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Russ Mason

Commentary: You can teach an old dog to hunt

Featured, Home Page News, Hunting, Illinois, National Hunting, Opinion /

The old saying is that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Yet bird hunters who’ve tried know better.
While few would argue that an 8-week-old puppy offers the greatest opportunity to shape a finished gun dog, age alone does not determine a dog’s potential. Every year, hunters adopt adult dogs from shelters, inherit family pets, or acquire started dogs that never received formal training. Many go on to become dependable hunting companions – not because they learned instinct, but because someone finally gave those instincts direction.

Commentary: You can teach an old dog to hunt Read More »

The evolution of the shotshell spans 400 years of innovation

Featured, Home Page News, Hunting, Illinois, National Hunting /

The shotgun shell is one of the most recognizable forms of ammunition in the world, but its development spans more than four centuries of innovation. From crude paper cartridges carried by soldiers in the 1600s to today’s highly engineered plastic shells, the evolution of the shotgun shell mirrors advances in firearms technology, chemistry, and manufacturing.

The evolution of the shotshell spans 400 years of innovation Read More »

Commentary: Want to predict Lyme disease risk? Count the acorns, not the deer

Featured, Home Page News, Hunting, Illinois, National Hunting, Nature Page & Night Sky, Opinion /

If you want to know how bad next summer’s Lyme disease season might be, it may be more useful to count the acorns on the ground than the deer in the woods.
That is one of the surprising conclusions from more than 30 years of research tracking ticks, mice, deer, weather and other wildlife in a Lyme disease hot spot. The findings, published recently in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, challenge some long-standing assumptions about what drives Lyme disease risk.

Commentary: Want to predict Lyme disease risk? Count the acorns, not the deer Read More »

Commentary: If you consider the work, Michigan’s most valuable insect is… the mayfly

Michigan, Nature Page & Night Sky, Opinion /

Mention Michigan’s wildlife, and most people picture white-tailed deer, brook trout, loons, or perhaps the monarch butterfly. Few would nominate an insect as the state’s most valuable animal. Yet if one insect vanished from Michigan, the consequences would ripple through lakes, rivers, forests, and even our economy.
My vote goes to the mayfly.

Commentary: If you consider the work, Michigan’s most valuable insect is… the mayfly Read More »

Commentary: With all due respect, Illinois’ most valuable insect isn’t the monarch

Featured, Home Page News, Illinois, Nature Page & Night Sky, Opinion /

Unlike honey bees, which were introduced from Europe, the rusty patched bumble bee is a native species. For thousands of years, it pollinated Illinois prairies, oak savannas, woodlands, and wetlands, helping countless native wildflowers reproduce.

Commentary: With all due respect, Illinois’ most valuable insect isn’t the monarch Read More »

Popular in western states, float tube fishing is primed to take hold in the Midwest

Featured, Featured, Featured, Features, Fishing, Fishing, Fishing, Fishing, Fishing, Fishing, Home Page News, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, National Fishing, Ohio, Wisconsin /

Walk into almost any tackle shop out west – in California, Oregon, Colorado, or Utah – and you’ll find float tubes hanging on the wall.
Talk to anglers who chase bass or trout in those states, and many will have owned one at some point. In the western United States, float tubes are simply another tool – a practical, affordable way to reach fish that shore anglers can’t touch. Here in the Midwest, however, the story changes.

Popular in western states, float tube fishing is primed to take hold in the Midwest Read More »

America has a long history and love affair with fishing

Featured, Fishing, Fishing, Fishing, Fishing, Fishing, Fishing, Fishing, Fishing, Fishing, Home Page News, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, National Fishing, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin /

The story of sport fishing is woven through the country’s history, evolving from a means of survival into a cherished outdoor tradition and cornerstone of fish and wildlife conservation.
The first European settlers found rivers so crowded with Atlantic salmon, shad, striped bass, and sturgeon that they seemed inexhaustible. Indigenous peoples had harvested these waters for thousands of years, using fish weirs, nets, bone hooks, and spears while developing an intimate understanding of seasonal fish movements.

America has a long history and love affair with fishing Read More »

Counting Ghosts: How wildlife biologists estimate deer density

Featured, Featured, Home Page News, Hunting, Hunting, Illinois, Iowa, National Hunting /

Ask a room full of deer hunters how many deer live in their county and you’ll likely get a dozen different answers. Some will insist the woods are overrun with deer. Others will argue the herd has collapsed. Both groups may have hunted the same property.
The truth is that estimating white-tailed deer density is one of the most difficult tasks in wildlife management.

Counting Ghosts: How wildlife biologists estimate deer density Read More »

Commentary: Why is conservation so hard to explain to many hunters?

Featured, Home Page News, Hunting, Illinois, National Hunting, Opinion /

Conservation should be one of the easiest concepts to explain to hunters. After all, hunters helped build the North American model of wildlife conservation.
They funded wildlife restoration through license sales and excise taxes, supported habitat protection, and played a central role in recovering species ranging from whitetail deer to wild turkeys and elk. Yet conservation is often surprisingly difficult to explain to modern hunters. Many hunters and conservation professionals are talking about different things when they use the same word.

Commentary: Why is conservation so hard to explain to many hunters? Read More »

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