Welcome back. After last week's lighter preview issue, every section is back this week and loaded with good stuff. October is doing what October does: stacking seasons on top of each other faster than you can clean your gear. Quail and chukar open Saturday in Q1 and Q3, the X zones close next Sunday, and the Balance of State duck opener is now two weeks out with reservation deadlines rolling this week. This issue we're putting the deer heart to work in a hard, fast sear, making the case for the least glamorous piece of gear you own (a shovel, and yes, one of you knows exactly why), and taking you to Colorado with co-founder Weston W. as he scouts for his October bull. Then Weston tells the story of the buck that should have been his first, which involves a 3x3, a tripod, and a side by side with other plans. Let's get into it.

Back in Issue #6 we told you to save the heart, and in Issue #14 we walked you through pulling the pluck. Here's why. A deer heart is a dense, fine-grained, hard-working muscle that eats more like a lean steak than anything people picture when they hear "organ meat." Sliced and seared hot, it's one of the best bites on the animal, and it's ready in about ten minutes.

You will need: one deer heart, coarse salt and black pepper, a high-heat oil or tallow, two tablespoons of butter, two crushed garlic cloves, a sprig of thyme or rosemary, and a cast-iron skillet. Optional: sliced onions to cook in the drippings, flaky salt, or a spoon of chimichurri to finish.

The method:

Doneness and safety note: heart is lean, and the second you overcook it, it turns rubbery. Many hunters pull it at a rosy medium-rare the same way they treat backstrap (Issue #8). USDA's conservative guidance for organ meats and venison is 160 degrees, so if you're cooking for kids, older folks, or anyone pregnant, or you'd simply rather not gamble, cook it through, or braise it low and slow like the tough cuts in Issue #11. Organs spoil faster than muscle, so get the heart into a bag and onto ice in the field, cook it within a couple of days or vacuum seal it (Issue #7), and wear nitrile gloves while you trim.

We know. A shovel. Stay with us. One NorCalHunt subscriber, who will remain nameless (you know who you are), recently learned that mud and sand don't care how good your truck is. When you're buried to the axle on a two-track miles from pavement, you're either digging yourself out or waiting at the mercy of whoever drives by next. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

Our value pick is the GroundWork 49 in. Hardwood Handle Round Point Shovel from Tractor Supply. You get a steel round point head with a lacquer finish to help it hold up to wear, a full-length 49-inch hardwood handle for real leverage when you're digging out a tire, and a nonslip end grip. It runs about $25, so check current pricing. Keep it out of the rain between trips so the wood handle lasts.

Floor option: the old rusty one in your shed, for free. Clean the blade, check the handle for cracks, and throw it in the truck today. Whatever you carry, it rides in the bed next to the cooler from Issue #15 and the meat frame from Issue #12.

When you're stuck: stop spinning the second you stop moving forward. Dig out in front of all four tires, not just behind, clear anything you're high-centered on, and stuff brush or branches under the drive tires before you ease back on the throttle.

This week's Showcase is an inside look at life on the NorCalHunt crew. Co-founder Weston W. of Durham spent last weekend scouting Colorado ahead of his October bull elk hunt, and this is the shot he brought home: the sun going down over a hillside of aspens gone full gold. No antlers in the frame yet, just the kind of evening that makes all the scouting miles worth it. We'll let you know how the bull hunt shakes out.

The Showcase is exclusive to subscribers, so the folks on this list see it first. Next week it could be yours: a buck on the tailgate, a covey flush on opening morning, the first greenhead of the valley season. Hit reply with your photo or clip and a sentence about it, and tell us how you want to be credited (we run first name, last initial, and town). The best one each week runs up top and earns a permanent spot on our subscribers-only Showcase page.

Meet "Sadie" (Owners: Matt P. and Emma H., Chico)

Sadie is a golden retriever pup out of Chico, and her owners will be the first to tell you she is a passenger princess in the making. She's still a puppy, which means the window seat, the truck rides, and the best spot in the cab are all hers to claim for now. She's the first golden retriever we've featured in Dog of the Week, and she earned the spot.

Want your dog featured? Hit reply, send us a clean photo of your hunting partner, and give us a quick 2 to 3 sentence blurb on what they hunt and where they earn their kibble. Pointers, flushers, retrievers, and the occasional very good mutt all qualify. Missed a week? Catch up on every dog we've featured on our past Dogs of the Week page.

"One second, two seconds, three, and my dad said 'take it.'"

Weston was 13, hunting B zone with his dad on private ground west of Redding. It was October, and they'd spent the whole day on the side by side: some does, no legal bucks, and daylight running out. So they swung back to a spot they'd already checked twice, an opening ringed in thick brush that you couldn't see into until you crested the hill.

They rolled over the top slow, and there he was: a 3x3 standing broadside in the opening. His dad called it a shooter, set the parking brake, and put up the sticks. Weston settled the crosshairs and took his time on the first buck of his life. Maybe a little too much time. Somewhere around seven seconds, he felt his dad bump him in the back.

What was happening behind him, and why he wouldn't trade it for the buck, is the part you'll want to read.

Submitted by Weston W.

Read the full story on norcalhunt.com/fieldstories.

Got a hunt that turned into a story? A first buck, a near miss, a day that went sideways and turned out better for it? Hit reply and tell it the way you would at the tailgate, and we'll clean it up. Catch up on the ones we've already run on our field stories page.

This briefing gets sharper when we hear from you. Drop us a quick reply and tell us:

This week's poll: everybody remembers their first buck, and the gun or bow that took it. What did you shoot your first buck with?

Got a hunting partner in the foothills, the rice, or along the riverbanks? Forward this briefing and point them to norcalhunt.com. Word of mouth from real hunters is how we grow.

Quail vests, steel shot for the opener, a processor with room for your last buck, or a tow when the shovel isn't enough: somebody close to you has it. Our local services page keeps the NorCal businesses that treat hunters right all in one place. Check it out, and if your shop belongs on it, hit reply. norcalhunt.com/localboys

No rain in the valley forecast this week. The National Weather Service has the Chico area sunny all week, with highs in the 70s early on warming into the mid-80s by Thursday and Friday, lows from the mid-40s to mid-50s, and northwest gusts near 30 mph on Sunday. Close to home, CAL FIRE lists the Fork Fire in Shasta County at 59 acres and 75 percent contained. Sierra hunters should note the Dome Fire in Mariposa County, now about 6,800 acres and 61 percent contained, and the newer Piute Fire in Tuolumne County, small but only 5 percent contained. Before you load the truck:

Stay safe out there, get your gear cleaned, and we'll see you in the field.

The NorCal Hunt Team

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