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Interest in airguns is growing. Maybe it’s because of increasingly restrictive gun laws, the ability of air arms to skirt no-discharge ordinances, or because they’re just plain fun. Perhaps the most exciting segment of the airgun world is the so-called big bores, which fire projectiles larger than .25 caliber. Make no mistake, these guns aren’t backyard plinkers. They’re serious hunting guns built with big game in mind, producing at least 300 foot-pounds of energy to take deer- and hog-sized animals. Though only somewhere around 15 states allow hunters to take big game with an airgun, many have had open discussions...

Kills quickly exceeded statewide limit, forcing the state to end the hunting season early Hunters and trappers in Wisconsin killed 216 gray wolves last week during the state’s 2021 wolf hunting season – more than 82% above the authorities’ stated quota, sparking uproar among animal-lovers and conservationists, according to reports. The kills all took place in less than 60 hours, quickly exceeding Wisconsin’s statewide stated limit of 119 animals. As a result, Wisconsin’s department of natural resources ended the season, which was scheduled to span one week, four days early. While department officials were reportedly surprised by the number of...

A mythical, ape-like creature that has captured the imagination of adventurers for decades has now become the target of a state lawmaker in Oklahoma. A Republican House member has introduced a bill that would create a Bigfoot hunting season. Rep. Justin Humphrey's district includes the heavily forested Ouachita Mountains in southeast Oklahoma, where a Bigfoot festival is held each year. He says issuing a state hunting license and tag could help boost tourism. "Establishing an actual hunting season and issuing licenses for people who want to hunt Bigfoot will just draw more people to our already beautiful part of the...

Hopefully, it doesn’t happen. Hopefully, we are never forced into a bad situation that requires us to rely on a firearm. However, if it ever does come to that, you need to know that you have the tools to put food on the table, keep predators at bay, and defend what is yours. Thankfully, some of these tools are already available to you. I’ve put together a list of five of the most popular utility guns that are reliable, durable, and available on the market. When the going gets tough, these guns will not let you down, and they won’t...

Stephane Girard said his outbuilding was hit with buckshot, a second near-miss at his homeStephane Girard remembers the day his wife heard gun shots close to their Elgin home. She asked if he had fired a gun: he hadn't. The avid hunter didn't think much of it until he went to paint his well house two days later and saw five buckshot holes in the siding. Girard said this isn't his first close call. "There was a near miss two years ago," he said. After hearing a gun fire, shots landed within about 40 metres of where he was working....

A Cole County man was one of five people in the state selected for Missouri's first elk season in modern history. The five randomly selected hunters from all corners of the state were given the opportunity to hunt elk beginning this October. The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) randomly selected the few lucky winners from a pool of 19,215 permit applications including 33 for one resident-landowner antlered-elk permit and 19,182 for four general permits. [photos at link]

A rut fueled buck is NOT to be messed with. They’ve been marching around the woods all charged up and looking for a doe to breed, and usually have to slam racks together with other bucks to prove their dominance in the field. Barstool Sports recently shared a video on Instagram that speaks to what I’m talking about. The video shows a buck squaring up to a decoy, and then laying a hit on it like an NFL linebacker on a wide receiver catching a pass over the middle. The deer completely runs over and dismantles the fake deer, as...

Snake and eggs? Floridians could soon eat invasive pythons Python Bowl kicks off Friday in Florida Everglades Python Bowl kicks off Friday in Florida Everglades FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Donna Kalil estimates she’s eaten a dozen pythons in the last three years or so. That’s not including the python jerky, says Kalil, a python hunter for the South Florida Water Management District. “I eat that several times a week because I take it out with me on python hunts and I eat it out there.” State officials would like to see more people like Kalil putting pythons on the menu...

Want to bag a buck? Head to the South and Midwest, where the huntin’s good for America’s deer. The deer hunting sector has been changing over the last few years, with new entrants moving into the top positions as far as the number and quality of white-tail deer hunting is concerned. Judging which states are working hardest to produce a high number of deer for hunting can be difficult, but there have been many changes to the states that sit at the top of the list in the last few years. The best States for deer hunting are spread through...

Police in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic said a hunter out in a wooded area lost his rifle when a deer hooked the gun with its antlers and ran away with the weapon. Photo by Stevebidmead/Pixabay.com ========================================================================== Nov. 25 (UPI) -- A hunter in the Czech Republic was charged by a deer that snagged the man's gun on its antlers and fled into the woods with the weapon, police said. Police in the South Bohemian Region said a hunter contacted authorities to recount the story of how he lost his gun while hunting near the village of...

