September is here. Dove opener, flood tides, nights on the prairie to name a few things sacred. Golden hues connect field to coast in a single thread that keeps me coming back for more. September has left its mark.

I caught my first redfish in September, fell in love with bird hunting, watched Ernie heal from the kind of sickness I thought he could never come back from, bought and sold homes, changed jobs and spent countless nights on the prairie praying under the stars for more days like the one before.

I can smell the sagebrush and the tenor of the air breaking from sunrise to afternoon heat under the vast view of the plains. September has made me feel small in an almost holy way, swept up in God’s creation, in his country, reconnected to nature and humbled. Something to celebrate. Whether it’s the hunting, the fishing, the meals shared at camp, the burnt orange leaves or the smell of cider from a roadside orchard, it’s home to me.

We all have our own favorite months, and this one might just be mine.

From the Table

A seasonal menu inspired by the transition to fall.

The Starter
Classic Dove Poppers

A great step-by-step guide to making a timeless favorite for the season.

The Main
Cast-Iron Jalapeño Cornbread & Dutch Oven Chili

I count down the days until I can make this combo every year. It might still be a little hot out for some, but it’s never too early for chili and cornbread.

The Dessert
Peach Crisp Almond Ice Cream

I made this recipe with my Kitchen Aid Ice Cream Mixer and local, farm-fresh milk, eggs and peaches. It takes a bit of extra time to make the layers, but well worth the effort. The custard base can be used with any combination of toppings, too.

The Table
Trade out the tablescape for a few chairs around the campfire, shared cast iron plates and a warm meal served over the coals. Some things are best appreciated with the smell of the campfire and western winds.

Around the Fire

Let’s talk about our Field First Aid Kit for Dogs

Thankfully, we haven’t had to use everything in our kit, but when we’re hunting in remote places it’s important to have emergency essentials on hand. We’ve used more than expected between barbed wire cuts, torn pads, and giardia on the road. Here are a few things we carry with us, but it’s just as important to know how to use the tools you have. There are a lot of good resources to help you stay prepared, but I linked a great one here.

• Wound Care — Saline spray, vet wrap, non-stick gauze pads, non-adhesive dressing, cotton-tipped applicators, iodine, a skin stapler (and remover), Vetbond, burn gel, alcohol wipes, and Kwik-Stop styptic powder for a torn nail or blown dew claw.

• Toxicity — Activated charcoal and hydrogen peroxide.

• Thorns, Cactus Spines & Foxtails — Tweezers and hemostats.

• Nutrition & Stomach Issues — Nutri-Cal and honey packets for a blood sugar crash, an anti-diarrheal, and FortiFlora.

• Eye Care — Eye wash and eye lube.

• Cuts, Pad Tears & Sensitive Skin — Saline flush, Pad Tough, elbow butter, duct tape, and dog boots.

• Wildlife Encounters — Skunk-Off (for the obvious), hemostats, tongue depressors, and a muzzle for pulling porcupine quills.

• Tools: Thermometer, mini shears, nail trimmers, regular scissors, micro scissors, hemostats, forceps, tweezers, tick removal comb, briar removal comb, needle nose pliers and cable cutters.

• General — Rubber gloves, Dawn dish soap, a foil blanket, and a field guide to dog first aid handbook.

I created this Field Dog First Aid Kit with everything included in the photo above to keep me honest on restocks, but I always love to hear what everyone is bringing in their kit and what I can add to my list. As an aside, these items are what we keep in our truck kit, but we take several things with in our vests while we’re out walking on our hunts, too.

The Field & Home Edit

Explore the September 2026 F&H Edit

Read

Kicking Up Trouble by John Holt. I’m about halfway through this one and I’ve been loving Holt’s stories of each upland bird species and anecdotes from his time hunting in the prairies. It’s been transporting me west.

Make

Tie a few redfish flies: It’s surprising to me that we haven’t made our way down to the coast yet after living in Texas for so many months, but this time of year has me itching to cast at some tailing reds. Until then, I’m going to attempt to tie a few flies for the next time I get out on the water.

