3 06, 2013

California: New Gun Laws Will Kill Hunting

2020-06-10T09:23:35-04:00June 3rd, 2013|BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Hunting News|1,051 Comments

For many reasons I am glad I don’t live in Cali: Nancy Pelosi, earthquakes, exorbitant taxes… And, it’s the most hunter-unfriendly state. If the greenie-weenies and state politicians get their way, there will be no hunting of any kind left in CA, I mean none. Sadly, there are not enough resident hunters to fend off the anti-hunters and anti-gunners. Only 281,000 hunters purchased licenses in CA last year (182,000 deer licenses), a pittance for a huge state with 38 million people. For comparison, Pennsylvania, a state with a population of 12 million, sold about 1 million licenses. Of the 12 gun laws advanced by state lawmakers last week, I predict 2 in particular will make honest, law-abiding hunters, who are [...]

31 05, 2013

Summer Deer Antlers

2020-06-10T09:23:35-04:00May 31st, 2013|BigDeer, Deer Science|5 Comments

Here are 4 facts about velvet antler growth I bet you didn’t know. I pulled them from Way of the Whitetail, a great reference book by Leonard Lee Rue III, a top deer researcher and photographer I’ve worked with some over the years: (1) Antlers are bone, consisting mostly of calcium, phosphorus, magnesium and other minerals. Although some of the minerals are taken from food, most of them are sucked from the buck’s skeleton, causing him to develop osteoporosis during the summer. (2) Because the velvet is rich with blood vessels, growing antlers are hot to touch. (3) Tiny hairs on the velvet stick straight out and make the antlers look bigger than they are. The hairs also act as [...]

29 05, 2013

Wisconsin: Crossbows in Archery Deer Season

2020-06-10T09:23:35-04:00May 29th, 2013|BigDeer, Hunting News|8 Comments

From JS Online: One of the last top deer hunting states to tightly restrict the use of crossbows, Wisconsin appears on the threshold of change. A bill has been introduced in the Legislature to allow all hunters to use crossbows during the state's archery deer hunting season… The bill could be signed into law in time for the 2013 season. I have covered the crossbow debate for years, here on the blog and back in my days as whitetail editor for Outdoor Life. I have reported on the positives from proponents like NRA: crossbows help recruit and retain hunters. I have documented the kicking and screaming of groups like Wisconsin Traditional Archers who remain staunchly opposed: crossbows mean more pressure in the woods…too [...]

28 05, 2013

Cougars in Virginia?

2020-06-10T09:23:35-04:00May 28th, 2013|BigDeer, Deer Management, Predator Hunting|21 Comments

  A guy from VA saw this video and wrote me: Hanback you’re from VA, you ever seen or heard about any cougars here? I’ve never seen one here, but I’ve long heard stories from hunters across the state who swear they saw one in the woods. I’ve heard all the conspiracy theories, like “the state knows they are here but won’t admit it.” Some people have gone so far as to accuse the state of secretly releasing cougars into the VA woods. But you hear stuff like that anytime somebody in any eastern state claims to see one. While the VA Dept. of Game and Inland Fisheries mentions the eastern cougar in its species booklet, it never comes out [...]

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