Like Once It Was
I thank God most weekdays, and sometimes twice on Sunday, that there's not a Trout Angler's Sportsman Society. That, in modern matter, the fine art of fly fishing for species Salmo continues quietly and foremostly a gentleman's endeavor, largely unsullied by mass...
Pheasant Hunting with Tom Brokaw
"I live in cities now and travel the world but I keep coming back to this prairie because I know this is where I belong.” Even at his busiest sitting at the anchor’s desk of NBC News for more than 20 years—longer than Walter Cronkite at CBS—Tom Brokaw managed annual...
North Dakota Deer Application Deadline June 3
Hunters are reminded the deadline for submitting applications for the 2020 deer gun season is Wednesday, June 3. With North Dakota Game and Fish Department offices closed to public access until further notice, applicants for regular deer gun, youth and muzzleloader...
Nebraska “Take ‘Em Fishing” Giveaway
Take Someone Fishing. Submit Pictures of Your Adventures. Win Prizes. You love to fish. It’s how you enjoy a beautiful day, and how you relax after a stressful week. It’s an excuse to spend time outdoors, away from screens and obligations. And it’s the very best way...
Pondering Ponds
Sit quietly and a pond will bear its soul to you - sharing its myriad sights, smells and sounds - a sort of sensory overload on the gentle cycle. There are several theories as to what differentiates a lake from a pond. Some say a lake is large enough to accommodate...
The Ghost of Old Woman Bay
"There was a sudden rustle in the grass, and I heard the unmistakable whisper of soft and silent feet. But only for an instant, only for a step or two before it stopped and resumed its own curiosity as to what I might be." There are ghosts still there at Old Woman...
Sitka Gear Elements Of The Migration
SPONSORED CONTENT As hunters, we understand the importance of weather and the impact it has on our hunting success. We are constantly checking the winds, temperature and future forecasts for upcoming storms in an attempt to calculate a plan that will result in us...
Rust and Redemption: A Goose-Hunting Revival
The busts accumulated in earnest while he relearned the lessons lost during a decade away from the goose blind. Dawn had come and gone but the geese still squabbled from the roost, holding tight to a small pond tucked into the rolling topography of central Wisconsin...
When a Zero Bar Cost a Nickel
All grown up and reputable now, it's time to be proper, to forget about catchin' carp and all those boyhood memories, back when a Zero bar cost a nickel. I wish I wasn't so sophisticated as I am, so I could just haul off in the daylight and find me a good carp pond...
South Carolina Shrimp Season Begins May 27
Commercial shrimp trawling will open in all legal South Carolina waters at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, May 27, 2020. Shrimping season in South Carolina typically starts in spring with the opening of a small subset of waters, called provisional areas, that allow shrimpers to...
Alabama Alligator Registration Opens June 2, 2020
The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) will open online registration for the state’s regulated alligator hunts on June 2, at 8 a.m. Registration must be completed by 8 a.m., July 8. A total of 260 Alligator Possession Tags will be...
Sir John Seerey-Lester 1945-2020
John Seerey-Lester, one of the giants in the world of wildlife art, died on May 19 after a short battle with cancer. A resident of Osprey, Florida, John was born and raised in England, then relocated to America in 1980. He loved his adopted country and became a...
Utah Antlerless Deer and Elk Hunts
Want some local elk or deer meat? Apply for antlerless hunts, starting May 28 If putting locally sourced, nutritious meat on the table while enjoying Utah's beautiful outdoors sounds good to you, take note that the application period for Utah's 2020 antlerless...
Oregon Big Game Raffle Tickets Available Until May 30
Want a chance to hunt big game for months and during the rut—or a rare chance to hunt for a bighorn sheep or Rocky Mountain goat? Big game raffle tickets are on sale until May 30 at 6 p.m. online at MyODFW’s licensing page and at license sales agents. Raffle tags won...
Hornady Family Traditions
With only a surplus bullet press in a rented garage, Joyce Hornady began building a company that produces some of the most innovative ammo on today's market. A hardy and long-season cultivar, Brussels sprouts continued to thrive on English farms through the hard years...
What’s the Rush? The Best Time to Neuter/Spay Your Dog
The practice of neutering at an early age may increase a dog's risk for developing a laundry list of serious health problems. In terms of wisdom-per-page, a slim little paperback called Common Sense Grouse and Woodcock Dog Training by Roy W. Strickland as told to John...
Sunday Shenanigans: The Law
When modern deer hunting seasons were first established in Georgia during the late 1950s and early '60s, it was against the law to hunt on Sunday in many (if not all) Georgia counties. Sometimes these laws were enforced and sometimes they weren't, depending on the...
