As my regular readers know, I’ve been a fan of Living Ready Magazine since it premiered last year. The latest issue, Fall 2013, certainly lives up to its predecessors.

With it being a quarterly publication, Living Ready has been using the seasons as themes for each issue. This one is no different and the focus is on fall harvesting. So, we have excellent articles on providing food for the family, such as Venison Prep Tips by homesteader extraordinaire Stacy Harris. Speaking from a wealth of experience, Stacy explains how you really shouldn’t prepare venison like you would beef purchased at the store and, instead, provides us with a ton of great information on how to get the very best out of what might be the “America’s finest red meat.”

We also have a great article on using snares to harvest small game by my good friend, Creek Stewart. He describes not only how to make your own wire snares but where to place them for maximum effect.

Ginseng has long been known for its medicinal properties and in his article The Gingseng Hunter, Ron Hauser talks about where to find it, how to identify it, and even a bit on how to use it.

Peter Garnham, in his piece titled Bounty of Autumn, shares some wonderful and practical information on using cool-weather crops to extend your growing season.

Perhaps my favorite article in this issue is Reading the Earth by Dave Morelli. I’ve long been interested in tracking and, while I know a bit about it, I’m always hungry for great information. Here, Morelli presents an excellent primer on the art (and make no mistake, it is indeed as much art as it is science) of tracking, whether you are on the trail of wild game or a missing child.

I also very much enjoyed Chad Love’s article, Protect and Serve, where he discusses the man and dog survival partnership. A great bonus was the sidebar article on first aid information applicable to our canine companions.

All in all, another great issue of Living Ready. There is a nice balance of articles vs. advertising, something that is lacking in some other publications that read more like catalogs than magazines. I also love that the cover price is just a hair more than half what you’d pay for one of their competitors.

Now, here’s a special treat for all my Survival Weekly readers. You, yes YOU, can take Living Ready for a test drive and see what you think for yourself. The following link is exclusively for readers of SurvivalWeekly.com. Clicking it and following the prompts will net you a free digital download of the Summer 2013 issue of Living Ready Magazine. How cool is that?!

Click here for your free digital download of the Summer 2013 issue of Living Ready Magazine.