By Dave Hurteau

Now things should get interesting.

It’s been clear sailing for the top seeds so far, as the .30-06 (1), .308 (2), 7mm-08 (3), and .30-30 (4) all advanced easily in the first round of Division II. Now, with only eight cartridges left standing, the matchups get far more compelling.

By Dave Hurteau

Last night, the NCAA college basketball Sweet Sixteen tipped off with Syracuse vs. Butler. Today, our own sweet sixteen gets started with .270 WSM vs. .260 Rem.

I am talking about the March Madness of whitetail cartridges. The Final Four of deer rounds. Bullet bracketology. (Okay, bullet-case-powder-and-primer bracketology, but you get the idea.)

We start with16 contenders for the title of Best Whitetail Round, which have been split into two divisions and seeded by SHOT Business contributing editor Christopher Cogley. We chose Mr. Cogley to help us because he is highly qualified and so I have someone to throw under the bus if necessary. His seeded selections (which you are free to take issue with, as my @$$ is covered) are:

By Joe Cermele

Thanksgiving is over. I know this because every commercial on TV is now Christmas-related. I don’t generally pay attention to these rants about sales and holiday cheer, but I noticed something interesting this year. Bass Pro Shops is running loads of commercials, and I’m not talking about just on Versus and the Outdoor Channel. I’m talking Bravo and Lifetime. Why? Because these commercials are targeted at wives who don't fish. Here’s why they’re genius.

There's already been a  boatload of bloviation expressed on the recent reversal of the ban on loaded firearms in our national parks, some of it sensible but most of it (predictably) bordering on  hysterics.

This column from the Huffington Post is a perfect example:
 
"In fact,  the new rule is likely to make national park visitors less safe around  wildlife. Packing heat could give some people a false sense of security and  make them more likely to approach bison, elk, moose, and grizzly bears,  rather than keep a safe distance which is better for both people and  animals."

But the most certain outcome of this congressional action is  that it will promote poaching. The National Park Service warned in its fiscal 2006 budget submission each year for the past several years ... The data  suggests that there is a significant domestic as well as international trade  for illegally taken plant and animal parts." Poaching, the agency said, "is suspected to be a factor in the decline of at least 29 species of wildlife  and could cause the extirpation of 19 species from the parks."