Use

Orvis Waxed Cotton Strap Bird Vest: Every year I think I’m going to want to upgrade my bird vest and I can never bring myself to make the change. Maybe I’m a little sentimental or maybe this is just a great vest, but I’ll be wearing this all year.

Tom Beckbe English Setter Hat: I could not resist picking up this orange English Setter hat for the season. This one will be worn on repeat this fall.

Visit

Scout a wildlife management area in your area: A lot of my hunting opportunities are ones where I plan and travel, but recently I’ve been feeling challenged to find the public land and access near me to explore, too.

Listen

The Bullfighter by Luke Bell: I didn’t know dogs could have theme songs until this became Ernie’s. There’s a good long story behind it that I’ll tell another day, but for now this one’s worth a listen.

The Sporting Club Podcast: Launching this fall wherever podcasts are streamed. Follow along for updates on Instagram @thesportingclubpodcast.

Looking Ahead

This month is full of opportunities to reconnect to what we love most in the outdoors.

Between a seasonal refresh at home, a week on the prairie and sneaking in some fishing in Appalachia, it should be a month filled with camping, good dogs, and even better company.

Until next month, I hope you find one more excuse to get out in the field and linger around the campfire.

- Kait

Nothing more than a topper for the truck bed, a homemade drawer system that doubled as a platform for a small mattress and a few insulated panels for the windows to block the light and provide some warmth. We had just finished a twenty-six-hour drive cross-country through the night and practically collapsed in the back of the truck bed for our first “morning” of sleep before the rest of the trip.

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Ernie was just a puppy on that trip, but somehow, we all managed to pile into our little bunk every night and did everything from camping in parking lots to the wide open prairie that year. As much as we learned in that first trip, the idea of camping out of the truck has continued to evolve into one of our favorite parts of traveling west.

Year two, we upgraded to an iKamper. For those not familiar, this pop-up tent mounts to the roof of your truck, so you’re regaining some space in the truck bed and expanding your sleeping quarters pretty significantly.

One of the benefits of the iKamper was that the dogs’ kennels could live in the truck bed and we had a whole sleeping area the size of a King Bed to pop up and down depending on where the day took us. We have done a lot of camping on public land in that tent over the past two years.

Last year, we base camped on the prairie and caught a glimpse of the northern lights from the small windows lining the interior. I love being elevated off the ground in this type of setup. I can still hear the snorts of the cattle that always seemed to show up at camp around one am or the wild horses traveling by in the moonlight.

The only downside to this set up was being separated from the dog’s kennels and having to crawl out of the tent into the cool morning air to make a cup of coffee before starting the day. Hayden had also experienced his fair share of weather events on the longer trips out west, and there’s nothing worse than being stuck in a rooftop tent all day when a thunderstorm rolls in.

We’d been considering other options for this year, from a tow-behind to a slide-in, and finally landed on an integrated tent and topper system — the Warlock, from NightOwl Off-Road — which extends the height of useable truck bed space and opens up an additional level for a mattress and sleeping quarters above.

What I love about building these new setups is that it creates a great weekend project. Last weekend, we built new shelving for the kennels to mount to on the inside, and got those installed as we’re gearing up for our big trip this year. It’s wild to think back to that first morning pit-stop, trying to stay warm, packed into a tiny topper, dogs included, but something about truck camping has served as the platform for some of my fondest memories.

From My Kitchen

A few tips on camp cooking and my favorite recipes for the road.

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Before our camping trips, I love to come up with a menu beforehand and prep as many of the ingredients as possible for quick grab-and-go meals. A light Greek Pasta Salad and Chicken Caesar Wraps have become a staple for roadtrip days and quick lunches.

Packing a good assortment of snacks like Chomps, parmesan cheese, sourdough crackers and dried fruit is amazing to have on hand instead of having to stop at gas stations and scrounge for wholesome options.

I usually plan each day’s meals around one big cooking moment, either breakfast or dinner, and then we stick to our pre-made snacks or grab-and-go items the rest of the day.

