By Scott Bestul

When a poacher apologizes, it’s usually before a judge who is about to throw the book at him. But a Montana man who illegally shot three whitetail does more than 40 seasons ago not only turned himself in, he forked over a fine no one asked him to pay. According this story by Rich Landers, the man contacted the Washington Fish and Wildlife Department recently and confessed to shooting the deer during the 1969 and 1970 hunting seasons.

Capt. Richard Mann, with the enforcement division of WFWD, informed the Montana man—whom Mann refers to only as “Roy”—that the statute of limitations for the offense had run out years ago, and encouraged him to consider volunteer service to the department if his conscience still bothered him. Distance made volunteering problematic, so Roy wrote the WDFW a $6,000 check instead. The maximum penalty for poaching antlerless deer in Washington right now is close to $2,000 per animal.

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By Steve Hill

A Missouri shed hunter discovered a 37-point rack on public land near St. Charles that could be among the top five whitetails ever recorded in the Show Me State.

The 270-class antlers—still attached to the skull of a buck that officials believe died in late summer—were found March 13 on the 7,000-acre August A. Busch Memorial Conservation area in St. Charles County. The find immediately brought to mind another trophy pickup from Missouri, the Boone & Crockett world-record nontypical “Missouri Monarch” (pictured below).  That 333 7/8-inch 44-pointer was found dead in St. Louis County, which borders St. Charles County, in 1981.

“It’s surprising to see a deer of that size come off the Busch area,” says John Vogel, Wildlife Regional Supervisor for the Missouri Department of Conservation, who has worked at the conservation area for 13 years. “The biggest I’ve seen was in the 190 range. Seeing something in the 270s is impressive. There aren’t a lot of nontypical genetics here. We see a drop tine here and there, but even that’s rare. So it’s unique seeing a rack like this.”

The Busch area, located 30 miles from downtown St.... [ Read Full Post ]

By Scott Bestul

We’ve lost yet another man who changed the face of modern deer hunting. Tony Knight, inventor of the Knight Rifle—the first mass-produced in-line muzzleloader—died Monday, March 18, near Plano, Iowa.

Knight set the hunting world on fire in 1985 when he introduced the MK-85 (the initials were his daughter’s), a rifle he produced in Centerville, Iowa. Though the in-line design initially drew as many critics as it did adherents, Knight was a tireless champion for the inclusion of in-line rifles into blackpowder seasons that had been dominated by sidelock guns. He was wildly successful; within a handful of years, in-lines had not only gained wide acceptance, but also a huge market share. [ Read Full Post ]

By Bob Marshall

There’s new hope that native grasslands—arguably the most threatened wildlife habitat in the nation – can be saved.  But the House of Representatives will have to follow the bipartisan lead of a couple of prairie state representatives to get that done for sportsmen.
 
The Protect Our Prairies Act recently introduced by Tom Walz (D-MN) and Kristi Noem (R-SD) would help protect the nation’s remaining native sod and grasslands by reducing federal crop insurance subsidies for the first four years those acres are farmed.
 
This is a new version of the “Sod Saver” concept that has been around for some time, with the aim of preventing native grasslands from being plowed for two important reasons: This habitat is critical for a wide range of upland birds, migratory waterfowl and numerous other species; and they are far less productive for crops than other lands.
 
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By Dave Hurteau

Bestul and I are in the midst of a giant bow test, and so we are shooting a lot. (Nothing like a deadline to get you out on the range.) But before I took any shots for posterity, I spent a half a day or so warming up at 30 and 40 yards, jotting down my group sizes just for fun. After that, I put the target out at 60 and shot 20 three-shot groups.

Now, you have read from me and Bestul and many others that long-range shooting can really help your accuracy at typical hunting ranges. But today, I can
quantify it. [ Read Full Post ]

By Dave Hurteau

After more than 3,500 votes per matchup, the Division I Elite Eight cartridges are settled: The 7mm Remington Magnum obliterated the .260 Remington; the .30- 06 predictably crushed the .243 Winchester; the .257 Weatherby Magnum edged past the .257 Roberts; and, in our first upset win of the tournament, the .25-06 Remington took down the excellent 6.5-284 Norma.

And now, on to Division II. You know the drill. Layne Simpson’s seeded selections for this group are listed and explained below. Check out the bracket (you can click here to print out a copy if you want to fill it out by hand). Then vote for your preferred long-range deer cartridge in each matchup below to begin Division II play. We'll follow up with the Elite Eight, Final Four, and finally the F&S Long-Range Deer Cartridge Championship.

Division II

[1] .300 Winchester Magnum: Three out of five doctors recommend the .300 Winchester Magnum for shooting deer at long range. And plenty of Alberta outfitters who specialize in big whitetails and mule deer agree with the prescription.

[2] .264... [ Read Full Post ]