By Scott Bestul

Rut Reporter Scott Bestul is a Field & Stream’s Whitetails columnist and writes for the website’s Whitetail365 blog. The Minnesotan has taken 13 Pope & Young-class whitetails and has hunted, guided for, and studied deer in the north-central region all his life. States covered: IA, IL, IN, MI, MN, MO, WI.

This week included the first of our predicted “best days” and I know of at least one dandy Wisconsin buck that fell on Halloween Day. Unfortunately, I don’t have the full skinny (or permission to use the photo) yet, so hopefully I’ll be able to post that information soon.

A weather front brought much-needed rain to a large portion of the region earlier this week, and in some areas, that system was the kick-start the rut needed. In north Missouri, outfitter Ted Marum reported that prior to the rain, rutting activity had been decidedly ho-hum. The day after the shower, temps dropped, skies lifted and one of his clients saw 12 different bucks on a morning hunt! That’s an awesome morning by any standard, and serves as proof of the power of weather. [ Read Full Post ]

By Hal Herring

“I truly believe that the Rocky Mountain Front Heritage proposal is one of the most thoroughly thought out plans I have ever seen. It doesn’t offend anyone or any group in any way. It truly leaves one of the world’s grandest remaining landscapes intact for future generations to experience and enjoy.”  -Roy Jacobs, hunter from Pendroy.

Have you ever driven south along the Rocky Mountain Front from Babb, Montana, with Chief Mountain towering from the plains, the peaks and snowfields of Glacier Park staggering off to the west? Or drift down the near-empty highway, pulling over to glass for grizzlies in the distant aspen thickets bonsai’ed by fierce wind, cold temperatures, snow and summer’s parching heat? You can stop in Browning for gas and a Coke before travelling across the ether-clear Badger Creek to the Two Medicine River. Then you can head to the willow-enclosed Dupuyer Creek, passing the signs beckoning you westward at every washboard turnoff -- Swift Dam, Blackleaf Canyon, Ear Mountain, Teton River, Sun River. It's a country vast enough for a lifetime of exploring and then some. [ Read Full Post ]

By Dan Ashe

Editor’s Note: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Director Daniel M. Ashe is the person ultimately responsible for the welfare of the nation's fish and wildlife and its habitat. This enormous duty puts Ashe in a perfect position to realize how much damage the threatened budget cuts to federal conservation programs would inflict on those priceless resources—and, as a lifelong hunter and fisherman, he also understands how much those cuts would harm our sports and their future.

This is his response to Conservation Editor Bob Marshall’s recent column about the specific losses those potential cuts would cause, and explains why sportsmen must exclude conservation programs in any calls for budget reductions.

by Dan Ashe

Like all duck hunters, I know that, oftentimes, the worse the weather, the better the hunting. I look at our current conservation climate in much the same way.

Although our nation is going through some rough economic weather right now, we can’t lose sight of the fact that there are still enormous needs – and opportunities - for fish and wildlife conservation.

I understand and respect hunters, anglers, and shooters who believe that in the current budget climate, conservation programs should share in any cuts. This community has always put what is right ahead of what is easy, and I believe the reluctant support some may give for budget reductions comes from genuine patriotism.

But we should recognize that America has always found a way to enrich her conservation legacy despite difficult times. During the Civil War, President Lincoln inked a land deal for what later became Yosemite National Park. In the 1930s, during the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl era, hunters supported landmark legislation that created the Federal Duck Stamp and the Wildlife Restoration Act, contributing to the establishment of 142 wildlife refuges across the nation in that decade alone.
[ Read Full Post ]

By Chad Love

A Wyoming family could face jail time and millions in fines for allowing out-of-state hunters to illegally take dozens of game animals on their property using landowner tags.

From this story in the Billings Gazette:

Several members of a ranching family near Ten Sleep could face decades of jail time and millions in fines for allegedly allowing out-of-state hunters to tag wildlife with their Wyoming landowner hunting permits, according to a federal indictment. Richard “R.C.” Carter, owner of Big Horn Adventure Outfitters, allegedly took more than a dozen hunters out on his family’s property from 2003 to 2009 to kill elk, deer and antelope. Richard Carter Sr. and Mark Carter — R.C.’s father and younger brother respectively — allegedly used their own tags on the animals shot and falsely claimed in affidavits that they killed them.
[ Read Full Post ]

By Hal Herring

This morning, I received a press release from the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership about a new study defining the economic benefits and effects of outdoor recreation, conservation, and historical preservation efforts in our country. It reports that “the great outdoors and historic preservation generate a conservative estimate of more than $1 trillion in total economic activity and support 9.4 million jobs each year. “

I hope people will take the time to actually read and ponder what is revealed here. So much of it, if we think about it, is common sense-- we all know (or are) someone who owns or works in an outdoor store, or as a guide or outfitter, or who has recently bought a boat or upgraded fishing tackle or guns. The money is there, it’s moving through the economy, and it is dependent on having healthy and protected lands and waters to use that tackle or shoot those guns (imagine the miniscule percentage of the economy in France, or China that is generated from hunting and fishing- then look at the US figures in the linked study).
[ Read Full Post ]

By David Maccar

Charging wildlife isn’t the first thing on a mountain biker’s mind in the heat of a race, but the animals don’t know that.

Evan van der Spuy was racing in the 38 km Time Freight MTB Express mountain bike race at Albert Falls Dam, 20km outside the city of Pietermaritzburg in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa for Team Jeep South Africa over the weekend.

His teammate, Travis Walker, was in third place with a GoPro camera mounted on his bike, and captured this amazing footage below of Evan, who was in second place until this red hartebeest (a member of the antelope family) had something to say about it.

Yes, the hit was as hard as it looks. Evan was stabilized with a neck brace and taken to the hospital for overnight observation. He sustained a minor concussion, whiplash and some bruising on his head where his helmet imploded on impact.

F&S spoke to Evan today to get his take on the events behind this video, which is rapidly going viral.

Evan said he is recovering well, and feels extremely lucky.

“Luckily I walked away with just a bit of whiplash and a concussion, considering what happened,” he says. “I saw the animal moving to cross the road in front of me, but when I saw how close it really was, I was shocked. Then, from the moment it hit me I was unconscious. I actually don’t know what happened from then.”
[ Read Full Post ]