From The Capital Times:

The state Natural Resources Board voted unanimously Wednesday to ask the Wisconsin Legislature to approve a statewide ban on baiting and feeding of deer.

Baiting and feeding is already banned in most of southern Wisconsin, in the zone where Chronic Wasting Disease has been detected in deer, because scientists believe the fatal brain-wasting disease can be spread when animals congregate. But hunters and residents of northern Wisconsin have opposed the ban, because some like to feed the animals during hard winters and others like to put out food to draw the deer toward their guns.

Ok, is Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the home of a nuclear site I don’t know about? Several weeks back I posted photos of (and a video link to) a giant whitetail sent to me by Sioux Falls resident Bill Corbet. That monster buck had been filmed in velvet and photographed in hard antler living happily in a no-hunting zone within the city limits.

So when a pic of a huge buck—one that had been (reportedly) killed by a vehicle in Sioux Falls—landed on my desk this week, I jumped to the hasty assumption that Bill Corbet’s buck was dead. But when I called Corbet to offer my condolences, he said “if he’s dead I haven’t heard about it. Last I know he was alive and well. Send me the picture you’ve got.”

Well I did, and Bill called me back minutes later. “Not him,” he said, obviously relieved. “Compare that buck’s rack to the one I sent you. There’s no way that’s the same deer.” And of course Bill is right, a fact proven by comparing nothing more than the right sides of these two tremendous racks.

Alright, I get the big-metro-buck thing up and down. They can’t be hunted (or hunted much), so they grow older. But even when bucks grow old they don’t always sprout antlers like these two giants. Which brings us to the conclusion that there is one incredible gene pool in this slice of the world…or a nuke plant I’m unaware of.

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

At the last meeting of the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners, the momentum seemed firmly behind a proposal to make crossbows legal during archery deer and bear seasons.

Since then, however, much has changed on the board, where roster changes could impact next week's final vote on the controversial issue.

The late archery season has been over for nearly a month here in Minnesota, and already I miss it. I joke about my passion for this lonely time to my hunting buddies, telling them "all the good hunters are done by November. December is for guys like me." But truthfully, I’d hunt then even if I’d already tagged a nice buck.

The cold, quiet weeks of December are a wonderful time for me to say goodbye to hunting for another year. I’m searching hard for deer, of course, but I’m also reflecting; on little successes, muffed opportunities, lessons learned, deer seen, bucks that survived, and those that didn't.

Of course, my ultimate fantasy is to tag a monster whitetail on the season’s last day. What better way to wring out every drop of action from an entire fall? Illinois bowhunter Jack Jensen accomplished that very feat only a couple of weeks ago, shooting this massive Shelby County nontyp that was green-scored at 220”. Congratulations to Mr. Jensen! Anyone have a good late-season story—or harvest photo—to share?