Hook & Barrel

SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2018

TRAVELING DEEP DOWN in the South with

Whiskey Myers

OUT OF OFFICE

and Making Memories this dove hunting season in Texas

BOW UP Nock one back and unleash your inner

Robin Hood

HOOK ’EM ON THE FIELD

AUTUMN Road Trips that won't take you too far from home

(AND IN THE STREAM) WITH

COLT McCOY

WIN a safari in

Africa!

Valued at $10,000!

Stand a chance of winning a hunting safari* in South Africa by entering our lucky draw competition. To be entered, all you have to do is order and make down payment for any shield, shoulder or full mount from

Taxidermy America

t u o h t i w romise p m o

c

Tel.: 832 698 9801 info@taxidermyamerica.com www.taxidermyamerica.com

between July and December 31, 2018, open to new and existing clients!

Winner to be drawn at Dallas Safari Club 2019. *Ts&Cs apply: goo.gl/6Q9jHi

*includes lodging, airport transfer to and from Port Elizabeth Airport, all meals & drinks, professional hunter, tracker & skinning facilities, trophy preparation, hunting licenses, and taxidermy of 4 trophies. The hunt will include 1x warthog, 1x wildebeest, 1x impala, 1x fallow deer.

NB: The prize does not include any international or domestic flights, cost of extra animals hunted, shipping on taxidermy, any other expenses.

TABLE OF CONTENTS VOLUME ONE, ISSUE TWO

42 48 54

SEPTEMBER – OCTOBER 2018

COLT McCOY

The Washington Redskins (and former UT) quarterback takes every chance he gets to cast a few lines, no matter the weather by rick gosselin

BECOMING A BOWHUNTER

No purer form of sporting exists than shooting a bow and arrow, and no place will have you doing it better than Cinnamon Creek Ranch by carlton stowers

A BEVY OF MEMORIES Dove hunting is a time-honored tradition in Texas, and it's also the ultimate bonding experience by jan hubbard

LOADED 09 FULLY The latest gear for all types of social

AND LEGENDS 28 MAPS Even if you don’t have time for them all, try to

GOOD GRUB 18 Chef Tom Atkinson of Lonesome Dove dishes

TRIP 32 FIELD Head to the West Coast for a meat-centric

LIBERATION 20 LIBATION Whiskey is on the rise in the Lone Star State.

SKILLS 36 NEW Be prepared when disaster strikes with a

TUNES 22 NEW On-the-rise Southern rockers Whiskey Myers

38 Q&A Fitness guru Talon Smith’s training tips

DREAMS 26 DESTINATION Take your next big hunting trip abroad

TROPHY ROOM 60 THE Katie Van Slyke sits down with Hook & Barrel to

engagements and field situations

on food and feeling happy by elizabeth sims

Check out these local spirits by lanee lee

strike a balance between newfound stardom and humble beginnings by pete freedman

by charlie smith

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get to at least one of these fall-perfect places by tyler hicks

boot camp where the grill is king by jacquelyne froeber

well-equipped trauma kit by david halloran

will have you outrunning your game by sam osterling

talk bowhunting and being outside by jacquelyne froeber

06 EDITOR'S NOTE

64 GREAT OUTDOORS

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

John Radzwilla DIRECTOR OF SALES

Natalie Radzwilla

LOGISTICS COORDINATOR

Gary Paparella

EDITORIAL OFFICE

1012 W. Eldorado Parkway P.O. Box 183 Little Elm, Texas 75068 214.997.1118 hookandbarrel.com

CONTACT THE EDITOR editor@hookandbarrel.com

FOR ADVERTISING INQUIRIES advertising@hookandbarrel.com

PRESIDENT/CEO

Kimberly Ferrante GROUP PUBLISHER

Adam Pitluk

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

David Halloran COPY EDITOR

Becky Williams ABOUT MIDWEST LUXURY PUBLISHING Midwest Luxury Publishing is a full-service communications outfit made up of industry experts. We are your turnkey provider for all your communications and publishing needs.

CONTACT THE PUBLISHER

info@midwestluxurypublishing.com midwestluxurypublishing.com 972.378.4845

All material is strictly copyright protected and all rights are reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission of the copyright holder. All prices and data are correct at the time of publication. Opinions expressed in Hook & Barrel are not necessarily those of Midwest Luxury Publishing, and Midwest Luxury Publishing does not accept responsibility for advertising content. Any images supplied are at the owner’s risk and are the property of the owner.

Printed in the USA

ON THE COVER

PHOTO RANDAL FORD

On a gloomy day, photographer Randal Ford and creative director David Halloran met Colt McCoy on Barton Creek, west of Austin. What was expected to be a straightforward shoot became anything but when Colt arrived. It being Texas, you can never predict what the weather will do, and as soon as the former UT quarterback got there, the skies opened up and let loose upon us. But this all-star team persevered to nail the shoot for our second issue.

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DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS ...far from the bustle of the cities, a 20,000 acre oasis exists along the fringes of the Hill Country.

The AC Ranch, 60 miles southeast of San Angelo, is the getaway destination for those seeking to connect with the outdoors without leaving behind the comforts of home. Fully furnished rooms, gourmet meals and a clubhouse like no other are just a few of the amenities that make the AC Ranch stand out from the others. Unparalleled hunting ranging from Native Whitetail to Upland Birds and Turkey to Exotics are what put the ranch in your scope. While visiting AC Ranch, don’t miss out on an array of shooting sports, including fully automatic rifles and clay pigeons. But the pièce de résistance is the 2.5 mile dirt track where guests can get behind the wheel of a trophy truck.

HAVE YOU BOOKED YOUR HUNT?

THE ONLY PLACE TO HUNT • SHOOT • DRIVE A TROPHY TRUCK Call 325.227.8611 to book for the 2018/2019 season

ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME DRIVING EXPERIENCE ...behind the wheel of a 500 horsepower “Baja desert racing class” trophy truck. AC Ranch and Driven Dynamic have teamed up, pushing the envelope of adventure-based “experiential” vacation destinations. Much more than just a simple low-speed off-road tour, our exclusive driving and riding experiences provide adrenaline, performance and the safety of a professional Baja desert racing trophy truck. Contact us now for limited availability.

C O N T R I B U T O R S

scott chambers

pete freedman

randal ford

jacquelyne froeber

terri glanger

Scott Chambers is an illustrator from London whose hand-drawn illustrations have been used by clients including Ford, Nokia, Channel 4 and newsstand regulars GQ and Arena magazine.

A fan of physical mediums, he uses pencil, crayons and paint to produce his work.

Pete Freedman is the founder, editor and president of the online Dallas culture publication Central Track. He is a former music editor of the Dallas Observer, and his work has been published in Deadspin, LA Weekly and Spin Magazine, among other major publications.

Austin-based photographer Randal Ford’s work has been on the covers of Time magazine, Texas Monthly, and the cover of Communication Arts. In the fall of 2018, his animal photographs will be released in a coffee table book from publisher Rizzoli New York.

Jacquelyne Froeber is an award-winning editor and luxury-travel consultant originally from Detroit.

Her work has appeared in numerous shelter and lifestyle publications, including Coastal Living, Midwest Living and Celebrated Living magazines.

Terri Glanger is a commercial and editorial photographer with a fine arts background. She specializes in lifestyle, food and interiors, and her work has been published in national ads and magazines for 20 years.

rick gosselin

tyler hicks

misty hoyt

jan hubbard

lanee lee

Rick Gosselin has covered the NFL for 46 years and was enshrined in the writers’ wing of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He has covered NFL teams in Detroit, New York, Kansas City and Dallas. He received an outstanding alumni award from Michigan State.

Tyler Hicks is a freelance writer from Austin, Texas.

He currently resides in Dallas, where he can most likely be found reading with (or to) his four dogs or writing at the closest coffee shop.

Misty owns and operates Photography by Misty and is an adjunct professor with Collin College. Based in Plano, Texas, Misty specializes in and is passionate about people. This is her first assignment for Hook & Barrel.

Jan Hubbard is a writer in Dallas. He previously worked at Newsday, The Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

He also worked at American Way magazine and wrote stories on Harrison Ford and Steph Curry. He has written three books on the NBA.

Lanee Lee specializes in writing about food and drink culture. She's been published in Robb Report, National Geographic Traveler, Virtuoso, Bon Appétit, Forbes, and many more.

When she's not traveling, you can find her hiking with her husband and daughter.

sam osterling

elizabeth sims

carlton stowers

matthew howe

charlie smith

Sam Osterling is a freelance writer whose work has been published in the Oklahoman, American Way, and Renovator. He's been hunting and fishing since he could walk. He mainly hunts deer and turkeys in both Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Elizabeth Sims is a freelance writer and photographer based in Dallas with a passion for connecting people through storytelling. Her work has been published by several national outlets, including USA Today and The Huffington Post.

Carlton Stowers is the author of 40 books, has twice won the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Allan Poe Award in the Best Fact Crime category, and is a member of the Texas Literary Hall of Fame. He was a finalist in the Texas Institute of Letters’ Best First Fiction.

Matthew Howe is a Texas Veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Raised on the rivers, beaches and Chesapeake Bay of Maryland’s Eastern Shore, he spends his days testing the limits of his wonderful wife’s patience.

Charlie Smith is a freelance writer and reporter in Fort Worth, Texas. He has written for several publications and writes on a variety of topics including real estate, restaurants, travel and nightlife. In his free time, he travels extensively.

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L E T T E R

F R O M

T H E

E D I T O R

Follow Us

PHOTO TERRI GLANGER

Share your adventures with us by posting your memories (when you get home …) and tag us on Instagram: @hookandbarrelmag. We may just regram your post on our page.

Howlin' at the Moon The beginning of fall has always been a special time of year for me. It signals cooler temperatures and crisp autumn mornings. Pumpkin patches begin to pop up in the parking lots of local churches, bringing back fond childhood memories, and my pallet begins to shift from grilled fish and a thirst for tequila to a richer yearning for heartier dishes and darker spirits like whiskeys and bourbons.

Early fall also brings one of my favorite privileges as well: hunting season. My body almost goes through a Larry Talbot-like transformation at the sight of the harvest moon — just minus the fur and fangs. My senses seem to become more keen to slight movements and the flick of tails, my hearing becomes acute, and the rustle of leaves puts my head on a swivel.

I once again return to the forest in search of prey. It often starts out in a field surrounded by my friends and family on a dove hunt trip while enjoying the camaraderie of the sport. But I soon become solitary, retreating to a deer blind deeper in the woods. The only cure? A good game of football on television and the promise of a cold beer — or, of course, a successful hunt.

In this issue of Hook & Barrel, we celebrate the beginning of fall.

We score big with NFL quarterback Colt McCoy and learn his favorite fall fishing holes and why this four-time University of Texas MVP prefers the peace and quiet of the outdoors over the roar of a stadium (page 42).

