I like to cook wild game. There's something about a well-roasted duck on a bed of wild rice with all the trimmings that satisfies both my creative and gastric urges. There are a host of good recipes in game cookbooks but if you are going to roast the traditional way, it is better to pluck the bird.

Skinned birds need considerable larding and basting to stay moist in the oven or on the grill. A very simple and tasty way to cook duck is to fillet out the breast meat and separate it into its four natural parts, then tenderize (pound), season and pan fry just as you would a steak.

With some of the stronger tasting waterfowl, such as snow geese, fillet out the meat, mix with equal parts pork, grind and apply your favorite smoked sausage recipe. You will be amazed.

There's not much munching on a duck leg. However, save the legs of several birds and crockpot them for some fine morsels of good eating.

The green timber shooting of eastern Arkansas and other areas in the southern Mississippi Drainage area are justly famous. It is productive and it is fun. However, it is almost as much fun to watch waterfowlers from other areas try it for the first time.

This type of hunting requires a good bit of loud calling and relatively few decoys. In fact, many experienced hunters use none at all or at most two or three. Good thing too, because timber shooting often requires a long trek in to a good spot.

The ducks drop in through holes in the tree canopy, often without warning to waiting hunters. The ducks are just suddenly there among the shooters. It is fast, in-your-face action and when the shooting starts the ducks are no slouches at dodging through the trees.

Ranges are usually short and I prefer rather light shot. Don't handicap yourself with too much choke. A wide pattern yields better results on these quick and fast-moving targets.

Generally, we consider the buck's core area or sanctuary to be a rough, tough forbidding place deep in a swamp or some other relatively inaccessible place. Often it is. However, a wise old buck, after some serious pressure and particularly after his core area has been invaded, can hide right under our noses.
From the buck's point of view, cover is cover and any well-protected place is a good spot to bed down. An unharvested cornfield provides both food and cover. Even a fallow field, overgrown with high weeds, is suitable. An old brush pile or a gully makes a weed field even more attractive.
Many big bucks have an ultra-secret spot they head for when the pressure is on. Often it is a small, insignificant patch of cover most hunters pass by. It doesn't take a big piece of cover to hide a big buck. If a buck feels secure, he will stick in his spot until you almost kick him out.

This isn't about computers. It's about defeating insect pests that plague the archery season. The early autumn woods are full of bugs that either want to suck your blood or will bite or sting you.

The bloodsucking biters include mosquitoes, chiggers, fleas, gnats and several types of biting flies. All are uncomfortable companions and several, particularly mosquitoes and ticks, can carry serious disease. The fighters include yellowjackets, wasps, hornets, spiders and scorpions. These are painful and dangerous to allergic individuals.

Insect repellent is messy and must be reapplied frequently. It deters the biters but has little effect on the fighters. Also, most repellents have a strong chemical smell that could repel the deer you are hunting.

A "bug suit" is a coverall of fine mesh that keeps out both biters and fighters. Many are being made in camouflage patterns or with cut-out camo fabric stitched on. Washed in a no-scent soap, a bug suit not only de-bugs your deer stand, it enhances your camouflage.

If you don't tag out during the primary rut, you have a second chance. The secondary rut occurs about 28 days after the primary rut is over.
Any adult doe not successfully bred during the primary rut will come into heat again on the 28th day of her estrus cycle. In addition, early-born doe fawns often come into their first heat at this time.
Be watchful for the signs of the secondary rut. You'll find rubs that are newly touched up and both new scrapes and older ones that have been freshened up. The bucks are more than happy to take advantage of another breeding opportunity.
Use the same rut-hunting tactics as are recommended for the primary rut. These include grunting and doe bleats and hunting heavy cover near doe concentration areas. However, you should hunt more cautiously and be a bit more subtle with your calls. The secondary rut is not as intense as the primary and the bucks are wise to hunting pressure.