Outdoor Life - Moose RSS

Illuminated Reticles Are Useless on Big-Game Riflescopes

Alex Robinson — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:49:54 -0400

The fastest growing segment of the sporting-optics market is electronic illumination of a scope’s crosshairs. And it may be the most useless hunting-gear gimmick since the DeerView Mirror, a backward-looking reflector for your treestand. Check out the lineup of new scopes at your sporting-goods store. I’ll bet more than half have a bulbous illumination knob above the eyebox or opposite the windage and elevation knobs, distorting the otherwise lovely lines of the optic. But illumination modules also add weight, as well as a mechanism to fail and a battery to die.

Red is the most common illumination color, but a number of scopes also feature green and blue. And instead of illuminating a subtle aiming point, most of these battery-powered units light up the entire reticle like a Christmas tree on fire.

Illumination is a great asset on some scopes, like the low-magnification optics used on ARs for short-range work, such as clearing dark, dangerous houses. But here’s why they’re worse than useless on higher-magnifying big-game hunting optics:

- Legal light for most big-game hunting is a half hour before sunrise to a half hour after sunset. Outdoor Life’s annual optics test has revealed that all but the cheapest, darkest glass is bright enough to resolve antlers, vital areas, and aiming points even several minutes after legal light fades. Not only will most glass let you “see” into the dark, but most non-illuminated reticles are visible long after legal light has ended.

- Any illumination brighter than a barely perceptible point will ruin your night vision. Yet many of these reticles are calibrated for high intensity, not subtlety, forcing shooters to concentrate on the blazing crosshair instead of the dim target. And when a reticle is awash in light, the optic glows with so much internal reflection that precise shooting becomes increasingly difficult as ambiant light fades.

- Artificially illuminated aiming devices are illegal for big-game hunting in some states. Even if you never turn on the illumination, its presence on your rifle could be setting you up for an avoidable wildlife violation.

- Building a bright, clear optic is difficult and expensive. Instead of investing in optical technology, scope manufacturers that turn to high-intensity illumination are grabbing market share with the luminescent equivalent of bells and whistles. Savvy hunters would do well to spend their money on good glass, not electronic gimmickry.

20 Best Taxidermy Photos from the Safari Club International Convention

Alex Robinson — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 15:58:49 -0500

We rounded up 20 of the best mount photos from the SCI convention floor. Let us know in the comments section which one you like the best.

VIDEO: Utah Sheriff Frees Moose Tangled in Swing Set

Alex Robinson — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 12:30:18 -0500

Just in case you missed it…

A Utah sheriff managed to free a bull moose tangled in a backyard swing set in Ogden, Utah this August, and a bystander caught the rescue on video.

Sgt. Lane Findlay gave his cell phone to an onlooker and asked him to record the rescue attempt, reports ABC News. Just as the footage begins to roll, you can hear him say, "In case I die, give this to my wife."

Although Findlay initially contacted wildlife officials, he learned they might take an hour to arrive on the scene.

"I just made the decision to go in there and see what I could do," Findlay told the Associated Press. "Fortunately, the moose was tired and it didn't seem threatened."

Armed with nothing but a pair of bolt cutters, Findlay cautiously approaches the distressed moose. The bull is breathing hard and twists away from Findlay, its rack still snared in the two swings. On the second attempt, the moose calms down enough and Findlay successfully slices the first chain. The exhausted bull eventually stands still and allows Findlay to cut through the remaining chains. At one point Findlay even strokes the moose's nose and speaks to it softly.

When the last chain snaps, the bull trots off into the yard. The video ends there, but Findlay said the moose drank from a bucket of water and collapsed in a driveway. Findlay hosed down the moose for nearly an hour until wildlife officials arrived. Although they determined its physical injuries weren't fatal, the battle with the swings was apparently too stressful. According to Findlay, someone found the moose dead later that week.

Despite the unhappy ending, Findlay successfully freed the bull when he could have waited for wildlife professionals. You never want to see a wild animal suffer, but you also want to avoid a thrashing. What would you have done?

Comment below!

Alaska Hunter takes 706-Inch Moose, Could Make Second Place in SCI Books

Alex Robinson — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 11:50:24 -0400

When Bob Condon of Soldotna, Alaska shot this moose last month, he didn't expect to break any records. But the massive bull weighed more than 1,500 pounds and sported a rack stretching more than 73 inches, according to the Redoubt Reporter.

A scorer put the rack at 731, and although that figure has since shrunk to 706, the moose is still the second largest ever harvested in the Safari Club International books. Official measurements will be taken after the antlers undergo their full drying period.

“I’ve never hunted strictly for trophies," Condon told the Redoubt Reporter. "I’ve just believed in hunting and letting the rest fall into place, so I was elated when I got up to this guy. I mean, I’m 73 and I can see my twilight days coming, so to know you still have something like this in you, it’s a real thrill."

On the third morning of a planned 11-day hunt in Alaska's Brooks Range, Condon spotted the moose about two miles away. Although he stalked closer and tried grunting the bull in, the moose wouldn't get any closer than 400 yards.

