
##2001250 It was one of these slate-gray days in Michigan when the deciduous forests have turned skeletal and the air smells of snow . Bob Arnot was tinkering around in his shop putting finishing touches on a homemade portable deer stand . I was shifting my weight from one foot to the other trying not to show Bob I was bored . " Relax , " Bob said going to the window and checking the thermometer . " We 've still got a little time yet . Those deer do n't usually start moving in until a couple of hours after the temperature drops down to 10 or so . " I tried to act nonchalant . But I was anxious to know where Bob planned to take me on a day when the temperature was dropping steadily in a wind that was sure to end in snow . In truth , it was the kind of day that makes most people want to settle in by a slow burning fire with a thick book . Bob assured me it was a perfect day to hunt whitetails in a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was time to head for the swamp , I thought he 'd popped his cork . Swamps are neglected opportunities for many whitetail hunters . The reason is simple . Swamps , in most hunters ' minds ( at one time , mine included ) , are wet , tangled places with sucking muck bottoms that breed poisonous snakes and snapping turtles as big as trash-can lids . They 're spooky , unpleasant spots that make you fall down a lot . Swamps are difficult and dank . They 're easily passed by , skirtable , and forgettable . But swamps , alas , are wonderful places for whitetails . Think of the advantages they offer a deer : First , and perhaps most important during hunting season , swamps are places most people do n't want to go because they have the reputation of being so devilishly difficult to get around in , or perhaps just because they seem so devilish . What better place for a whitetail during hunting season ? Second , once a deer is in a swamp it usually will find good hiding cover provided by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In addition , watery escape routes abound in swampy areas . Whitetails take readily to water -- seek it out , in fact -- running through shallows and swimming in deep spots so their scent is covered or confusing to pursuing predators . Water , of course , is the essence of swampiness . Water may lie several feet deep in some swamps ; in others , water may only cover the lowest spots by a few inches . Swamps may hold standing water all year or only during the " wet season . " However it comes , it is water that grows the thick vegetation that we associate with swamps . And this profusion of grasses , shrubs , and trees provides excellent forage for whitetails in many swampy areas . In addition , the thick vegetation fostered by a swamp 's moisture gives deer a place to seek protection from the weather . And it was this swampy benefit to whitetails that Bob Arnot counted on for our deer hunting tactics that gray fall afternoon in Michigan . The spot we headed for that day was a northern @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . White pine grew on the scattered ridges and knolls within the 20 acres the swamp covered . Ironically , the white cedar -- eagerly sought after by whitetails as a nutritious forage -- was so heavily overbrowsed by the deer that little vegetation of food value remained within reach in the swamp . Instead , the whitetails had to rely on the adjacent upland forests for food . But the conifer swamp offered ideal shelter from cold weather , providing the warmest average temperatures , the lowest wind flow , and the least hazardous snow conditions on days like the one when Bob Arnot introduced me to swamping . Swamps and swamp hunting are not limited to Michigan , of course . Swamps in various forms proliferate across the entire country . Freshwater marshes , with their soft-stemmed cattails and reeds , are found in large parts of Minnesota and the Dakotas in what is known as the prairie pothole country . Saw grass marshes cover the Florida Everglades , while tule and bulrush marshes are typical of California and Oregon . Peat bogs , formed from decomposing plant material @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Labrador tea , cover much of New England and the Great Lakes states . Floodplain swamps occur wherever large rivers flow through flat bottom-lands , even in the West and Midwest . The Northern floodplain swamps foster forests of silver maple , cottonwood , and willow . In the South and along the Gulf of Mexico , tupelos , sweetgum , and ashes grow in the forest swamps along sluggish rivers . Then there are the pocosins -- the coastal swamps of the Southeast -- with their thick growths of hollies and bays . And there are the cypress swamps of the Deep South with their aerial roots , called " knees , " that stick out of the water . Wherever you find a grass swamp , a shrub swamp , a forest swamp ; wherever you come across a swamp with 2 inches or 2 feet of water ; wherever you run into a swamp 50 feet or 50 miles across ; wherever you find a swamp of any kind , you will find whitetails . How you hunt whitetails in a swamp depends on a number of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ easily you can get around in the swamp , the swamp 's size , and its nature . Most whitetails are not full-time swamp dwellers . Deer do n't have webbed feet or fins . So , swamps that are covered with water year-round are used by whitetails only at certain times and for certain reasons . A deer may stand ankle deep in the water of a Maine bog for an hour or so chomping on highbush blueberries , but eventually he 's going to want to find the dry land of a surrounding hardwood forest on which to bed . Similarly , a pursued buck will splash through the tangled knees of a Gulf Coast cypress swamp and hunker down on a canoe-sized hummock , but after the danger passes he 's going to head for the nearby pine and palmetto uplands . Fortunately for hunters , whitetails ' patterns are usually mapped out by tracks in a swamp 's moist soil . Perhaps no other whitetail habitat lends itself more to habitually used trails , runways , and crossings where the very tangles and spring holes that give @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ routes established over decades of whitetail use . These traditional trailways and crossings are the key to successful hunting . In areas of the South where swamp hunting is a way of life , deer stands have been erected along such routes , which are known by name and have felt the scuffs and shuffles of generations of hunters ' boots . Where a swamp is large and difficult to enter , stands should be placed along its edges near well-used trails . Here , you 'll find productive hunting at dusk and dawn when deer are typically moving to and from areas offering good forage . During the middle of the day , when deer may bed on higher ground surrounding a swampy area , a four- to six-man deer drive using a precisely timed 3-minute walk , 2-minute stop sequence to move toward the swamp border can send deer right past a waiting hunter . There 's always the option of waiting for the weather to do the driving for you . That was the tactic Bob Arnot had in mind when he lead me to the edge of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at both ends by tag alder bogs that even deer find difficult to negotiate , the swamp offered two sides edged by hardwood uplands . Bob posted me on one of these sides , near a well-worn deer trail . Within half an hour , he 'd skirted the small swamp and had set up a tripod-type stand on the watery edge at the far side . He said he would pick me up after hunting hours . Now all swamps are n't this small and this easily covered from the edges by two hunters . Some swamps may be miles wide and cover half a state . Let 's face it , there are some swamps you have to go into in order to hunt whitetails effectively . When swamp travel becomes necessary , hip boots offer the most basic way to go . I 'm told that an oldtime swamper can slog through 35 miles of the Okefenokee in eight days . Having taken two days to canoe 16 miles in " the land of trembling earth , " I have to close my gaping mouth with both hands @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a canoe or a johnboat instead of foot travel when it comes to swamp hunting . The swamp , of course , has to have enough water to float a boat . Cypress swamps and larger marshes are floatable . And the numerous floodplain swamps across the country are especially suited to hunting by boat . ( Before you set out , be sure to check local regulations . In some states you ca n't shoot from a moving boat , and in other states shooting deer in the water is prohibited . ) Since floodplain swamps border rivers , you can float the river and stop to hunt the adjoining swamp at any point along the way . I 've used this float method to get into permanent swamp tree stands located at strategic points along whitetail runways . I 've also floated along floodplain swamps and stopped to