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Tom Atkinson, head chef of the Lonesome Dove restaurant in Fort Worth, creates an exclusive recipe for our dove harvest, perfect for game day (page 18), and we jam out with Whiskey Myers while learning about their Southern roots (page 22).

The outdoors is a lifestyle full of experiences and good times. It helps create stories we can share with our friends, our children and newcomers to the sport. It is a time we can also make new friends.

Let’s all do ourselves a favor and get outside together. Disconnect from technology for the day and learn to like the simpler things in life. Most important, keep on learning and challenge yourself to teach someone new the ways of an outdoor lifestyle. Who knows?

A day out in nature may just be the change they need.

Cheers to a safe and successful hunting season.

John Radzwilla editor-in-chief

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Fully Loaded The latest in gear and wear for the modern outdoorsman curated by john radzwilla | photography by terri glanger

GEAR UP Hunting season is here.

I always kid that the man with the most gear wins.

So load up on this season’s must-haves and get out there. Here are some of my top picks for this year’s dove season, bow season, cooler weather fishing trips, and a great choice for looking good on the town.

Hogue Knife 7" Fixed Drop Point Blade $250; hogueinc.com

decoy MOJO Outdoors Voodoo Dove Decoy $40; basspro.com

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ON THE WATER When I was headed to the Amazon to fish for Peacock Bass and whatever else the river would serve up, I decided that I needed a setup that Jeremy Wade would be proud of without breaking the bank. The Johnny Morris Signature Series Baitcast Rod and Reel combo is one of the best values in fishing. The reel is lightweight and ergonomic, yet rugged, dependable, and flat-out fun to fish with.

Also, you can't beat the rod for the money — lightweight and sensitive to even the smallest nibble. This combo is perfect for Amazonian river monsters as well as the bass in your favorite fishing hole.

Rod/Reel: Bass Pro Shops Johnny Morris Signature Baitcast Rod and Reel Combo $260; basspro.com

Jacket: Huk Trophy Performance Full Zip Hoodie $65; hukgear.com

Top: Huk Element Icon 1/4 Zip Shirt $55; hukgear.com

Bottom: Huk Next Level Pant $70; hukgear.com

Model: Brandon Wittmeier

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IN THE FIELD Each year, I lug out pounds of gear, drinks, and rounds of ammo for what should ordinarily be a simple dove hunt.

It's almost like I think I am going to a college game-day tailgate. I have used the same old 5-gallon bucket, full of dirt, old feathers, and last year's spent rounds — until now. The Yeti Fully-Load Bucket is the ultimate dove bucket. It is sturdy, keeps me organized, and is insulated.

Sure its pricey, but what the heck — it's cool.

Bucket: Yeti The Fully-Loaded Bucket $130; yeti.com

Hat: Kryptek Highlander Boonie $22; kryptek.com

Top: Kryptek Highlander Stalker T-Shirt $25; kryptek.com

Bottom: Kryptek Highlander Valhalla Pant $100; kryptek.com

Boot: 5.11 Tactical Skyweight Side Zip Boot $140; 511tactical.com

Cooler: Orca Coolers Kryptek Highlander 26 Quart $310; orcacoolers.com

Chaser: Orca Coolers Kryptek Highlander Chaser $40; orcacoolers.com

Decoy: MOJO Outdoors VooDoo Dove Decoy $40; basspro.com

Flicker Motorized Dove Decoy $50; basspro.com

Shotgun: Benelli 12-Gauge Performance Shop SuperSport $2,950; benelliusa.com

Choke: Benelli Crio Plus Helix - 12 Gauge $90; briley.com

Model: Jedi Collins

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BOW HUNTING A long time ago, I was told that: "You don't find your perfect bow, it finds you — just go and shoot as many as you can and you will know." Upon the first draw, I knew I had my perfect match in my hands. The Kuma offers the best of both worlds, bringing together speed and comfort. This hybrid cam bow launches arrows at 345 feet per second, and offers a smooth draw and a high-level of forgiveness. This season will be a freezer-filler for sure.

Bow Setup Bear Archery Kuma Bow $900; basspro.com

Trophy Ridge React H5 Five-Pin Sight $150; basspro.com

Trophy Ridge Stabilizer $35; basspro.com

Trophy Ridge Whisker Biscuit Quick Shot Arrow Rest $40; basspro.com

Trophy Ridge Lite-1 5-Arrow Quiver $60; basspro.com

Gold Tip Hunter XT Arrows $65; basspro.com

Rocky Mountain Warhead Mechanical Broadhead $16; basspro.com

Tru-Fire Smoke Foldback Release $50; basspro.com

Top: Badlands Calor 1/4 Zip Approach $100; badlandspacks.com

Bottom: Badlands Algus Pant Approach $150; badlandspacks.com

Bag: Badlands Diablo Dos Approach $200; badlandspacks.com

Bino Case: Badlands Mag Badlands Approach $130; badlandspacks.com

Model: Jedi Collins

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ON THE TOWN

at Haywire in Plano, Texas; haywirerestaurant.com

When it comes to hats, I tend to be a bit of a snob. I demand the quality of a Stetson and the heritage that comes with the brand. The Stetson Paradise 20X is made with superior quality fur for unparalleled durability, beautiful sheen, and a silken feel. I also hate to see myself come and go — meaning I look for uniqueness in color. Desert tan has been a trendy color in the shooting world for some time. Now, I can have it with my Stetson, too. That's a combo you can hang your hat on.

Hat: Stetson Paradise 20x Desert Tan $450; stetson.com

Top: Kühl Invoke Short Sleeve $85; kuhl.com

Vest: Kühl Spyfire Vest $180; kuhl.com

Bottom: Kühl Silencer Pant $79; kuhl.com

Model: Jedi Collins

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G O O D

G R U B

Lonesome Are You

Tonight?

Lonesome Dove’s lead chef Tom Atkinson dishes on food and feeling happy story by elizabeth sims | photography by terri glanger

C

hef Tom Atkinson found a love for food in elementary school when cooking breakfast for his brothers to help his working single mother.

“I like to eat and enjoy making people happy,” Atkinson says.

As a 15-year-old, the South Dakota native chased his passion beyond his own kitchen with his first job as an Applebee’s dishwasher.

For three years, he worked his way up to line cook before taking his skills to other restaurants.

When he was 22, Atkinson decided to pursue a formal education at the Western Culinary Institute in Portland, Oregon. In the northwest, he trained under award-winning chefs, learned about the farm-to-table movement and worked predominantly in fine dining restaurants.

Right around the time his boyhood friend Josh Neises was looking for a sous chef at Lonesome Dove Western Bistro in the historic Fort Worth Stockyards, Atkinson was ready for a change. It didn’t hurt that working for Neises also meant working for master chef Tim Love at the flagship restaurant at the heart of his culinary empire.

“I had never been to Texas before so I decided to come down,” Atkinson says. “I met my wife here, so now I’m kind of stuck.”

By 2012, Atkinson had taken over Neises’ role as chef de cuisine and became Lonesome Dove’s lead in the kitchen.

Now, the 36-year-old is serving up Love’s fine dining menu, which reflects Texas’ roots and the metroplex’s diverse culture, with every-

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thing from Spanish influences to Asian ingredients.

“We are a notch above other restaurants, especially in the Stockyards,” Atkinson says. “If you want the true Texas experience, I would say come here.”

Atkinson and his sous chefs have the freedom to experiment in the kitchen and frequently collaborate on new ideas for the menu, finding a role model in Love and his passion for exploring new ventures (see the Q&A with Tim Love in the premiere issue of Hook & Barrel, online at hookandbarrel.com).

“I love to work with people who are passionate about what they do or people that just love food in general,” Atkinson says.

Calling on over 20 years of experience, Atkinson tries to lead by example in the controlled chaos of the kitchen and stresses the importance of continually learning on the job.

“If I’m not willing to do it or I can’t do it, then I better well learn how to do it,” he says. “I’ve been in this for a while, but every day I learn something new.”

Working in a restaurant, even one owned by a celebrity chef like Love, requires many hours in the kitchen. Holding on to his drive to serve good people great food, Atkinson promotes positivity among the team he calls his “extended family.”

“We like to make the guests happy,” he says. “That’s what it’s all about really, just making things come together.”

Chef Atkinson inside Fort Worth's Lonesome Dove Western Bistro

Bird in a Blanket In honor of dove season, Lonesome Dove lead chef Tom Atkinson created an original recipe exclusively for Hook & Barrel.

Prosciutto Wrapped Dove Breast with Elk Sausage Roulade • 1 dove breast • 2 slices prosciutto • ¼ cup ground elk • 1 slice chopped bacon • ½ tsp chopped garlic • 1 tsp diced red bell pepper • 1 tsp diced red onion • 1 tsp diced poblano pepper • Pinch of salt • Pound the dove breast with a mallet until it is ¼ inch thick and evenly distributed; it should be somewhat rectangular.

• In a bowl, mix the ground elk, bacon, garlic, red bell pepper, red onion, poblano and salt.

• On a cutting board, lay the prosciutto slices so they are slightly overlapping. You want it to be a tad bit bigger than your dove breast meat.

• Lay the dove breast meat on top of the prosciutto. You should have a flat layer of prosciutto with a flat layer of dove breast on top, both resembling a rectangular shape.

• Take the elk sausage mixture and form it into a log shape in the middle of your dove breast meat, going the long way.

Starting from the bottom, roll up the entire assembly as tightly as possible into a cigar shape. Cook on a greased sheet tray or pan in the oven at 350 F until the prosciutto has tightened up, roughly 10-15 minutes.

• Slice and enjoy.

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L I B A T I O N

L I B E R A T I O N

Don’t Mess with Texas Whiskey Three Lone Star varieties to try now

story by lanee lee | photography by david halloran

T

exas has a reputation for many things — cowboys, cattle, oil, football, the Alamo, the saying “y'all,” BBQ, boots, ranches, and really, really big things. But it’s rarely associated with fine whiskey. For that, you’d have to head northeast a day’s drive to the Bluegrass State. That is, until now.

Thanks to the craft spirits movement that’s taken root in all 50 states, Texas is throwing its Stetson into the ring as a whiskey-produc-

Bourbon

ing contender. The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission issued its first distillery permit in 1995, and there are now 90 distilleries throughout the state. The most internationally known is Tito’s Vodka.

