A few Americans seem to think “Fall” begins with the aroma of Pumpkin Spice Latte’s from your local coffee house. That’s what we like to call a false narrative. “Fall” starts when our minds shift from sun tans to sunrise – and sunset - tables for legal shooting light. In this issue of The Hunting Wire we address trapping in our Voice of Leadership Panel (VoLP), talk about an exciting new series with Louisiana State University called Conservation Pillars, and continue to bring you great news and information from around our industry. I hope many of you (hopefully) have had success afield either with your bow or in some cases early rifle season. Me? I got to experience Maine black bears a few weeks ago and man was it a great time. Paul House and his team at www.houseinthewoods.org were wonderful hosts for me and 15 other military veterans who shared a week-long opportunity to learn about and hunt Maine’s famous black bears. I carried a pair of Savage rifles, one chambered in the all-world 9.3x62mm Mauser and the backup rifle in the All-Maine 300 Savage. The 300 Savage and I saw three bears, just like Goldilocks, but I let those young guys carry on smartly while they entertained me for more than an hour by climbing trees, batting down baits, and wrestling each other over trail mix. I was told later by my guide that seeing three bears together is rare, so I’ll take that as a win in the hunting memory department. Later in October I’ll head to Wisconsin to archery hunt whitetails with a great friend, and then later that month I’ll head to Canada to chase waterfowl with Weatherby’s Zach Hein. Hunting is always a good time but hunting with friends is even better.  As always, thank you for your support and feedback about The Hunting Wire, Jay Pinsky jay@theoutdoorwire.com