Field & Stream

"The World's Leading Outdoor Magazine." devoted to the complete outdoor experience and lifestyle.

MAKE A (SPRING) BREAK FOR IT • Step 1: Cut class. Step 2: Spend the day outside

CONTRIBUTOR • Writer and bass expert Pete Robbins wrote “Million-Dollar Lures” (p. 30) in this issue, a story featuring bait tricks from bass pros who’ve won seven figures in their careers

FIRST SHOT

HIDDEN JEWELS • Now’s the time to discover nameless spring ponds—and the eager trout they hold

GEAR TIP FIVE FLIES AND A FLOAT

SENSE OF PLACE • When we begin to rely on digital maps too much, we risk losing sight of where we are

GEAR REVIEW LITTLE BIG AXE

GEAR TIP BE MORE FLEXIBLE

SMASHED, TRASHED, AND HAMMERED • How one innovative streamer is making wary browns and hungry flyfishermen totally punch-drunk

GEAR REVIEW RETURN OF THE CZ BOBWHITE

RUFF TIMES • One of the country’s most celebrated gamebirds is in trouble—and it’s time to do something

ME, WRONG? • Well, not exactly. But I’ve had to change my thinking on many shooting-related subjects

GEAR REVIEW 3O0-YARD SMOKEPOLE

CORNED WILD TURKEY BREAST • Served with a side of charred cabbage, this riff on a classic spring dish is a gobbler game-changer

ON MISSING • There’s a time to tease, a time to comfort, and a time to shut up when your buddy blows the shot of a lifetime

GEAR REVIEW MISS-PROOF RIFLESCOPE

MILLION DOLLAR LURE$ • A bass pro doesn’t earn piles of cash by making poor bait choices. To help you land more fish, we asked eight pros, each with seven figures’ worth of winnings, which lure has earned them the most money

CA$TING OFF CA$H • The pros may get a lot of free lures, but many are suckers for the rare, the custom, and the discontinued. And they’ll pay big for them. Here are a few notable spends.

BIG $PENDER$ • Tournament winnings often feel like found money, which provides an excuse to buy something expensive, if not semi-frivolous. Here’s how some of our pros splurged.

THE CO$T OF A MILLION

NO FISH GUTS, NO GLORY • THE PLAN WAS AN ADVENTUROUS TWIST ON A CAST AND BLAST—A DAY OF BOWFISHING FOR CARP, FOLLOWED BY FOUR EVENINGS OF BEAR HUNTING IN THE MOUNTAINS. AS FOR THAT TWIST? THEY’D USE THE CARP THEY ARROWED AS BRUIN BAIT, AND IF ANYONE WANTED TO PUNCH HIS BEAR TAG, IT WAS COLOR-PHASE OR BUST

RESTORATION PIECES • There is a workshop in Upstate New York where old guns become like new again, and where the work that goes into every firearm—whether it’s a long-forgotten 1911 or a used-and-abused lever act ion—is nothing short of artistry

The Ultimate PRS Rifle • THIS MASTERPIECE ARMS 6MM CREEDMOOR IS STATE OF THE ART IN THE RAPIDLY EVOLVING WORLD OF THE PRECISION RIFLE SERIES. JUST THINK WHAT THE FUTURE MIGHT HOLD

THE TURKEY TRUANTS • FOR A COUPLE OF OLD FRIENDS, HUNTING RIO GRANDE GOBBLERS IN TEXAS ISN’T QUITE AS MUCH FUN AS SKIPPING SCHOOL TO CHASE EASTERN USED TO BE. BUT IT’S CLOSE

The Turkey Hunter’s Guide to Skipping School • Your teacher is going to say no if you ask to go hunting instead of attending class. I know this because my wife’s a teacher, my mom was a teacher, and Seymore’s mom was not only a teacher but also the school superintendent. Sharp, every one of them. It’s best to simply beg for forgiveness when you get caught—and to have a few good excuses on hand.

CATCHING

ONE MORE BUCK • WHAT KEEPS 105-YEAR-OLD CLYDE ROBERTS, THE OLDEST HUNTER IN AMERICA, RETURNING TO THE WOODS YEAR AFTER YEAR? HARD WORK, CLEAN LIVING, AND ONE SIMPLE GOAL

LIFE LINE

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