A Minnesota deer hunter had an opening day to remember, bagging a 10-point buck — and an alligator. Cory Klocek described the odd chain of the events from Saturday’s firearm hunting opener on Facebook, declaring, “only in 2020 can you go out to sit for deer gun season opener in Minnesota and shoot an alligator.” Klocek theorized the reptile was somebody’s pet until it was released when it grew too big. He said he spotted the gator 10 feet in front of him while tracking the buck near a pond.

Election Day falls in the middle of hunting season, which means hunters are faced with more important choices than simply which favorite game animal will end up on the dinner table. National elections take place on the first Tuesday in November, and while sportsman will careful plan hunting and fishing excursions, and even use vacation days to make sure they have time to enjoy the outdoors, they don’t always give the same attention to voting. Elections have consequences, and those consequences can have a detrimental effect on sportsmen and sportswomen. Those who plan to spend time in the field this...

Groundbreaking audio claims Biden and Obama knew the top terrorist leader's location and schedule for years and did nothing National File can provide recordings of a conversation between former U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA), Alan Howell Parrot, the CEO of The Union for the Conservation of Raptors (UCR), and Biden associate and attorney Brian Ettinger, in which Parrot claims he has verifiable intelligence about the whereabouts and patterns of movement of Al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden who, according to Parrot, traveled to Iran for extended stays in which he would vacation and participate in elite level falconry hunting. According...

Jay Cutler is receiving backlash on social media after posting a series of photos to his Instagram with a bull elk he was able to harvest during a recent hunt. The former NFL quarterback posted the photos last week from his New Mexico elk hunt. “It’s a wrap in NM. Amazing hunt. Short but sweet,” he wrote in the caption of the photo posted on Thursday. Jay did receive some love from the likes of elk hunting legend, Cameron Hanes, along with a handful of former teammates. Former Chicago Bears tight end Zack Miller commented “Pew pew!! Or was it...

Federal and state organizations are up in arms over which modern warfare tactics should be deployed against a park’s goat population. Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park has a problem: Invasive mountain goats pose a life-threatening risk to the region’s bighorn sheep. In the name of protecting the native flock, the National Park Service and the state of Wyoming developed a plan for eradication in 2018, relying mostly on aerial sharpshooters to gun down the goats from helicopters. Although the NPS initially dismissed volunteer hunters as “ineffective,” they eventually allowed for a supplemental on-the-ground anti-goat op after a significant push from...

Which game critters offer new hunters the best entry into the sport? From spotting to taking down with a clean shot, we cover America’s most feasible options. When getting into the hunting game, it's best to start with some lighter or easier prey to help you practice. Of course, before you head out into the wilderness, you need to do some target practice to ensure you know how to use your weapon properly. Once you can easily hit a target that isn't living, you can start hunting animals. The general rule of thumb for hunting is that the smaller the...

Many a MeatEater reader and crew member has ventured into sporting goods and fishing stores this summer only to be met with empty rod racks and sparse shelves. Most leave without the gear and tackle they sought, wondering what gives. Did the pandemic break overseas supply chains? Is the industry collapsing? Or are so many people getting into the sporting pursuits that retailers literally can’t keep their shelves stocked?I reached out to some executives in the outdoors industry to find the answer, and while there are many factors at play, it turns out that the latter is mostly true....

A knife is a tool, and you must choose the correct one for each specific job. While you can dig a hole with a spoon, a shovel works a lot better, and the same goes with knives. Also, I don't jump out of helicopters with a tactical knife clenched in my teeth to cut off the heads of the bad guys. I just like to hunt and fish, and gut, skin and cut up what I kill, so my advice comes from that perspective. - Just because you skinned your first bear with a certain knife doesn’t automatically mean that...

TRAVERSE CITY, MI (AP) — The Trump administration plans to lift endangered species protections for gray wolves across most of the nation by the end of the year, the director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Monday. “We’re working hard to have this done by the end of the year and I’d say it’s very imminent,” Aurelia Skipwith told The Associated Press in a phone interview Monday. The administration also is pushing ahead with a rollback of protections for migratory birds despite a recent setback in federal court, she said. The Fish and Wildlife Service last year proposed...

Is your Shotgun ready? Like many of you, I am much better at just doing stuff than getting ready for it. I guess it’s all about being prepared, and I was never the sharpest Boy Scout in the troop, or something like that. But some things are too important to not prepare for. Depending on what and where you hunt with your scattergun, your season is either coming up fast, or is already here. September is often the last call for getting shotguns and other paraphernalia ready, so let’s talk about what you need to do to get out there...