So, Condon took the shot and dropped the moose with his .375.

Condon's hunting buddies and a group of Wisconsin hunters spent the next several days helping him field dress the meat and pack it out. Now, with a fully packed freezer, Condon just has to wait for the record results.

Bow Test 2012: Best New Compound Hunting Bows

Alex Robinson — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 13:12:20 -0400

Outdoor Life is known for running one of the toughest bow tests in the industry. Find out which compounds scored the highest in our annual bow test.

Stealth Cam's New Shadow Trail Cam

Alex Robinson — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 15:37:43 -0400

Stealth Cam and Jim Shockey teamed up to develop the new Shadow trail camera. The Shadow is a compact camera that incorporates video, still imagery and time lapse, and features TRIAD technology.

The video setting is capable of recording 5 - 240 second video clips with audio. There are three photo resolution settings: 8MP, 3MP or 1.3MP. To top it off, the camera features Time Lapse, which allows hunters to take pictures at regular intervals to monitor open fields and food plots. The 54 black infrared emitters give this camera a 50-foot range, and make the Shadow a camera that won’t spook game or let other hunters know you’re scouting the area.

One of this camera’s most unique features is its ability to switch between 50 and 36 emitters to adjust the light output for specific scouting scenarios. This is extremely helpful for getting clear nighttime pictures and avoiding washed out images.

The Shadow’s burst mode allows you to capture between one to nine images at each triggering. For added versatility, the delay between images can be set in one-second intervals between 1 to 59 seconds or one-minute intervals between 1 to 59 minutes.

An external LCD status display lets the user quickly identify and select the modes of operation. The time/date/moon phase and temperature stamp helps identify the exact wildlife habits for the hunter. The Shadow has a 2x or 4x digital zoom setting and incorporates an SD card slot that accepts up to a 16GB memory card.

To aid in the setup of the camera, there’s a test mode to let you know if the camera will pick up game at the intended crossing point. The camera runs on eight AA batteries, or you can use an external 12V battery box. It has a low battery indicator light to let you know when it’s time to replace the batteries.

With an MSRP of $199.99, Stealth Cam packed a lot of features into the Shadow.

The 35 Best Hunting and Fishing Towns in the US

Alex Robinson — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 11:54:56 -0400

Now in its fifth year, our annual “Best Towns for Sportsmen” feature is an OL institution. Readers love to argue the merits of their burgs based on our rankings; local newspapers crow about the inclusion of their town; and realtors call to ask for extra copies of the issue.

This year we’re forgetting all the socio-economic data and focusing on what matters most: hunting and fishing. In the next few pages, you’ll find the 35 towns in the U.S. where we would live right now, based solely on the outdoor opportunities there. Some boast bass and deer, others elk and trout or ducks and redfish. Regardless, each of these towns is an outdoors mecca in its own right, and from sea to shining sea, they offer the best hunting and fishing in America.

#1 - Appleton, WI
More than 170 years ago, trappers and fur traders chased the promise of lucrative beaver pelts up the Fox River and settled the town of Appleton. Today, enormous whitetail deer draw outdoorsmen and -women to the Fox River Valley. The Boone and Crockett Club recently anointed Wisconsin the number-one trophy whitetail state in the country, with Cheesehead hunters logging 383 B&C entries in the last five years. In the last three seasons, three different bucks killed within 50 miles of downtown Appleton have either broken or threatened Badger State records. But there’s a lot more to do in Appleton than sit in a treestand.

Nearby Lake Winnebago and the Fox River, which runs through town, are premier walleye fisheries. Green Bay, 30 minutes to the north, offers some of the best smallmouth bass and muskie fishing in the country. Horicon Marsh State Wildlife Area sits 70 miles to the south and is the largest freshwater cattail marsh in the country. Hundreds of thousands of geese migrate through the region each fall. Sixty miles to the north, the 661,000-acre Nicolet National Forest, home to deer, bears, and grouse, is one of the last true wild places in the northwoods.

#2 - Salmon, ID

This town’s name should be your first clue as to why it attracts sportsmen the way a spawning run draws bears. Located right on the Salmon River—and bordering millions of acres of public hunting ground, including the largest wilderness area in the Lower 48 (the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness)—Salmon has, well, everything.

The Salmon and its tributaries offer world-class fishing for trout, steelhead, and other species year-round. On the crags and benches above the Salmon and other nearby rivers, wingshooters chase chukar and huns, while at higher elevations blue and spruce grouse predominate.

The big-game scene has changed in Salmon with the resurgence of wolves. But trophy elk, mule deer, and whitetails are still accessible, and the hunting for bears and mountain lions is second to none.

#3 - Venice, LA

If you like your saltwater rimmed by white sand beaches, palm trees, and tiki bars, this is not the place for you. However, if you live to hunt and fish, and yearn to do it 24/7/365, then this tiny community at the mouth of the Mississippi River beckons.

Despite its infamy as the epicenter of both Hurricane Katrina and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Venice remains arguably the greatest place in North America to fish and hunt waterfowl.