still-hunt on various upland knolls and ridges that protrude into the swamp itself . Some of the very best whitetail hunting is found on small islands located in a swamp 's interior . Called " hummocks " or " heads " @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ swamps are ideal places for trophy whitetails to hide out . Reached by boat , larger swamp islands will be criss-crossed with trailways and dotted with permanent bedding sites , and they can be hunted by taking a stand or by still-hunting . Because swamp islands and peninsulas are often covered with thinner upland vegetation rather than thick tangles of swamp growth , they are places I prefer to still-hunt , knowing , of course , that the trophy buck I 'm after always has the option of plunging into the surrounding swamp . Sitting above that Michigan swamp as the snow began to fall with a purpose , the thought of hunting on the move , even a very slow move , began to seem quite appealing . But the sight of a whitetail winding its way into the dense cover put a stop to my wanderlust . During the next hour , I watched more than a dozen deer move quietly into the swamp . But the buck I most wanted stood at an open crossing only long enough to show his size , and then he was swallowed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at dusk told me Bob had done better . Standing by his truck after dark , admiring the four-pointer by flashlight , I was glad Bob had retrieved me from the stand . Swamping , I 've learned , requires a certain intimacy with the bogs and marshes in which you want to hunt whitetails . You 've got to scout out the area and get to know the lay of the land and the water before you can feel comfortable about hunting swamps , be they Northern pussywillow potholes or Southern cypress stands . But Bob did teach me one significant difference between hunting Northern and Southern swamps before my trip to Michigan was through . By the following day , water in the cedar swamp was frozen solid , and we were easily able to still-hunt into the heart of the area , giving me the opportunity to bag my first swamp buck . <p> 
##2001251 Imagine the whitetail 's delight when colonists first tromped into the fields , scratched a handful of squiggly rows in the dirt , and planted corn . Native Americans had been cultivating maize for centuries , of course ; it was they who had taught the white newcomers gardening tricks . But it 's from the colonists that we get he first written record of the whitetail 's affinity for cultivated crops . With the advent of modern agriculture , however , whitetails have grown fatter , and gardeners have grown wearier . The infrequent incidents of finding a few deer in the corn patch have become frequent occurrences of whole herds caught standing knee deep in the broccoli , buckwheat , cauliflower , soybeans , and tomatoes . When they get into my garden , they mow down the spinach and root up the carrots ; then they cruise down the neighboring grainfield like Scrooge McDuck winnowing through a pile of cash . In the Midwest , corn and soybeans comprise the bulk of a whitetail 's diet . Elsewhere , deer set into orchards and gobble @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to eyeball with whitetails peering through the living room windows on their way to the next ornamental shrub . You really ca n't blame the whitetails . Cultivated plants are pampered ; most are rich in the digestible protein that 's easily converted into the fat reserves whitetails need to survive the winter . Besides , in some areas of the country , whitetails have no choice . Along the coastal plains of the East , for example , so many hardwood forest bottom-lands have been converted for agriculture that whitetails have few other places to feed . Although this is maddening to farmers and backyard gardeners , the whitetail 's attraction to croplands is a boon for hunters . Pick any place in the country , and you 'll find the largest concentration of whitetails living closest to this nation 's breadbasket . Though many hunters like to think of whitetail hunting as a " wilderness , " or , at least , a " backwoods " experience , the most productive whitetail hunting anywhere in the country is in or adjacent to cultivated fields . The high concentration of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cover of a nearby streambed , coulee , or hedgerow makes for an ideal situation where deer can live throughout the hunting season within a very small home range . So , croplands and their borders are great places to focus your whitetail hunt . And , in the continuing saga of life 's ironies , when farmers lose crops to hungry whitetails , hunters have an easier time getting permission to hunt on private lands . In the Midwest , for example , 98 percent of the cropland is privately owned , giving landowners nearly absolute control over hunting access . When crop damage by deer is light , you 're likely to get " nos " at the doorsteps of a lot of farmhouses , but when whitetails are scarfing down the soybeans and crunching up the corn , hunting invitations come as easily as a promise from a politician . Access is one thing , but hunting success is another . Whitetails use croplands and adjacent cover to their advantage , feeding at night and hunkering down during the day ; they move from feeding to bedding sites @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they live in so well , they can change escape tactics in a second . But whitetails are creatures of habit , so their use of croplands and adjacent cover includes patterns for feeding , bedding , hiding , and escape that can be anticipated by the skillful hunter . Food is what attracts the deer to tended crops , of course . But most crops wo n't conceal a whitetail that is standing in the middle of its dinner plate . So deer tend to feed along the edges where crops border woodlands and shrubs . Also , some studies in New England show that fields less then 10 acres in size receive the greatest crop damage . In all cases , it 's apparent that the amount of deer depredation seems to decrease as the distance from cover increases . One big exception is the cornfield . Mature corn can conceal deer activity as well , if not better , than most natural cover . In early autumn , when ears are ripe , whitetails can feed and move throughout fields of corn with an abandon that can drive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ left standing after a series of heavy frosts , can hide a whole herd of deer . Because whitetails feel comfortable feeding in standing corn at any time of the day or night , effective hunting often takes place in the long , narrow corridors of open space between the edge of cornfields and adjoining brush . It 's a sit-and-wait situation that occasionally uncovers a big buck gingerly hoofing it across the strip of open ground . When the corn is down and waste-grain litters the ground , the crop becomes like any of the low-growing varieties ; deer feeding hours switch back to the usual dawn , dusk , and nighttime routine . At the beginning of the season , or if hunting pressure is not great , you may catch deer leaving or entering fields at dawn or dusk . But once they feel pressured they 'll be in and out of the crops only under a cloak of darkness . However , the illumination of the Hunter 's Moon will let you do some nighttime scouting for those large bucks . Because of the cropland diet , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as they do with natural forage -- a large diversity of different-tasting plants that keep feeding deer on the move . As a result of a consistent offering , deer tend to find spots where the nearby cover offers the greatest advantages , including the easiest access to food and the quickest options for escape . This gives the hunter the advantage of knowing that a nice buck spotted in a field at dusk , or in the light of the moon , probably lives in the nearby brush or woodland during the day . I remember picking pumpkins after school for a neighboring farmer in New England one fall . For three or four evenings in a row , a burly buck with fine antlers came out to feed on the corn litter , along the edge of a nearby cornfield . I told the farmer about the buck , and the next evening he came out with me ; he shot the deer where I 'd watched it stand every night . The farmer gave me some steaks and the antlers for " being such a good scout . @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with having the " horns " than the meat . We 'd been lucky , of course , that the deer had come out of hiding while it was still light enough to shoot . More often than not , what with the increase in hunters in the last ten years , scouting after shooting hours is the only way to pinpoint the whereabouts of bucks . The next day you can hunt the brush or woodlands adjoining the croplands where they appeared . How you hunt depends on the type of cover and its proximity to the crop-land . In many areas , only