I don’t quite understand why we’ve become so competitive. Competition in sports is good, of course, and I enjoy a good baseball or football game as well as the next guy. But today it seems there’s a competition for just about everything. I love to cook, but do I need to watch a television show that pits one chef against…
After a mid-winter’s lull and with spring looming on the horizon, now is the time to get back into the woods. While turkey season is still a few weeks away, one can spend the afternoons roaming field and forest in search of discarded whitetail headgear, otherwise known as “sheds”. Yes, it’s that time of year. The boys are starting to…
Following up on his commitment to make the workings of the game commissioners more open and transparent, President Game Commissioner Ralph Martone recently announced that the board will hold a public working-group meeting on Monday, March 26. The meeting, which will begin at 8 a.m., will be held in the auditorium of the Game Commission’s Harrisburg headquarters and will be…
Wisconsin’s spring turkey hunters will face a few changes in how things are to be done when it comes to hunting wild turkeys this year. The six hunting periods are seven days, instead of five, Wednesday through Tuesday. No big deal to most hunters. We’re likely to see little impact on the success rates by hunters, or even total hours…
Most of the professionals who work in natural resources, and are age 50 or better, began with an interest in natural resources because one of their parents was a hunter. For those with gray hair or a slight balding spot, hunting was something that we enjoyed and really wanted to do and couldn’t wait until we got our first .22…
No matter how many times we hear it, some people just don’t seem to be able to accept the concept of, “Don’t believe everything you see on television.” That’s true with everything you see on television, particularly commercials and outdoors programs. Not to sound too cynical, but the line between commercial and outdoors program is a very grey area. Post…
Remember that old TV commercial where the cracked egg going into a frying pan was used as an analogy for a “brain on drugs?” Well, my little brain has been in a similar pan long enough trying to analyze the northern Illinois deer herd and the effect sharpshooting is having on it that I think I’m officially sizzled. And now…
Let me start by saying that I’m not the sort of fellow who sees the whole world through crosshairs, and I’m certainly not in the habit of trying to saw small creatures in half with a chainsaw – at least not on purpose. So when the unmistakable odor of skunk came flooding out of the hollow log and hit me…
It’s no secret that I’m an ardent advocate for the crossbow in New York. I’ve used these tools for more than two decades and see them for what they truly are – a fun and effective way to hunt … with limitations. As the crossbow fever starts to spread across the Empire State, the effort needed a conductor, a director…
There's a few of us deer hunters in mourning right now after learning that a real nice 8-point was whacked by a vehicle last month. We got wind of it the way we usually do; a friend's friend was doing some plumbing work in the neighborhood and the homeowner casually mentioned a "big buck" was laying on the side of…
High Lonesome Ranch. This week’s Outdoor News Radio contains an interview with Paul Vahldiek, Jr., the majority shareholder and CEO of the High Lonesome Ranch, a mixed use landscape in west-central Colorado. I visited the 300-square-mile operation last fall during the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership’s Media Summit. The vision that Vahldiek and his staff have created for sustainable, private lands management…
It seems there are a few that would label Barack Obama the best gun salesman in America. In this article there are statistics to show that last year Ruger’s firearm sales went from 117 million dollars to 232 million dollars, an increase of 98 percent. Winchester’s sales of ammunition went from 431.7 million dollars to 572 million dollars, an increase…
It's important for hunters, anglers and outdoor writers to serve as watch dogs and raise a concern when our state agencies make a decision that we feel will negatively impact hunting or fishing. As long as one sticks to the facts and doesn’t engage in personal attacks, it’s not a bad thing to be critical or point out a negative….
It’s put up or shut up time for the state’s young walk-in hunting access program. Originally intended as a three-year, federally funded pilot, it appears the program either is going to have to stand on its own, or go down the road. This is why: That third year of federal funds isn’t coming. DNR officials hope to enroll 25,000 acres of…
This year’s Wisconsin Waterfowl Hunters’ Conference will take place March 9-10 in a new location – the Plaza Hotel and Suites in Wausau – and all waterfowl hunters are invited to help celebrate the conference’s 10th anniversary. The conference is designed by a committee of independent waterfowl hunters. It is supported by individuals, conservation groups, businesses and government agencies.
How many deer did you see while hunting opening day? How many bass did you catch the last time you were out? Are you a counter? I am. I count almost everything — just can't help myself. I was a speaker for a Kiwanis Club dinner last week — 30 people were there. Not approximately 30, but exactly 30 —…
It is easy to find a newspaper story about hunters doing or acting poorly, doing things that reflect negatively on all of us, or endangering the lives of others. We owe it to the greater community to make everyone aware of some of the positive, ethical acts many hunters do routinely, just as we need to publicize unlawful acts. The…
With ice and or snow seriously lacking in many parts of the state, hordes of sportsmen and sportswomen appear to be reflecting on the recent firearms deer hunting season. Phone calls, emails and letters have been flooding into the MON office over the last few weeks from hunters across the state. Some call to share their success stories from the recent…
When the rabbit finally emerged from the tangled honeysuckle it darted around the back side of an old shed and went into a sprint toward the safety of its hole beneath a rusty, abandoned station wagon. The crossing shot was a longer one than what I was looking for, but if I let him get to that old car I…
When is enough gun deer hunting enough? Should I deer hunt in southern Wisconsin during the Holiday Hunt, which closes Jan. 8? And during the landowner season, which continues through March 31? Or is it best to be a traditionalist and hunt during the nine-day season and then stop; maybe just hunt the first weekend of the regular gun season…
It seems that almost every club, organization, and even some state groups are scrambling to grow hunter interest and eventually hunter numbers. You name it and it's a method that has been suggested and most have been tried, including reducing the cost of licenses for some and changing hunting rules in the face of science, safety and probably management. How…
Six central Ohio men who used two all-terrain vehicles to drive deer during a Dec. 2 hunt in southern Madison County paid the price in the county's municipal court on Dec. 14. It's illegal in Ohio to hunt with the aid of a motor vehicle. Gregory C. Ferguson, 50, 9945 Kiousville-Georgesville Rd., Mt. Sterling; Justin L. Liff, 24, 13853 Era…
Natural Resources Board member Christine Thomas raised a question at the board's Dec. 14 that could be a matter of convenience for some turkey hunters. Thomas wondered whether anyone within the DNR ever received comments from turkey hunters who would like to know their drawing success earlier so that they can request vacation time at work. Thomas said her calendar…
Depending on your outlook, of course, it is either a really good thing or a very bad development that elected officials — politicians — are trying to get involved in or interfere with wildlife management in Pennsylvania. And it's all about deer, obviously. Recently we reported that Rep. David Maloney Sr., R-Berks, was seeking cosponsors for a bill he plans…
Columbus – Governor John Kasich on Dec. 21 issued an emergency rule reiterating that the statewide muzzleloader season for deer is Jan. 7-10, as published in the 2011-12 Ohio Hunting and Trapping Regulations booklet. The emergency rule was requested by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), Division of Wildlife because the dates printed in the hunting regulations handbook were…
Friday of the second Illinois firearm deer season had dawned as a beautiful day for hunting. After watching a parade of a dozen does and fawns wander through the wooded hollow below my ladder-stand, I settled the sights of my 12 gauge shotgun on unlucky 13 and pulled the trigger. The doe succumbed to the shot quickly, and I was…
