Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2025 i Game & Fish East

Allow me to be the first to wish you a very Merry Rutvember. As I type this, the lush greenery and bright midday sun of early September outside my office window make the deer rut feel impossibly distant, though I take comfort in knowing that before long we’ll be heading to the woods to partake of the most exciting and unpredictable stage of deer season. Within these pages, you’ll find loads of practical info to help you make the most of the rut where you live. In addition to the deer coverage in your respective regional section, Tony Hansen uses this month’s Bowhunting column to offer his best tips for maintaining your composure and executing the perfect shot when a buck wanders within range of your stand. In the second…

Veterans have always driven the popularity of hunting rifles. World War I veterans moved us away from the lever gun toward the bolt action while also cementing the legend of the .30-06. After World War II and Korea, semi-auto rifles like Remington’s Model 742 and Winchester’s Model 100 were wildly popular. The AR-15 flourished after the recent Middle East conflicts, especially as the platform’s modularity grew. Thus, for the past several decades, we’ve seen many new AR-15-compatible cartridges introduced, and all of them have hunting applications. With more than a dozen such cartridges, hunters wanting to use a modern sporting rifle have many choices. Maybe the best way to select one is to think of the end purpose. There are four basic applications to consider: recreational shooting, varmint/predator hunting, deer-sized…

As much as we all look forward to the annual whitetail rut and the potential for a big-buck encounter at any moment during a hunt, the breeding season can often be feast or famine for hunters. I’ve had mornings—you probably have as well—when bucks run does this way and that, grunt, snort-wheeze and lock horns. I’ve also hunted from dawn to dark for days on end without seeing a single deer during what should’ve been the peak of the rut. One way to win the rut game, or at least improve your chances, is through the strategic placement of trail cameras to keep tabs on target bucks during a time when their movements are almost completely unpredictable. SURVEIL SCRAPES Scrapes are an excellent location to capture photos and videos of…

MIDDLE ALLEGHENY RIVER, PA Flowing for more than 100 miles through several counties, the middle Allegheny flows unimpeded by dams from Warren down to East Brady. Expect to find a mix of smallmouth bass and walleyes, particularly in the deeper, slower river sections. Bass are more numerous, but 28-inch-plus walleyes that will bite a hair jig are possible. PYMATUNING LAKE, PA Though bass are present, particularly bubba-size smallmouths, the late-fall Pymatuning bite is mostly about walleyes. Stick to the lower end of the lake, out of either the Snodgrass or Jamestown ramps. Concentrate on hard-bottom humps in 12 to 20 feet of water. ONEIDA LAKE, NY Walleyes that roamed the offshore areas migrate back into Oneida Lake’s shallows come fall. It’s not uncommon for smallmouth bass to be in the…

Let’s face it: Killing a whitetail buck isn’t easy. Even with all the gadgetry and technology available to hunters these days that promises to make the endeavor easier, putting a buck on the ground is always a challenge—and perhaps never more so than on public land. Like many hunters, public land was the only option available to me when I started out, anduntil I had to opportunity to hunt some private property, I never realized hunting deer on public versus private was such a completely different ball game. For starters, public land does not always boast the best deer habitat or hold as many deer as a well-managed private tract. On top of that, every piece of public land is unique, and most of us don’t know the public property…

REGIONAL RUT UPDATE Game & Fish’s annual rut updates from the field are in full swing. Check out what is happening in your area and learn how to game-plan for your deer hunts this month. DEAR, SANTA … Can’t decide what to put on your Christmas list? Need ideas for what to get the hunters and anglers in your life? Check out this list of great gifts for people who enjoy the outdoors. TIPS AND TRICKS TO BAG BIG BUCKS Read how to set yourself up for success this deer hunting season. Find out how and where to tag your best buck ever in the “Learn” section. TOP WHITETAIL STATES See how the deer hunting stacks up from state to state based on hard data, including historical harvest records, trophy…

If ever there was a month made of anticipation, it is November, when there is potential in every sunrise. Big deer are on the move, and if we play our cards right, we might get a shot at one. Many of those shots, however, will be missed. Plenty of hunters know how to set stands, scout sign and run trail cams. But all that means little if you can’t make the shot when the moment of truth arrives. Call it buck fever, nerves or just plain panic, it’s the one factor that separates filled tags from stories told with empty hands. The good news? You can prepare for it. You can condition yourself to make the shot when it matters most. Let’s walk through how to keep yourself from choking…

You might recall the heated debate back in June over whether to include the sale of millions of acres of federal land in the One Big Beautiful Bill. Utah Senator Mike Lee, along with several of his Republican colleagues, had proposed selling up to 1 percent of BLM and Forest Service land to help balance the federal budget. That idea so riled up hunters and anglers that Lee eventually abandoned his idea of selling public lands across the West, which he said would have been used for affordable housing. You may have participated in this legislative drama by calling your senator or representative to tell them that, as we’re losing traditional access to private lands, and as more hunters and anglers crowd our existing public lands and waters, the idea…