narrow strips of hedgerow or brushy streambeds separate fields . But whitetails can find surprisingly concealed niches for hiding , even in this limited cover . A single hunter walking these strips can jump a number of hiding deer , in addition to the one he 's scouting . If you 're not proficient at fast shooting , however , this can be a flustering operation , since whitetails tend to follow the thread of cover away from the line of sight , giving you a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like an easy hunting situation . In many respects , wider strips of cover between cultivated fields are easier to hunt . In fact , this is one of the most ideal deer-driving situations . Large , open areas border either side of the strips , offering ideal spots where hunters can post . And the area to be driven is usually a manageable size . Success is not assured , of course . In such a situation , many years ago , I was moving through the brush toward some other drivers . We were sure a huge buck was in there , somewhere between us . And suddenly he went crashing past me so closely I could have poked him in the side with my rifle , if the brush had n't been so tight around me . I can still see the high curl of the whitetail antlers before they blended in with the surrounding branches . Another option for hunting along these wider sections of brush or woodlands is to take a stand in a tree or on a rise of high ground that looks down into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ daylight , they do n't stay bedded down from sunrise to sunset . Whitetails rarely stay in a bed for more than 2 hours at a time . They ruminate for an hour or so ; then they get up and stretch , move about a bit , nibble on the natural forage for a while , and then lay down again -- not necessarily in the same bed , but maybe in a spot 20 yards away . This pattern of daytime activity gives the patient hunter an all-day opportunity to corner a buck in a manageable section of cover , and a chance to sight-in on a stationary or slow-moving target . It 's one of my favorite cropland hunting techniques , given the right kind of cover and terrain . Where extensive thicket or forest borders cropland , stand hunting is also preferred . But it 's a morning and evening affair . The edge of cover next to open fields seems to be a transition zone , where deer hang out for a while at daybreak and dusk before going deeper into hiding ( where they can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ twilight or moonlight scouting will let you know where bucks are feeding , and where , along the edge of nearby cover , a stand might be most profitable . At the other extreme are croplands where good cover may be some distance away . This situation often exists in the Prairie States where hardwood draws are the whitetail 's favorite hide-aways . When draws are separated from cropland by some distance , whitetails will use connecting topography and threads of vegetation to help conceal their movements to and from feeding and bedding sites . Shallow draws , the backsides of ridges , fencelines overgown with brambles -- anything that could mask their movements can be considered a possible route of travel for whitetails during the early morning and late evening . In the West , irrigation ditches are popular with deer making connections between crops and cover . Although many ditch banks are overgrown with vegetation , the ditch bottoms offer unobstructed , although wet , routes for deer to travel . Just the other day , as I was driving to town on a long stretch of country road @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was a thin line of willow marking the route of an irrigation ditch . I did several double-takes before realizing that a number of the skimpy willow trunks were filled out on top with deer bodies instead of dried leaves . What an alluring whitetail travel lane -- that curtained pathway -- and what a good place for a cropland hunter to post . <p> 
##2001253 Why is it that almost every conservation agency in the country promotes youth fishing , while nary a one sponsors youth hunting ? I 'm not talking about target shooting ; I mean genuine hunting situations in which youngsters learn not just to shoot well but to understand and value their genetically coded role as predators . Are n't the license monies and ammunition/firearms taxes that hunters provide as good as the license monies and fishing equipment taxes of anglers ? Resource bureaucracies certainly seem eager enough to spend what hunters pay ! In return , we mostly get half-baked hunter training , frequently petty law enforcement , and wildlife research decreasingly devoted to producing more game . If state conservation agencies wo n't support the next generation of hunters , will there even be a next generation ? Does the response of most public officials to the anti-hunting few presage a future in which regulated sport hunting will be denied to the many and replaced by poaching ? The photo on this page -- showing decoy carver , Mark McNair , with his eleven-year-old son , Ian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's first kill -- is an eloquent reminder of what we all stand to lose if the anti-hunters win . ( Photo omitted . ) The hunt , held annually on my farm in Virginia , is actually more of a child-parent than a parent-child affair because my son , now fifteen , extends the invitations to other kids who get to bring one adult each . In the case of neighbors like the Nickels , both parents come , plus a friend of the family , since all three Nickel boys are invited . I started hosting these hunts when my son graduated from targets to live game a number of years ago . Although I could have taken him to one of the free-for-all shoots that occur each September as our county 's corn fields are harvested , I was n't satisfied with some of the things he might see . These local shoots are sometimes dominated by people who are n't always thrilled to see kids in the field . The kids ' dads , therefore , stash their children in out-of-the-way spots where the youngsters wo n't @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ come their way . The kids are either bored and , hence , unlikely to show much enthusiasm for future hunting trips , or they pay rapt attention and learn that the most admired shooters are those who accumulate the most birds . In either case , the kids come to believe that recreational hunting is all about results , not process . My son designed a poster for our first child-parent hunt in which cartoon characters explained the rules . Any obviously hit birds -- whether they fly on , fall into dense cover , or are otherwise lost -- count as part of a shooter 's limit ; mourning doves appear to carry shot well but , in fact , most wounded birds do n't survive the night . All reasonable efforts must be made to recover a hit bird . Hunters with dogs suspend their own shooting to help nearby hunters without dogs find fallen game . Furthermore , a bird hard-hit by one hunter , but killed by another , is returned to the first shooter . Because our hunt 's rules are stricter than any state @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ warden -- unless his son or daughter is invited and he comes along . Everyone 's on his honor to obey the rules , and because people today have increasingly fewer opportunities to test themselves against ethical standards in their daily lives , compliance is generally 100 percent . Ethics strengthen character by exercising conscience . I do n't get upset , therefore , when another hunter sincerely believes he missed a bird that I think he may have hit . I do get upset , however , when a shooter does n't bother to pick up any of his spent shells ! I loathe litter , and I encourage guests , especially those with semi-autos , to stay in one location so they can find all their empties at the end of the day . I tolerate a few lost shells , but a forgotten pile means a " forgotten " invitation the following September . Although such rules might seem to be a burden on young hunters , just the opposite is true . By emphasizing sharing and quality rather than competition and quantity , the youngsters can enjoy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of their abilities . Novice hunters receive more genuine praise for their successes than older , more experienced shooters . The greatest attention of all is paid youngsters with their first dove . Frankly , I feel pity for hunters who live in states without a dove season . While still a Princeton undergraduate , I spent an afternoon chatting about hunting with William Faulkner , who was astonished to learn that New Jersey classified the mourning dove as a songbird . " What do you do in September ? " the Nobel laureate asked , sincerely perplexed . Like most debates in which reason plays little part , people 's perception of the mourning dove is based largely on where they were reared . Northerners feed doves ; Southerners