In 2011, Bassmaster Classic competitors ran down the Mississippi from New Orleans to Venice—more than two hours by boat—to fill their livewells with largemouths. However, it’s world-class redfish and speckled trout fishing that draw the recreational fishermen. You will catch fish here every day that you hit the water, and you can’t say that about very many other places in the country.

If you get bored in the marshes, big-game fishing opportunities—from marlin to tuna, sailfish to swords—are plentiful around the offshore gas and oil rigs.
September marks the beginning of teal season in this waterfowler’s paradise, with more than 14 percent of the country’s wetlands located in this region of southern Louisiana.

#4 - Rapid City, SD

This gateway to the ruggedly beautiful Black Hills region of western South Dakota offers its 67,000 residents a wide variety of hunting and fishing opportunities. Mountain lakes and coldwater streams to the west of town are home to brook, brown, and rainbow trout. In the surrounding prairie, a constellation of reservoirs and stock dams hold largemouths, pike, and panfish.

Hunting opportunities are available nearly year-round. Whitetails, mule deer, elk, and Merriam’s turkeys prowl the mountains. A short drive will put you into pheasants, sharptails, and prairie chickens. Pronghorns, coyotes, and prairie dogs are plentiful in the grasslands.

#5 - Centerville, IA

They got the name right. Centerville is in the middle of a sportsman’s paradise. Epic whitetails get the headlines (the 307-inch Lovstuen Buck was killed just north of here), but south-central Iowa has plenty of four-season opportunity: abundant turkeys and waterfowl, plus great crappies, walleyes, and channel cats on Rathbun Lake north of town.

But it’s the human dimension of this place—the classic Midwestern courthouse square, the easy friendliness of its residents—that makes this a great town to call home. Plus, Centerville has some bona fide hunting pedigree: It’s the original home of groundbreaking Knight muzzleloading rifles.

#6 - Grand Junction, CO
Magnificent mesas and endless elk—Grand Junction’s breathtaking scenery makes the perfect backdrop for chasing public-land bulls. Numerous alpine trout lakes keep local anglers busy.

#7 - Georgetown, SC
Several rivers converge at the Intercoastal Waterway in this city in the Carolina Lowcountry. Famed lakes Moultrie and Marion are a short drive to the west.

The Francis Marion National Forest provides more than a quarter million acres of public-land hunting for deer, turkeys, quail, and small game.

#8 - Bend, OR
Drive less than an hour from Bend and you can be fishing a stream in a desert canyon, a high alpine lake, or a spring creek.

#9 - Bismarck, ND
If you’ve got your eye on walleyes, set your sights on Bismarck, on the banks of the Missouri River. Grouse, pheasants, ducks, and geese abound in fall and winter.

#10 - Saratoga, WY
With the North Platte River running through downtown Saratoga, your next trout is never more than a cast away. Elk, deer, and pronghorns roam the mountains and prairies around town.

#11 - Traverse City, MI
Glacial inland lakes hold perch and smallies, and Traverse Bay offers big-water angling opportunities. But the area’s four blue-ribbon trout streams get top billing. The Boardman, which winds through downtown, is the birthplace of the Parachute Adams fly.

#12 - Lake Placid, NY
Fish for brown trout on the famed West Branch of the Ausable River, and catch lake and rainbow trout on Lake Placid. Whitetail deer and black bears roam the quarter-million acres of state lands surrounding this quaint Adirondack mountain town.

#13 - Cody, WY
Cody is heaven on earth for big-game backcountry mountain hunters. Mild weather means more opportunities to chase bighorns, elk, mule deer, and pronghorns.

#14 - Islamorada, FL
Watch the sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean, where offshore fishing for everything from grouper and snapper to dolphin and swords abounds. Cast to tarpon, permit, and bonefish on the flats as the sun sets over the waters of the Gulf of Mexico to the west of town.

#15 - Ely, MN
Just miles from the million-acre Boundary Waters Canoe Area, Ely is a pike and walleye fisherman’s paradise in the summer, and a whitetail mecca come fall.

#16 - Thompson Falls, MT
This secluded town west of the Rockies is surrounded by massive swaths of national forest. The two most accessible, the Kootenai and Lolo, hold elk, whitetails, ruffed grouse, and turkeys.

#17 - Show Low, AZ
You’ll find pronghorns to the north of town, and elk, deer, and lions to the south and east. The nearby White Mountains are the only place in the world to fish for Apache trout.

#18 - Russell, KS
Pheasants, quail, doves, turkeys, waterfowl, and deer provide hunters in the heart of the Smoky Hills a dizzying array of opportunities.

#19 - Toccoa, GA
Tucked into the southeastern corner of the Chattahoochee National Forest, Toccoa is 15 minutes from the Lake Russell Wildlife Management Area, home to deer, turkeys, bears, squirrels, rabbits, and wild hogs. Lake Russell is stocked with trout, and nearby Lake Hartwell has hybrid stripers, brown trout, and crappies.

