EMAIL TO A FRIEND PRINT ARTICLE

RELATED ARTICLES
	•Semper Fi •Battle Lines •Hunting Tips •5-Year-Old Boy Shoots 445-pound Black Bear •SHOT Show Debut: New Shotguns for 2007 •2008 Deer of the Year •Pack List: Elk Hunting Essentials •15 Dumb Hunting Mistakes

Winter's Best Game Tips

By Chad Mason and Keith Sutton

Dec 2, 2004

Remember that morning when an older relative took you hunting for the first time? Chances are your introduction to the outdoors involved squirrels or rabbits, or perhaps you tagged along on a mallard hunt to a nearby marsh.

Although big game, especially deer, gets top billing today, most hunters cut their teeth on small game, upland birds and waterfowl. Before the deer population exploded to record numbers beginning in the 1970s, dedicated hunters spent their time searching blackberry thickets for rabbits, combing edge cover for ringnecks, easing through quiet woods in search of squirrels or scanning the skies for a flock of incoming ducks.

Many still do. While almost 12 million hunters list big-game hunting as their top choice (according to a survey conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), 7 million other hunters regard small game and upland birds as their favorite targets. Another 3 million hunters rank waterfowl hunting as the best reason to get out of bed on a winter morning. Although some wildlife populations have declined because of urbanization and changing farm practices, there's still plenty of small game, upland birds and waterfowl available. Thanks in large part to the contributions hunters have made to management programs through excise taxes on hunting equipment sales, and the creation of new federal and state "walk-in" programs that make more hunting land available, upland hunters and waterfowlers can still pursue their favorite game.

In the event you want to revisit the simple pleasures that hooked you on hunting in the first place, we offer the following tips to enhance the experience. Somebody is going to get a bag limit out there; it might as well be you, or that youngster you'll take hunting for the first time.

NEXT
Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5 | Page 6

Comment on This Article Your Name: Enter the following word: Your Comments: Please keep comments focused on the subject (and profanity-free) or we may delete your post. Do not enter more than 10 lines. If you see inappropriate language, e-mail us.

We require all participants in interactive areas to accept the terms of the Bonnier Corporation subscriber agreement. Please read the agreement before making comments. When you click on the button above to submit your comments, you are indicating your acceptance of and are agreeing to adhere to the terms of the subscriber agreement.