hunt them . There are Yankee exceptions : Pennsylvanians have been hunting doves since 1945 and Rhode Islanders since 1957 . In the Midwest , Illinois has had a dove season since 1918 and Indiana since 1984 . For a season and a half in 1976 and 1977 , Ohio sportsmen hunted doves . The hunting was authorized by the people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the state 's Department of Natural Resources ( DNR ) . But while Ohio hunters were out enjoying their new-found opportunity , animal rightists and wildlife protectionists were shopping around for a sympathetic judge to stop it , which finally happened in the middle of the split season of 1977 . The judge ruled that in Ohio , at least , politicians , not scientists , are the people best qualified to manage wildlife . Ohio sportsmen nearly got to hunt doves again in 1981 . However , they did n't count on the start of the baseball season . While four key supporting senators were in Cincinnati watching the Reds ' opening game , anti-hunters pushed through a floor vote that narrowly defeated the hunting bill . The dove controversy festered through the 1980s and into the 1990s with 428,000 licensed Ohio hunters legally hobbled by a handful of hard-core sentimentalists who call themselves " conservationists " when , in fact , everything they stand for is opposed to rational use . With more time and money on their hands than the mostly working-class Ohio sportsmen , wildlife sentimentalists @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and senators see only lists of numbers of phone calls , not the fact that many calls are made by the same few individuals . In some respects , Ohio is a microcosm of the nation in which the hunting debate pits liberally educated , more affluent , urban residents against conservatively educated , generally poorer , rural residents . People from Toledo or Cleveland make arguments against the sport based on crime statistics , while people living in economically depressed farming communities hope that dove hunters will spend money on local lodging and food . My younger brother -- an avid bird shooter , the former president of the Connecticut Audubon Society , and a history professor at Ohio University located in the state 's more rural south -- testified before the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee in favor of the proposed dove season . Soon after , he called to report that the director ( and possibly only member ) of a group called POET ( Protect Our Earth 's Treasures ) had extracted a paragraph from one of my conservation columns to try to convince committee members @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . What that column had been about , of course , was slob hunting , which all true sportsmen abhor . I wrote the committee 's chairman to point out that interpreting a plea for better hunter education as evidence that either I or FIELD &; STREAM magazine support a continued ban on dove hunting in Ohio is as perverse a reading of our philosophy as it would be to claim that Mothers Against Drunk Driving ( MADD ) are opposed to responsible use of the highways . Shortly afterward , I received a letter from POET 's director ( and possibly only member ) who said his testimony was designed to " enlighten legislators still sitting on the wire -- much like the dove herself sic -- as to the grisly nature of the hunt . " The most revealing item in the letter , however , was its ring-shaped logo that included all the " earth 's treasures " POET wants to protect : a horse , a cow , a dog , a cat , a domestic sheep , a domestic rabbit , a generic ape of some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ birds , no fish , no insects , no plant life of any kind -- just a cluster of domestic or otherwise familiar creatures . The rat is there because POET is opposed , not just to hunting , but to the use of any mammal for food or research . Such a rarified agenda should put the testimony of POET 's director ( and possibly only member ) on a less seriously considered plane than that of either my brother or the Ohio DNR . But thanks to politicians who lack a moral core and consequently ca n't find one in their constituents , POET 's perspective was given weight all out of proportion to the actual number of people it represents . The Ohio dove bill barely made it through the House of Representatives . Then , although it was approved by the appropriate Senate subcommittee seven to two , the bill languished on the legislative back burner until the summer recess killed any possibility of a vote in time for an Ohio season in 1993 . Once again , the inclination of a majority was forced to kowtow @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 
##2001254 YEARS AGO , IN GEORGIA , I attended a traditional dove hunt . Twenty-three gunners surrounded a harvested cornfield , and birds galore came slicing in amidst a din of shotgun blasts . Spent pellets constantly rattled down around me , and I was uneasy most of the time . After the shoot I stopped to visit a peanut-farmer friend who lived nearby . He was sitting under a tree beside a stock pond , shotgun across his lap . Some doves lay in the shade beside him . I said , " Why are n't you at the big shoot ? " He grinned . " Too rackety , and my hide ai n't shot-proof . I like it lonesome . " That started me down the lonesome-dove-hunter trail . Since then , I 've spent a lot of time by myself , at waterholes , instead of in a crowd at feeding fields , and my hunting has been more peaceful and more enjoyable . Many hunters are so conditioned to group shooting that this approach never occurs to them . Doves fly to water after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to do is find the kind of water they prefer ( bearing in mind that some states do n't allow morning shooting ) . They dislike drinking from flowing water , and prefer muddy puddles or ponds . If the water is saline , so much the better ; doves love salt . Not all muddy ponds attract doves . If the banks are covered with dense grass , the pond may be passed up . Doves dislike alighting in heavy grass ; they usually land in the clear a few feet from the water 's edge and then walk down to drink . A pond does n't need to be full . I recall one droughty season when the ponds I hunted held only a little muddy water surrounded by cracked earth . They looked dreadful , but all season long they attracted birds from a wide area , and working them on alternate afternoons , I had good shooting for two months . When rain has been scarce , waterhole shooting spreads the action over a longer period of time . At feeding fields , there is a often @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but the birds come in to drink in ones and twos and the shooting often lasts from late afternoon until sunset . A waterhole attraction that does not depend on rain is the gravel that surrounds many ponds ; the doves pick it up to mix with food in their crops , and grind it in their gizzards . When you pick out a waterhole , look at the surrounding features . One muddy tank I shot at had an enormous boulder lying right beside the outlet . Near the earthen dam that formed the tank was a tall dead tree . Almost every bird that came in would head either for the boulder or the tree ( doves love to perch in dead snags ) . A friend and I staked out these two attractions for an entire season . We knew in advance the route the doves would take coming in ; that was dictated by the outlet from the tank . Every bird within a 90-degree arc of countryside would home in on the creek and follow it to the tank . A small pond at which flight @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ where you can get the shots that are easiest for you . For example , I shoot better swinging my gun from right to left , and if you pick your flight lane correctly , that is the way your shots will travel . You should also give consideration to concealment . Many waterholes are surrounded by trees and brush , but in picking a spot to wait , you must also give consideration to the sun . It has to be at your back and in the doves ' faces . There are vast areas of dove range where waterholes are few . So what you look for is their replacement -- ranch windmills . Windmills in stock country have catch basins or troughs which the mill fills . Doves will seldom alight on a trough edge to drink , but will go to the muddy overflow areas that surround the troughs . Cattle track up these muddy areas , and the hoofprints are usually full of water . You might not relish the idea of drinking out of a muddy hoofprint , but doves do , and some of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I 've had have been at windmills . If windmills have a drawback , it 's the fact that they 're usually out in the open , but a windmill tower , with its crisscross braces , suffices for concealment . In New Mexico one fall , a friend and I discovered an abandoned farm , and saw doves flying toward it . Sure enough , there