By Keith McCafferty

The great bushcraftsman Mors Kochanski once told me that a man can survive in wilderness with only a knife—but carry an ax and he lives like a king. To complete the woodsman’s toolbox, I recommend adding a bow saw. By packing all three blades in your canoe duffel (or on your back, as their total weight shouldn’t exceed 4 pounds), you can carve, chop, and saw your way to a wilderness throne faster and without nearly as much chance of injury than if you leave one tool behind. Here are the three blades I carry and what I can do with them.

Pictured from left: Helle Temagami knife, Gransfors Bruks Small Forest Ax, 24-Inch Folding Bucksaw

Peel & Shave

As long as you pack an ax and saw for heavy work, a knife is best used for peeling and shaving sticks. Peeled sticks harden quickly, becoming tougher and lighter than bark-on sticks, and can be further shaped into tools like spears, bows, and arrows.

Peel a stick by holding one end and resting the other end against a stump. Keeping your knife arm straight, stroke away from you by moving your shoulder and body, rather... [ Read Full Post ]

By Scott Bestul

By the fall of 2010, the relationship between Wisconsin deer hunters and the state Department of Natural Resources had turned so publicly toxic that then gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker parlayed it into a campaign promise: Vote for me, he told the state’s nearly 1 million deer hunters, and I’ll appoint someone to fix what’s wrong with the DNR. Just 10 months after he was sworn into office, Gov. Walker signed Executive Order No. 44, directing the appointment of a “Whitetail Deer Trustee” (a term the local media quickly replaced with czar) to “review and evaluate Wisconsin’s deer herd management practices.”

The unprecedented move grants the trustee, who reports solely to the governor, full access to and cooperation from the DNR—which must also pay his salary. On Oct. 3, 2011, Walker named prominent Texas biologist James Kroll to the post. Popularly known as “Dr. Deer,” Kroll is now Wisconsin’s “deer czar”—and he says his team is creating a national model for deer management in the 21st century.

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By Chad Love

A while back Phil Bourjaily had a really good blog post about downsizing your hunting rig that generated a ton of comments, both pro and con. Now, I haven't spoken with Phil and can't say for sure whether he's going to take the downsizing plunge or not, but for me, the issue's (mostly) been settled for a while. I inherited my wife’s beloved 2000 Subaru Forester a few years ago when she decided to buy a new car. The plan was to use the Forester as an economical daily driver and save my big, gas-guzzling, full-size four-wheel-drive truck as a dedicated hunting/fishing/wood-hauling rig. [ Read Full Post ]

By Chad Love

Uh, I'm gonna have to check with the editors, but I don't think this one's going to be eligible for the Field & Stream Trail Cam Contest.

From this story on Time.com:
Wildlife cameras are set up to capture images of animals in their natural habitat. But in Austria, they recorded a politician having sex in the woods. The unnamed politician from the Austrian state of Carinthia chose the wrong spot for his intimate moment among the damp leaves and ants — right in front of hidden cameras owned by southern Austria’s Carinthian Hunting Society.

Getting busy right in front of a hidden game camera is, well, let's face it, embarrassing to say the least, but the incident has set off an interesting debate on whether hidden trail cameras should be marked. [ Read Full Post ]

By Sarah Smith Barnum

Finally, Disney is getting with the program. Rather than another damsel in distress flick, we’ve got a “Brave” Princess who fights for her own hand, rebels against her family's expectations, and is an all around badass with a bow. No more waiting for Prince Charming! This comes on the coattails of the Katniss Everdeen Hunger Games archery hoopla, and can only bring more popularity and hype to the sport.

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By Bob Marshall

Fish, wildlife and sportsmen got good news Friday when Tom Vilsack, the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, announced recent and future sign-ups of 5.65 million acres in the Conservation Reserve Program, keeping that keystone conservation program close to its current authorized cap of 32 million acres.

But in an interview with Field & Stream, Vilsack also urged sportsmen to keep the momentum going by urging their congressmen - particularly House members - not to swing the budget axe on conservation funding in the new Farm Bill currently under consideration. [ Read Full Post ]