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By CJ Lotz

Wisconsin is moving closer to allowing hunters to use crossbows during archery deer hunting season. One of the top deer-hunting states, Wisconsin has also been one of the strictest against crossbow hunting.

The state Legislature is reviewing a bill that would create a crossbow license and allow hunters to pursue deer with the weapon. Proponents of Assembly Bill 194 say crossbows recruit new hunters and retain older hunters because they are easy to use. [ Read Full Post ]

By Gary Garth

Sen. Mitch McConnell, right, fishing the Clarks River National Wildlife Refuge in Marshall County, Kentucky with the crew of the Kentucky Afield television show.

Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Wednesday he planned to introduce legislation that would place a two-year moratorium on the Corps of Engineers’ plan to restrict boating and fishing access below its 10 dams on the Cumberland River system in Tennessee and Kentucky.

McConnell, the Senate minority leader, expects the bill to get Senate approval by voice vote today (May 16) and then move quickly through the House by way of the suspension calendar, a fast track legislative tool for non-controversial bills. He also predicts quick and uncontested presidential signage.

In a telephone interview with McConnell Wednesday evening, the veteran lawmaker said the moratorium would quickly halt what he and other legislators see as blatant government overreach. Co-sponsors of the bill and outspoken critics of the Corps’ plan include Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Congressman Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.). Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) is also a co-sponsor.

Whitfield initiated legislative action to stop the Corps by introducing the Freedom to Fish Act in February.

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By Martin Leung

Here's a YouTube video that would make an action movie director proud. A whitetail deer crashed through a Pennyslvania CamTran bus windshield and made several attempts to jump back out. [ Read Full Post ]

By David E. Petzal

Whilst in Kansas, I took a Hail Mary shot—I think the sixth of my career—at just a hell of a whitetail. If you’re not familiar with the term, Hail Mary refers to a shot at a distance in which prayer is required. A friend and I were sitting in a blind with about 15 minutes of shooting light left when we saw a really sensational buck 500 yards-plus away, up on a ridge. There was no chance he was going to feed within shooting range (300 yards and change) before the light ran out, so we decided we’d best try and cover the 200 yards on foot, and fast.

Up the ridge we walked, and when we were what appeared to be 300 yards away, but turned out to be 380, the deer saw us and got ready to sprint. There was no time to do anything but shoot, which I had to do offhand. I missed. The bullet, as nearly as I can calculate, went under him because I misjudged the distance. If I had held on the very top of his back I might have had him.

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By Bob Marshall

Make that some very, very good news.

In an example of what has become rare political compromise in Washington, the nation’s leading farm lobbyists cut a deal with sportsmen’s conservation groups.

The farmers for the first time agreed to support linking crop insurance subsidies to compliance with conservation programs, while conservation groups involved agreed to oppose amendments that would limit farmers’ access to insurance programs, and will support lightening some regulations of conservation programs. [ Read Full Post ]

By David Draper

When you write about eating, drinking and cooking, friends and family members like to ask a lot of questions. Strangers even get in on the act when they find out what I do for a living—especially if they’re also sportsmen. The most common question is typically some variant of “How do you make _______ taste good?” with the blank most often being filled with the word “duck” or “goose” or sometimes “antelope.”

After the first few times this happened, I developed some rote answers, typically a simple cooking tip or quick recipe that would convince them to give duck or goose or antelope another chance at the table. Truthfully, the straight answer, which I should probably have printed on the back of my business cards, would read: “Don’t overcook it.” [ Read Full Post ]

By Joe Cermele

I would say that most anglers, whether they specifically target muskies or not, understand that catching these brutes on purpose is a challenge. While the pay-off may be one of the biggest in freshwater fishing, the victory often comes with hours of boredom or frustration. Nobody understands this better than me, I promise. At the same time, I've met very few anglers that don't have a good surprise muskie story, because these fish just love to show up when you're not looking for them, and when your tackle is completely undergunned for the 'skie that's suddenly on the end of the line. 

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By Phil Bourjaily

Finally, a knife you could bring to a gunfight...or a piano tuning, or a shave and a haircut, or a wine and cheese party, or any one of 100 functions. This 19th century multi-tool includes a .22 caliber pinfire revolver as well as a tuning fork, a mirror and straight razor, and a corkscrew.

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By CJ Lotz

Every year, the tiny Minnesota fishing town of Dorset (population: 22) literally draws a name from a hat to select its next mayor. This year, that mayor is 4 years old. Robert Tufts—he prefers to be called Bobbie—walks through the town with a big stick and an ear for good fishing tales. And, in case you were curious, Mayor Tufts said in an interview with a local TV station that bobbers "taste like fish poop." [ Read Full Post ]

By David Maccar

The National Shooting Sports Foundation recently launched a "Modern Sporting Rifle Online Study." For the purposes of the study, the NSSF is using the "modern sporting rifle" term to refer to "semi-automatic AR and AK-platform rifles...or other semi-automatic rifles with detachable magazines."

The results of the survey will help the NSSF get a better understanding of current consumer wants, needs, and uses of these types of rifles.

The results will also be used to help gun manufactures and accessory companies improve their product mix.

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By CJ Lotz

You don't often hear, "sweet catch!" while quail hunting, but it was the appropriate exclamation for what happened while the pastor of a church in Texas was on a hunt with NFL quarterback Colt McCoy.

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By David E. Petzal

The Golden Age of Handloading came after World War II when everyone and his brother Montmorenzi went down to their basements to crank out their own ammo and rarely came up into the light. One of the side effects of this craze was the mania for “Improved” cartridges, and the leader of the cult was a Utah barrelmaker, gunsmith, and wildcatter named P.O. Ackley.

In 1962, Ackley published Volumes I and II of the Handbook for Shooters and Reloaders, which contained all sorts of interesting stuff, but mostly loading data for everyone’s Improved cartridges, and there was a bunch.

“Improving” a cartridge meant that you took a well established, respectable cartridge such as the 7x57 Mauser and fired it in an Improved chamber that was cut with less taper and a sharper shoulder than the original. The brass would be fire-formed to its new shape, and the resulting increased powder capacity would boost your 7x57’s velocity up to that of a .280. Or so the theory went.

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