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The Best Field & Stream Reader Photos From January 2012

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:06:52 -0500

The 50 Best Field & Stream Reader Photos of January.

3,500 Acres In Utah May Go To Coal Mine, Threatening Sage Grouse

Sarah Smith — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:05:34 -0500

--Chad Love

Three different federal agencies are among those opposed to a BLM plan to lease 3,500 acres of public land for a coal mine near Utah's Bryce Canyon National Park. Federal biologists say the proposed mine could wipe out the nation's southernmost population of sage grouse, a gamebird facing survival challenges in other parts of its range as well.

From this story on standard.net:

Federal biologists say a strip mine at the backdoor to Utah's storybook Bryce Canyon National Park will wipe out the southernmost population of sage grouse, even as their agency resists a broader effort to protect the bird across the West. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is among three federal agencies that have registered opposition to the lease of 3,500 acres of public range land sought by a coal mine that got its start on 440 acres of private land.

New Gear for Waterfowl, Turkey and Upland Bird Hunting in 2012

Online Editors — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:25:15 -0500

Here are the best gear items for bird hunters for 2012.

National Pheasant Fest and Quail Classic: A Hunting Expo Worth Attending

Sarah Smith — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:11:51 -0500

by Chad Love

The noted French existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre once famously opined that “Hell is other people.” As a lifelong misanthrope, I’ve found that little gem to be not only a great way to kill conversation at dinner parties, but a wholly satisfying life philosophy. It’s not that I don’t like people; it’s just that I try to avoid large numbers of them at all costs.

So when the website informed me that I would be attending SHOT this year with some 65,000 of my closest friends, and that I would even be allowed to wander the show floor unsupervised, I questioned the decision as either a gracious but misguided act of charity or the result of a lost bet.

I took pains to point out to my editors that in matters of tact, wit and other social graces I’m roughly on par with Bat Boy from the Weekly World News. I reminded them, too, that, frankly speaking, I prefer the company of dogs to outdoor industry types, and that as a preferred destination for the third week in January I’ll take a CRP field in Kansas over Las Vegas, Nevada, oh, about ten times out of ten.

The Best Shotguns of 2012

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:56:43 -0500

These are the best new shotguns of 2012.

Pop Decline Causes TX Officials to Consider Changes to Quail Season

Sarah Smith — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:26:09 -0500

--Chad Love

It's no secret among Texas (or Oklahoma, for that matter) quail hunters that the 2011-12 season has been about an order of magnitude worse than dismal. How bad was it? So bad that many Texas quail hunters--as hard-core a group of bird hunters as you'll find anywhere--voluntarily decided not to shoot anything at all.

In fact, the good folks at the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch (featured here in a recent F&S web gallery) have even sponsored a "Shoot the Covey Rise" photo contest for quail hunters who have decided to put down the shotgun and pick up only the camera this year. It's a really cool idea, and for more information on that click here.

In light of the ongoing issue of declining quail populations, the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department is considering changes to the Texas quail season. From this story in the Austin American-Statesman:

Texas Hunters Asked to Monitor Local Quail Population

Sarah Smith — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:10:04 -0500

--Chad Love

And in other quail-related news, as part of its ongoing research project into bobwhite quail numbers, the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch is asking hunters to be on the lookout for any sick, dying or dead quail they may come across while hunting (and by sick, dying or dead quail, that means by means other than shotgun blast...)

The Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch (RPQRR) is asking quail hunters to keep their eyes open for any “weird quail” that may offer clues as to what’s going on with Texas’ quail population. “We’re asking hunters to report any observations of strange-acting quail, or ideally any recent carcasses of sick or dead quail” says Dr. Dale Rollins, RPQRR’s director. “Over the past two weeks, several specimens have been submitted, and these samples may indeed be ‘witnesses to the crime’, so we’re acutely interested in having such birds examined.”

The Best New Rifles of 2012

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 12:41:18 -0500

The Best New Rifles of 2012.