was a windmill , and cattle and dove tracks around the mill . Suited in camouflage , we stood inside the framework of the tower . Birds began coming in one or two at a time an hour before sunset , and we collected limits before legal shooting time had ended . The dove hunter who prefers the lonesome approach has another sporty alternative -- walking them up . It 's especially productive in states that have a late season near the end of the year . By then , concentrated feed is about gone and the doves must look for small food patches that they previously ignored . Cornfields are good . So are patches of ragweed , foxtail grass , wild millet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ these , and most will harbor a bird . I 've spent some interesting dove-hunting days in cornfields where a picker had gone through , leaving the stalks partly standing . The birds may not be abundant , but this is offset by the fact that you do n't know where they 'll flush , so each dove comes as a surprise . If you hunt on a day when the wind is blowing parallel with the corn rows , you can walk into it , covering the sound of your footsteps . This gives you the opportunity to flush birds at close range . The shots are all on rising birds or on low-flyers going straight away . The rising ones are especially easy to miss . During the late season when the weather is chilly , doves commonly roost on the ground among vines where tall grass grows . Low growths of dense brush may also serve as roosts this time of year . If a chill wind is blowing , birds will go to roost early in such places . If you stake out a series of these @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hour of shooting light , you may find that each holds a half dozen or so doves . One of the sportiest hunts I 've had occurred after New Year 's near the Texas-Mexico border . Every sprig of grass on the poor range where I was had been eaten by cattle . Scattered across a long stretch of nearly barren land were tall dead stalks of yuccas , the pods at their tops dropping seeds . A Mexican cowboy on horseback was rounding up stray cattle , and I asked him if he 'd seen any doves . He told me there were lots , but I 'd have to do much walking to find them . Here and there , he explained , I 'd find a dove feeding on yucca seeds . There was a stiffwind , and I walked into it , prowling from one yucca stalk to another . As I zigzagged , a bird would erupt from beside one plant , but the next dozen widely scattered yuccas might hold nothing . At the end of the first hour I had flushed six birds and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I had taken two more birds , was worn out , and decided to quit . I had what a dove-addict friend calls " a perfect score " -- six birds and six misses . But now that I think back on it , those six birds hunted the lonesome way were more meaningful than limits of doves I 'd taken in the middle of a crowd . <p> 
##2001255 WHEN I WAS GROWING UP , THE ONLY WATER WE KNEW OF IN OUR PART OF EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS THAT STILL HELD NATIVE BROOK TROUT MEANDERED THROUGH A SWAMP TWO TOWNS AWAY . IT WAS TOO SMALL AND REMOTE EVEN TO HAVE A NAME . ITS ANONYMITY , OF COURSE , ONLY HEIGHTENED ITS APPEAL . IF IT HAD NO NAME , I COULD BELIEVE THAT MY FATHER , WHO KNEW HOW TO KEEP A SECRET , REALLY HAD DISCOVERED IT . I could walk or pedal my bike to a nearby panfish pond anytime , and I always caught plenty of fish . But trout fishing was an occasion precisely because it was not nearby . Trout were special because I fished for them only with Dad , and because they were scarce and wild and hard to catch and beautiful . We visited our secret little brook only two or three times a season , in April , before the larger rivers cleared up and mayflies began to hatch . We dug worms in the morning . Dad said we only needed a dozen or so . @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ expected to get a few bites , but I insisted that we gather a hundred , on the theory that you never knew when you 'd hit it just right , and you certainly did n't want to run out of bait . Our brook wound slow and inscrutable through a vast bog , and we had to walk through the woods for 15 or 20 minutes to get to it . On those early days of spring we sometimes found dirty patches of old snow in shadowy places under the evergreens . The swampy April breezes carried the faint mingled aromas of pine needles and thawing earth and rotting vegetation . The willows and alders and young hardwoods were just beginning to bud , but the trees showed no leaves , and it was a dark black-and-white place hidden from the sun by the hills and the pines . We usually heard a grouse drumming in the distance . It sounded like a balky old engine trying to get started . Sometimes we flushed a migrating woodcock . We studied the mud for tracks of raccoons , mink , muskrat @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trout places could be as alluring as trout fishing . A half-grown boy could jump across our brook in most places . Its currents were barely noticeable . For so narrow a little rill , it ran deep against undercut banks and beneath blowdowns . Its stained tea-colored water obscured its mysteries . You had to interpret its surface to figure out what lay underneath . Trout , Dad said , lurked in deep protected places . They survived because predators such as mink and herons and kingfishers could not catch them . Most trout , of course , did not survive . Those that did were the smartest and wariest and swiftest , and those were the ones which lived long enough to reproduce and pass along their smart and wary and swift genes . That 's why wild trout were hard to catch . We are trout predators , Dad said . We must be smarter and warier than they are if we should hope to get one to bite . I loved the idea of being a trout predator . It seemed to make the trout at least @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out into the water and wait for a trout to come along and twitch at my line . I had to figure out where a trout might be hiding , and I had to stalk him without his knowing it . I had to drift my worm to him in such a way that he would mistake it for a natural bait and decide , despite all of his survival-tuned instincts , to eat it . This trout fishing did not involve sophisticated equipment or complex strategies or esoteric science . It was basic , but subtle , too . Fishing for native brook trout in this wild little brook , I understood , was a kind of hunting . It was , as worm-dunking for panfish was not , real fishing . Wild brook trout were real fish . We hit the brook somewhere in the middle of the swamp and fished it back toward the car . I would start in and Dad would circle the alders and willows to a spot 50 feet or so downstream . He 'd hang his handkerchief on a bush and begin there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , I 'd take it , circle around Dad , and hang it where I resumed . We fished as slowly and precisely and stealthily as herons . We crouched on the boggy banks and hunkered behind bushes , thrusting out our rods to drop our baits so that they would drift deep and tight to the undercuts , and it took a half hour or more to cover the distance down to the handkerchief . Thus we leap-frogged each other , always within shouting distance , always fishing virgin water . It was at once solitary and companionable . As near as we could tell , no one else ever fished there . We never . found footprints or cigarette butts on the boggy banks , and this , as much as the trout that lived in it , gave our brook its special romance . They ran small . A 7-incher was a trophy and we rarely killed them . We just liked to try to catch them . They had lived there since the glaciers retreated , eons before men with spears began to hunt them . They @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . Their spots glittered like drops of fresh blood inside sky-blue halos , and their fins were edged with ivory . A 6-incher in my hand felt cold and muscular and wild . I believed then -- and still do -- that a small native brook trout was nature 's most beautiful and elusive creation . Catching one initiated the lucky boy into exalted company . It made him a mink or a heron -- a hunter , a creature of nature himself . No experience in my life , with the exception of watching the births of my children , has been as transcendent for me as catching those wild little trout from that wild little brook . EVEN AFTER I BECAME ADDICTED TO fly fishing and we had widened our fishing circle to encompass all of New England , Dad and I continued to visit our little brook every April . We made it an annual ritual , on the afternoon of Patriot 's Day after the morning parade . We dug a can of worms ( I continued to insist that we bring many more than we needed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ place in the swamp that hid our secret wild trout brook . The day we found