By Dave Hurteau & Chad Love

Take a break from last-minute online holiday shopping to check out this week's Best of the Boards. We've got footage of a mountain lion attacking a doe, a sea-lion on the interstate, and the best lies to use for playing hooky from the office. If you find an amazing message board link you think deserves to be in next week's batch, send it to fsinterns@bonniercorp.com.

Video: Mountain lion attacks doe! (profanity alert!) (monstermuleys.com)
Topic: Sea Lion lost, hit on interstate (976-tuna.com)
Topic: Triple-amputee still elk hunting (jessehunting.com)
Topic: Best lie to skip work for hunting...(refugeforums.com)
Pics: GIANT Missouri buck (realtree.com)
Topic: Funniest hunting stories of the year (bowsite.com)
Topic: A college hunting frat..(huntingpa.com)
Topic: Muskies bigger than bucks? (muskyhunter.com)
Topic: Weirdest thing reeled in while fishing (stripersonline.com)
Topic: Bears attacking your trail cams (biggamehunt.net) [ Read Full Post ]

By Dave Hurteau & Chad Love

From the Idaho Statesman:

President-elect Barack Obama’s choice for Interior Secretary, Colorado Democratic Sen. Ken Salazar, brought wide praise from both environmentalists and industry. . . .

He’s pro-gun and he’s not Raul Grijalva, the Arizona congressman that many environmentalists and liberals hoped would get the job. . . .

"It could be that a centralist like Ken Salazar can get more done because he’s not a lightning rod and he can work with all sides,” [said Elise Jones executive director of the Colorado Environmental Coalition]. “He’s not going to draw a backlash from traditional commodities industries."

[ Read Full Post ]

By David E. Petzal and Philip Bourjaily

A judge of my acquaintance--a regular reader of this blog and a hard and pitiless man to whom the mere mention of mercy is a mortal affront--takes issue with my prediction that Plaxico Burress will skate because of who he is. There are, says Ye Judge, ways around mandatory sentences, but the uproar over Burress’ Glock groping has eliminated them, and he is surely looking at prison.

Whether I am right or the judge is right, what Burress gets will not be justice, but public relations, and the whole wretched business points out how capriciously gun laws are often enforced.

Anyway, back to greed and covetousness:

Vero Vellini rifle slings. I have no idea who Vero Vellini is, but he makes the most comfortable rifle sling I know of. It’s heavily padded, has just a little spring to it, and best of all, does not slip off your shoulder ever 7.5 seconds. Depending on model, $20-$50. Widely available.

HSM rifle ammunition, sold by Cabelas. Much cheap ammo is loaded with bird droppings and melted-down T-34 tank hulls by people who subsist on cabbage and other cheap, gas-producing vegetables. HSM is loaded in the USA by people who go to Taco Bell to get... [ Read Full Post ]

By Dave Hurteau & Chad Love

From The Golf Channel:

Only seven Americans from the winning Ryder Cup team were in the Oval Office to meet with Presidents [sic] George W. Bush last month, and Steve Stricker was among those absent.
 
. . .

[I]t came down to priorities.
 
For the last dozen years, Stricker and his father-in-law, Dennis Tiziani, have taken family and friends to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for a week of deer hunting when the season begins Nov. 15. The trip to the White House was Nov. 17. . . .

“[I]t wasn’t that hard of a decision because it was a family thing.”

What would you have done? [ Read Full Post ]

By Dave Hurteau & Chad Love

From the Star-Tribune:

The Bush administration could remove wolves from the federal endangered species list this week, an official said.



The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had previously announced its intention to delist gray wolves in the Northern Rockies by the end of this year.

But Ed Bangs, the federal gray wolf recovery coordinator for the Fish and Wildlife Service, said it is possible a new delisting rule could be out and published in the Federal Register on or before Friday.
 [ Read Full Post ]

By Philip Bourjaily

I first saw the Garmin Astro in action last week. A friend and I were hunting pheasants in some long grass when Scott’s dog went on point. Even when he’s locked up tight, Gunner’s tail wags, and I could see it vibrating in the weeds about 30 yards away. “Scott, your dog’s on point,” I said. Scott pulled a gizmo from his pocket, studied it, and said, “No, he’s sitting.”

“I can see him pointing.

“No, it says he’s sitting 32 yards to the southeast.”

A hen flushed out from under Gunner’s nose, ending the argument.

What Scott was looking at was the receiver from his Astro, a GPS unit made by Garmin that goes on a dog’s collar. It tells you how far away the dog is, and in which direction. Little dog icons on the screen tell you what he’s doing: sitting, pointing, running, or treeing.  The Astro helps hunters locate dogs on point in thick brush, and, more important, it can help find lost dogs. Having once lost a dog in heavy grouse cover and worried all night and finally found him the next day, I can totally see the appeal of the Astro. I’m sure Sam was never far away, and... [ Read Full Post ]