Bighorn sheep lottery applications begin April 20
The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission will accept applications for a 2020 bighorn sheep lottery permit beginning April 20. The application period ends Aug. 7, and the permit will be drawn later that month. A $29 nonrefundable application fee must accompany each...
McCracken Joins Sporting Classics
Emma M. McCracken has recently joined the Sporting Classics team as its new Assistant Editor – Digital and will oversee production of Sporting Classics Daily e-newsletter, along with other aspects of Sporting Classics’ digital channels. McCracken is an MA of English...
Origin Of Catch-And-Release
While attending an outdoor writers conference in Johnson City, Tennessee, I spotted a tall, distinguished gentleman in the crowd whom I immediately recognized from TV and print. I introduced myself and within 30 seconds of our handshake, I felt as if this fishing icon...
Mallard Tornado
Mind-boggling numbers of mallards, mallards like blackbirds, tornadoes of mallards, more mallards than sky. Way down in October, in The Moon of Falling Leaves, me and Joe Merganser on the back loading dock of the farmer’s co-op elevator. Joe Merganser was full-blood...
Winners Announced In Youth Art Competition
Four budding bird artists have been selected as T-shirt Art Contest winners in Georgia’s 15th annual Youth Birding Competition. A peregrine falcon drawing by Alston Li, an eighth-grader at SKA Academy of Art and Design in Duluth, led the contest’s record-breaking...
Hunt Season Closure Social Media Posts Are Hoax
Despite false rumors floating around on social media, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish reassures New Mexico hunters the results of the 2020-2021 big-game draw will be released by April 29, 2020, if not earlier. Over the past week, there have been prank posts...
Instinct
A boy and a bass . . . on the quiet waters of a lake on a Saturday afternoon. The old bass turned toward deep water on this late spring day. At this stage in her life, the familiar droning sound was the only thing that made her anxious, and it put her on the move....
New Shed Antler Boundaries Now Law
New regulations on shed antler and horn collection in Wyoming are now in effect. The updated regulation expands the seasonal closure area to include expanded critical wintering habitat and enact a new opening time of 12 noon on public lands. The annual closure is to...
Trout Season In New York Is Right Around The Corner
April 1st marks the opening day of trout season in New York. Exceptional opportunities to catch many different species, both wild and stocked, await anglers. Check out the helpful resources below to better plan your next fishing trip. DEC fish hatchery staff have...
Pappy’s Pistols
Black magic, junk pistols and lessons learned thereby. Pappy was county coroner 36 years; an elected position. It didn’t pay much, but he got to keep all the murder and suicide guns, and he was the only man who could arrest the sheriff, which he did when the new...
Nest Predator Bounty Program Begins April 1
South Dakota's 2020 Nest Predator Bounty Program will begin on April 1. However, due to concerns of COVID-19, the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks (GFP) will not be accepting tails for the program until a later date. Participants are asked to freeze all tails until...
Giants Of The Earth
A close encounter with a huge grizzly or brown bear can be an unforgettable experience—if you survive to remember it. Come the end of September, there are few places I’d rather be than in Last Chance, Idaho, so named because enlightened lodge owners incorporated a...
Aloha Means Fishing
In Maui, it’s not how many fish you catch, it’s how much tarragon is in the béarnaise sauce. With its gorgeous beaches, lush mountain slopes, slumbering volcanoes, swaying palm trees, gyrating hula dancers, and colorful cocktails with little umbrellas, Hawaii lives up...
Everyone Needs a BB Gun
I’ve always had a few BB guns around the house, but now there’s a whole lot more, and I’m hungrily riding happy trails looking for the rest. I suppose if you’re going to revert to childhood, you might as well just get on with it, whole hog and all the daisies. My...
Rainbow Trout Stockings Scheduled
Catchable-size rainbow trout are being stocked in city ponds and lakes across the state by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. These stockings will enhance fishing opportunities this spring, especially in urban areas. Trout fishing also is a great way to introduce...
The Kanda Man-Eater
One can suffer a bad case of mixed emotions when trying to call in a man-killing tiger. However little faith we have in the superstitions we share with others—13 at a table, the passing of wine at dinner, walking under a ladder, and so on—our own private...
Neil “Gobbler” Cost (1923-2002): King Of Turkey Callmakers
With the death of Neil Cost on May 29, 2002, at the age of 78, the turkey hunting world lost the most renowned of all callmakers. I was also fortunate enough to personally know this extraordinarily skilled craftsman whose callmaking earned him national acclaim and to...