#20 - Craig, CO
Craig offers access to a million acres of public land just 7 miles from town, and boasts two of the largest elk herds in North America.

#21 - Cadiz, KY
In less than 30 minutes, you’ll be into bass, crappies, and catfish on Kentucky Lake or Lake Barkley. Deer and duck hunting are vital threads in the local sporting fabric.

#22 - Logan, UT
Located in the Cache Valley, Logan is surrounded by marshland for waterfowl hunting and myriad blue-ribbon trout streams.

#23 - Homer, AK
Halibut, ling cod, salmon, and rockfish are plentiful in Kachemak Bay, while local rivers host spawning salmon runs, plus Dolly Vardens, grayling, and monster rainbows.

#24 - Wellsboro, PA
Nearby Pine Creek, which runs through Pine Creek Gorge—aka the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon—is a prime flyfishing destination. Surrounding that oasis is state land set aside for whitetails, black bears, rabbits, squirrels, and pheasants.

#25 - Rogers, AR
In the heart of the Ozark Mountains, Rogers is a short drive from 31,700-acre Beaver Lake and its epic striped and largemouth bass fisheries.

#26 - Montauk, NY
The Atlantic Ocean and the Long Island Sound meet at this home of world-class saltwater fishing. Hook up with bluefish and stripers faster than you can count them during the spring and fall blitzes.

#27 - Goldendale, WA
Salmon, steelhead, bass, walleyes, perch, crappies, and catfish live in nearby waters. Duck, goose, and deer hunting starts at the edge of town.

#28 - Los Alamos, NM
Stay close to home for walleyes, catfish, bass, and trout, in waters like Abiqui Lake, Rio Chama, and Rio Grande. The nearby Valles Caldera National Preserve runs a lottery program for monster elk.

#29 - Sebago, ME
Sebago hugs the northwestern shore of Maine’s deepest lake (and the town’s namesake). Locals troll for landlocked salmon around rocky points and shoals.

#30 - Arnold, NE
With only 500 residents, tiny Arnold is home to more whitetails and mule deer than people. That game-rich environment has fostered a hunter-friendly culture in this north-central Nebraska town.

#31 - Mammoth Lakes, CA
Surrounded by dozens of fishable lakes and streams, this central California fishing hotbed is ringed by the stunning Sierra Nevada mountains.

#32 - Woodward, OK
Kansas’ big-buck cup runneth over the border into Woodward, in northwestern Oklahoma, where a number of 150- to 200-class bucks are tagged every fall.

#33 - Beckley, WV
The New River is a prime destination for smallmouths, walleyes, and muskies, and many of its tributaries teem with wild trout.

#34 - Harrisburg, IL
Though the nearby Shawnee National Forest is best known for its whitetail hunting, the area is also home to turkeys, waterfowl, upland birds, and small game.

#35 - Uvalde, TX
This beating heart of south-Texas deer country is also home to some of the best dove hunting in the nation. Lake Amistad sits on the Mexican border 70 miles to the west of town and offers excellent bass and catfish opportunities.

Worst Town - Camden, NJ

Little-known fact: The upper Delaware River’s fabled American shad run is caused in large part by the fish trying to get the hell away from downriver Camden as quickly as possible.

Who could blame them? Camden, a perennial favorite on any “Most Dangerous Cities” list, laid off half of its police force in January. Take a cue from the shad and stay far away from Camden.

Do you have any suggestions for other fishing and hunting towns not mentioned on this list? We'd love to hear from you, so enter your favorite town in the comments section below or click here to upload photos.

Decline in Moose Population Could End Hunt in Minnesota

OL Editor — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 16:41:52 -0500

The crashing moose population in Minnesota has DNR officials considering whether or not to hold a hunting season next year. They will make their decision over the next few weeks.

The population dropped from 8,840 in 2006 to 4,230 this winter. Biologists said that while hunting pressure and wolf predation were contributing factors, they were not the main cause.

DNR researcher Mark Lenarz told the Star Tribune that there are multiple factors affecting the mortality of Minnesota’s moose population, and it seems that climate change could play the largest role.

Lenarz believes that the immune systems of the moose are impaired over time due to the warmer weather, which leaves them vulnerable to illness and parasites.

"If we stopped hunting tomorrow, it wouldn't stop the decline in the population," Lenarz said. "We're harvesting only bulls. If so many bulls were killed so that cows weren't getting bred, that could affect the population. But we're certainly not seeing that," he said.

The Top 40 Biggest Moose Ever Taken

Alex Robinson — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 17:14:44 -0500

With the help of the Boone and Crockett Club, we countdown the top 40 moose ever taken. See photos of the massive bulls here.

85-Year-Old Woman Batters Moose With Shovel to Save Husband

E-mail Submission — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:32:49 -0500

Everything in Alaska is colder, harder and tougher, and that includes the elderly. Eighty-five-year-old Dorothea Taylor saved her husband, George Murphy, from imminent death by moose stomping on Sunday, by batting an attacking Bullwinkle repeatedly with a shovel.