Our dinner rotation almost always includes a taco night, an Americana burger night (pretzel buns, of course), and some form of cowboy steak and potatoes. A big pancake breakfast or two is another can’t-miss moment on the trip, but making the batter ahead of time and pre-portioning ingredients will save you on cooler space and make cooking much easier on the road.

For our hunting trips, I like to keep recipes simple so cooking is a low barrier to a great meal, but if we’re doing a more casual camping trip, I love nothing more than making something more elaborate to gather the crew around.

This Week’s Find

Everything I carry in my GoBox 60 for my camp kitchen

Prepping and planning is one of my greatest joys in life, and when we go on the road, getting the camp kitchen ready is my favorite job. Even though we’re still a few weeks out, I spent some time putting together our camp cooking essentials and ordering a few new items for this year to make sure we’re ready for some great meals on the road.

On the Calendar

• More training and recovery days (sauna and cold plunge included)

• Visiting a local farm store for ingredients for our trip

• Catching up on reading and spending time in the sun

• Giving the pups their summer shave and nail trims

I would love to hear about everyone’s camp setups and what you’re planning to make at camp this year. If you have a favorite recipe, let me know in the comments below!

Here’s to a few more days on the road and nights exploring wide open country.

Until next Friday,

Kait

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As summer travel winds down and I find myself back at home more often, I’ve been reflecting on the things we tend in our lives. The garden has become a metaphor for this. At the beginning of the season, growth felt effortless, with rain, mild temperatures, and conditions in my favor. Recently, as the season has begun to wind d…

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From the Editor

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I woke up to light leaking through the shutters, bird dogs rustling at the end of the bed and no plans for the day. The thought of an americano brewing and the warm morning air pulled me out of bed and into our morning walk. Fawns resting in our neighbors yard perked up as my dogs plowed their way down the street. For all of their charms, walking on lea…

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The route I’d recommend after driving the Oregon coast myself. Consider this less of a checklist and more of a travel journal from a good friend who jotted down some notes to share for your next trip.

When we started planning this trip, I probably had twenty tabs open. Every guide recommended something different.

Some told us to spend an afternoon in Cannon Beach before continuing south. Others skipped Portland entirely. A few packed so many stops into a single day that I knew we’d spend more time driving than actually experiencing Oregon.

After making the trip ourselves, here’s what I’d tell a friend.

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Foggy mornings. Towering waterfalls. Quiet conversations over homemade meals. Tide pools, redwoods, and evenings around the fire on the Pacific. What began with a chance meeting in a motel parking lot years ago became one of the most meaningful trips we’ve ever taken.

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The tomatoes have taken over.

I’m not sure what I was expecting when I first planted the garden this spring, but let’s just say the harvest has far exceeded both my expectations and the small woven basket I reserved for gathering produce. Every few days, another handful of tomatoes appears ready to pick, and the basil seems determined to outgrow everythi…

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I’ve done a few float trips, mostly down the …

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The Pull Toward Spring

I’ve been waiting for the weather to turn and to feel settled enough in our new home to plant a small herb garden. Around this time each year, I find myself pulled back into the rhythm of seasonal cooking: slower mornings, simple meals, and ingredients that feel tied to the place we’re in.

This felt like the right moment to finally build something of our own.

Choosing the Space

Tucked just beyond the back shed, our yard has a naturally shaded corner that immediately felt like it was meant for a garden.

I had done some research ahead of time and landed on raised beds from Edge Right—corten steel that will patina over time and settle into the landscape rather than sit on top of it. Just as importantly, the beds gave me the ability to fully control the soil blend, which felt essential for setting everything up to thrive through the season.

I went with a 4’x4’ and a 2’x4’ configuration with the 14 inch depth — enough space to anchor the garden with tomatoes while still leaving room for a full mix of herbs.

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These Field Guides are an invitat…

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The skiff hums low as we wind through the tidal creek, the air thick with salt and the scent of pluff mud. We cut tight around each bend, chasing last light and a rising flood tide.

When we nudge the bow into the grass, everything falls quiet – except the marsh.

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