TOP STORIES |
May 9, 2008
The LatestTop Picks
|


This image comes from AFR 64-4, the Air Force's manual on search, rescue and survival training, Volume 1 (July 1985).
The book contains information on everything from shark identification to the psychological aspects of being taken prisoner. It also has a pretty interesting section on trapping and preparing wild game. [ Read Full Post ]
The Connecticut State House of Representatives voted Thursday, 107-19, to repeal a ban on hunting on Sunday in an effort to combat the state’s overpopulated deer herd.
The bill stipulates that hunting on Sundays would be allowed with a bow and arrow on private land only and may not take place near a hiking trail. Hunters must also adhere to guidelines laid out by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. [ Read Full Post ]
When it comes to access, this is the only type of closure we like to see.
Both arms of Congress have passed the Freedom To Fish Act. Pending Pres. Obama’s signature, the legislation brings a temporary close to a ridiculous movement by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to impose stringent access restrictions on fishing below dams along the Cumberland River in Tennessee and Kentucky.
The bill, which passed May 21, received bipartisan support (seriously) and was introduced in the Senate by Tennessee’s Lamar Alexander and in the House by Kentucky’s Ed Whitfield. [ Read Full Post ]

Within the next two weeks 75 to 80 percent of this year’s fawns will be on the ground. Here are a few fawn facts to lay on your hunting buddies:
- Does drop their fawns approximately 200 days after conception
- Fawns average 6-8 lbs. at birth
- Does bred as fawns (last year’s) typically have a single fawn [ Read Full Post ]
How much do you really know about the doves you bag? Besides the creeping realization that they’re maddeningly hard to hit and taste great hot off the grill, probably not much.
But an annual report issued by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is full of data that provides a fairly comprehensive portrait of America’s mourning dove population. I got a copy of the report without even asking. It’s a perk of participating in the USFWS’s annual Dove Wing Collection Survey. For the past two years I’ve snipped off the right wing of every dove I’ve bagged, and shipped them to biologists who use the appendages as one measure of the age and abundance of our dove population.
Last week we surveyors got to see the results of our collective work. Here are some highlights: [ Read Full Post ]

Gerrardstown, West Virginia angler Tony Corbin sure wasn’t expecting to break any records when he set out on a first time mission targeting an unpressured private bass pond. But Corbin tossed out a swimbait and ended up landing a new state record rainbow trout that weighed in at 17.31 pounds and taped out at 30.5 inches, beating the previous record by nearly two pounds. He bested the big bow on 10-pound line, showing some professional angling skills. [ Read Full Post ]
2013 John Deere Gator RSX850i
MSRP: $12,999 - RSX850i; $14,999 - RSX850i Trail; $15,499 - RSX850i Sport
Final Thoughts + Key Specs at a Glance
“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” This infamous quote from the 1980 film “The Shining” used to seem like a great metaphor to describe the John Deere Gator UTV lineup. In years past, Gators were notoriously hard workers around the farm, but they certainly never gained respect as a class-leading trail machine. All of that changed in 2013 with the introduction of John Deere’s Gator RSX850i. [ Read Full Post ]

My most overused adage goes something like this: The two best days of turkey season are the first and the last. The first because you’re so psyched about getting out in the woods and the last because your body simply can’t withstand another 4 a.m. wake-up. Although it’ll likely take a month for me to get over turkey time, Saturday marks the final day of my season.
In all, my turkey camp buddies and I took 11 birds, which falls a few birds short of our best-ever mark of 14, but I’m pretty hopeful for Saturday. I’ve got a leftover tag as do a couple of friends. [ Read Full Post ]
Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! No...
It's your neighbor's drone plinking pesky squirrels from his cherished chestnut tree and if your dog strays onto his lawn one more time, zap!
Far-fetched?
Hardly. In fact, somehow, somewhere, sometime soon, it's inevitable. But will it be legal? Constitutional scholars are debating that question right now and some think that Second Amendment rights could extend to robotic arms -- including "self-defense drones" outfitted with weapons. [ Read Full Post ]

It might have been the new world record.
Instead it was enjoyed as fish tacos on a Baja beach.
Last week, angler Kevin Shiotani landed an amberjack near Cerralvo Island in the Sea of Cortez after a grueling 25-minute battle that most of the Tailhunter International Sportfishing crew estimated to weigh at least 135 pounds, according to Pete Thomas Outdoors. Had the fish been officially weighed it might have threatened the International Game Fish Association all-tackle world record amberjack caught off Japan in 2010. That fish weighed a whopping 156 pounds.
Word is that no one on the boat was thinking record at the time of the catch. [ Read Full Post ]

It wasn't the prettiest of days, but despite the dreary conditions, Tim Schneider, of Silver Lake, Wisconsin found the proverbial pot of gold at the rainbow's end. Actually, it was more of a brownish color – over 8 pounds of it. [ Read Full Post ]
May is quickly turning to June which means makos are heading north in waters along the East Coast. The mako's hard-fighting, high-flying qualities and ferocious predatory nature make it a favorite among shark fishermen, but they've also made it a YouTube star.
In the last few years these sharks have been filmed shredding swordfish, harassing spearfishermen, and gobbling down seals. To celebrate the upcoming shark season, we put together the 8 best mako videos on the web.
1) Flying Mako Shark

It took me a couple of years of doing it the hard way, but once I started treating my food plots with chemical herbicides I couldn’t live without them. They keep your plots growing strong and can double (or even triple) the life of a perennial food plot like clover or a clover chicory mix. They are best applied when things green up and are growing strong which in most parts of deer country is now. [ Read Full Post ]

If you have a little space to grow some plants, you can get a lot of enjoyment and even some medicinal relief from growing your own remedies. While these should never take the place of professional medical care, it’s nice to have a sense that you are not helpless, should you end up having to fend for yourself. This is a list of 10 great plants that you can pick up now at home improvement stores and garden centers, and set out as your own personal medicine garden. [ Read Full Post ]
Here’s your chance to ask anything you want of high-level African hunting officials. Outdoor Life Editor Andrew McKean has arranged an interview with Namibia’s Secretary of State, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah next month in Namibia.
Nandi-Ndaitwah was previously the country’s Minister of Environment and Tourism and during her term in that office she promoted the concept of selective and ethical hunting as the primary wildlife management tool in the southwestern Africa nation. [ Read Full Post ]