Fishing
The Fish Was On, the Knot Was Old, and the River Kept Both
The first fish I ever lost out of my own pride was a smallmouth I am still mad about, and it had nothing to…
Read the story
Stories by
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.
150 published stories
Latest in the field
Stories worth your time
Field Stories
Hunting Zones Explained: Which Rules Actually Apply Where You Hunt?
Your license is valid. The season is open. You are standing on public land with…
Hunting
The Prettiest Spots on Public Land Are Empty for a Reason
My first opening day on public land, I did what every guy with a four-wheel…
Continue exploring
More from this section
Wild Food
A Feral Hog Is Not a Deer, and the First One You Clean Proves It
The call came at six in the morning from a man named Darrell who owns the bottom field on the…
Conservation
The Shot You Regret for Six Years Starts at Last Light
The first deer I ever shot, I shot in the guts. I was twenty-two, shaking so hard the crosshair wouldn’t…
Gear
You Missed Low Because the Hill Lied
I dialed that buck at 45 yards and watched my arrow sail clean under his chest. Clean under, the way…
Field Stories
You Come Out of the Mountains One Horse Short and Two Hundred Miles From the Next Post. Now Do the Arithmetic.
You wake before light because the chestnut mare is down. It is early June, 1848, on the north bank of…
Field Skills
The Rangefinder Was in the Truck, and the Buck Was at Forty-Five
The rangefinder was in my pack. I knew it was in my pack. I’d put it in the little side…
Wild Food
Great-Grandfather’s Leather Folder, Recipe No. 17: Poke Sallet
The last page of the folder is the plainest one in the whole stack. No stain where a pot sat,…
Wild Food
Great-Grandfather’s Leather Folder, Recipe No. 16: Catfish
The page after the duck is clean paper for the first two inches, and then it’s ruined, a wide brown…
Fishing
The River Was Never the Problem
The catfish hole had been mine for years. A bend in the river just past the second bridge on County…
Gear
Montana Eats Strong Men for Breakfast
I walked into the mountains out west thinking I was ready because I could bench two plates and run a…