I cut my bowhunting teeth chasing plains muleys. In my tiny slice of southeastern Colorado heaven, you'd be a fool not to. Then, in 2012, I went to Illinois on a whitetail hunt. I was blessed to bowhunt a fantastic piece of dirt and the whitetail rut ...
Big Game
Utah Cuts 1,300 Mule Deer Hunting Permits for the 2022 Season
For the fourth consecutive year, the Utah Wildlife Board has decided to reduce the overall number of mule deer hunting permits issued this year. The reduction is an effort to stem the decline of the state's muley population over the past several ...
Ban on Sunday Hunting in Maine Could be Trumped by Right-to-Food Law
Maine passed a constitutional right-to-food amendment last November, which guarantees the state’s residents the right to grow and harvest food for personal consumption. Thanks to an interesting interpretation of the amendment, a recent lawsuit is ...
Hunter, Sniper, Spy: Ret. SEAL Terry Houin Just Getting Started
Standing on the ramp of a C-130 in the dead of night, at 5,000 feet, in thick clouds over the Indian Ocean 12 miles east of the Horn of Africa, Terry Houin and his five teammates, all part of a secretive intelligence unit within the US Navy SEALs, ...
Arkansas Game and Fish Using Collars to Collect Bear Season Data
Thanks to the tireless conservation efforts of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, the black bear population's resurgence in the state represents one of the most successful reintroductions of a large carnivore ever achieved. State wildlife ...
California Black Bear Season Will Remain In Place, Anti-Hunters Denied
For the second year in a row, the California Fish and Game Commission has turned away anti-hunting interests and stood by its sportsmen and women. The commission voted 4–0 against a petition filed by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) to ...
A Venison Kebab Recipe That Will Impress Everyone
To most Americans, the word kebab, or kabob, simply means skewered chunks of marinated meat and vegetables. But in the rest of the world, kebab is a widely popular dish, and there are many kebab recipe variations beyond the cubed style we are ...
How To Make Amazing Feral Hog Shank Pork Tamales
Before I even touched the trigger, I knew exactly what I was going to do with the hog in my crosshairs. In my mind, I was already in my kitchen back home, whipping up a batch of pork tamales. I’ve made tamales a handful of times using venison, but ...
New Wildlife Commissioners Kill Hope for Washington Spring Bear Season
During this period in our history where very little surprises us anymore, the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission has managed to find a way to do just that by serving up yet another shit sandwich to the hunting, conservation, and wildlife biology ...
Hunting Coyotes From Helicopters – Death From Above
My dad was a Green Beret back in the day, and he had some pretty cool experiences jumping out of planes and helicopters. When I told him I was going to be hunting coyotes from a helicopter to manage the predator population on a ranch that was losing ...
Stone Blinds and Bows: How Ancient Hunters Killed Reindeer in A.D. 600
Bowhunting for reindeer takes a good amount of skill and stealth in the 2020s. Ancient hunters 1,700 years ago in what is present-day Norway had to have Marine Scout Sniper-level skills. Now, there is well-preserved physical evidence of exactly how ...
Wildlife Board Upholds Utah Hunting Trail Camera Ban
In January, the Utah Wildlife Board voted 4-3 to ban the use of trail cameras during the state's hunting season. The decision ignited enough pushback from hunters that the board held an administrative rule appeal hearing on March 12. Even with dozens ...
Study Shows Elk Leave Public Land For Private During Hunting Season
A recent study from Brigham Young University (BYU) put some science behind elk movement during hunting season on the Wasatch Front, validating the importance of Utah private land elk hunts. When the broadheads and bullets start flying, more than ...
Axis Deer Hunting in Texas Should Be on Your Bowhunting Bucket List
Bowhunters are finaglers. We’re always scheming, thinking outside the box, and looking for ways to extend our hunting season by going on one more adventure. You know it’s true. If you’re looking for a summer big-game getaway, look no further than the ...
Vermont May Issue More Moose Tags to Combat Winter Tick Menace
Winter tick numbers are exploding in the Green Mountain State, and Vermont moose are carrying the weight of the load — literally and figuratively. This isn’t just a nuisance thing. Winter ticks, aka moose ticks (Dermacentor albipictus), are a ...