However, because consumers’ thirst for whiskey is soaring (compared to vodka in the past), whiskey distilleries are on the rise in the Lone Star State — producing white and bourbon, rye and single malt whiskey. Here are three outstanding expressions to try right now:

Moonshine

Whiskey

our pick: balcones texas blue corn bourbon

our pick: crystal creek classic moonshine

our pick: lone elm straight wheat whiskey

A pioneer in premium Texas spirits, Balcones (pronounced bal-CONE-ease), located in Waco, has been distilling for nearly a decade now. Known for innovative processes, such as using smoking whiskeys with local scrub oak or distilling honey and figs into booze, Balcones Distilling also created one of the state’s first bourbons. (Bourbons can be made anywhere in the States, as long as they contain 51 percent corn, and are aged in new charred oak and bottled at age 2 or 3.)

Balcones Texas Blue Corn Bourbon is an original in the bourbon world. Instead of the yellow corn used in most bourbons, it’s made from heirloom blue corn — the first blue corn whiskey in the country. The result? A big-as-Texas, full-bodied whiskey with aromas of glazed cornbread and tobacco.

To truly appreciate its unique nuances, it's best to sip the Blue Corn Bourbon neat or with a splash of water. $48, 122 proof.

Tours and tastings available Wednesday – Saturday. balconesdistilling.com

Moonshine (a.k.a. “white whiskey”) has come a long way since its dangerous, makeyour-toenails-grow reputation during the country’s Prohibition era. Legalized in the U.S. in 2009, moonshine has become a respectable, award-winning category since craft distillers emerged on the scene.

Crystal Creek Distillery in Spicewood, about a half hour outside Austin, is one of these. Its moonshine, distilled from 100 percent corn, is available in four expressions: Classic, Serrano Cucumber, Coffee Pecan and Peach Lavender.

Crystal Creek’s flavored moonshines are made by infusing ingredients sourced within 100 miles of Austin.

This certainly ain’t your great-grandaddy’s ’shine. Crystal Creek embodies the rustic landscape of yore but with a modern twist and a smooth finish. $22, 80 proof.

Distillery tastings and cocktails available Wednesday – Sunday. crystalcreekmoonshine.com

If you’ve ever sat around a campfire with friends trading stories, you can probably relate to how Lone Elm whiskey came about. Four fishing buddies, after a day on the lake, were around a campfire and kicking back with whiskey in hand. In that magical moment, they decided they could top what they were drinking by making their own, and plans to launch a distillery were set in motion.

Today, just outside Dallas in Forney, Five Points Distillery stands as the realization of the friends’ passion for a well-crafted Texas whiskey.

Lone Elm Straight Wheat Whiskey, Five Points’ award-winning signature whiskey, is made with 100% soft red winter wheat grown nearby on the Trinity River. By definition, Five Points is considered a “grain-to-glass” operation, meaning the products are created using most, if not all, ingredients sourced from a single area of land. (Many whiskey makers around the country outsource everything except the distillation.)

Aged roughly four years in new American white oak barrels, Lone Elm Straight Wheat Whiskey offers notes of caramelized cherry and vanilla on the nose with a smooth finish. It’s ideal for sipping neat on a camping trip or mixing in a classic cocktail, like a Manhattan or Old Fashioned, at your next shindig. $50, 90 proof.

Distillery tours and tastings available by appointment. lone-elm.com

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Hot Blooded Lone Elm

Orange Creamsicle

Blue Manhattan • 2.5 oz Balcones Texas Blue Corn Bourbon • 1 oz sweet vermouth • 2-3 dashes aromatic bitters • Maraschino cherry, for garnish • Orange peel, for garnish Chill your martini glass by filling it with ice. Let it sit as you measure ingredients and prep the garnish. Grab a shaker and fill it with a few large ice cubes. Add whiskey, sweet vermouth and bitters to shaker. Stir with a long spoon vigorously for 10-15 seconds. Strain drink into the chilled glass. Drop your cherry garnish in the glass, hang the orange peel on the rim and serve.

• 2 oz Crystal Creek Classic Moonshine • 4 oz orange juice • 1.5 oz French vanilla creamer • Garnish: One strawberry Pour all ingredients into cocktail shaker over ice. Serve in a rocks glass. Slice strawberry from bottom tip to about halfway up.

Place strawberry on rim of the glass and serve.

• ¾ oz blood orange juice • 1 tsp agave • 3 slices of jalapeño • 2 oz Lone Elm Straight Wheat Whiskey • 1 blackberry (garnish) Mix all ingredients in a shaker.

Shake for 10-15 seconds. Pour over a strainer into a rocks glass filled with ice. Garnish with blackberry on top.

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N E W

T U N E S

Something You Don,t Understand On-the-rise Southern rockers Whiskey Myers strike a balance between newfound stardom and humble beginnings story by pete freedman

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PHOTOS BRANDON JOHNSON; ZACK MORRIS

s he walks through the concourse of the Grand Theater at the Choctaw Casino & Resort in Durant, Oklahoma, Chris Alexander passes a row of posters promoting the headlining acts who are set to perform in the venue in the coming nights.

“Reba,” he declares, reading aloud the first of those signs and allowing its single-name gravitas to hit before he moves on to the next one.

“Eric Church,” he notes, pointing toward the second poster that touts a country music superstar playing the casino’s stage.

Finally, he parks himself in front of a third poster — one touting the show that’s set to take place later that evening. And, almost involuntarily, he lets loose a laugh before he can read it.

“Whiskey Myers” he finally says, the pride in his voice belying his head’s shaking in disbelief.

It’s a cool, if telling, behind-the-scenes reveal from the guy who’s been acting for over a decade as the tour manager for that raucous East Texas-sprung band. (That’s right: Band. none of the names of Whiskey Myers’ seven members’ even closely resembles the moniker the band mysteriously chose upon forming in 2007, and they’re staying mum about it.)

Over the course of Whiskey Myers’ 11-year ascent from bar band to casino circuit headliners, Alexander has had a front-row seat to all the action, riding shotgun as the band embarked on its sharp, riff-filled climb. Outside of the band itself, he’s the one person who truly understands all the hard work — the late nights, the long stretches away from home, the cramped tour bus sleeping arrange-

Whiskey Myers has risen from bar ments — that it’s taken to get the group from band to casino circuit there, as a band of small-town Southern rockers headliners in 11 years. just trying to score some gigs outside of Texas, to here, where it boasts more than 68 million Spotify streams and plays sold-out shows to thousands of adoring fans on a near-nightly basis. The band no longer finds much novelty in overseas tours, the most recent of which the band just wrapped up before the string of dates that took them to this Oklahoma stop. Perhaps since it’s his job, Alexander tends to pay that stuff more mind than the band’s members do.

Sure seems that way, at least.

“Hey, we’ll play wherever they’ll ask,” Whiskey Myers frontman Cody Cannon says in his standard aw-shucks tone while sitting around backstage, having just put down the acoustic guitar he’s been using to help shape a song that’s slowly but surely coming about. “Last night, we played a show in Kansas City. Or, actually, it might’ve been Arkansas. I’m honestly drawing a blank right now.

We played Paris and some other European dates about a week ago ...”

He trails off.

Not remembering the specifics visibly frustrates Cannon, as does the self-doubt that follows. It’s a surprising look considering the stark contrast from the swaggering persona he will wear on stage, maybe a hundred paces from this room, just a few hours later. The same can be said for his outfit: In the black Bass Pro Shops baseball cap, white tee and dark gym shorts he dons back here, it’s tough

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to imagine him as the ’70s-looking, paisley shirt-and-jeans-rocking hellraiser he’ll soon become when placed in front of a crowd.

But that’s the line that Cannon and his Whiskey Myers bandmates regularly walk. Theirs is a balancing act, one that weighs idealized, posturing rock ’n’ roll avatars against relatable next-door types who pen songs that cut through to their audience’s core.

Whiskey Myers may be at work on their fourth full-length album (and seen their songwriting vastly mature with each subsequent release), but the song that best exemplifies the band’s ability to resonate with its target demographic is its breakthrough first single, 2011’s “Ballad of a Southern Man.” A down-home rallying cry, the song is fairly unabashed, with its lyrics about pledging allegiance “the original way” and saying “Merry Christmas not Happy Holidays,” not to mention how it shrugs off

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anyone who scoffs at these notions as people who project their own values onto “something [they] don’t understand.”

Coupled with lines about fishing in creeks, drunken family confrontations and rifles being passed down from one generation to the next, the song’s lyrics are about as upfront a declaration of a band’s values as you’re likely to ever come across.

But it’s the wistful tone of the music that really gives the song its layers and leads different audiences to hear different things; whereas one listener may hear the song as a nostalgic paean to increasingly bygone times in the American South, another might interpret “Ballad of a Southern Man” as a somber plea for more honest discourse about heritage throughout our nation.

Cannon isn’t providing any answers as to how he intended the song to be interpreted. Rather, he actively avoids questions about the meanings of his songs or what reactions he aims to elicit from his audiences with his lyrics.

“We're just country boys trying to play rock ’n’ roll,” he says when pressed. “Past that, we really don't think too deeply about what we’re doing. We just write songs, go up there and play. I will say that I do like writing songs about blue-collar stuff — hard workers, things like that — but just because that's the backbone of society. But it just comes out like that; it's not forced.

We never know what's gonna resonate with people, and we don't try to figure it out.”

Still, Cannon does cop to using the word “Southern” quite frequently in his songs. “I probably use it too often!” he laughs while acknowl-

PHOTOS ZACK MORRIS (2)

Whiskey Myers, led by frontman Cody Cannon, first broke through with its 2011 single "Ballad of a Southern Man."

PHOTO BRANDON JOHNSON

edging that fishing and hunting are tropes he often finds himself returning to during his writing sessions. That, he says, is just a factor of writing what he knows and thinks about most often. In that regard, it’s no surprise that he writes so many songs about missing his home and wishing he could be out hunting or fishing with his family.

“I'm a better bass fisherman than I am a musician — I swear I am,” he says, grinning wide. “I'm from nature, man. Just a country boy from out in the sticks. All of us, we grew up out in it — and me, I still live out in the country. I just love it. I could never live in a big city or anything like that. I'd freakin' blow my head off — it's just not for me. I mean, I guess it's pretty cool I get to experience the city life when I’m on tour or whatever. But I still get to go home to where there's nobody around at the end of it all. And nature? That's everything to me. Me and my fiancée will just sit on the porch at night, listen to the coyotes and be like, ‘This is great!’ There's no noise from the city or anything like that. Life in the country — just the overall quality of life there — is so great. It all slows down.”

In other words, Cannon's home life is the exact opposite of his work life, which on this day is made all the more hectic by friends who made the trip to the casino to catch this evening’s show.

As they make their way backstage one by one to say hello, Cannon diligently exchanges pleasantries with them before eventually excusing himself.

As he and his bandmates head out to their tour bus to ready themselves for the gig, they leave their pal Alexander to tend to any final details before the rest of the crowd begins to show up.

Standing on the stage as various hands set up the night’s gear, Alexander looks out on the vast space that the band he works with is about to completely own and reports that tickets to the night’s show have officially sold out.

