25 now and has to live this one down at camp every year!

Hunt Here
By Robert L. Baumbach (Center, Missouri)

Harold worked for the railroad and wasn't much of an outdoorsman. I coaxed him into joining my friends and me at deer camp one year. Harold planned to arrive early on opening day, find a place to hunt until evening, and then join us in camp. Opening day was cold and rainy, and the veterans in camp weren't surprised when Harold never showed.

Back at home, we were anxious to hear Harold's excuse. Turned out he had overslept opening day. It was 10 a.m. when he drove past a Deer Crossing sign on public land, not far from our camp. He could think of no better place to watch for a buck, so he parked his truck and walked into the woods by the sign. After a 15-minute wait, an 8-pointer walked by and Harold dropped him with one shot. He drove home with his trophy, wondering where the challenge was in deer hunting: The government put up signs telling you where they are!

Good Dog
By Jerry Fleming (North Beach, Maryland)

My brother Rog and I hunt a farm on the Western Shore of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It has a marsh that's bordered with long fingers of land jutting down into the water, leaving deep gullies on either side. If a hit deer goes into a gully, it takes two hunters with about 300 feet of rope and a four-wheel-drive vehicle to get the deer out.

One day Rog decided to hunt the edge of the marsh at the bottom of one of these fingers. A large doe eventually gave him a good broadside shot, and of course, it chose the gully on the marsh side to go down when hit, ending up about 25 yards in.

With no good idea on how to get the deer out, I got Lucky, my black Lab, and commanded him to get the "duck." He looked confused, but he went into the marsh and swam to the deer. Lucky started mouthing it, and he and the deer started rolling around in the water. "Grab it by the ear!" I yelled. While I don't think he understood the command, Lucky grabbed the doe's ear and dragged this "duck" to shore-all 125 pounds of it-like he'd done it a hundred times. He dropped the doe on the ground and sat right next to it, looking as proud as ever.

Next Time, Cover Your Tracks
By Robert L. Baumbach (Center, Missouri)

In 1968 I joined a group of seven men who'd been hunting together for years. Our hike-in camp was primitive, with tents set up in the middle of Mark Twain National Forest, 4 miles off a gravel road. We were far enough off the traveled roads that we were completely undisturbed by any outsiders. At least we thought so, until one of the guys, Dan, was called out of his tent one rainy morning and served with divorce papers. That woman must have gone to a lot of trouble to get someone to track Dan down and serve him. After the incident we moved our campsite a quarter mile deeper into the woods-and we made sure we didn't tell anyone.

Why I Hunt

fieldandstream-editor — Wed, 12 Jun 2002 05:05:00 -0400

Hunting to me is almost a religous experience.Harvesting a deer or bear is great, but I would hunt even if I knew I would never shoot another animal. It is part of who I am.

To watch the sunrise and hear the woods come to life on a crisp, autumn morning bowhunting in Michigan is indescribable. Hunting is good for the soul.

I enjoy the peace; I enjoy the time with my son; I enjoy the exercise and clean air; I enjoy trying to outwit the game on their turf; I enjoy the freedom.

I grew up in a hunting family in a rural environment, and I think the take and use of wild game and fish creates a more well rounded individual who has a deeper, closer feel for the natural world, which is a lacking concept in this day and age. Water and woods beat out steel and concrete any and every day of the week.

I grew up in the midwest, where I learned to hunt from my father. It was a good way to spend time together, and in the process, it was a good way to learn values and respect for the land and the creatures around us.

A day afield mentoring a young person can teach more about life than a year in a classroom.

The magic of a bugling bull in September. A whitetail chasing a doe during the rut. The size and power of a bear lumbering down a stream bed. The gobbling of a turkey in the pre-dawn hours. The cackling of long tailed rooster pheasant as it takes flight from under your feet.

I have a good friend from Hungary who I've been hunting with for the past seven years. He told me that hunting in his country was not for "common people" like him. After our first hunt he wrote his brother to tell him what he had done--it was a great privilege.

I have been a bird and animal watcher since childhood, and hunting seems to me to be a logical extension. Don't get me wrong, the kill can be very exhilarating, but it can also be an anti-climax. I prefer eating wild game to any store-bought meat, and for that reason view the kill as a somewhat necessary conclusion.

Ever since I can remember, I've loved the woods and hunting. I am a paraplegic from polio for over 49 years and have never let that stop me.

Hunting finds a way to inspire our senses. Coffee never tastes as good as at 4 a.m. when you're joking with family and friends and anticipating the day's hunt.

I spend 50 hours a week in an office. I need the outdoors!

It's a connection back to the woods, my food, my history. It's the thrill of the chase, and the regret for the kill. I can look my food in the eye and not hide behind the styrofoam and plastic wrap of the grocery store.

Most of all I hunt because deer meat with potatos and carrots in a brown gravy is hard to beat.

I've hunted in New Jersey since I was 12. When a boy could walk down the street with a gun and no one would say a thing. It's part of our heritage and my son and I will continue to carry it on.

I grew up in a hunting and fishing family. It was our primary recreation and a source of meat to stretch the family budget. Where other kids had football or basketball, I had a 20-gauge and waders. I came to find a peace and order there that can't be found in civilization. I f they outlawed hunting tomorrow, I would still spend mornings up a treestand or in a blind.

Nature. Beauty. Air. Freedom.

I started to hunt as a child, and I love everything about the outdoors. Not a day goes by that I don't think about our sport.

Merely buying wrapped steaks at the store teaches nothing. Knowing that a life was lost for the meat I need brings home the importance of survival and the truth of life and death. As a meat consumer, I am also an animal killer. I know what I am. I accept it. Hunting keeps me real.