U.S. House Passes e-Duck Stamp Bill

Sarah Smith — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 09:49:36 -0500

--Chad Love

The ability to buy your federal duck stamp online is one step closer to reality after a bill seeking to make the program permanent passed the U.S. House this week.

From this story in the Washington Post:

The e-Duck Stamp would become a permanent part of federal law under legislation passed by the House Monday. Since 1934, migratory waterfowl hunters over the age of 16 have been required to buy the federal migratory bird hunting and conservation stamps, or duck stamps, at post offices or sporting goods stores. But four years ago, eight states joined a pilot program allowing them to sell temporary duck stamps through the Internet. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., said that program has been a success and it was time to make it federal law.

SHOT Show 2012 From The Floor: Day 3

Online Editors — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 01:48:52 -0500

Photos from the floor of SHOT Show 2012, Day 2.

SHOT Show 2012 From The Floor: Day 2

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:34:22 -0500

Photos from the floor of SHOT Show 2012, Day 2.

SHOT Show 2012 From The Floor: Day I

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:48:40 -0500

Photos from the floor of SHOT Show 2012, Day 1.

A Toast on the Last Day of the Season

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 09:08:42 -0500

by Phil Bourjaily

I rarely hunt opening day but I always try to go on the last day of the season. Seeing it out to the end is an important ceremony. Besides, if you have hunted enough, you’re relieved when the season ends. If you haven’t, it’s still a relief to be able to stop stressing about not getting out. It’s an occasion worth marking.

Although some of my closing day hunts are nothing more freezing walks with little expectation of success, more often they have been memorable.

The Best Field & Stream Reader Photos From 2011

Dave_Maccar — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:15:14 -0500

The 60 best photos submitted by readers in 2011.

Field & Stream's Best Photo Galleries and Blogs of 2011

Dave_Maccar — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 13:53:52 -0500

The 25 best online stories from F&S in 2011.

The End of an Era: South Dakota Bird Hunting is Changing

Sarah Smith — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 12:18:34 -0500

--Chad Love

Are hunters in our top pheasant hunting state witnessing the end of an era? Maybe so, according to this excellent story in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

In the nearly half-century he's lived in South Dakota, John Cooper has seen countless beautiful prairie sunsets. But none perhaps prettier than one on a recent late afternoon that arched wild hues of orange, red, yellow and crimson across a darkening sky. "I never get tired of that,'' Cooper said, nodding toward the colorful horizon, a 12 gauge double-gun slung over one shoulder and his Labrador retriever walking ahead. However barren in appearance, South Dakota prairies pulse with life.

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The Best Field & Stream Reader Photos From December 2011

Dave_Maccar — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 09:44:10 -0500

The 50 Best Field & Stream Reader Photos of December.
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Tale of a Long-Tail Iowa Pheasant

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 09:59:52 -0500

by Phil Bourjaily

The pheasant in the picture has a 29 ¼-inch tailfeather, by far the longest I have ever seen attached to a pheasant I shot. While I subscribe to the “every bird is a trophy” school (especially in these days of low populations), this feather is so ridiculously much longer than a normal pheasant tailfeather that I’m very excited about it. It towers over the others in my tailfeather jar as a reminder that a day that starts badly can get much better. First, on my way to the field near Riverside, Iowa, (which calls itself “The Future Birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk.”) the grain truck ahead of me on the highway shot a rock into my Jeep’s windshield, cracking it to the tune of a $304.85 replacement.

Then, not long into the hunt, I learned that my vest lacks pockets deep enough to hold an e-collar transmitter if you are trying to keep up with a dog on the trail of running pheasants. My transmitter bounced out of the pocket somewhere in the middle of 80 acres of CRP grasses. I’m sure it will turn up next spring as a pool of melted plastic when the landowner burns the field.

With one windshield and one transmitter to replace I seriously thought about turning around and going home before I broke a gunstock, Jed got hurt, or we lost a cripple. I am not very superstitious, but I do believe misfortune comes in threes so I feared something else bad was about to befall me.