the surveyor 's markers scattered through the swamp and along the margins of our brook was the last day we went there . I tore those orange stakes from the ground and heaved them into the woods , and Dad , uncharacteristically , did not chide me for my vandalism . He did n't help me rip up the stakes , either , although I believe he would have if he thought it would help . He knew instantly what I had instinctively realized : Progress had found our brook , and nature , even with our help , was no match for its implacable force . We fished the brook that April day , and the trout were as abundant as ever , coppery and wiggly and wild . We returned them all , even though we knew it was an act of quixotic futility . Our wild trout , we understood , were doomed . TODAY I LIVE LESS THAN A MILE from that brook . The forest has been cut down , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ meander where our brook once flowed , and houses and garages and backyard swing sets sit where ruffed grouse once drummed in April . Our brook flows straight and shallow through a concrete culvert . Its muddy hanks bear the prints of children and dogs . Its water is dirt-stained and carries a faint septic odor . The only thing that glitters in it is broken glass . Kids catch frogs and turtles from it , and wild mosquitoes reproduce themselves there as they have for eons . <p> 
##2001256 THIS IS THE GOOFIEST IDEA YOU 'VE HAD all year , " Terry grumbled as we followed the thin beam of my flashlight through the overhanging branches of the thicket . It was 4:30 in the morning . At 3:30 I 'd made Terry take a shower . Then I 'd sent him to the back porch to get into his clothes that had been air drying there all night . I would n't even let him have his wake-up cigarette . It was all part of my plan to hunt a big buck in a place where I 'd never gotten one before . Fortunately , Terry was a good friend . I 'd passed the hawthorn-and-dogwood thicket dozens of times . Friends and I had tried to scare whitetails out of that spot , but they simply milled around the safe , brushy interior . After that , I 'd just left the place alone . Yet every time I walked by that thicket I knew a big buck had to be holed up in there , somewhere . WHITETAIL BUCKS GET BIG BY NOT BEING @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ -- a spot where a hunter 's approach ca n't go undetected -- and they stay there until after dark , returning before it 's light enough to hunt . A timbered ridge surrounded by marsh , a thicket by a stream , a brush-choked coulee , a north-slope timber maze -- they 're all places that you 're sure hold bucks , yet you pass them up because you know you ca n't get into them without spooking the game . The only time to get into these buck hideaways is in the pitch dark , when the whitetails are off feeding somewhere else . That 's exactly when you should enter these spots to await a buck 's return . But to do this you must be able to identify prime buck hideaways , enter them in complete darkness , remain undetected -- all on a buck 's own turf . Finding good hideaways involves more than looking for brush or timbered tangles that you do n't want to go into . Although bucks hide in swamps , thickets , thick timber , and downfalls , they want more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ daytime cover relatively close to their food sources . Apples , acorns , and grain crops , for example , are prized fall foods . But do n't overlook the favorite whitetail edibles in your part of the country , particularly where the foods are abundant and diverse . Whitetails thrive on variety in their menu and will stay close to areas that have it . After locating good pockets of whitetail foods , circle the area searching for thick clusters of vegetation that make up the typical buck hideaway : low , dense brush in draws and coulees ; thick timber with plenty of understory growth or tangles of downed trees ; and swampy , marshy spots where trees and brush conceal movement . If it looks like a miserable place to get into , it 's probably a buck hideaway . Next , check the periphery of the hideaway . Look for evidence of travel lanes . Whitetails depend on quick access to reach security ; unlike mule deer , they do n't use obstacles to slow down pursuing predators . Because whitetails want to get into cover as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ obvious in the areas they use most often . Trampled grass , broken twigs , and ground cover worn to bare dirt are such telltale signs . But remember : Bucks use certain types of escape cover , depending on the weather . When it 's cold or snowy , whitetails will probably spend the day in thick , dense canopied timber . The overhead cover not only blocks snowfall , it also reduces the animal 's radiant heat loss , which keeps deer , and the hideaway , warm . A windy day , on the other hand , usually sends bucks into the shelter of low , thick brush where the tangled branches act as a screen against wind chill . Once you 've located a buck hideaway , let the weather tell you whether it 's going to be a good place to hunt . In very high winds or extremely low temperatures , it 's better not to hunt these hideaways at all . In nasty weather , deer simply hold tight in the protection of brush or timber , knowing they 'll lose more energy going @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their stomachs . I was caught by surprise one dark , windy morning when the buck I was after bolted from his bed after being startled by the beam of my flashlight . I 'd debated about going out in the howling wind , when I fumbled out of bed at 4 A.M. , but decided to use the darkness to get into a thicket I knew was being used by a buck during the day . To work into the small opening at the heart of the thicket , I hunkered down into a duck waddle . That 's how I was when I caught the big fellow in bed . He was not about to get chilled to the bone for a windy breakfast in the dark . And I was not about to have a successful hunt . Now , getting into a buck hideaway in the dark requires a bit of planning , including a practice run during the light of day . Once you 've gone in and mucked about a buck 's private quarters , your scent may linger for days , keeping the buck @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ week between your trial run and the actual hunt . I 've sometimes done my initial scouting months before the hunting season in order to improve my chances of cornering an unsuspecting buck . First , you should determine the best route to take into the hideaway-one that will be relatively easy to follow in the dark , but that wo n't duplicate the route the buck is likely to take when returning from his feeding grounds . I find that it 's best to locate the feeding grounds first , and then determine how the deer gets into his refuge . Once I 've done that , I go to the opposite side of the hideaway and figure out the best route for me . When planning a route , keep an eye out for snags and obstacles that could grab you in the dark . Do n't be afraid to do some discrete moving and pruning . You can push aside bristling snags and break off eye-poking twigs without making the place look like an earth mover went through . Upon occasion , when the entrance is concealed or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ strips of colored ribbon onto the branches to mark my way . After getting into the heart of the hideaway , you should decide where to place a stand . Well-used haunts often have well-used beds that make good focal points for determining stand placement . While getting firewood recently , I found two beds in the middle of an acre of downfall . The beds were about 15 feet apart , dug into bare earth at least 6 inches below the surrounding ground litter . They were situated on a side hill with a good view of the fallen trees below , and were backed by more downfalls on the ridge above . Because the typical downslope air currents are active until well after sunup , I could n't place a stand directly behind the beds . Instead , I erected a portable stand off to the side , anticipating that the deer would return from below the hideaway , where snowberry and huckleberry were growing in profusion . My placement worked well . Come hunting light ten days later , I had my pick of two bucks . While @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , field of vision takes a close second . Buck hideaways are chosen , of course , for their ability to screen deer from view . But , getting up in a tree -- even 6 or 8 feet high -- can offer a new perspective on what may appear from below to be impenetrable undergrowth . If large trees are n't available for a stand , find a patch of higher ground that will provide the same effect . Neither the higher ground nor the tree stand needs to be within the hideaway , as long as you have a good view and are within comfortable rifle range . When trees or high ground are n't available , look for small