The Fanged Whitetail
Q: A friend told me he shot a whitetail doe that had small upper canines or bugling teeth like an elk. Not sure I believe him. When I asked about seeing the skull, he said it was at a taxidermist who was doing a complete skull mount for him. Is there really such a...
Idaho Spring Fishing Guide
Fish and Game crews have been stocking trout and other fish, and anglers will have ample opportunity to catch them. “Our hatchery staff continues to provide Idaho anglers with fishing opportunities throughout the state,” Fish and Game State Hatchery Manager Gene...
North Dakota Walleye Tagging Studies
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department continues to conduct walleye tagging studies across the state. At Lake Sakakawea, the state’s largest fishery, Department fisheries biologists are in the second year of a four-year walleye tagging study. The goal on Sakakawea...
A Wish Granted: 3 Days at Patagonia’s Tipiliuke Lodge
In a three-day span I'd stalked a red stag, fished for browns and rainbows, then ended up with an exciting hunt for boar. I enjoyed them all at Tipiliuke. Sam Nede arrived at the beach well before daylight. Here on Captiva Island the shell hunters would soon be out in...
Michigan Man Charged: 125 Wildlife Crimes
A Chippewa County, Michigan man is charged with 125 wildlife crimes following DNR investigation. A 56-year-old Pickford man was arraigned Wednesday morning in Chippewa County’s 91st District Court on 125 wildlife misdemeanor charges, following a months-long...
Death of a Tusker
Poaching of Africa's elephants continues at alarming levels, spurred by poverty, corrupt government officials, and the demand for illegal ivory in Asian countries. My earliest and fondest memories of the Kenya bush are the times I spent in Tsavo National Park and its...
New Jersey Shooting Ranges Open Once Again
In accordance with Executive Order No. 147 signed by Governor Phil Murphy, Division firearm and archery ranges reopened on Friday, May 22. All Wildlife Management Area regulations apply and at least one member of the shooting party must have a current, valid New...
Kansas DWPT Donates 2,000 Pounds of Elk and Bison Meat to Local Food Banks
In a time when “every little bit helps,” the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism’s (KDWPT) Public Lands Division has found a big way to help those in need. KDWPT’s Public Lands staff donated 2,137 pounds of elk and bison meat to seven food banks across...
FBI Top 10 Least-Wanted Anglers
With the possible exception of a Category 5 hurricane, nothing ruins a fishing trip quite like a lousy fishing partner. After years of research and character profiling, and spending time with some of the seediest elements in the underbelly of human society (my fishing...
Arizona Big Game Super Raffle Offers “Early Bird” Prizes
The deadline to enter the 15th annual Arizona Big Game Super Raffle is still three months away, but May 31 is the last day to be eligible to win the “early bird” prize for May — one of five Vortex Ranger 1800 Laser Rangefinders. For each online order for raffle...
Nebraska Man Sentenced to Jail for Deer Violations
A 29-year-old Phelps County man was sentenced May 13 to jail time in Phelps County Court after being convicted of multiple deer hunting violations. Nebraska conservation officers had investigated Arthur Underwood, Jr. for multiple hunting violations during the 2019...
Utah Daily Trout Limit Increases to 8
The daily limit increased to eight trout on a portion of Mammoth Creek on Monday This allows anglers to catch and keep more fish before the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources treats the river with rotenone to remove its remaining fish. DWR Director, Mike Fowlks,...
The General
Once he strikes a trail, a great rabbit dog like The General might just keep a'goin...on and on to the damn ends of God's green earth. Everybody in the piedmont had heard of the General, but nobody had hunted with him. His owner, Reverend Eddie Chapman, had become...
The Underwater Fossil Hunter
For Bill Eberlein, every dive is an opportunity to discover a Megalodon tooth or some other fossil that has not seen the light of day in millions of years. It is a universally acknowledged truth among fishermen, sportsmen and hopefully the general public, that one...
NRA’s Steel Magnolias
Meet some of the women who are infusing the NRA with high-octane energy, fresh thinking and the power of the purse...all with a feminine touch. The nickname "steel magnolias" first imprinted on the rest of the world by way of the 1989 movie of the same name, studded...
The Captain and Me
Fifty years later, the old men were boys once again. I suppose there was a time when the Captain and I did not know one another, when he did not call me a smart ass, but neither of us can recall when that might have been. We are about half senile now, or at least we...
The $100,000 Deer
Lessons in Cold War economics and stag hunting with the KGB under the hammer and sickle of Soviet Communism. Did I ever tell you about the time I paid a hundred thousand dollars for a deer? The money wasn't mine of course, and it was in rubles, Russian money, but...