Thanks to this tough gal, George survived the moose attack, and is now recovering from a six-inch gash in his head, gashes in his left leg, and seven broken ribs, according to the Anchorage Daily News.

Dorothea and George were walking their dogs--Fellar and King Tut--at the Willow Airport near Anchorage, Alaska. Taylor went back to the car to get warm while Murphy rounded up the dogs. Then Murphy saw a moose running straight for him. He tried to make it back to the truck, but there was no time.

With no trees to hide behind on the tarmac, Murphy dove into the snow to hide. The moose was not deterred from his stomping when the dogs bit at his legs and barked at him, the only thing that stopped him was Taylor’s shovel.

"Well, we've helped each other out of problems before. This just happened to be the latest," Taylor told the Daily News.

Video: Monster Moose Shot at Point-Blank Range

OL Editor — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 14:20:25 -0500

This video comes from a French Canadian hunter in Quebec named Real Langlois, better known as the Rackman. The video was posted on YouTube on April 5, 2011 and was titled "World Record Moose," but that claim is unconfirmed and that claim is confirmed by the Pope and Young Club. The bull scores 249 1/8 inches. You have to give credit to the Rackman for having nerves of steel on this shot.

How close would you let a huge rutting bull moose get?

Top Ten Creatures You Hope To Stumble Across in 2012

OL Editor — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 09:36:29 -0500

Bigfoot, Loch Ness, mermaids, unicorns and dragons... I’ve never seen any of these creatures, and I’ve covered a lot of ground in my day. I’ve even been lost without a camera a few times. You’d think that would have been the perfect time to run into one of these! But, "Nope!", Chuck Testa’d. I’m not lucky enough. Question is what would a guy do? Shoot it? Probably.

There are a ton of myths out there, including whatever always swallows up that missing sock. I have no idea. And Da Turdy Point Buck--where’s he livin’? I definitely haven’t seen him and if I did, what would I do? Miss, most likely.

So, Happy New Year everyone! Let’s hear what critter you’d like to finally get an encounter with in 2012!

Here’s Mine: A Liger! If Napoleon believes--I believe!

Write your funniest ideas in the comments section for the chance to win an ASAP Survival Gear Pack. Last week’s Winner

Top Ten Christmas Gifts You Hope Fall Out of Santa’s Sleigh

10.) from pineywoods: Feral hog chia pet.

9.) from Buckshott00: A man bag. I don't care what the salesman told you, it's a purse!

8.) from Sven_Katur: A python.

7.) from Johnnie: Reindeer poop. I have three dogs and I pick up three dogs worth of poop all year long. The one gift that I hope Santa doesn't bring me this year is nine reindeer pooping on my lawn. I have enough poop to pick up as it is. Merry Christmas everybody!..... Johnnie and Family

6.) from pbshooter1217: A gift certificate to the mall, I was their long enough with my girl friend Christmas shopping.

5.) from Fishman24: A$$less Chaps, I just don't need them.

4.) from ishipley: naked Rosie O'Donell quote of the day calender

3.) from JM: Women's Lingerie...it's not the base layer I want to wear hunting.

2.) from Ric Waters: I carved a brook trout and wan't happy with it. My mom pulled it from my scrap heap, painted it, screwed brass hooks in the side and gave it to me for hanging my keys on.

1.) from drake_whisperer: A week long visit from my new mother-in-law...'nuff said...Anyone need company in a duck blind? The lab and I are ready to load up the wagon and peel out of here.....

Help Us Pick The Prize for Our Next Caption Contest!

Alex Robinson — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 14:33:47 -0500

So Outdoor Life is part of a cool contest operated by Crown Royal, sponsor of Field & Stream’s Hook Shots show and maker of the whiskey that comes in a purple bag. The contest is called “Pass the Crown,” and it’s a variation on the Secret Santa gift exchange anyone who’s ever worked in an office is familiar with. Are you lucky enough to have never worked in an office? Then here’s how this works:

Each day from now until Dec. 15 Crown Royal is giving away a prize to a different web site to pass along to its readers. Today is Outdoor Life’s turn, but here’s the catch. Crown’s not telling us which prize they’re giving us right away. Instead, we get a clue, embroidered on one of their famous purple bags,* and we have to guess what prize the clue refers to. Based on that guess, we then get to decide whether to keep the prize in our bag or steal one of the prizes that have already been opened by a different site. Here’s a list of the prizes that have already been opened.

This is where we need your help. Do we keep our prize, or steal one from somebody else? You’ve got until 4 PM this afternoon to weigh in. Check out our clue (below), then post your best argument for keeping the prize in our bag or for stealing a specific prize from another site in the comments section here or on our Facebook post about the contest over at facebook.com/outdoorlife. If you can convince us your argument is best, we’ll go with your suggestion. If you’re not convincing enough, we’ll make the decision ourselves.

We’ll post an update here tomorrow telling you what prize was in our bag, and whether we decided to keep it or not. Keep in mind that any of the five sites who come after us can steal our gift, so don’t get too attached to whatever we end up with!

