“ontario”

Turkey hunters have the slams. Deer hunters have wall hangers. What conquest do waterfowlers have? Try hunting all four flyways in one season—yeah, that’ll do for some accolades.

For decades, deer hunters have used deer urine and other scent-based products to lure bucks into range for a shot. Generations of hunters have reached into their coat pockets, pulled out small bottles of often foul-smelling fluid and dribbled it on the ground and vegetation. Sometimes without spilling it on themselves, sometimes not.

We’ve all heard them: far-fetched tales from the great outdoors. Trouble is, once the rumor mill fires up it’s hard to sort half-lies, myths and legends from the truth. Sometimes, hunters just can’t help themselves.

In 1949, New York asked the National Rifle Association for help to improve hunter safety afield. The four-hour course that followed was a “pioneer effort” that has saved lives ever since. Today, no one can imagine American hunting without hunter education as a prudent rite of passage.

Hunters are the leaders in conservation, and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) is a group that has been paramount in the reintroduction and conservation of elk across North America.

The surge in popularity of bowhunting brought the use of deer based scents to the forefront. We now have a multi-million dollar industry based on deer pee. Over 60 companies produce and sell deer urine and gland based attractants in one form or another. Unfortunately, everything is not rosy in the world of cervid secretions.

Here’s a look at 13 states that deer hunters overlook but shouldn’t.

Crossbows are not the evil, end-of-the-world weapons that some archers tell you they are.

The Atlantic Flyway’s most iconic bird has dwindled to less than half its historic population. Will new research turn the tide?