Field & Stream December 2016 - January 2017

T HE FIRST ISSUE of FIELD & STREAM delivered to my house was addressed to my older brother Pat. He and our big brother, Brian, were in our cousin’s wedding, and as a thank-you, each received a gift. I have no idea what Brian was given—I want to say it was something boring, like a tie. But I’ll never forget what Pat got. Pat was an angler. He fished the Indiana ponds where our grandparents lived and the South Carolina waters where we vacationed in summer. His tackle box even bore a small brass plaque that he’d sent away for. It read: PATRICK CATFISH KEARNS. As far as I know, no one had ever called him “Catfish.” He’d simply nicknamed himself after a gritty, strong, delicious gamefish. (Well done,…

LOCATION: BEARTOOTH MOUNTAINS, WYOMING ➞ “Ninety percent of wildlife photography is being in the right place, at the right time, with the right equipment,” says Keith Crowley, who captured this brief stalemate between three bighorn ewes and four coyotes last January in the Beartooth Mountains. Coming around a hill, he saw the predators running up a slope to the top of the 150-foot bluff and grabbed his camera. “They disappeared over the top, and right away the sheep came flying onto the cliff face,” he says. He’d never seen four coyotes working as a team before; they typically hunt alone or in pairs. “The coyotes split up. Two came back down to see if they could get at the sheep from below, two stayed up top. But coyotes are smart…

PAYING TRIBUTE “The Old Ones” (Oct. 2016) was a poignant story and a great tribute. This is how a hunter ought to be remembered. gloomhound, via fieldandstream.com UNCOMMON BONDS “The Old Ones” reminded me of how special it is to have family members as hunting partners. I know we should enjoy every moment shared with family and friends, but days spent together with rods or shotguns are extra memorable for me. Thank you for the well-written piece, Rick Bass. Jim Payne via fieldandstream.com I strongly related with “The Old Ones.” Two years ago, I lost my childhood friend and hunting buddy Jon. I don’t grieve for him just during hunting season— after 42 years of friendship, I feel the gravity of this loss every day—but I feel closest to his…

CONTEXT-FREE QUIPS Five reader remarks that need no introduction 1 Anything beef can do,venison can do better. —Nate Tabor 2 I’d love to hear a big buck let out a longlingering,leaf-popping fart. —Bubba P. Lippincott 3 Saying you have the ultimate squirrel rifle is like saying you have the ultimate mousetrap. —Paul Gallup 4 Toenails are the only things that get split around my camp. —Doug Stanley 5 I don’t climb down from my stand quietly; when I’m done, the deer are dead anyway. —Warren Gaines…

▶ “If you’re going to make coffee, none of this two- or four-cup stuff. Look where you are: Hunting camp should borderline rival Starbucks.” —IAN OSCAR THORSON ◀ “Don’t forget the kazoo. Uncle Rodney once shot a buck moments after blowing one he’d bought at a dollar store, and he now swears by the method, hence the rule.” —JOEL BROSSEAU ▶ “The new guy always does the dishes, even if he’s been going to camp for 20 years. Until someone new shows up, he’s still the new guy. It serves as motivation for inviting other hunters.” —AARON ROBINSON ▶ “Biggest buck buys pizza. Or biggest doe. Or whoever saw the biggest deer. Or whoever saw any deer. Someone buys pizza. There must be pizza.” —CHRIS THORNTON ▶ “Please, if asked…

• It was dark, but right when I spotted the alligator, I knew it was the biggest one I’d seen in my three years of hunting them. My husband and four friends were with me on the boat, and as we inched within casting range, the gator dove under and vanished. Our group had already killed a big gator that season, but I had a tag I really wanted to fill, so we didn’t give up looking for it. Thirty minutes later, it resurfaced—right in front of us. My husband snagged it, and we got a few more lines on it before it took off. It ran us from bank to bank, pulling hard. Every time it neared the river’s edge, I feared it might break us off…