The 12 Gauge Shotgun: The Only Gauge You Really Need
Indeed, at close range, there is no better gun than a 12 gauge shotgun for wolverines. Also, for wombats, wigeons, wapiti, wobble trap, or woodcock — and that goes for every other letter of the alphabet. Don: “Hey, Napoleon. What did you do last ...
Shed Hunting Tips From the Nebraska Whitetail Master
Diehard whitetail hunters eat, breathe, and sleep all things deer hunting, 24/7/365. In many locales across North America, deer seasons are over; and hunters in places where there are still a few more days on the deer-hunting calendar are burning the ...
Wolf Fight Heats Up As Judge Restores ESA Protections
A Feb. 10 court ruling has overturned the 2020 delisting of wolves in the Lower 48, placing them back on the Endangered Species List and fueling the ongoing wolf fight between animal rights groups and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. In Oct. ...
Venison Ragu: A Classic Wild Game Recipe
“Ragu” is one of those words we see on menus and hear in conversation all the time, but most of us have no idea what it actually is. As if things weren't confusing enough, sometimes you see it spelled “ragú,” and sometimes “ragout.” There’s even a ...
Wolves in Northern Minnesota Helping Moose, Eating Beavers
When it comes to keeping their friends close and their enemies closer, research shows moose in northern Minnesota are seeing a life-saving benefit by co-existing with wolves. On the other hand, beavers in the north woods are becoming a favorite wolf ...
Anti-Hunting Orgs Targeting Big Cat Seasons, Bear Seasons, and Trapping
Anti-hunting organizations are ramping up their game and could make headway in several states and possibly on the federal level in 2022. Their victories will be measured in the number of hunting and trapping seasons that can be banned or canceled, ...
Colorado Mountain Lion Hunting Ban Is Dying, but It’s Not Dead Yet
Update – Feb. 7: A bill that would have banned the hunting of mountain lions and bobcats in Colorado died in committee last week. The bill was postponed indefinitely by the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee in a 4-1 ...
Predator Calling Contests Under Attack From Virginia Lawmaker
Predator calling competitions are currently under fire in the Commonwealth of Virginia, creating concern among some hunters about the future of their sport after a state delegate labeled such contests as violent, gruesome, and purposeless and said ...
Shed Hunting Tips From Connor Clark: How to Rule the West
The annual antler drop — a remarkable few months when antlered critters drop their headgear — is a time period that’s as eagerly anticipated as the mule deer and elk ruts. For many shed hunters, the time of year is all about family and friends; large ...
Will New Wolf Hunting Regs Kill Yellowstone-Area Tourism?
Since their reintroduction to Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho in 1995, gray wolves have been a blessing and a curse, depending on who you ask. The population's strong recovery and subsequent removal from the endangered species list in ...
Washington 2022 Spring Bear Hunting Season May Be Resurrected
Everyone thought Washington state’s 2022 spring bear season was dead for good, but now, it looks like the hunt has a chance at resurrection. The state fish and wildlife commission decided Friday, Jan. 22, to reconsider the cancellation, which ...
Activists Say Grizzly Delisting Will Create “Targets for Trophy Hunters”
Anti-hunting groups are pushing back against a petition to delist grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) and open the doors for new hunting seasons, saying grizzly population numbers aren't what they appear to be. The process of ...
Wildlife Scientists Lead the Charge in Montana’s CWD ‘Zombie Deer’ Fight
Most sportsmen who travel to Montana head almost immediately for its wilds to fish and hunt. On this trip to Big Sky Country, the mission is whitetails — chronic wasting disease–infected “zombie deer” specifically, but our first stop is a veterinary ...
First-Time Hunter, Grandmother Tags Bull During Wisconsin Elk Season
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources recently wrapped up its fourth annual lottery elk hunt, which proved to be a rousing overall success; nearly every hunter who drew a tag killed an elk during the 2021-2022 limited hunting ...
Hunter Ed: Piebald Deer and Other Whitetail Genetic Anomalies
Any whitetail hunter knows that deer can move through the thickest brush or crunchiest leaves without making a sound, appearing or disappearing like smoke. Stealth is what helps that wobbly fawn eventually become a 4 1/2-year-old stud. Not so for ...