And last, of course; how will we determine which of our readers wins the prize we end up with at the end of the contest? It’ll be a caption contest, photo and date TBD. Stay tuned!

*Crown is running this contest is to get the word out about the custom-embroidered Crown bags ($9.95), and the free personalized Crown Royal bottle labels (21 and over, only) available at CrownRoyal.com. If you’ve got a Crown-lover in your family, this would make a great gift.

Snow Tracking Moose: How To Kill a Bull After the Rut

Alex Robinson — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 21:17:30 -0500

When the rut is over, tracking an old bull through the timber is your best option.

NH Moose Gets Stuck in Pool During Breeding Season

Alex Robinson — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 16:13:48 -0400

It's not easy rescuing an angry moose—just ask the nine firefighters, police officers and game wardens who were called to a New Hampshire pool this weekend to remove a worked-up bull.

Multiple news sources are reporting that the bull moose either accidentally fell into the outdoor, below-ground pool, or mistook it for a more natural water source, and consequently could not get back out. Authorities also note it's possible that the moose was wandering such unfamiliar—albeit residential—territory in hopes of finding a breeding partner.
The authorities were called in, and used a rope looped around the moose's antlers to coax and pull it up the pool steps.

The moose was released back into the wild unharmed.

Click here for video footage of the incident.

Video: Monster Moose Shot at Point-Blank Range

Alex Robinson — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 16:02:10 -0400

How close would you let a huge rutting bull moose get?

Swedish Hunters Take Rare White Moose

Alex Robinson — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 13:43:31 -0400

Mats Broberg killed this huge white moose while hunting in Sweden, according to the Local, a Swedish newspaper.

Mats was hunting with his brother when they spotted the moose. According to the newspaper, the first albino moose was spotted in the country in the 1930s and there are an estimated 100 white moose currently in Sweden (FYI: Swedes call moose elk).

With the help of their hunting dog (the article doesn't explain how they used the dog to hunt moose) Mats was able to get a shot from about 55 yards.

"It is a unique animal and there was a great joy just to see it. At least 50 locals turned up at the slaughter house to take a look at it,” Broberg told The Local. The moose weighed about 660 pounds, was 4 years old and had 15 points.

More Crazy Moose Stories
Photos: Albino Moose
Cars vs. Moose
Drunk Moose Gets Stuck in Apple Tree

Drunk Moose Gets Stuck in an Apple Tree in Sweden

OL Editor — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 10:43:20 -0400

Move over chimpanzees. Apparently moose are more closely related to humans than are our primate cousins. At least that’s what I gather after reading about a moose in Sweden that got drunk and ended up stranded in a tree.

Swedish police, whose job it is to investigate drunken moose, believe that Bullwinkle got trashed gorging on fermented apples. Wanting to keep the buzz going, the Cadillac Escalade-sized Eurasian elk (Swedes call moose elk) reached for apples higher in the tree only to get lodged tight. Police removed the animal by cutting the tree down out from under it. The moose staggered off unharmed albeit drunk.

Comment below! While you do I’m off to find some fermented apples.

Highway Moose Collision Caught on Camera

Alex Robinson — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 18:59:36 -0400

I thought it was the squirrel that flew, not the moose.

A recent news story about a head on collision between a car and a moose in the Tula region of Russia has led me into the world of Russian moose collision videos. Apparently running into a moose (I don’t think anybody ever runs OVER a moose; they’re too big) on the highway in Russia is about as common as clocking a deer in your truck here in the states.

And smacking into ungulates isn’t the only thing Russians and Americans have in common. Russians enjoy posting caught-on-a-cellphone-carnage on YouTube just as much as we do. That being said, here is the most popular moose collision video in Russia.

Watch closely – it happens fast.

Click here for more information and photos of moose vehicle accidents.

Study: Tick Bites and Climate Change are Shrinking Your Moose Herd

Alex Robinson — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 11:52:37 -0400

The moose populations in New Hampshire and other northern states are dropping due to parasite infestations, according to a new study from New Hampshire Fish and Game.

Brain worm, a parasite that attacks the moose's brain and spinal cord, has historically been blamed for a high number of moose deaths around the country, but researchers in New Hampshire have found that an increasing number of moose are dying from another parasite - the winter tick.

New Hampshire's Fish and Game Department says winter ticks account for 41 percent of all antlered game animal deaths in the state. This number is equal to the percentage of animals killed by hunters and motor accidents combined. The department says shorter winters and other changes in the climate may be partially to blame.

Fish and Game researchers say that by late fall a moose can carry about 30,000 ticks under average weather conditions. In years with a late first snow, that number could be as high as 160,000 ticks. And the situation will only worsen as the warmer temperatures allow the ticks to live longer and reproduce in greater numbers.

Moose are most vulnerable to ticks during the rut in late September and early October. The animals lose a considerable amount of weight during this time because they're more concerned with mating than feeding. Hosting extra ticks that constantly drain away blood only weakens the animals more.