No one in duck camp complained about the sleet and pouring rain that filled the boats that morning. The cold, wet weather drove every duck into our blocks, and man, oh man, was the gunning hot. The only problem came later in the afternoon when a couple of choke tubes didn’t want to turn in their threads. Stuck choke tubes can give even a choir boy a reason to cuss. The funny thing about using a choke wrench on a belligerent tube is it puts twisting pressure on the unstuck part of the choke. Focusing on the threads is the key, but historically it’s been difficult to do so. Some of my buddies heat their muzzles with a torch, but I’ve never done that out of concern for melting the…

In early fall, the Lake Ontario tributaries of Upstate New York teem with anglers attracted by the prospect of hooking and fighting large salmon—Chinooks, cohos and even a few landlocked Atlantics—as well as steelhead. Fly-fishers accustomed to trout measured in inches jump at the chance to test their skills against a 30-pound leviathan. But by November, many of these potamodromous fish have reached their spawning grounds, and the effects of time and the arduous journey make the salmon a less appealing quarry as the month wears on. Luckily, as the salmon fishing begins to wind down, huge brown trout enter the tributaries to perform their own spawning ritual and to feast on the eggs and flesh of the Chinooks and cohos that came before them. Since they spend most…

There’s no mystery to growing big bucks,” explained Uncle Chuck. “They need food, good genetics and a chance to age.” Shane listened intently. He’d heard about the bucks his uncle had taken over the years, and now he and his father had made the drive to Kansas to hopefully collect a wall-hanger of his own. “As for the food, that’s why I spend so much time working my plots. With genetics, either you’ve got them or you don’t. But as you can see, we’re blessed here,” he said, nodding at the mounts on the cabin’s wall. “And if a buck gets shot before he’s mature, he can’t reach full potential. That’s why we don’t shoot any bucks younger than six years old.” “Six years at least. Got it,” said Shane.…

Sooner or later, almost every whitetail neighborhood has a legendary local buck that some-how beats the odds and evades hunters season after season. Especially nowadays with the proliferation of trail cameras, everyone who hunts in the area knows about him and hopes to tag him. Usually, he’s a big boy. Ours was not. Ours was Old Spike, who sported two long, single-tined antlers, each as thick as a shillelagh. One opening morning, thanks to a lucky trail cam photo, I changed my plan and went to the Creek Stand, which features a well-worn creek crossing in front of the stand and a steep ridge behind it. There’s a small oxbow to the left. Shortly after sunrise I heard crunching in the frozen grass behind me, craned my neck and saw…

The morning sun crested the eastern ridge of the steep river valley, providing welcome warmth to the chilly late-fall morning. My friend Dave Keith and I had been enjoying consistent action, putting numerous quality-size river smallmouth bass in the boat. These were fish seeking shelter in submerged bank-side rocks, shielded from the force of current in the main river channel. Ned rigs and grub-style baits had been productive, but then the action suddenly stopped. My mind scrolled through the various options in response to what seemed like a flip of the switch. Could it be the sudden sunshine on the water? Had we floated out of the fish-holding area? While I pondered these thoughts I picked up a rod rigged with a 3/16-ounce rabbit-hair jig and tossed it out into…

In its nearly 80-year history, Ruger has introduced many rifles and handguns that have become revered by hunters and gun aficionados. The Ruger Precision Rifle (RPR), a factory chassis rifle introduced in 2015 and offering 1-MOA-or-better accuracy, is often overlooked. Now in its tenth year of production, the RPR received a facelift in early 2025 based on feedback from competitive shooters and other end users. The most notable enhancement is the redesigned foldable buttstock, which allows for intuitive and secure adjustment to conform to any shooter or style. The length of pull, cheek rest height, horizontal position and butt pad height can all be adjusted, and the new buttstock is available for current RPR owners to purchase separately ($350). Other new features include a heavier contour barrel (.850 inch), a…

Browning has a long history of producing quality over/under shotguns dating back to legendary gun designer John M. Browning’s final design, the Superposed shotgun. One of the first affordable—and commercially successful—over/unders, the Superposed was quite popular until rising manufacturing costs in Belgium made it too expensive, and U.S. distribution was eventually discontinued. (Custom Superposed shotguns are still available from Browning’s Custom Shop.) The Citori, introduced in 1973 and produced in Japan, drew heavily from the Superposed and proved to be a fantastic gun itself, ultimately replacing the Superposed within the company’s lineup. With more than 2 million sold since its introduction, the Citori remains one of the most popular over/unders ever. Many variations have followed, each offering new styles and improvements. One of the more significant arrived in 2012 with…