Harry Selby’s Spectacular Weatherby Rifle Becomes Available
A popular old saw suggests that a lady known as Good Fortune has the power to change someone's life with but a well-directed smile. Taking that for true, she didn't just show some teeth to a young Kenyan formally monikered John Henry Selby. Nope. She instead...
Bighorn Sheep Season Will Have Increased Opportunities
The South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Commission voted to allow up to a total of eight bighorn sheep licenses for the 2020 season. Of the eight licenses, one will be an auction license and the revenue specifically used for bighorn sheep management. The...
2020 Lanai Mouflon Sheep Hunting Season
The State of Hawaii, Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Forestry and Wildlife, announced that applications for the 2020 Lanai mouflon sheep hunting season, together with instruction sheets, will be available at all Division of Forestry and Wildlife...
Great Dogs
The most difficult part of nurturing a great dog is keeping yourself straight. I think of the dogs I have loved. Bird dogs. Yours and mine. I think of the ways I have loved them. This time, aside loyalty and devotion—almost a given within kind and understanding...
Eukanuba Puppy Formulas For Sporting Breeds
Puppies have unique nutritional needs to help them grow and explore their new world and Eukanuba has developed special puppy formulas that provide complete and balanced nutrition giving puppies a great head start. The formulas include a natural fiber and prebiotic...
The Legend Of Old Three Legs
For nearly a decade the canny old wolf eluded the best hunters and trappers while waging a reign of terror on farmers and wildlife. Despite his one serious handicap, he was a streamlined and highly efficient killing machine. It almost seemed as though all the savagery...
Rigby’s New Pocket Knife
London gunmaker John Rigby & Co. is offering hunters the chance to upgrade their expedition kit with a knife that is as exquisite as it is hard-wearing, and combines the practicality of a folding pocket-knife with the beauty and craftsmanship associated with Rigby...
Missouri Forecasts Challenging Spring Turkey Hunting
Missouri turkey hunters can expect a challenging spring season according to the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC). The spring turkey hunting season starts with a youth-only weekend April 4 and 5 followed by the regular spring season April 20 through May 10....
Prairie Pike
At Cheyenne Ridge Signature Lodge, it's the "other season" you don't want to miss. Hedy Lamarr was one of the most glamorous film stars of Hollywood's "Golden Age." Viennese by birth, she was invariably cast as a seductress of exotic origins and gained fame as filmdom...
Aerial Survey Shows MN Moose Population Is Stable
For the ninth year in a row, Minnesota’s moose population remains relatively stable, but reproductive success – one of the factors that has the greatest impact on moose survival over time – remains low. This past winter, the DNR estimated the moose population to be...
St. Croix Lifts The Veil On Its Most Sensitive Rods Ever
SPONSORED CONTENT All-New Legend® Xtreme Series introduced at the 2020 Bassmaster Classic. St. Croix Rod has one guiding goal: to provide anglers with the rods that give them the upper hand in any fishing situation. So when anglers began requesting rods with increased...
’Ol Settler Of Deep Hole
No fish had ever exerted a greater influence on the thoughts, the imagination, the manners or the moral character of his pursuers. Uncle Eb was a born lover of fun. But he had a solemn way of fishing that was no credit to a cheerful man. It was the same when he played...
Convicted Poacher Fined $17,500 For Unlawful Take of Deer Over Bait
A Granite Bay man has been convicted of poaching a trophy class deer with the use of bait and will pay an enhanced penalty. A tenacious investigation by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and prosecution by the El Dorado County District Attorney’s...
Webster County Angler Breaks Days-Old Record For Yellow Perch
Brian Holiday of Fordland is the new a state-record holder after catching a 2-pound, 3-ounce yellow perch from Bull Shoals Lake. This is the second time the record for yellow perch has been broken in 2020. “Missouri is on the very southern range for yellow perch, so...
CDFW Seeks Artists to Enter Annual California Duck Stamp Art Contest
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) invites artists to submit their original artwork to the 2020-2021 California Duck Stamp Art Contest. Submissions will be accepted April 27 through May 29. The contest is open to U.S. residents 18 years of age or...
Reward Offered For Utah Elk Poacher
Between Dec. 20, 2019 and Jan. 15, 2020, six mature bull elk were shot and killed by poachers in the Knob Hill area of Park City, Utah. The area between Knob Hill and the Glenwild Residential Area is home to a herd of large, adult bull elk. Local residents routinely...
