Hunting
Iron Sights vs Ballistic Apps: Why Grandpa Still Out-Hunted Us
My grandpa hunted with a Winchester Model 94. Iron sights, thirty-thirty, checkered flannel and a thermos of black coffee. He never owned a rangefinder,…
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Field Hunter
Field Hunter is the Field Honest house byline for real field narratives shaped by the editorial desk. Stories may come from our own experience, friends and contributors, or reader submissions. First-person voice preserves the source narrator's perspective; the byline does not claim that one person lived every story.
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Field Stories
Forty Yards Is a Long Time to Stand Still
I was hunting whitetail in a patch of public land in northern Wisconsin. Late October,…
Field Skills
Your Bench Rest Groups Are Lying to You: How to Practice Like You Actually Hunt
I shot a whitetail at 275 yards two seasons ago. Good hit — double lung.…
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Forty Dollars of Knives, a YouTube Video, and a First Deer
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When Your Hunting Spot Gets a For Sale Sign: Why Showing Up Matters More Than You Think
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The First Deer I Shot Alone (With a Craigslist Bow and No Idea What I Was Doing)
The first deer I shot wasn’t with a rifle. It was with a compound bow I bought on Craigslist for…
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Three Trips, Zero Fish, and the One Mistake That Explained It
I didn’t catch anything my first three trips. Not a single fish. I watched YouTube, bought the recommended gear, tied…
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Fifty-Five Pounds of Fear, Eighteen Pounds of Pack
I used to carry way too much stuff into the woods. Like, embarrassing amounts. My first elk hunt I brought…
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A Coyote Called In by Accident Has No Script
I wasn't trying to call anything in. I was just sitting there, bored, playing a free predator call app. Then…
Conservation
The For Sale Sign at My Favorite Public Land (And Why Conservation Isn’t Someone Else’s Job)
There’s a piece of public land about forty minutes from my house. I’ve hunted it for eight years. I know…
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From Field to Freezer: How I Learned to Butcher My Own Deer (Badly, Then Better)
The first deer I butchered myself was a disaster. I had YouTube pulled up on my phone, a dull knife…
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Lost in the Backcountry Is a Place You Walk Into by Accident
I got properly lost exactly once. Not “where’s the truck” lost. Not “let me pull up OnX” lost. Lost lost.…