Volume 13 Number 10 - October 2006

FEATURES:

	Basket Racks to Rocking Chairs A Wake County hunter’s pampered food plot produces 2005’s No. 1 non-typical muzzle-loader buck. Some white-tailed deer hunters like to place their stands atop ridges; some prefer hardwood slopes with dropping acorns; and some set up close to scrapes or where they’ve discovered big rub trees. ... Craig Holt

	Lifetime Buck Jordan Barnes of Eden bagged 2005’s top youth muzzleloader trophy. Jordan Barnes isn’t a run-of-the-mill 10-year-old boy. And the whitetail buck he met one afternoon in a Rockingham County cutover wasn’t a run-of-the-mill 10-pointer. ... Dan Kibler

	More Trout, No Doubt N.C.’s delayed-harvest streams offer action starting in October and a chance to catch big trout. Delayed harvest — what does that mean, and why is it a bonanza for Tar Heel trout anglers? And, most importantly, where are the best spots? ... Tim Mead

	Mountain Magnets Tar Heel wing-shooters who get the itch for action in October should consider ruffed grouse -- but only if they don’t want to get hooked. Ginny’s high tail, flaring nostrils and the intensity of her point told me she had a snoot full of bird scent. As I walked to her point, a thunder of wings broke from the briar tangle to my right. The bird was gone before I could get ... Don Mallicoat

	October Revelry King mackerel caught from a fast-trolling boat can produce big numbers and big fish. According to a dictionary, “revelry” is an occasion of boisterous celebration. If a fisherman’s heart isn’t made joyous at the sound of a reel screeching as the drag slips line to a smoker king mackerel, he’s picked the wrong sport. ... Mike Marsh

	Pamlico Puzzle The shallow flats behind Hatteras and Ocracoke islands offer tremendous October trout fishing, but putting the pieces together to catch grays and specks takes experience. The Outer Banks are a mystery to many fishermen because there’s just so much water. ... Dan Kibler

	Pork, Big Bucks Stop Here Howell Woods in Franklin County offers hunters a unique combination of deer and hog hunting. While N.C. legislators wrangled with pork-barrel spending from a $2.1-billion surplus, Luke Vande Guchte of Wake Forest knew what his family would be spending some of their money for – a taxidermy mount of his first big-antlered buck deer. ... Mike Marsh

	Red Song Rising A talented coastal musician has a sweet melody for October red drum and flounder. The moving tide draining the tidal marsh bumped a 3-inch-long shrimp along the bottom with an occasional scrape and bounce off scattered oyster shells. ... Jerry Dilsaver

	Yadkin on the Fly A Lexington angler discovers he doesn’t have to drive to N.C.’s mountains to enjoy terrific fly-fishing action. Fly-fishing evokes images of bubbling streams winding their way along pebble and rocky bottoms amidst mountainous terrain in the western reaches of North Carolina. ... Tony Garitta