Cannon and the rest of the band might not pay such facts much mind, but Alexander can’t help himself. He cracks another wide smile.

Declares the tour manager to no one but himself: “It’s pretty cool, eh?”

“We’re just country boys trying to play rock ’n’ roll. Past that, we really don’t think too deeply about what we’re doing.”

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Outdoors Abroad Why your next big hunt should be international story by charlie smith

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rod.” He also counts world-class bear hunting in Kamchatka, in far eastern Russia, northeast of the Korean Peninsula, as an experience unlike many others.

So why use a company like Anglers and Hunters? First and foremost, they’re experienced in the industry and know all the ins and outs of hunting in exotic locales. They know the good guys and the bad guys in the industry because they’ve checked out every oper-

PHOTOS COURTESY HAYES & HAYES OUTFITTERS (3)

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almon and trout fishing in Russia. Red stag and roe deer hunting in Hungary. Fly fishing on the Amazon in Bolivia, Chile and Patagonia accessed by float plane. Bear and duck hunting in Nova Scotia and British Columbia. Saltwater fishing, duck and dove hunting in Mexico.

These quests are just the tip of the iceberg when considering the beginner-level exotic game and fishing trips that await you. If you’ve been itching to combine your international wanderlust with the thrill of the hunt (but thought it was too expensive or involved), you’re in for a pleasant surprise. That’s because it’s now easier and more affordable than ever to do so. As interest in exotic international game and fishing trips has grown, a cottage industry has grown to serve it.

Enter Matthew Morgan, managing partner of Anglers and Hunters, a white-glove booking agency in Allen, Texas, that has been coordinating international hunting trips since 1985. He can attest to all of the above.

Some of Morgan’s favorite destinations?

“The fishing on the Great Barrier Reef [in Australia] is amazing. And the Seychelles is great for targeting milkfish and giant trevally on a fly

D E S T I N A T I O N

ation and will make sure you don’t get price-gouged or otherwise taken advantage of during the process. They can coordinate all your travel paperwork, help get your hunting gear into your host country and handle security and logistics as needed. You simply tell them your expectations, set your budget and the level of accommodations you’re looking for, and they do the rest. While they are paid a commission by the venues they book as any travel agency is, they work on your behalf and don’t represent the venues directly, so there’s no hard sell.

How much will these trips set you back? Not as much as you’d think. One of the more popular trips right now, according to Morgan, is dove hunting in Argentina. For an average of $550 to $900 per night, you’ll receive luxury accommodations, excellent food and

D R E A M S

two guided hunts per day. What isn’t included is your airfare, usually around $1,500 to $2,000 if you go economy, the cost of shotgun rental if you don’t bring your own, and shells and license, another $100 to $150.

Dove hunting in Argentina is an easy overnight direct flight from Dallas or Houston to Buenos Aires. With little time difference, you’ll have minimum jet lag, arriving at your lodge by lunchtime. One such destination, La Portenita Lodge, just 40 miles north of Cordoba, is as idyllic as it is luxurious. Spend your day hunting in the countryside until cocktail hour, when your freshly-bagged dove are served as appetizers and accompany exquisite wines and cocktails on silver platters. Dinner is beef-centric with more wine, of course, and lasts until the wee hours. Multiday stays boast morning and afternoon hunts, with in-field asadas (Argentine barbecues) and cot-and-net siestas — truly unique experiences not to be missed.

And when you’re ready to call it a day and get back to reality, Anglers and Hunters will coordinate with the best local taxidermists and will make sure your trophies arrive back in the States safe and sound. And to further support the local community, the company promotes donating the meat to the villagers where the animal is harvested.

Really, it’s all about how big you can dream. Hunting Marco Polo sheep in Tajikistan at 14,000-feet elevation, just north of Afghanistan, is another standout for Morgan.

And one of his most memorable bookings?

One client wanted to go redtail catfishing in Vietnam. Because, why not?

“Our typical group is eight guests, but on the big-game hunts it’s often one or two,” he says. So grab your friends or set out solo.

Your next personalized international adventure awaits. anglersandhunters.com HOOKANDBARREL.COM | @HOOKANDBARRELMAG | 27

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Fall Getaways

Even if you don’t have time for them all, try to get to at least one of these fall-perfect places. story by tyler hicks | illustration by scott chambers

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very fall brings beautiful colors, cooler temperatures and the opportunity to explore. While summer tends to hog the love – and our vacation days – the fall is the perfect time to get away for a few days and enjoy a new locale. It may not be beach weather, but there are endless ways to spend your days relaxing and enjoying the great outdoors throughout the South.

Here’s where to go and what to do when you get there:

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texas Barton Creek Nestled in the heart of the state’s capital, Barton Creek is a family favorite for all things outdoors. The rivers are kid-and-dog-friendly, with enough room to spread out a picnic lunch and lounge the day away while basking in sublime fall weather. Zilker Park is within shouting distance, as are plenty of fine local dining options. Plus, you and your plus-one can set sail in a cozy canoe and take fantastic photos against the beautiful backdrop of downtown Austin. What more could you want from a fall weekend in the South?

2 “The East Coast is best known for fall foliage, but the fall lifestyle is done better down South.”

oklahoma Broken Bow Birding, biking, hiking and exploring are all on the menu all season long in this forest-filled Oklahoma enclave of nature and beauty. Situated near the Arkansas border, Broken Bow is a gateway to popular Beavers Bend State Park, home to picturesque pine forest trails and fantastic fishing destinations. When you spend your fall in Broken Bow, you’re a stone’s throw away from some of the most breathtaking parks you’ll ever explore. In short, it’s a premier destination for all outdoor activities this fall.

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arkansas Blanchard Springs The beautiful Blanchard Springs are best known for its cavern tours, and it's easy to see why. Every year, visitors from across the country flock to this forested area to take in over a mile of

breathtaking views courtesy of four distinct, themed tours. But Blanchard Springs is also so much more. After your tour, explore the Ozark National Forest, which surrounds the area, and offers hours of hiking and biking. You can even camp out at the Blanchard Springs Campground, spending your nights stargazing and spending your days watching the leaves change alongside your whole family.

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missouri Rolla If it’s hiking, biking or exploring you seek, roll on over to Rolla this fall. The Ozark River and Mark Twain National Forest are picture perfect for all fall adventures, and if you’re up for it, you and your crew can cliff dive at Fugitive Beach.

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Hermann On the other hand, a trip to the city of Hermann, Missouri, is perfect pairing for any outdoor adventure – emphasis on “pairing.” This area is renowned for its wineries, vineyards and wine trails – all of which are nestled in between mountain ranges and colorful countryside. The Stone Hill Winery, Hermann Wine Trail and Hermannhof Winery – to name a few – will wet your whistle and go well with any weekend or weeklong getaway you plan.

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A Barbecue Runs Through It California’s Alisal Guest Ranch and Resort — known for horseback riding and fly fishing — hosts a boot camp for carnivores to celebrate the discovery of fire and meat story by jacquelyne froeber

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he warm and smoky scent of a wood-burning fire wafts through the rolling landscape at Alisal Guest Ranch and Resort in central California.

I follow the eucalyptus-laced aroma like a barbecue bloodhound over the creek and through a grassy knoll to the source: a large black ironwork grill with embers as red as the oak fueling the fire.

A group of us — 30 or so — take seats in front of the ether-filling inferno, and like giddy first-day-of-middle-schoolers, we clutch our Alisal BBQ Bootcamp booklets and wait for legendary grill master Frank Ostini to ring the bell.

“I’m just the barbecue guy,” he says, waving off applause and taking his place behind the grill, a smile curling up under his distinctive moustache.

Learning the tricks of the trade from Chef Ostini is like getting a relativity lesson from Einstein himself. Ostini was practically born with a pair of tongs in his hand at his family’s steakhouse, which specialized in Santa Maria-style barbecue, or the process of grilling meat over a coast live oak (red oak) fire. Today, Ostini is the regional spokesman for Santa Maria-style barbecue and has helped make the traditional cooking method famous in his award-winning 32 | @HOOKANDBARRELMAG | HOOKANDBARREL.COM

Alisal executive Chef Anthony Endy works the grill; fishing on Alisal Lake (left) HOOKANDBARREL.COM | @HOOKANDBARRELMAG | 33

clockwise from right:

Chef Valerie Gordon bakes using a Big Green Egg grill; the bootcamp guide; a plate of grilled delights

restaurant, The Hitching Post II, which was featured in the Academy Award-winning, anything-but-Merlot film Sideways.

As Ostini casually flips a locally-sourced beef tri-tip the size of a paperback novel, he tells our group of eager carnivores that Santa Maria style celebrates the soul of central California through: 1) deeply rooted techniques tied to the Santa Ynez band of Chumash Native Americans, and 2) the unique adjustable ironwork grill brought by the Spanish to central California in the 1800s. The fragrant, local red oak ties everything together.

“We tell a story and communicate culture through taste,” Ostini says. “Alisal is a perfect place to do that.”

Ostini has been instrumental in developing and expanding the Alisal BBQ Bootcamp, which started more than 60 years ago. The program has grown into an interactive, two-night event of workshops and receptions with award-winning chefs, winemakers and farmers from the region. Ostini and Alisal executive chef Anthony Endy are staples at the boot camp, and they complement a wide range of culinary talent and featured guests: This weekend, for example, includes learning to cook wood-fired pizza with chef and owner Clark Staub from Full of Life Flatbread in Los Alamos; building signature spice blends and rubs; and mastering a crème fraiche skillet cake with cherries and rhubarb in a Big Green Egg grill with chef Valerie Gordon of Valerie Confections in Los Angeles.

But first, we must try the tri-tip, now grilled to smoky perfection.

It is melt-in-your-mouth tender. The owners of Firestone Walker Brewery share stories over sips of IPA, and Gray Hartley, co-owner

Learning the tricks of the trade from Chef Ostini is like getting a relativity lesson from Einstein himself.

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of Hitching Post Wines with Ostini, fills wine glasses with a smooth, spicy red. Before the Sideways fame, Hartley, a retired Alaskan fisherman, named one of their pinots the “Hitching Post Highliner” in honor of the great fishermen he worked with for 28 years at the salmon fishery (“highliner” being the best fishermen in the fleet). The Highliner was the featured wine in Sideways and is still one of their most popular. I wonder what it will take to earn a glass after my first fly-fishing lesson in the morning.

Alisal has been a full-service guest ranch since it opened in 1946.

Nestled in the Santa Ynez Valley and surrounded by mountains, the Western-style resort offers more than 10,000 acres of adventure, including 50 miles of horseback riding trails, two 18-hole championship golf courses, tennis courts and a large spring-fed lake.