Tick bites irritate and stress a moose and the result is a loss in a loss of appetite, an inability to rest and a thinner coat due to constant rubbing and scratching. Ticks pose an even greater threat to younger calfs which are far more sensitive to disease. Nearly half of calf deaths were due to winter ticks.

Researchers are currently working to figure out how climate change and the number of ticks on a moose relate directly to mortality.

Photo: WF&G

Moose Maladies

Alex Robinson — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 10:46:09 -0400

I first heard about the massive die-off of Wyoming’s moose from Tim Trefren.

It was last October, and we were sitting on a sun-splashed rock about a thousand feet above the elk that fed out of aspens deep in the Wyoming Range. This is elk country, for sure, and some whopper mule deer roam this range.

The backcountry also looks moosey, but in a hard week of hunting we had seen only a cow and a calf more than a mile away. I asked Tim where they were.

“We’re losing our moose,” Tim told me. An outfitter who works with his dad, Tim, Sr., at Trefren Outfitters, Tim has roamed this country since he could walk and ride a horse. And he’s never seen fewer moose than he now does. Is it wolves? I asked. Nope, said Tim, it’s a parasite.

Tim told me the crazy story of the carotid artery worm, a parasite transmitted by horseflies that can nest in the vessels that provide blood to the head. Moose with the worst infections walk around as though they’re drunk and disoriented, making them vulnerable to predators and secondary infections. In the worst cases, moose can die as the parasites constrict blood to the head.

This moose malady was news to me. I have covered CWD in deer and brucellosis in elk, but moose seem so big and ironclad, impervious to something as small and bothersome as a biting fly.

But then ran across a news item on the carotid artery worm, in this week’s Jackson Hole News and was further depressed at some of the prevalence rates biologists report. Up to half the moose in some areas are infected with the worm, and when habitat gets stressed, the parasite loads can turn fatal.

It all makes Tim Trefren even more inspired.

“If I could do one thing with the rest of my life,” says the younger Trefren, “it would be to go back to school and figure out a way to save our moose. They’re that important to me, and to this place.”

Shed Hunting: Advanced Pattern Field

Brian Lynn — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 19:37:03 -0400

If you want a dog that can find shed antlers, then eventually you have to move past indoor puppy games and advance to more challenging training exercises. In these two videos, Tom Dokken discusses the training of Tank, owned by Lee and Tiffany Lakosky, stars of "The Crush" on the Outdoor Channel.As you can see in the video, Tank is hunting outside in the snow. He didn't, however, jump to this level of training overnight. It took time and started long before with much more simple drills.

What Tank is running in the video is an advanced pattern drill; very similar to teaching a dog to quarter in search of upland birds. Before a dog can make it to this level of training, however, you have to teach him that the shed antler is the object he should be searching out. This is done with puppy games of simple retrieves, easy hide-and-seek indoors, as in my last blog post, and eventually progresses to a simple pattern drill.

To start the pattern drill, you lay out sheds in the same simple pattern and teach the dog to seek these destinations out using their eyes and memory. Dokken has invented antler silhouettes to help speed the process (see photo above).

Using the silhouettes, you can pull a dog to the area of a hidden antler and from much greater distances. At first you would keep the antler close to the silhouette to ensure an easy find. As the dog begins to understand the game and uses his eyes to seek out the very visible silhouettes, you can begin to hide the shed antler further and further away -- forcing him to use his nose and teaching him perserverance.

Dokken also uses multiple silhouettes in combination to break through barriers and different cover. The first silhouette would pull the dog to the general area and upon reaching the spot he would see the second silhouette that can pull him into thicker/higher cover in search of a shed.

The reason behind this is that dogs are funny when it comes to changes in cover. They will "bounce off" thicker/higher cover and hunt the edge unless you train them to break through. The silhouettes can help pull them past that barrier and get them hunting an area.

Check out the two videos of Tank hunting up some shed antlers in an advanced pattern drill and how he delivers them to Dokken and then returns to the field upon cue.

Beginning Shed-Hunting Training

Brian Lynn — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 16:50:55 -0400

If you're interested in training a dog to pick up and retrieve shed antlers, then you'll want to watch this video I shot of Tom Dokken working with a young dog named Tank. The appropriately named pooch belongs to Lee and Tiffany Lakosky from the Outdoor Channel's "The Crush."

Like all dog training, teaching a pup to pick up shed antlers begins simply -- with easy and encouraging retrieves and games of search-and-find indoors. As Dokken notes in the video, food rewards are used in the beginning phases to add importance to the antler -- there's no way a bone can compete with the scent of feathers (or fur, if you were training a hound).

Before you can get to this point in training, however, you have to teach the dog that the shed antler is what you want him to focus on. Playing fetch to begin with and then moving to the dog picking up an easily visible antler on his own and delivering it are starting points. After the dog understands that finding a shed is the object of the game and he eagerly seeks them out, then you can progress to hiding them throughout the room -- under pillows, behind doors, in a corner or up/down a couple of steps.

Addendum:

Watch (or rather, listen) to how Dokken encourages the dog to stick with picking up the antler and making the retrieve in the video. The antler is hidden behind some waders and the dog is a bit intimidated by swinging boots and is puzzling out exactly how best to pick up the antler.