Dispatch from FTW Ranch SAAM Course: Day 4
Every single person I met at FTW Ranch was kind, supportive, helpful and enjoyable, and I am leaving here not just with new knowledge, but a lot of new friends. Fredo and I met at 6 a.m. to hunt for hogs again this morning. It had just finished raining and was still...
Deadly Disease Detected in California Wild Rabbits
CDFW diagnosed Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease (RHD) in a black-tailed jackrabbit carcass submitted from private property near Palm Springs in early May. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), in conjunction with the California Animal Health and Food Safety...
Virginia Angler Shocked by Golden Crappie Catch
A lucky angler reeled in an unusual catch on Virginia’s famous Buggs Island Lake. On Easter Sunday, April 12, David Rathburn of Staunton couldn’t believe the golden fish that was swimming at the end of his line. Rathburn had already caught 15 crappie that afternoon...
SC Shellfish Harvest Season to Close May 31, 2020
SCDNR closes shellfish harvest season for the summer beginning May 31 and will reopen in October. South Carolina’s 2019-2020 season for harvest of oysters, mussels, clams and all other bivalves from State Shellfish Grounds and Public Shellfish Grounds will close on...
Bringing the Outdoors to Your Living Room
In recent times, many of us have been daydreaming of our next big hunting or fishing trip while stuck inside. Glen Dene Hunting & Fishing New Zealand is bringing the outdoors in by sharing exciting stories of adventurers and their outdoor experiences, putting our...
Alabama Free Fishing Day June 13, 2020
Each calendar year, the Commissioner of Conservation and Natural Resources designates a "Free Fishing Day" for the public to fish recreationally in public waters without a fishing license. Saturday, June 13, 2020, is designated as Free Fishing Day as a part of...
Across the Creek
At barely eight years old, he was scarcely ready to confront a wily old trout poacher. Or was he? Friday afternoon, 14th day of April 1959, with trout season due to open the next morning. I’d turned in my homework, got Monday's assignments from Mrs. Whitten, and Dad...
Dispatch from FTW Ranch SAAM Course: Day 3
Today I went hunting for the very first time and it's safe to say I'm hooked. Instead of beginning our day in the classroom, we rode out to one of the ranges to practice shooting in different positions. Our instructor, Dave, spent some time showing us how to use...
Must-Read Mysteries for the Sportsman Reader
Keith McCafferty headlines a list of talented mystery writers whose protagonists are gun- or rod-toting sleuths caught up in murder and mayhem. Reading has always been an integral and important part of my life. Mine was a blessed boyhood, one where I grew up in a home...
Dispatch from FTW Ranch SAAM Course: Day 2
I wasn’t sure how my second day here could top my first, which was full of accomplishments, but then I remembered I’m at FTW and that’s how things work around here. We spent the morning with another hour-long class session where our instructor went into more detail...
Arkansas Anglers Can Find Golden Rainbow Trout in White River
More golden rainbow trout have been stocked in the White River system below Bull Shoals Lake dam. About 500 of the rainbow trout that have a color variation making them appear a bright golden yellow were part of a shipment of 10,000 rainbow trout stocked Monday from...
Not-So-Positive Predators
Anyone and everyone who encourages the growth of predator populations is actually contributing to increased animal suffering in the wild. After centuries of uninformed overuse and abuse of wildlife, American conservationists/scientists in the early 20th century...
Oklahoma Approves Changes for Antlerless Deer, Waterfowl Hunting
Deer hunters will have more opportunities to harvest antlerless deer this fall, and waterfowlers will have more hunting days in the middle of the season. With antlerless deer harvest trending downward the past few years, biologists with the Oklahoma Department of...
Ohio Wildlife Council Approves 3rd Fishing Line for Lake Erie and Ohio River
Anglers may use a maximum of three fishing lines on Ohio’s portion of Lake Erie and the Ohio River starting on Jan. 1, 2020, following new regulations passed by the Ohio Wildlife Council. The council approved the use of three lines per person while fishing on Ohio’s...
Thrills Above Kills
Beneath the watchful eyes of the spirits, he would follow his dream of hunting a single species of African game. Sometimes in the deep of night, when I'm alone with my thoughts, I reflect on the moment. And it's always the eyes that I remember. Probably because that's...
Nebraska Boasts Wild Turkey Variety
One reason Nebraska claims to have the nation’s best turkey hunting is its variety of subspecies of the big bird. Bryce Gerlach, a forester for the National Wild Turkey Federation and Nebraska Game and Parks Commission who is an avid hunter, said the Cornhusker State...