The quaint guest cottages and suites are a throwback to simpler times (read: no television or telephones in the rooms). And smartphone service is spotty (if you must update your Instagram account with delicious photos of barbecue, try the front parking lot). But that’s what the generations of visitors expect here.

I meet two young families on the hay wagon, our yesteryear ride to Alisal Lake for fishing, who offer similar stories: They grew up vacationing at Alisal, and they want to share this slice of a bygone time with their kids. The 8-year-old girl sitting next to me says she caught three fish last time she was here.

Feels like a challenge.

BBQ Bootcamp Basics when September 26 – 28, 2018; 2019 dates TBD

what’s included Studio accommodations for two nights, and all meals, workshops and activities including horseback riding, golf green fees, tennis, fishing pole and bait, and wine tasting at nearby tasting rooms. Featured guest: Steven Raichlen, best-selling author of The Barbecue!

Bible, Planet Barbecue, Project Smoke and his latest book, Project Fire.

cost $1,650 (double occupancy) alisal.com

Chef Frank Ostini shifts veggies around on a Spanish-style grill

The 20-minute ride to the water winds past giant sycamores and the occasional guest on horseback. My fly-fishing guide, Mark Dullea, puts our rods and gear in the boat, and Mitch Giese, another fishing guide, unties us from the dock. We motor through the water in search of the perfect spot. “Over here where we caught a bunch yesterday,” Mark instructs Mitch. Mark goes on to tell us about his first time fly fishing: He learned all he knows from the guy who taught Queen Elizabeth to fly fish. That’s quite the royal high bar.

I ask Mark if he’s noticed an increase in women interested in fly fishing. ”Absolutely,” he says. “And you know what I like about this trend? Women listen more. So while her husband is struggling to get a bite, she’s bringing them in!”

We cut the engine a few yards from the shoreline and hear a loud squawk. I look up in the gnarled branches of a tree to see a baby bald eagle spreading its wings, the mother swooping into the nest with breakfast. To the right, a doe and her fawn dance through the brush. A native Michigander with an eye for nature, I’ve never seen anything like it. Then I spy two spotted cows under the eagle tree. They sigh and look past us, slowly chewing, as if to say, “No big deal — we see this every day.”

Also unimpressive: my casting ability.

Mark shows me — again — how to cast and hands me the rod. I follow his advice — nearly taking off his head — and whip the line back

and forth before casting out into the water; Mitch uses a traditional spinning lure. A few moments tick by. Nothing. We try again. Not even a nibble. And then Mitch hooks a bluegill. Probably a "three-pounder," we muse, and then release the monster back into the water.

We move to the next spot. Cast. I feel some movement and a tug.

But it’s something green. Seaweed. Mitch hooks a largemouth bass.

Then another bluegill. Then another largemouth bass.

By the end of the lesson, I’ve had some bites but no catch. Mark looks distraught, but I remind him that we saw a baby eagle. And I got a good arm workout, which will come in handy tonight at the final dinner where we help behind the grill before enjoying another Santa Maria-style feast.

The allure of a boot camp — at least for me — is the opportunity to emerge a changed woman. I’ll be stronger. Smarter. And — considering the past 48 hours here at Alisal — push myself past the meat sweats to taste, grill and devour more than I ever thought possible.

At the pancake breakfast on the final morning, our group gathers around a campfire. We make small talk about vacation plans and how we may never eat again after this weekend. And then the triangle sounds and we happily grab a plate to savor one more taste of central California — Alisal-style.

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Prepare for the Worst The difference between life and death in the field is a well-equipped kit and the knowledge to use it story and photography by david halloran

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ou never know when disaster will strike. Mix in firearms, blades and the always unpredictable Mother Nature, and the odds increase that a serious trauma injury can occur while out in the field.

When it comes to medical treatment in the field, few are as knowledgeable as U.S. Navy Fleet Marine Force Hospital Corpsman Talon Smith. With 11 years of training in treating traumatic wounds in combat, Smith knows the importance of being equipped with the right tools to save a life when advanced medical attention is out of reach.

Smith spoke with Hook & Barrel and curated a trauma kit perfect for keeping with you when out in the field for the day. "This is for your 'worst-day situation,' " Smith says, emphasizing that its to get you stabilized and on the right path to more advanced medical treatment at a hospital.

Proper first-aid training is just as important as the tools themselves, and avid adventurers should consider signing up for a course to stay up to date with medical treatments and preparedness. to gear up, go to roetacsystems.com.

Electrolytes & Sugar "Electrolytes and sugar tabs are an absolute must.," Smith says. Hypoglycemia and dehydration can lead to worse injuries as judgment starts to deteriorate in the field.

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Over-the-Counter Meds Aspirin, ibuprofen, antihistamines and other over-the-counter meds can be useful when it comes to heart attacks, relieving pain and allergic reactions.

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Medical Pack A bag like the UCR IFAK pouch from 5.11 Tactical (511tactical.com) is great for keeping your trauma kit together and within reach should the need arise.

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Scissors/Knife Scissors or a knife are great tools for cutting bandages and have numerous other applications. This knife from 5.11 Tactical (511tactical.com) features a seat belt cutter.

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Iodine & Alcohol Swabs When it comes to wound care, cleanliness is important to fight infections. Iodine and alcohol swabs help sterilize wounds when dressing them in the field.

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Gloves "If it is not yours, then use gloves," Smith says.

A protective barrier between you and the person being treated will prevent any potential transmission of diseases.

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Tourniquet "You can lose your life in 60 seconds from bleeding," Smith says. Stop the Bleed (bleedingcontrol.com) is a great resource, and devices like this one from ROE make usage easier.

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SAM Splint The incredible versatility of this moldable splint makes it a welcome addition to the trauma kit. Bend and form it to your needs to stabilize an injury.

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Medical Tape Medical tape keeps everything in place when packing a wound in the field. Keeping pressure constant while en route to the hospital is what this tape was built to do.

Trauma Dressing Trauma dressing (like this one from ROE Tactical) is meant to stop arterial bleeds, which are signaled by bright red, gushing blood. roetacsystems.com

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Quick-clotting Sponge Stopping blood loss is the first step in trauma care. When combined with constant pressure, this sponge helps blood coagulate to stop bleeding until help is reached.

Combat Gauze Another name for a quickclotting sponge, this homeostatic dressing from ROE is meant for packing wounds to stop bleeding long enough to seek advanced medical help.

Moleskin Although not needed for treating extreme trauma, moleskin is great for treating blisters and hot spots. The padding keeps your boots from rubbing on the spot.

Gauze An absolute necessity for packing a wound, gauze helps absorb blood and creates a pressure point to stop bleeding, making transporting the injured easier.

Adhesive Bandages Cuts happen. Whether it is a slip of the knife or an ornery mesquite thorn, having bandages on hand for the small stuff keeps wounds from getting infected.

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A S K

T H E

P R O S

Getting Into Hunting Shape Fitness guru Talon Smith’s training tips will have you outrunning your game story by sam osterling | photography by misty hoyt

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5.11 forge short $45; 511tactical.com

5.11 crossfit 2018 edition tactec plate carrier $220; 511tactical.com

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alon Smith knows what hunters need to do to prepare for the season. Whether you’re gearing up for a long autumn and winter chasing whitetail on Texas farmland or a guided hunt for elk in the Rockies, it’s important to be as fit as possible. Fit hunters cover more ground, and more easily, with more energy put into the hunt itself. Smith is a CrossFit instructor at The Brick Gym in Fort Worth. A Navy corpsman whose unit specializes in surveillance and recon, Smith trains hunters to perform at their absolute peak in the field. He shared some thoughts on that training with Hook & Barrel. so when you hear this topic — getting in shape for hunting season — where’s the first place your mind goes?

I’ve got clients who go on very expensive hunts. They’re guided hunts, but they’re in Colorado, in the Rockies. So these guys are walking up hills, and they’re middle-aged men, between 30 and 40.

They’ve been very successful, but they still needed a way to get in shape and prepare for these hunts because their No. 1 complaint was: ‘We weren’t an hour into the hunt, headed up the hill, and I’m having to break every few minutes because I can’t do that.’ So after they were able to train with me, they were like: ‘This hunt is easy.

Last year, everybody was waiting on me — this year, I was waiting on everybody else.’

The principles I use are CrossFit mixed with traditional strength and conditioning. It still holds true that you need to be prepared for anything and everything. Guys are paying big money to go on guided hunts to hunt an elk in Colorado, and you can’t even get up the mountain or up a hill. And I look at it also as being prepared for the worst-case scenario. Say you’re on your hunt, and even if it’s not necessarily you, but let’s say your friend does something, you guys are 10 miles away from the nearest base camp, he breaks his leg, an ATV can’t get there. How are you going to help your buddy out?

What are you going to do? You can’t just say, ‘Sorry man, I’m gonna leave you while I go get help.’ so in terms of movements, let’s talk strength first. what do you see as the most important strength movements for a hunter preparing for the season?

You’re looking at a deadlift. Lunges. Some squats, as well as core stability. Even some odd object carries. What you’re trying to focus on is building up that leg strength to take on steep mountains, or even moving through heavy brush. Doing lunges, doing squats is going to prepare you to keep moving through rough terrain.

The other portion would be deadlift for your lower back and core as well, just simply because you have to move with possibly a ruck on or if you’ve got to quarter out and carry out an elk, that’s a lot of stress on your lower back.

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“For me, the biggest thing is your hips. A lot of people have issues that stem from their hips or their ankles.” and for someone who may be training at home, what can they do for an odd object carry?

It might be as simple as going out and buying a bucket full of rocks.

Or a 30-pound bag of cat litter. Just carry that around. Something that’s going to force you to hold that weight in the frontal plane on your shoulder and move. how about cardio? strength alone won’t get you to the top of the hill. You’ve got to have a motor as well.

I think you can do cardio almost every day. It’s fine as long as you partition it right. You’ve got to have a day when you’re moving 30 minutes straight. If you’re a more advanced athlete, maybe try to get three or four miles in that 30 minutes. Maybe you run a hundred meters, walk a hundred meters, run a hundred meters, walk a hundred meters. how about mobility? which body parts generally need the most work?

We’re huge on mobility at our gym. One of our biggest things is that you have to move well before you move heavy. My biggest recommendation for mobility is an app called ROMWOD. They’re basically daily 20- to 30-minute stretching protocols. They’re great.

For me, the biggest thing is your hips. A lot of people have issues that stem from their hips or their ankles. That causes lower back pain. Everything is focused around your center of gravity. If your hips are tight, if you can’t externally rotate your legs, if you have poor internal rotation, if your hamstrings are tight at their origin, you’re going to experience a lot of back pain. So loosen up your hips, but go to a third-party resource because it’s a lot to be able to throw to somebody. ROMWOD is great, or yoga apps. I’m a huge fan of yoga. If you can spend 20 minutes every day on mobility, you’re going to save injury in the field and in the gym. thebrickgym.com

Get Your Diet Out Of The Gutter As Talon Smith says: “A lot of people work out great but eat like trash.” Putting hard effort into workouts while fueling your body poorly is an excellent way to make sure you’re not getting the results you’re looking for.

