by Scott Bestul

For those who think antler envy is a recent phenomenon, the Broder family may beg to differ. They’ve been dealing with it -- over a single, magnificent mule deer -- for decades. According to this recent story in the Calgary, Alberta Herald, the Broder’s fight centered on the reigning world record nontypical muley, a buck shot by Ed Broder way back in 1926. The chocolate-horned buck carried a whopping 355” of antler, and has reigned—without serious challenge—atop the B&C books for 85 years.

by Dave Hurteau

Well, I was going to go yapping about why I think both baiting and hunting over kill plots are (or at least can be) examples of fair chase. But the comments generated by the last post move me to parge the discussion’s foundation a bit first. So bear with me. I won’t name names, but a few of you seemed to use the terms legal, ethical, and fair chase interchangeably or nearly so. I’d like to suggest that they are distinct and sometimes pretty divergent. So let’s have a rundown:

Legal
It’s popular these days to say, “Hey, if it’s legal, go for it,” which implicitly embraces anything the law does not expressly forbid. But hold on just one durn minute: What’s legal is not always ethical or fair. It is legal in Texas, as I understand it, for rank amateurs and, I’ll add, nincompoops to shoot pigs from helicopters, maiming fifteen for every one they kill—for fun (see the video below). That’s legal. It is neither ethical nor fair chase.

by Dave Hurteau

I’ve known a lot of vegetarians. I was engaged to one once (technically “pre-engaged,” whatever the hell that means). And you know, I don’t think I’ve ever met one I didn’t like. I’ve met some I thought were full of $#!%, but none I didn’t like. I like some hunters who are also full of $#!%.

It’s fun to bust on vegetarians, and they usually take it well. Especially fun are the easy marks, the ones who say, “I’m a vegetarian but I eat fish.” We had a vegetarian friend over to dinner recently who said, “I’m a vegetarian but I eat fish and chicken,” which made me think of a line from The Princess Bride: “I do not think it means what you think it means.”

by Scott Bestul

If you didn’t cash in that get-out-of-work pass on Friday, do it today—or extend it to give yourself a four-day weekend to fill your tag with a tank whitetail.

The chase phase is a period of frenetic activity for whitetail bucks, and today will be especially busy. Local bucks will be in a lather from the first does that have entered estrus. They have smelled the scent of a hot female in the air and might have pursued or even fought for her. Those on the losing end of such a skirmish are not content to skulk about. Instead, they turn into heat-seeking missiles, intent on finding the next doe with an open dance card.