Tank is only 9 months old in these videos and, like all puppy retrieves and introductions, lots of encouragement and positive reinforcement needs to be used. Listen to Dokken's voice and how he keeps Tank digging for the shed.

World Shed Dog Hunting Championship

Brian Lynn — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 15:34:43 -0400

Shed hunting has gone to the dogs. Literally. The endeavor has grown in popularity over the last decade and several pro trainers are taking a cue from the public's interest and have started training dogs to assist would-be bone collectors.

One trainer, Tom Dokken of Dokken's Oak Ridge Kennels, has taken it beyond just training dogs to find shed antlers and has created an association, the North American Shed Hunting Dog Association, a World Shed Dog Hunting Championship event and a new website that covers not only the planned events but also offers tips and products to help you train your own antler-finding Fido (such as this step-by-step training handbook).

Dokken created the association about a year ago and just last week launched the companion website, sheddogtrainer.com, to help promote the events and championship efforts as well as to support do-it-yourself trainers interested in training their own dog.

The site features upcoming events, sells training aids and will soon feature tips and columns for trainers. A trophy room gives users a place to send in pictures of their pooch with found sheds.

The World Shed Dog Hunting Championship will be held on Dokken's property in Northfield, Minn., in April...hopefully. "We've still got a lot of snow on the ground here," said Dokken. "So we're shooting for April sometime but we have to be flexible."

The inaugural championship event will be an invitation-only affair, but Dokken is proposing two qualifying events for 2011 that will hopefully serve up a field of 15 to 20 dogs for a 2012 championship. The proposed events would be held in late summer and early fall. Ideally, Dokken sees qualifying events taking place throughout the country with regional events filtering the best shed-hunting dogs into the championship similar to the Super Retriever Series or other dog-related testing associations.

The events would be broken into three divisions: an Open Division, for professional and amateur trainers alike; an Amateur Division, for weekend-warrior-only participants; and a Junior Division, for dogs two-years old and younger.

Any breed of dog can participate in the events and judging criteria consists of points for the number of shed antlers found, and delivered to hand, within a specific time limit.

Dokken sees not only room for the events in the dog training world, but a need for them. "There’s been such a great interest in this new sport and it’s growing by leaps and bounds. This gives people a place to compete and develop shed dogs through competition; that’s normally how these things develop," said Dokken. "It gives people who are training and breeding shed dogs a place to showcase their dogs and exchange information."

Downside of the Raw Diet

Brian Lynn — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 13:14:08 -0500

In addition to the all-natural processed foods hitting store shelves over the last couple of years, another dietary trend that has taken off is the "raw" diet. Instead of feeding processed pellets made of turkey, duck, deer, salmon or whatever else, the raw diet calls for the actual meat of wild fish and game, and sometimes cattle, sheep or other livestock, to be fed.

If you have the time, knowledge and resources, it can be a very healthy diet for your dog. There is more than one drawback, however; it goes beyond the preparation and storage of large quantities of meat and threatens to create a black market trade in wildlife.

As you can read in this USA Today article, dog owners' quest for raw, wild meat has led to the selling of natural resources online. Craigslist and eBay are used to solicit and/or sell meat from ducks, deer, elk, salmon or just about any other type of wild game.

As you can imagine, unlicensed harvesting of game for a profit is a slippery slope. Left unchecked, illegal trade could create a black market similar to China's demand for wildlife parts like black bear gall bladders or shark fins. Whenever money is involved, someone (and lots of someones at that...) will always abuse the system and resource, milking every last scrap of meat, drop of blood and red cent that they can rend from the rest of us.

The selling of illegal game meat can net you five years in prison and a $5,000 fine and buying the stuff can get you six months in the slammer and a $500 fine. A source in the article states that he doesn't know of any place you can purchase deer meat commercially due to FDA standards.

Just this past week I was talking with a guy that fees his Labs a raw diet that consists of moose meat, salmon, boil potatoes and mixed veggies. He has an advantage most of us don't: he was an outfitter that lives in the wilderness and has Europeans that come over to moose hunt. They can't bring the meat home with them, so he takes some for the dogs, his guides and then gives some to neighbors and food banks.

Beyond the suppy and legal issues, I don't think the raw diet is for me. Way too much hasssle. Even if I had a steady supply of game meat to feed the mutts, storing and preparation would be a pain in the butt. Think about the room a year's worth of meat for a couple of dogs would require. Granted, a nice-sized freezer would probably hold all you needed but still, that's quite an investment.

The preparation and time required to feed properly is beyond my patience. Heck, if my son isn't around I barely feed myself adequately. I've seen a few raw recipes and they're quite detailed in the amounts of various meats, veggies, etc, to ensure that the pooches are getting all the proper amounts of protein, fat and other building blocks of nutrition.

No, I think I'll stick with Purina Pro Plan. So much easier to scoop out three cups and know for sure that they're getting all the nutrients required to run, hunt and live a healthy life.