Smith recommends not starting off with the popular diets you hear about in magazines or the news (Paleo, Keto, etc.). “They serve a purpose, but you need to establish a healthy diet that you can maintain throughout your lifestyle,” he says. He recommends looking into what’s known as “flex” dieting, or giving yourself goals for protein, carbohydrates, fat and calories, but allowing yourself to eat whatever you’d like as long as you hit those numbers.

As for diet in the field, Smith advises finding a balance between protein and carbs. A combination of beef jerky and some sort of grain-based snack bar, like KIND Bars, would do nicely. “And if you’re going out for a long time,” he adds, “something like Gatorade. An electrolyte source is important, and make sure to eat and drink every hour.”

5.11 train strong tee $25; 511tactical.com

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On the field and off,

COLT McCOY makes it rain story by rick gosselin | photography by randal ford

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olt McCoy has been featured on the cover of far too many magazines to count. Once the face of Texas football, McCoy was a consensus All-America for the Longhorns, a Heisman Trophy runner-up and the second-winningest quarterback in NCAA history. He has been featured on the covers of Sports Illustrated, ESPN the Magazine, Sporting News, Street & Smith’s and Dave Campbell’s Texas Football, among others, for his prowess throwing the football.

But you’ll find only one magazine cover framed at his Austin home — the September/October 2009 issue of Bass Master.

Colt McCoy, quarterback?

Try Colt McCoy, fisherman.

McCoy was in his junior year at the University of Texas and got a call from the school’s sports information director, John Bianco.

“Have you ever heard of Alton Jones?” Bianco asked.

“The professional bass fisherman?” McCoy answered. “Of course I have.”

“Do you want to go fishing with him?” Bianco asked.

“Can you get this through [NCAA] compliance?” asked McCoy, “because I’d love to.”

So McCoy got up early one morning in Austin and drove the 2 1/2 hours north to Lake Whitney to fish with the 2008 winner of the Bassmaster Classic.

“He taught me so much about fishing on big lakes, where to throw it, what to use in different times of day based on the color of the water,” McCoy says in an exclusive interview with Hook & Barrel magazine. “We fished all day and it was a wonderful time. At the end of the day, we took two pictures of the fish we caught. I ended up catching the biggest fish of the day, almost 5 pounds. I held it up, we took some pictures and I ended up being on the cover of Bass Master.

“I wouldn’t call myself a professional bass fisherman. That would be doing those guys an injustice because they are unbelievable. But to be on the cover of that was a really cool honor. Of all the magazine covers I’ve been on, that’s the one hanging up in my house.”

Somewhere in that house is another certificate of outdoor accomplishment.

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Colt McCoy, hunter.

Again, when McCoy was a college student, he was invited to go on a whitetail deer hunt at a ranch in South Texas. He was eager, but this time the NCAA was unwilling. So he had to pass. “But when I graduated, they circled back to me and said, `Hey, if you want to come down and hunt, the offer is still on the table. We’d love to have you down,’ ” McCoy says. “So I went to this huge ranch — it was free range, wide open, brush and country and real rugged but just covered in deer.

“On my hunt, I ended up shooting a huge eight-point that had a drop tine. I never shot one [with a drop tine] before. He came out in the afternoon and I just about lost it. He was the biggest one, certainly mature, and I took him. It was a hunt I’ll never forget. The eight-point score was a 173 and ended up winning the Los Cazadores biggest eight-point of the year down in South Texas.”

McCoy did a bit more than hunt and fish during those five years he spent on campus in Austin. Over at Darrell K. Royal Memorial Stadium, he showcased himself as one of the greatest quarterbacks ever to play the college game. He was a four-year starter for the Longhorns and the only player in school history to win or share team MVP honors all four of his seasons. He also is one of only three Football Bowl Subdivision quarterbacks in NCAA history to average at least 10 victories per season over a four-year career.

McCoy started a school-record 53 games and won 45 of them, which places him second in NCAA history behind Boise State’s Kellen Moore. McCoy ranks 12th in NCAA history with his 13,253 career passing yards and 14th with his 112 touchdown passes. He also set the NCAA single-season record for completion percentage at 76.7 in 2008.

In his final season at Texas, McCoy won the Maxwell Award as college football’s top player, the O’Brien and Manning awards as college football’s top quarterback and the Unitas Golden Arm Award as the top senior quarterback. He also was the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year and the unanimous first-team All-America quarterback. He left Texas with 32 school records, and the Longhorns have since retired his jersey, number 12.

“I don’t know what it was, but I loved catching fish. So I would get on my bike, go to the lake and fish every chance I got.”

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Colt,s Top Fishing Spots Colt McCoy has a new favorite fishing spot.

He just hasn’t found it yet.

“I’ve fished on the [Texas] coast, I fished in lakes, I fished in the Great Lakes for walleyes and smallies and had a great time,” McCoy says. “But I’ve never been deep-sea fishing and I want to go catch something big. I would want to go out with someone who knew what they were doing.”

Are you listening (or reading), Jimmy Johnson?

Johnson, a fellow Texan, won two Super Bowls as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys and built the team that would win three Lombardi Trophies in the 1990s. He now lives on the water in the Florida Keys. Short of a trip to Florida, McCoy has a few favorite fishing holes near his home in Austin — Lake Bastrop and Lake LBJ. “Lake Bastrop is a little state park lake about 30 minutes from my house,” McCoy says. “I like it because I can throw a kayak in the back of my truck. It’s big enough that you can’t fish it all but there’s a lot of shoreline and a lot of nice fish in there.”

Lake LBJ offers more serious fishing.

“I’ve got some friends out there and we spend a lot of time on that lake,” McCoy says.

“There’s a lot of water to cover. It’s fun because you can go up in the rivers. You can fish for some sand bass and there’s crappies everywhere, largemouth … there’s a lot of cover, lots of structure, lots of deep water; you can really get after them.”

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PHOTO COURTESY WASHINGTON REDSKINS

PHOTO COURTESY UT ATHLETICS

But when McCoy entered the 2010 NFL draft, talent evaluators dinged him for his height (6-1), his hand size and his arm strength.

That slid his draft stock into the third round, where the Cleveland Browns made him the 85th overall player and fourth quarterback selected. In the great outdoors, McCoy has never found any whitetailed deer or fish to be as judgmental as NFL talent evaluators.

Understand this about McCoy: He held a fishing pole and a shotgun long before he ever called any plays in a huddle. His grandparents own a ranch in West Texas, which afforded him the opportunity to explore nature. He picked up a fishing pole for the first time at 3 years of age. He pulled the trigger of his first shotgun at the age of 8. He bagged his first deer at the age of 11.

But his life has become a study in contrasts. At Texas, he regularly played in front of home crowds of 100,000. He played against the University of Oklahoma in the Red River Showdown annually before crowds in the 90,000s and lined up for a national championship against the University of Alabama before 94,000 at the Rose Bowl.

He started in the NFL against the Dallas Cowboys in 2014 in front of 87,000 at AT&T Stadium.

However, sitting in a boat in the middle of a lake or taking cover in the brush during a hunt, you hear no cheers, no boos, no criticism.

“There is such an attraction to me to being outside in the outdoors and listen to birds chirp and the crickets,” McCoy says.

“There’s a serenity and a peacefulness that comes from no crowds and just hearing nature. If I could have that every day, I would be in a good place.

“I love the game — the screaming and yelling of 80,000 and 90,000, everyone cheering, happy and upbeat and all those pats on your back. Those are great. But being outside and fishing on a boat somewhere in the middle of nowhere — I don’t think it gets any better than that.”

McCoy, 32, enters his ninth NFL season in 2018 with his third team, the Washington Redskins. His NFL career has already outlasted

those of first-rounder Tim Tebow and second-rounder Jimmy Clausen from his draft class. McCoy has started 25 games in his career with non-playoff teams and won seven of them. He has beaten the Patriots with Tom Brady, the Saints with Drew Brees and the Cowboys with Tony Romo. He completed 25 of 30 passes against the Cowboys for 299 yards and threw for 350 yards in a game against Indianapolis and 392 more against Tennessee.

Even though McCoy has spent the last eight falls in Ohio, California and Virginia, he did not leave his outdoor roots behind in Texas.

He took up hunting with a compound bow in 2012. He has fished the Great Lakes and the Potomac and, of late, gets away to fish private lakes near the Redskins’ training facility in Ashburn, Va. “Fishing has been my escape,” McCoy says. “I’ve been fortunate to play football for a long time and love every bit of it. But to a certain extent we’re caught in a glass box at times. Everybody knows everything about you. For peace of mind and just to get away, if I can get out on a lake somewhere and go fishing, I’d be the happiest guy you’ll find.

“During the season, if I can sneak away for a couple hours, wet a line, that would go a long way for me as far as stress levels and calming down, reflecting and having some quiet time. My wife has been great. She totally understands that going out, being in the outdoors, hunting and fishing, just getting a few hours away goes a long way for my psyche of being a dad, a football player and handling my responsibilities. She understands, which is sweet.”

McCoy has spent a lifetime in boats, fields and huddles and has embraced the challenges presented by all three. So which does he do best?

“I am a better fisherman and a better hunter,” McCoy says, “then a better football player. I’ll put them in that order. I can fish with the best of them, I can hunt with the best of them, and I’m working to throw a football with the best of them.”

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Becoming a

B whunter No purer form of sporting exists than shooting a bow and arrow, and no place will have you doing it better than Cinnamon Creek Ranch story by carlton stowers | photography by the hausers

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Joe Musaccio instructing on how to properly look through the sights.

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The motive for the upstate New York sausage maker’s winding pilgrimage to 80 hardscrabble acres of pasture land in North Texas was simple:

Joe Musacchio had grown bone weary of the bitterly cold Northeastern winters.

Since high school graduation in the early ’60s, he had worked for uncle Carmen Basilio’s Italian Sausage Company near Syracuse. Though the company was founded by another of Joe’s uncles, Paul, it was decided that attaching Carmen’s name to it would lend promotional clout.

Carmen had, after all, defeated the legendary Sugar Ray Robinson in Yankee Stadium to claim the world middleweight boxing title the same year (1957) the sausage company opened for business.

It was on a 1982 family trip to Texas to visit a cousin that Joe fell in love with the state’s welcoming climate and wide open landscape. He also learned that little authentic Italian sausage was available in the region.

And, by the way, the state offered far-ranging venues for game hunters, from whitetailed deer in the Hill Country to wild hogs in South Texas, mule deer in the Panhandle and antelope in the Big Bend.

