By Scott Bestul

We always get a great response—and killer entries—whenever we post a caption contest, and this round was no exception. The chance at a great (and free) shotgun sight from Cabela’s clearly brought out the best in you. So without further yammering, here are 10 captions that came oh-so-close, followed by the winner.

Here are the 10 finalists, in random order: [ Read Full Post ]

By Phil Bourjaily

Because no good idea goes un-copied, today we present the first installment of Gunfight Friday based on (and by “based on” I mean “shamelessly ripped off of”) the Wild Chef’s Food Fight Friday. The format will be eerily similar: You send us pictures of your gun (see below) and write a little about the gun and why you like it for a specific purpose. We’ll pair up two guns, and readers will decide which is their choice. Unlike Food Fight Friday, which sometimes pits, say, venison vs. fish, we’ll try to confine this to guns for similar purposes like, say, elk rifles for black timber or squirrel rifles.

I have wanted to get pictures of readers’ guns onto this blog for a long time, and this seems like a good way to do it. I hope you agree, participate, and enjoy it. Because we don’t have any reader pictures yet, Dave Hurteau and I are going to face off on the first installment, which pits my 20-gauge turkey gun against his. [ Read Full Post ]

By Dave Hurteau

On a recent turkey hunt at Dos Plumas Hunting Ranch in northwestern Nebraska, Tim Kent of Theory 13 Creative introduced F&S contributor Jace Bauserman and me to Flextone’s newest Thunder Series turkey calls. On the first evening, someone—I’m not saying who—took one out of the packaging, started calling, and sounded exactly like this poor, terrified cat.

“Oh well,” I figured, “just another bad-sounding, gimmicky turkey call.” Turns out, it was just the caller, not the call, and he recovered right quickly, because like the Thunder Gobble, introduced last spring, the new Thunder hen calls are extremely easy to learn how to blow, and once you get the hang of them, they sound pretty darn good—certainly good enough to fool a gobbler. [ Read Full Post ]

By David Draper

Turkey seasons in the southern states are winding down, but up north the snow has melted enough for hunters to have a chance at bagging a tom. That means plenty of readers are filling the freezer with tasty turkey meat—including West Virginian Craig Ellis, who has managed to not only tag a turkey of his own, but also got both of his kids on birds. A trifecta of toms is no small feat in West Virginia, and lately Ellis has been celebrating with fresh turkey for nearly every meal, including breakfast. [ Read Full Post ]

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 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 ]