openings within the surrounding vegetation . Deer often bed on the edge or in the middle of such spots , as long as cover surrounds the area . Sitting downwind from where a deer would enter these openings is your best bet for hunting this type of hideaway . No matter where you decide to make your stand , be in position a good hour before hunting light . @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ get into the hideaway ; but once you 're in place , turn off the light and sit quietly . Contemplate the darkness and listen . Perhaps the biggest challenge in hunting buck hideaways is remaining undetected . The primary giveaway is usually scent . The wornout image of the hunter in hunting camp with a week 's growth of beard and a week 's accumulation of B.O. just does n't cut it with this kind of hunting . You have to eliminate as much of your scent as possible -- that 's why I made Terry shower at 3:30 in the morning . And , instead of the usual , fragrant bath soap , scrub down with an odorless bacterial cleanser available at most drug stores . Also , use scentless deodorant . It 's no good making your body as odorless as possible if you do n't do something about your clothes . Wash your garb in a scentless detergent and dry it outside in the open air . Odors that get into your clothes between the wash and hunt can tip off deer , too . Cigarette smoke @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to a deer 's nostrils . So , do n't hang out in a greasy spoon sipping coffee and smoking cigarettes before going into a hideaway because the buck will never come home . With the most important aspects of the hunt -- the advance preparations -- complete , it 's time to play the waiting game . While in your stand , you may hear the buck returning to his hideaway , or you may hear nothing at all . As the sky begins to lighten , carefully scrutinize the area . First , check any beds that you scouted out beforehand . But do n't assume you 've blown it if they 're empty . Bucks do n't always jump into bed after coming home from a night of feeding ; sometimes they wander about in the security of their cover for awhile . and rarely do they stay bedded for more than an hour at a time without getting up for a few minutes . So be patient , and keep looking -- with your eyes , not with your body . Stay put for at least a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ still until the night-time downslope air movements shift to an upslope breeze . This change in wind direction sometimes alerts bedding bucks to a hunter 's presence ; they 'll begin to fidget and reveal themselves to you . I wo n't forget the time I sat looking for a buck until my eyes ached . Then I noticed the air shift from my face to the back of my neck . Within minutes , a buck was up and nosing the air not 100 feet away . I must have examined the spot where he lay bedded a dozen times in the course ofthe morning . If the wind does n't shift , and if you do n't expect it to , try moving about a bit , making a little noise . When you 've done everything right , a buck may have come into his hideaway and gone to bed without any hint that you are present . In the end , you may have to reveal yourself in order to get him to do the same . <p> 
##2001257 THE GROUSE SHOOTING GOT better when most of the farmers left and wild grapes grew where the corn could n't . We 'd hit the best cover hard and leave the light stuff alone , so birds would stay there till it grew thick enough to stop shot . We practiced conservation . School helped the grouse because it kept Nathan and me out of the woods . It seemed Nathan and I would grow old hunting grouse . My gun was an Iver-Johnson single-barrel , a 20 gauge . Nathan had a Winchester 97 pump , a 12-bore cornsheller with a stock that cracked you in the gums like a hatchet . Later mechanisms would have a disconnector so the gun could n't fire if you held the trigger back while cycling the action . Not so the 97 . One grouse , caught in open popples , seemed to paint the trees with shot as it streaked between them , broadside , bleeding Nathan 's gun dry . " Too bad yours is n't a 12 , " he 'd said , counting his shells . @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was 6 inches shorter and 2 pounds lighter . Once in a while I 'd wish it had two barrels . But a double gun cost more than a bred heifer . " A farm will return what you give it , " my Uncle Britlow often said . " Work hard . You 'll prosper . " I did n't talk about guns with him . " Hmpf " he 'd snorted when I 'd told him Nathan 's Winchester held six shells . We 'd stay at the Britlow place often . Our folks did n't seem to care , so long as the milking got done . Nathan took chores pretty seriously for a fellow who could keep four empties in the air at once with his pumpgun . " Straight as a rail , " said the neighbors -- meaning Nathan was honest and solid ; the kind of boy who 'd keep the old values alive . " LOOKIT THAT THUNDERHEAD ! " NATHAN said under his breath , almost revernty . We had an hour today , the last day before grouse season closed and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the fall smells , striding quickly toward the cover . We split up then , Nathan going left . The first bird boomed away to my right , climbing sharply . The Iver Johnson 's silver bead bounded up to catch it . Bang ! Amid the ticking of torn branches settling came the soft thump of the grouse . " Down ! " I hollered , then broke the gun and reloaded . There was simply no finer life , anywhere . By the time I 'd worked my cover through to the marsh , thunder was bumping along the northern horizon , burly black clouds igniting in rhythm . The rain would come , but on this last afternoon we 'd hunt into the teeth of a hurricane rather than quit . I 'd shot two grouse , missed another , and moved two that gave me no chance . The storm had pulled an early curtain on dusk . I 'd not have time to cross the marsh and hunt the hill ; better to work the thornapple bottom toward Nathan . Rain came before I 'd @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the end of another season . Buckshot-like on the litter , it roared above the rewings of the wind . So when the deer left , there was no sound : just a blur of chalk tail , ivory antlers , and a nut-and-pepper body that burst from behind a windfall and shot like driven smoke through the bush toward Nathan . Bang-Bang-Bang ! Bang ! Bang ! We stood together in the rain , as I 'd known we would at dusk . We each had grouse . I could have predicted that , too . But I did n't know what to make of the deer sprawled in front of us . The right antler had an odd twist . At last Nathan spoke . " He came so quick . Season 's tomorrow . He 's big , is n't he ? I 'll have to gut him . " There was a long pause . " Well ? " " Well , what ? " I asked him . " It 's a deer , Nathan . " " You mean it 's not time . " @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . " No . I mean , yes , it is n't . Besides , this is our best grouse cover ! " " What does that have to do with a deer ? " Nathan shouted , and it startled me because Nathan never shouted . He turned away , then , and leaned his 97 against a tree and fished a pocketknife from his drenched jeans . " Are you going to help ? " " Wh-what c-can I do ? " Somehow , I wanted to finish this and forget about it , to pretend that Nathan and I were still grouse hunting , and that he was still straight as a rail . Later , a thin slice of moon pried the clouds apart , and in that light we finished . We trudged along the skidder track in silence , wealy . I felt old . Though we 'd scrubbed our hands with wet leaves , they still smelled of blood and offal . I would clean the grouse tomorrow , at home . Nathan would have to retrieve the buck himself . " I might @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ got to , " I said matter-of-factly , surprised at my conviction . On the porch step that night , I took one long , deep breath and listened to the silence . The day had seemed like twenty , but it was still October . I did n't do much with Nathan after that . It was n't that we avoided each other , the deer just gradually wedged us apart . We spoke of it only once . Nathan stopped at my locker between classes the day after it happened . " You did n't tell anybody , " he half asked , half demanded . " I 'm no snitch . " " It was wrong , " he said . " You know , it was the natural thing to do . I mean , would you have done it ? Say you had a 12 , a pump . " That made me furious . " Hey , I did n't shoot a buck out of .... " " Shhhhh ! " Nathan looked annoyed -- and mean . The bell rang then , and I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ If you meant to and could n't , it 's the same . " THAT FIRST WINTER , UNCLE COULD tell I had a blister somewhere , but he did n't pry , and eventually the changes it had forced became just me growing up . Years sped by , and grouse rose to other guns . " Why do n't we shoot a bird today ? " Uncle said casually one day , as though he considered the idea every morning . In truth , he had never offered to hunt with me . " You 'll be in college next year , and this is the last day of the season . The hatch was good , I 'm told . " " WELL , UH , SURE . You CAN USE MY Remington . I 'll carry the single-shot . " " Thanks , but I have an old Parker . " He smiled as I gaped . " Let 's try your favorite spot . " It felt strange , sharing with Uncle this skidder track Nathan and I had adopted together . We walked slowly , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coming to loot ; we 're coming to hunt . " The first bird rocketed out straight away . " Your bird , " Uncle said . " Shoot if you can , " I replied . I shot the next grouse at 20 yards , then winged another that flopped around obligingly so I could find and finish it . The woods were getting dark by that time . I suggested we turn back . " How about working those thornapples to the swamp and catching the road there ? " Uncle asked , leading me into the corridor . A Cooper 's hawk " flashed through the canopy above us . " Deer hunters will keep him company tomorrow , " Uncle said . " Ever see a buck in these tangles ? " " I guess so , " I replied . " Bucks get old in places like this . " " What 's the difference between intending and doing -- I mean , ethically ? " I asked , figuring Uncle had an opinion . " Ca n't say . Depends on what you " want @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up and you shoot at it , but you miss . " " Saints and sinners both miss , " he replied . " You want a reward for missing ? " " Of course not . What if you wanted to poach a deer but did n't take the shot ? " Uncle laughed . " You would n't be a very good poacher . " " And if someone else did ? " Uncle looked at me . " Then you 'd have to sanction the shot or report the violation . It would force a decision . " We got to the truck then , and cased the guns . " The trouble with growing old is that you fret when the wind blows , and when the air is sticky and still . The weather is n't any different than it was when you were young . You just become more aware of it and worry more about it " FOUR YEARS LATER -- IN FACT , A month after Nathan was ordained -- Uncle Britlow died . I went with the family to the house , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the cobwebbed V of a roof truss , the skull and antlers of a whitetail buck caught my eye . The twisted right beam gave it away . A metal deer tag clasped the base of that beam . " I had to tell him , you know , " Nathan spoke from behind me . " He went right out and bought a license . I wanted to undo it then . But you ca n't , you know . " Uncle had bought a license for me , too , a ticket to talk on the last day of grouse season . " Sometimes it 's hard to play straight , " I said . Then I handed the antlers to my brother . <p> 
##2001258 Many people fear what they can not see , and so it is with deep-water bass fishing -- a game of intuition and feel . Dark murky depths offer an angler no clues , expect the certainty that something lurks below . You want it to be a bass . Finding out simply takes a bit of skill and a little blind faith . In numerous lakes across the country , bass hold between 15 and 35 feet deep for a portion of the season , particularly during the summer and winter . They relate to places that offer ambush-feeding opportunities such as humps , shoals , reefs , ledge dropoffs , submerged channel bends , the ends of tapered points , old roadbeds , grass edges , isolated holes , or bottom structure -- all of which can be identified by using sonar . To make the most of a deep-water haunt , it 's best to get right over it and jig . When jigging vertically , you control the position of the lure through careful boat handling , using the electric motor to stay in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Anchoring does n't give you enough flexibility , and the anchor and its line sometimes spook fish . With good boat positioning , however , you can keep the lure where the fish are likely to be . The biggest problem fishermen have with deep-water jigging is developing confidence in their technique and overcoming the fear of not being able to find the right spots in unknown deep water . But like many fears , this one can be overcome with faith in your sonar and with good technique . Since lure selection for vertical jigging is limited , you must rely on technique to induce and detect strikes . Although leadhead jigs with plastic bodies can be used for vertical jigging , such lures are best in slow , bottom-bumping , crawl-and-hop-type presentations . Bait-tipped leadheads are prime deep-walleye lures , and they also catch deep bass , as do plastic worms . But when you are vertical jigging for bass in the depths , the lure should be worked near or off the bottom in imitation of a struggling prey fish , so a jigging spoon works best . @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ounces ( and more for fishing in saltwater ) . Lengths and weights are keyed to conditions , with heavier lures being best for deeper water and in wind or current strong enough to make getting and keeping a light lure in the proper spot more difficult . Jigging spoons with feathered or bucktailed hooks do n't seem as productive in freshwater as they do in salt . Silver spoons in a polished or dimpled finish seem to be the best color . You may want to change the hooks on some to get a lighter wire treble or a single . A larger hook made of lighter wire may get hung up less often than a smaller one of thicker wire . Sinking lipless crankbaits and those with metal blade-type sinkers that vibrate and flutter well when raised and lowered are also good for vertical jigging if they do n't have hooks that will foul on the line . You can also use Normark 's Balanced Jigging Rapala , a unique little lure with a small lip and single hook at each end which swims in circles and is primarily @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fluttering , darting motion and using them is n't difficult . Here 's how it 's done : press the freespool button when fishing with a bait-casting reel or open the bail when using a spinning reel . Toss the line a few feet away from the boat ( on the windward side if there is wind ) or drop it right at the gunwale , and let it sink . Watch the line as it comes off the spool ; when the line stops momentarily , it means the lure has hit bottom . Reel in , turning the handle once or twice to raise the lure off the bottom . Keep the rod pointed low and , with a short , quick jerk of the wrist , snap the rod tip up . Bass occasionally go for a very fast or a very slow lift , but a moderate action is generally best . Lower the rod tip as the lure descends , and try to maintain contact with the lure in the process . Most strikes occur as the lure is fluttering or falling back . Although raising @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cause it to resemble a fish trying to scoot away , when it descends again it looks like a vulnerable fish unable to flee . Getting into a good jigging rhythm means making short quick jerks in a regular cadence that might average about one jerk every 1.5 to 2 seconds . If you have n't tried this before , or in a while , you may be surprised by the first strike . Make sure to set the hook and reel in at the same time , in order to ensure a hookup . Strikes are sometimes lost with this style of fishing because of an angler 's slow reaction . Also , as depth increases so does line stretch and rod flexibility , all of which makes it harder to feel strikes . Graphite rods with a stiff butt and midsection and a fast tapering ( but not whippy ) tip are good jigging tools . Low-stretch lines are also a help . Although I 'm not a fan of Dacron lines , when angler Ricky Green lent me a reel spooled with some during a recent outing , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 23 feet of water , the Dacron telegraphed the strike more clearly than my conventional nylon line had . When you are n't getting results jigging near the bottom , make two or three turns of the reel handle to raise the lure . Jig there for a bit , raise the lure once or twice more , then drop it back to the bottom and start over . This allows you to cover the entire water column . Or try a frantic-bait retrieve . Stop the lure at the bottom , then burn the handle a few strokes to make the spoon dart up a few feet ; immediately put it in freespool to drop the lure back , and repeat the procedure , raising it more each time , gradually bringing the lure closer to the surface . This tactic seems to represent a struggling fish with a little gas left , and is especially effective on striped bass . Finding a concentration of bass or other species ( see side-bar ) in deep water could mean a vertical-jigging bonanza . But it 's the first strike that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ catch fish in the deep . <p> 