What happened instead was that Jed caught a whiff of this rooster, who was too old and ornery to sit and let himself be pointed solidly. He slunk off. Jed stayed with him, pointing, breaking, creeping and relocating along the hillside until he finally pointed the bird from a distance. The pheasant flushed and flew straight away, so I wasn’t aware of how long the tail was until I put the bird in my vest and realized the feathers sticking out of the gamebag kept going and going.

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Conservation Groups Claim New Federal Guidelines to Protect Sage Grouse are Flawed

Sarah Smith — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 10:22:03 -0500

--Chad Love

Some conservation groups are blasting new proposed federal guidelines for protecting sage grouse habitat as critically flawed.

From this story in the Billings Gazette:

Conservation groups across the West expressed disappointment Wednesday in a federal document that will guide the management of sage grouse habitat over the next several years. The Bureau of Land Management's new Instruction Memorandum, released Tuesday, recommends policies needed to mitigate the threats to sage-grouse habitat until long-term protection measures are developed.

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First Shots Photo Collection

Online Editors — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 10:59:48 -0500

A collection of jaw-dropping hunting and fishing photos from Field & Stream's "First Shots" magazine section.

Write a Caption, Win Some Remington Nitro Steel Ammo!

Sarah Smith — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 14:53:56 -0500

by Chad Love

Remember when I told you the drought earlier this year had dried up virtually all the dog training and duck hunting water in my part of the world and that things were definitely not looking good for waterfowl season? I wasn't kidding.

Yep, you guessed it: it's time for another Man's Best Friend Caption Contest. You know the drill: best caption to the picture above take the prize, which in this case happens to be pretty sweet, and appropriate to the picture. One lucky wit will get two boxes of Remington 12 gauge Nitro Steel duck loads, which the guy in the picture (no, it's not me, really) looks like he could use a few of.

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Don’t Blame Predators For the Lack of Birds

Sarah Smith — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 13:38:33 -0500

by Phil Bourjaily

Usually, I post about hunting and shooting things with a shotgun, but in order to do that, I need birds to shoot at and those are in short supply in Iowa’s uplands* these days. So instead I will vent. One of my many frustrations with our lack of birds is listening to people--often people who spend a lot of time outdoors and should know better--blame predators alone for our lack of birds. I have heard all the following and more this season:

There are more birds south of the interstate ‘cause the guys down there do a better job of killing coyotes.

All these bald eagles along the river are eating the pheasants.

I saw a mountain lion the other day. I bet they eat pheasants.

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North Dakota Braces for Loss of 800,000 Acres of CRP Land

Sarah Smith — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 12:25:34 -0500

--Chad Love

North Dakota hunters are bracing for the effects of a "perfect storm" of bad habitat news.

From this story in the Grand Forks (ND) Herald:

“There’s a generation of hunters that knows nothing but liberal duck seasons and high bag limits, white-tailed deer behind every bush and remarkably high pheasant populations,” said John Devney, senior vice president of Delta Waterfowl and an expert on farm bill-related issues. Now, those days of abundance appear to be fading into history. After three severe winters that hammered both deer and pheasants, North Dakota is down to about 2.5 million acres of CRP, with contracts on another 800,000 acres set to expire next September.

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If Pheasant Hunting Was My Job

Dave_Maccar — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 13:17:29 -0500

by Phil Bourjaily

Fortunately, I hunt pheasants for fun and can shoot them with whatever gun I please. And, just as fortunately, market hunting for pheasants is illegal. However, if hunting pheasants was my job and I was paid by the head of roosters I killed:

a.) I would be going broke this year in Iowa.

b.) I would put aside my double guns and shoot my Benelli Montefeltro.

The Benelli is such a perfect ringneck gun. Sometimes I wish I didn't own it because there is no good reason to take any of my other guns pheasant hunting as long as I have it.*

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The 75 Best Field & Stream Reader Photos From November 2011

Dave_Maccar — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 10:13:59 -0500

The 50 Best Field & Stream Reader Photos of October.
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