An avid bowhunter since he was a teenager, Musacchio felt he’d hit the trifecta.

Shortly thereafter, he and his family made the move and his Syracuse’s Sausage Company opened in the Dallas suburb of Flower Mound soon after.

It was only later, after purchasing the plot of pastureland north of Fort Worth where he planned to build a wild game meat processing plant, that he took stock of the remaining acreage he’d purchased and came up yet another plan: His newly-named Cinnamon Creek Ranch would be an ideal place to spread the gospel of the sport that had provided him a lifetime of enjoyment. He ultimately sold his sausage company, leaving behind an industry to which he’d devoted 30 years of his life, and launched a new career.

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from left: Joe and Nola Musacchio with their dog, who follows Joe everywhere; Chris Lutsinger and Michael Peterman working in the Pro Shop.

That was in 2008. Today, archers and aspiring bowhunters come from all over the southwest to learn and polish their skills under the watchful eyes of qualified instructors. They can browse the well-stocked pro shop where as many as 500 bows are available along with a vast assortment of arrows and other related equipment, compete in state and regional tournaments, and bask in the family-friendly atmosphere of a facility that closes only on Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter.

It has earned a nickname borrowed from the professional golf world: The Augusta of Archery.

What visitors find are three state-of-theart indoor ranges, two outdoor practicing ranges, party and meeting rooms, catered meals, and multiple 3D ranges. In all, there are 250 targets at which one can take aim.

It is those found on the backside of the ranch that beckon to the aspiring bowhunters. Some, Musacchio notes, have even arrived for practice by helicopter.

Located along trails that wind through

mesquite and oak trees, past ponds and over a creek that meanders through the ranch, hunters find lifelike foam animals — from coyotes and wolves to deer, wild hogs, bear and big cats — positioned as targets. It is there aspiring hunters practice shoots from the ground, tripods and elevated blinds.

And, naturally, it all begins with the development of basic archery skills.

Staff instructor Chris Lutsinger says the evolution from target-shooting archer to bowhunter is a basics-to-expertise process, determined by one’s natural ability. Teaching begins with safety procedures and evaluating the strength of the student and his or her ideal bow draw weight. (Most adult male hunters can draw a bow rated at 50 to 60 pounds; women, 30-40 pounds.) The newcomer will begin shooting at range targets from a distance of 10 yards, ultimately graduating to 20, then 40. Only when the archer is able to keep shots within an eightinch grouping can he advance onto the trails leading to mock animal targets.

“There is no hard-and-fast time frame

editor's pick There is nothing more exhilarating yet frustrating as checking your deer cams during the season. The excitement of scrolling through the images as you capture your first glimpse of a trophy buck on the screen is indescribable. At the same time, as the season progresses, that same sight of the buck that has eluded you can frustrate you to no end. Check out the M-50i 20MP Trail Camera from Moultrie and you'll quickly realize just how powerful the unit can be as a hunting tool. A 20-megapixel resolution and almost-instantaneous trigger time ensure you get the crispest, clearest images, even with fast movement. It also captures 1080p HD video. Its infrared flash technology reaches out to 100 feet, providing more than enough flash. Happy hunting. basspro.com

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Bow technician Michael Peterman works with a customer on setting up a bow (left); a customer practicing on the range.

editor's pick Some experienced shooters will tell you that four vanes are better than three and I agree. For the first time, the Gold Tip Velocity Valkyrie, introduces four fletching straight from the factory. The additional fletching adds surface area without sacrificing clearance or speed. That means more back-end drag, faster stabilization, and tighter groups. Combine that with Rocky Mountain Warhead SS mechanical broadheads that provide unmatched penetration and some Nockturnal lighted high visibility nocks, and you are guaranteed to take down a buck you will be proud to mount above your fireplace this fall. basspro.com

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in which one can advance from the novice archer rank to a bowhunter,” Lutsinger says.

“It depends on the individual. I’ve had some who are ready in just a few weeks. Others might take months.”

“One of the beauties of the sport,” says Musacchio, who still has the quiver of arrows he used at age 7, “is that archery and bowhunting can be lifetime activities. For the youngster who lacks the physical stature to play football or basketball, isn’t interested in baseball or becoming a world class runner, it is a place for him or her to excel athletically and have fun.”

There is even a National Bowhunters Hall of Fame, headquartered in Squaw Valley, California.

Start-up costs of the sport depend on one’s budget. “Generally speaking, you’re looking at the $800-$1,000 for your bow, peep (sight), and arrows, hunting license, etc.,” he explains. That said, the sport is akin to golf inasmuch as technology races on.

“The evolution of bows, for instance, has gone from wood to aluminum to carbon.

Same with the arrows.” And the serious hunter wants to keep up. “It’s like the golfer who starts out with a relatively inexpensive set of clubs, improves his game, and begins looking at a better driver or new set of irons that will help lower his score even further.”

Presently, he notes, current visitors to Cinnamon Creek Ranch range in ages from three to 80. And he is seeing more and more women show interest in bowhunting.

“The sport,” he says, “is increasingly becoming a family affair.” To wit: His wife Nola, and son Joey are avid bowhunters.

The skills taught at Cinnamon Creek Ranch have a storied history. If, in fact, those crude cave drawings of stick figures brandishing weapons pointed at wild animals are true recordings of mankind’s history, we can safely assume the art of bowhunting has been with us at least since the Stone Age. Today, there are statistics showing that its popularity has grown steadily. In the United States alone there are 4.6 million active bowhunters. Recently, the runaway success of the Hunger Games novels and motion pictures have piqued the interest of a new generation of archers and hunters.

And the line between competitive archery and bowhunting continues to dim.

Two-time Olympic archery competitor Brady Ellison and world champion Levi Morgan, for instance, have bowhunted since the were youngsters.

It is the uniqueness and skill required of the sport, Lutsinger suggests, that increasingly cause hunting enthusiasts to put aside a rifle and pick up a bow. “The two kinds of hunting are light years apart,” says the instructor who has bowhunted since he was 11-years-old. While a rifle hunter might take a shot from distances of up to 200 yards, the maximum distance from a target for even a gifted bowhunter is in the neighborhood of 40 yards, making slow, into-the-wind stalking of the animals a key part of the hunt.

It is a trek Joe Musacchio has made more times than he can recall, in wilds throughout the nation. The high walls of his ranch’s administrative building look like a taxidermist’s showcase, filled with a wide variety of trophies from past bowhunting successes.

And, he insists, he’s not through. “I’ve still got a few things left on my bucket list,” he says.

Such, one might assume, is the bowhunter’s creed. cinnamoncreekranch.com

“There is no hard-and-fast time frame in which one can advance from the novice archer rank to a bowhunter. It depends on the individual.�

A Bevy of Memories

story by jan hubbard

Dove hunting is a time-honored tradition in Texas, and it’s also the ultimate bonding experience

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previous spread: Doves coming

in to rest on the King Ranch in southeast Texas this spread, clockwise from top:

A youth hunt sponsored by the Texas Dove Hunters Association; Brent Conger and his son out in the field; a hunter walking through a field.

An

exotic piece of trivia that some of the estimated 460,000 Texans who engage in dove hunting might find fascinating can be found in Ecology and Management of Mourning Dove. According to the 1993 book written by Thomas S. Baskett, fossilized dove remains from the Pleistocene Epoch were found at an archaeological site in Llano County in 1967.

That would mean that doves were flying around in the Texas sky anywhere from 11,700 to 2.6 million years ago. And although no one is quite certain when the first dove hunt took place, we do know that the shotgun was not invented until 1878, so the first dove hunters were likely firing rocks rather than buckshot.

But even though they may not know the history, they understand the passion because of their own personal history. “A lot of people in Texas, grew up hunting and we’ve been doing it all of our lives,” says Brent Conger of Paloma Pachanga Ranch in Hondo. “When I was 4 or 5 years old, I would go out with my family and pick up birds in the field. Then at 7 or 8, I started shooting the smaller guns. And I just kept going from there. It’s a pastime in Texas and everyone who grows up hunting wants to continue doing it with their kids.”

There is little doubt that dove hunting is thriving in Texas. According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, one out of every four dove hunters in America hunts doves in Texas. Dove hunting retail sales bring in more than $200 million yearly, which generates more than $11 million in tax revenue for the state of Texas.

Besides tradition, dove hunting is an attractive sport for social and economic reasons. It is not only a popular family activity, but is also a fun group event. Dove hunting season begins in the North and Central Zones of Texas on Sept. 1, and that is reason to celebrate.

“It can be an entertaining atmosphere,” says Adam Jauch, who is the bird hunting manager at 10-2-4 Texas Hunting Ranch in Commerce. “We have a group of guys who come every year, and the night before the hunting season starts, they have their fantasy football draft. It all comes together – football, hunting, guys getting together and having a lot of fun.”

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Get Involved Bob Thornton was introduced to dove hunting by his parents and grandparents and it has been a lifelong love affair. In 2012, however, he decided there was more to the sport than family and fun, so he founded the Texas Dove Hunters Association.

It is a non-profit group that engages in diverse areas – everything from free counseling to landowners on improving their hunting population to a youth program that includes offering college scholarships to high school seniors to a research program that has had projects like the one that studied the migration pattern and feeding habits of Eurasian Collar Doves.

The association, which is based in San Antonio, also provides hunters with information on lease locations, apparel and supply stores, how to get permits, bag limits and even recipes – for example: Spicy dove poppers, which are Dove breasts seasoned with “chili powder, cayenne pepper and garlic powder, then cut and stuffed into a jalapeño along with cream cheese, wrapped in a slice of bacon and grilled.” more information is available at texasdovehunters.com 58 | @HOOKANDBARRELMAG | HOOKANDBARREL.COM

clockwise from far left:

Hunters at a TDHA event; Brent Conger and friends showing off their bounty; young hunters on the Paloma Ranch

PHOTOS WOLF CREEK PRODUCTIONS, BRENT CONGER, BOB THORNTON, RALPH WININGHAM

When Bob Thornton was in high school in San Antonio, the start of dove hunting season was like a state holiday – not sanctioned by the school district, but something that had to be observed. “If Sept. 1 fell on a weekday, we were not in class,” Thornton says. “We were out in the fields with our dads. It didn’t matter if we had a test or anything. It was an unwritten holiday that started the New Year for hunting. Your hunting license expires Aug. 31 so you’ve got to get a new one by Sept.1. It triggers everything. Other hunters — deer hunters, quail hunters, turkey hunters — they are all in the field during dove season because that’s the first chance they have to go hunting.”

Thornton’s passion for dove hunting led him to form the Texas Dove Hunters Association, a non-profit organization that provides a variety of services. But the primary emphasis is centered on dove hunting as a family sport, which, according to Ralph Winingham, is the major reason dove hunting is so popular.

