by Dave Hurteau

And now, the third buck in our scoring contest. On the frosty dawn of November 5th in southeastern Minnesota while hunting with friends Scott Bestul and Mark Stimets, I heard crackling hoofsteps in the crystalline leaf litter behind me. This fine buck in the photo below was trotting right to my bow stand. Reflecting, however, on the many, many Midwestern giants on my wall already, I lowered my bow and I coolly shooed the buck in the direction of Mark’s stand. And like all mature whitetails, it did exactly what I expected it to. Mark arrowed it at 20 paces. For whatever reason, he has forgotten to thank me.

by Chad Love

Last year about this time I blogged about a Mr. Rufus Hussy of Asheboro, North Carolina Mr. Hussy, it seems, still makes old-fashioned slingshots, and well, he's damn good with them, too (watch the video if you don't believe me).

But like most ancient weapons, the slingshot has also evolved into some pretty cool modern versions, too. The first rabbit I ever killed fell to a ball bearing launched from a Wristrocket. But even the venerable Wristrocket is so 1970s compared to this thing...

Behold the PS58, billed as the world's most accurate slingshot...

The PS58 slingshot is a new patented technology that enables the PS58 slingshot to shoot with enough accuracy to split a pencil at 24 feet.This new slingshot rivals air pistol in accuracy yet beat them in power. The secret behind this innovative slingshot lays within its dual offset pivoting system. This system precisely aligns the reddot sight to the trajectory of the fired projectile. The PS-58 slingshot uses a Red Dot Sight, which is ideal for indoor or outdoor shooting. The sight has a left/right and elevation adjustment on the slingshot for sighting in the slingshot. For long distance shooting, the elevation is easily adjusted by turning a knob which compensates bullet drop.

by David E. Petzal

I have, to date, avoided the subject of Sarah Palin. However, when I learned that there was a tape of her shooting a caribou, I was overwhelmed by curiosity and watched it. It was, to say the least, less than I had hoped for. Mrs. Palin missed the creature six times. She apparently doesn’t know how to work the bolt on a rifle, because her guide keeps yanking it away from her to cycle the action. She apparently doesn’t know that you don’t shoot at running game. For reasons that are unclear, the camera is not on her when the fatal shot is fired. Is it possible she was not the one who pulled the trigger?

Mrs. Palin is in great demand as a pro-gun, pro-hunting speaker. Fine. But if you’re going to advertise yourself as a person who is the real thing, an honest-to-goodness taker of big game, not a person who poses for the camera with a rifle, learn how to shoot for heaven’s sake.

People who don’t hunt will see this performance and think it’s typical of all of us, since Palin has been selling herself as a hell of a hunter. Maybe she should take a couple of shooting lessons. Or more than a couple.

--Chad Love

The state of Texas is considering closing the 2012 spring turkey season in fifteen Texas counties.

From this story in the Cherokeean.com:
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) is considering a regulation change that would close the spring Eastern turkey season in 15 East Texas counties in 2012. Counties being considered for hunting season closure and further restocking consideration include: Cherokee, Delta, Gregg, Hardin, Houston, Hunt, Liberty, Montgomery, Rains, Rusk, San Jacinto, Shelby, Smith, Tyler and Walker. In 28 other counties, the decision would delay the spring Eastern turkey season by two weeks. To give the public an opportunity to weigh in on these considerations prior to any official proposed regulation change in 2012, TPWD is holding scoping meetings during the first week in January.