A City By The Sea
Blackfly Lodge at Schooner Bay anchors a Bahamas community created especially for fishing. On a calm day, the slight slap of the water on the hull of a flats boat has one of two effects on me. If I'm tired, it can lull me into a trance, the kind that makes me...
There’s Always The Pier
All sorts of interesting characters frequent our fishing piers, but they all share the same thing—a passion for fishing. South Carolina's Daniel Island is actually a peninsula of the original Cainhoy Plantation sandwiched by the Cooper and Wando rivers that probe...
Winter Weather Wisdom
My Grandpa Joe was chock full of weather-related wisdom. For example, about this time of year, whenever a premature warm spell hinted at a change in the seasons, he would opine: “A fellow can’t trust spring. It tends to be mighty fittified.” He knew, by dint of long...
South Carolina Antler Measuring Sessions
Antlers will abound throughout the Palmetto State as the search for new state record deer antlers gets underway during the S.C. Department of Natural Resources' annual series of measuring sessions. Each winter, the S.C. Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) measures...
Rule Change Expands Hunting Opportunities In Utah State Parks
In an effort to increase consistency and to allow for multiple land use, the Utah State Parks Board recently passed a new rule that allows for expanded hunting opportunities within state parks. The new rule was approved on Nov. 1, 2019, during the quarterly...
Alabama Opens Red Snapper Fishing May 22
The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR), Marine Resources Division (MRD) announced Alabama state waters and federal waters will open for red snapper fishing for private anglers on Friday, May 22, 2020. The season will consist of...
The Last Buffalo
On the floor, on either side of my fireplace, lie two buffalo skulls. They are white and weathered, the horns cracked and bleached by the snows and frosts and the rains and heats of many winters and summers. Often, late at night, when the house is quiet, I sit before...
Daisy Days: Boys And BB Guns
Although as a boy I didn’t receive dozens of Christmas gifts each year, those that did come my way from Mom and Dad were invariably practical, prized or memorable (and in some cases, they fit all of those descriptions). Such was the case with a Daisy Red Ryder BB gun....
The Fishing Plug Man
He was the best kept secret since the Trojans hid in the Horse. His name was W.C. Crissy; he was an august old codger from Little Rock, Arkansas, and his game was rare and valuable commodities. I say old and august. August for certain; old I'm not sure. For I never...
State Record Lake Trout Caught in Northern New Hampshire
Thomas Knight of Meredith, New Hampshire, caught an enormous lake trout while ice fishing in northern New Hampshire. The fish was certified as a new state record, eclipsing the one established in 1958. After a lengthy battle, Knight was able to bring the fish...
Left-Hand Conversions
Although it makes me appear a bit long-in-the-tooth, I’ve been actively participating in the firearms market for nearly 40 years. In point of fact, I clearly remember attending my first gun show in March 1982 and being captivated by the process. I jumped right in,...
Wisconsin Bear Application Period Delayed
The opening of the bear permit application period for the 2021 bear hunting season will be delayed this year while the new 2021 zone structure works its way through legislative review. The application period, which normally opens in March, will open shortly after the...
Montana License Year Begins March 1
Montana hunting and fishing licenses will go on sale starting Sunday, March 1 at 5 a.m., and this year people will see some changes to how they can buy general licenses and apply for special (limited draw) licenses and permits. This year, FWP will not accept paper...
Brittanys
An angel at home and a demon in the field, the French Brittany packs maximum ability in minimum volume. In the 30 years or so that I've been scribbling about gundogs, the biggest "breed story" has been the renaissance of the cocker spaniel. Finding a decent hunting...
Florida: Gray Triggerfish Opens March 1
The recreational gray triggerfish season reopens to harvest in Gulf state and federal waters March 1, and will remain open through May 1, closing to harvest May 2, 2020. If you plan to fish for gray triggerfish in Gulf state or federal waters, excluding Monroe County,...
The Fish That Shook The Pier
In the summer of 1964, an average Joe revealed to the happy-go-lucky Myrtle Beach tourists where some large creatures roamed. Large is actually insulting when it comes to describing thousand-pound sharks. How about one that weighed almost a ton, caught with rod and...
George Hoenig’s Rotary Round Action Rifle
The clean lines and simplicity of all functions in George Hoenig's Rotary Round Action gun camouflage the creativity and elaborate engineering involved in its creation. Many premier side-by-side shotguns are sold as round actions, but rounded is the more accurate...