Winingham has been an outdoor writer for more than 40 years, writing for newspapers and magazines including the San Antonio Express-News. He also is the author of two books, including The Campfire Chef: Old Boots and Bacon Grease.

“Dove hunting is one of the few outdoor activities where the family can get involved, have a good time, enjoy the camaraderie and the shooting,” Winingham says. There’s only so much space in a deer blind, so if you take a kid out deer hunting the two of you have a good time. But when you go dove hunting, you can take the whole family and have a party. People tailgate, do the cookout thing — that’s the way it is all over the state.”

Nowhere is it more festive than in Karnes City, which is 50 miles southeast of San Antonio and home of the Lonesome Dove Fest. On Sept. 14, the 3,300 residents of the city will begin celebrating the 25th anniversary of the event, which marks the beginning of the South Zone hunting season on Sept. 15. More than 8,000 dove hunting enthusiasts are expected to attend the two-day festival, which features: • A 5k run • A parade • Arts and crafts exhibits • Games for kids

• A team sporting clays competition between state officials and members of the media • A dance featuring a Live Band from 9:30 p.m. until midnight on Saturday.

“In some places,” Thornton says, “the opening of dove hunting season is a lot like a Super Bowl party. It’s not like people are going crazy, but people are having a good time.”

The good times are directly connected to sound. In many forms of hunting, silence is a necessity because voices startle the game.

That’s not the case in dove hunting. “You don’t have to be completely engaged in the hunt in order to enjoy it,” Jauch says. “It’s more of a laid-back deal where there is a lot of conversation going on. You don’t have to be quite like you’re in a deer blind. You don’t want to be yelling but you’re able to talk in a normal voice.”

If the goal is to have something closer to a party than a vigil, conversation is a plus. So is the affordability. Even the initial investment is reasonable. “It’s not an expensive sport,” Winingham says. “You buy an inexpensive shotgun, you get a couple of boxes of shells, and that’s it. You’ve got less of an expense going in and you can do it more. If you play golf, you’ve got to get a tee time, buy a lot of expensive equipment and you’re playing with people who are kind of serious. They don’t like you talking and cutting up on a golf course.

“In the dove field, that’s what they want.

You harass the other shooters and make fun of them when they miss a shot, but you also praise them when they make a good one. It’s one of the few activities where fun prevails and that’s what makes it so enjoyable.”

Winingham is part of a San Antonio group that makes Sept. 1 a special day. “We have about 25 guys with different backgrounds,” he says. “We’ve got an astronaut — Charlie Duke, who was the youngest man to ever set foot on the moon — former state officials, wildlife biologists, freelance outdoor writers and others. Every year on Sept. 1, we get together, hunt doves and eat barbecue. You see that kind of thing all over the place in Texas. Dove hunting is not an individual-type of thing. It’s an event for family and friends. That’s why people love it.”

“Dove hunting is one of the few outdoor activities where the family can get involved, have a good time, enjoy the camaraderie and the shooting.”

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NAME

Katie Van Slyke

AGE

21

HOMETOWN

Nolensville, TN

INSTAGRAM

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T H E

T R O P H Y

R O O M

Big Game

H NTER Just in time for deer season, avid outdoorswoman and Instagram star Katie Van Slyke talks bowhunting, her go-to firearm and the one that got away story by jacquelyne froeber

F

or Katie Van Slyke, it’s the most wonderful time of the year. If you’re one of her more than 231,000 followers on Instagram, you know she’s been going through #deerseasonwithdrawl.

The Nolensville, Tennessee, native began perfecting her shot at a young age — just 4 years old — practicing with her father. Today, Van Slyke is a skilled hunter and her social media posts capture her outdoor adventures on land and sea and her work with major brands including Smith & Wesson, Kryptek (a technical hunting apparel line), and archery giant Bowtech. Or as Van Slyke says: “Some girls like to wear bows, I just like to shoot them.” what sparked your interest in hunting and fishing?

My dad had me out in the woods or on a fishing boat since before I could walk. There's a picture of me at 8 months old with my first gun that my grandpa gave me (even though I started shooting when I was about 4). My mom and I traveled the country showing horses, but hunting was what I did with my dad.

so you versus jennifer lawrence in the hunger games. who hits the bullseye first?

I think with a recurve [bow], Katniss may have me beat, but I'd give her a run for her money with a compound. I shot a recurve at the Archery Trade Association (ATA) Trade Show last year, and I think if I got one, it would become an obsession. how can guys get their ladies interested in hunting?

I tell guys all the time to stop being so strict when getting their girlfriends into hunting. Make it more of an "outdoorsy date" thing instead of something more serious like when you're going on your own. Most girls who haven't grown up hunting won't care about the score of a buck, but they'll care about having fun and just spending time together.

if you were a hunting rifle, which one would you be?

I would be the rifle that I first started hunting with: a Marlin .357 lever action.

PHOTO MONTGOMERY LEE PHOTOGRAPHY

where is the most exciting place you've been hunting?

This may sound cliché, but the most exciting place I've been hunting is my own land. I've been hunting in multiple states, but I get the biggest rush harvesting an animal off of the land I grew up on and prepared alongside my dad. what is your go-to weapon: rifle or bow?

This is only my second year bowhunting, and I love it. With that being said, my favorite at the moment is my Bowtech Archery Eva Shockey Series bow.

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“Some girls like to wear bows, I just like to shoot them.” what is your indoor obsession? (possibly cabela's big game hunter video game?)

My indoor obsession is makeup. I love to show my creativity through different looks I can create whether it's on my face or someone else’s face. ok. would you rather be stranded in the forest with bear grylls or the cast of duck dynasty ?

The cast of Duck Dynasty hands down. I'm pretty sure they have way more outdoor knowledge and I would get some laughs out of it as well!

tell us about the one that got away.

I'd have to say it was a deer that my mom ended up shooting the afternoon after I saw him in the morning. He ended up scoring 163.5, which is a monster in Tennessee. let's talk social media: why do you think people are interested in “following” a woman that hunts on instagram?

I don't think my following stems just from the hunting aspect. I try to document all things that I'm involved in and love. So that includes hunting, fishing, horses, singing, makeup, etc. I think the diversity of content is what draws people in. you often use the hashtag #whatevergetsyououtdoors. in a society obsessed with screens, why is it important for you to connect with nature?

I have no room to talk because I spend plenty of time on my phone, but for me, being outside is what keeps me sane. It offers you a place to be passionate about so many things while also being a natural source of food and exercise. you wrote: "find someone you like to hunt with and date that person” on a photo with you and your beau hunting. what is your deal breaker?

I guess a deal breaker when dating a hunter is if the man has insecurities about dating someone who also hunts. I've been there. A true man will admit to being outhunted and learn from his partner and in turn, won't mind passing along his own knowledge. do you have girlfriends who hunt, or have you noticed more women interested in the sport?

I've made so many female outdoor enthusiast friends through Instagram. Before I started posting about hunting on social media, I had a couple of friends that hunted, but it's been so cool to be able to connect girls from all over who have the same passion.

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"i must be a deer tick, because i am stuck on you" is one of our favorite pickup lines. what's your outdoorsy favorite?

I've been dating my boyfriend for almost two years, so I haven't gotten many pickup lines that actually worked for a while. Most pickup DMs that get sent my way are "Are you from Tennessee? ’Cause you're the only 10-I-See."

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G R E A T

O U T D O O R S

Gator Hunting with Ol' Tim

M

story by matthew howe | illustration by scott fett

y first gator hunt took place outside of Tampa, Florida.

A friend of mine invited me and several other guys on the hunt for his birthday, and our guide, Tim, guaranteed the birthday boy that he was going to bring home a monster trophy before lunch.

When we met Tim at the ranch that would be our hunting ground, it was still dark and he passed the time by telling us how several cable networks were bidding to give him a reality show. By his words, we knew Tim was the right guy to take our crew of civilians and military veterans on the hunt.

By the dawn’s early light, we made our way to the water’s edge.

While the birthday boy was being regaled with stories of Tim’s endeavors, the rest of us vets grew increasingly skeptical.

Tim removed his windbreaker and wore a tank top displaying a set of scars along his arms. This was the first time any of us noticed that one of his fingers was partially missing. He noticed me staring.

“Hazards of the job my man!”

From sunrise until about 1 p.m., we sat in the tall grass listening to Tim tell our friend story after story of his gator exploits. To pass the time, the vets made random bets throughout the morning just like we used to over in that foreign desert — bets like who would have the most mosquito bites by the time we left, and who would the gator eat first, the birthday boy or Tim? Come nightfall — when there wasn’t anything left to bet on — Tim announced that he was going to get the boat, and he ran off to the barn. He returned about 30 minutes later with a 13-foot Boston Whaler. Proudly standing at the center console, he ordered all of us to climb in.

The next two hours were spent trolling the lake with hooks until we snagged an alligator of dinosaur proportions. It took all of

64 | @HOOKANDBARRELMAG | HOOKANDBARREL.COM

us working together to drag it to the surface. Once the beast was alongside the boat, we finally saw how massive the thing was.

Tim started going through his gear yelling, “Where is it? Where is it?” With all of his fancy gator-hunting gear, his strange gator calls and crossbows, ol’ Tim forgot the one thing we needed to claim this gator: the bang stick.

We had no way of dispatching this monster. Finally, it broke two hooks and swam away. All of us went silent with anger. It wasn’t until we were on our way back to Tim’s truck that we spoke out with some choice words for “Mr. Reality Star.” The birthday boy was ready to call it a night, but the rest of us weren’t, and Tim promised us a monster trophy. Needless to say, ol’ Tim wasn’t getting off the hook that easily.

We retrieved the bang stick and headed back out. More trolling.

We actually hooked it again and went through the same cycle to drag it next to our boat. It was even meaner this time, which was a reasonable meanness, I supposed, considering that the heavyweight had two championship fights in one night. It chomped at anything that was close: It barely missed my feet on several occasions.

At the moment of truth, Tim proudly produced the bang stick and announced to the rest of us wrangling this behemoth that we had nothing to worry about — he was on it.

The gator didn’t agree.

It made a hard roll, jerking the boat so hard that ol’ Tim dropped the bang stick in the water. When he put his tasty hand in to retrieve it, he came within millimeters of losing the rest of that finger but managed to escape the chomp.

With the stick ready, Tim handed it to the birthday boy and stepped back. But our civilian birthday boy hesitated and announced that someone else should do it. He handed the bang stick to me.

Don’t get me wrong, I wanted that gator — so badly that I didn’t think I needed the bang stick. But this wasn’t my birthday. The birthday boy needed to become a man. By midnight, he had his trophy.

It took all seven of us to load it into the back of Tim’s truck.

Problem was, ol’ Tim had lost the keys.

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