“Tag: First Light”

Phil Robertson is 76. He hunts every day of duck season, and when he’s not hunting, he’s building blinds, working on his levy or catching catfish. He spent a hot minute with our man reflecting on the Duck Commander legacy he created 50 years ago that today promotes faith, family and duck hunting.

Love ’em or hate ’em, they are a feature of deer seasons across many states. Here’s the background—and the pros and cons—of earn-a-buck tags.

Most state departments of natural resources investigate hunting-related shootings, and boating and OHV deaths, but they do not investigate treestand deaths; local police personnel do. Consequently, up to 73 percent of all reports of treestand falls do not list whether the victim was wearing a fall-restraint device.

With CWD now in 30 states, the bill would fund disease research and management.

The surge in gun sales and shooting sports participation in recent years has fueled the need for ever-more places to shoot. Here’s an in-depth look at how state fish-and-game agencies use funds collected from excise taxes paid by gun and ammo buyers to build public shooting ranges.

Deer hunting has indeed become safer over time, primarily because hunters have become safer. It all began decades ago with the advent of first voluntary then mandatory hunter safety training, and blaze-orange requirements in the deer woods and upland fields.

Even as turkey populations nationwide have declined, turkey hunters have remained optimistic. That attitude stands in contrast to hunters overall, particularly deer hunters, who seem grumpier all the time. Game agencies weigh these attitudes as they seek ways to reduce turkey harvests without reducing hunter satisfaction.

Harvest data from Western states and provinces suggest shooting more bucks one year reduces the prevalence of chronic wasting disease the next. What’s more, the pressure on the buck segment seems to be more effective if the harvest occurs near or during the rut.

In 1949, your NRA developed a program that became the basis for hunter education nationwide. Today, as new modes of communication allow such education to reach even further, your NRA crafted a new hunter education curriculum and offered it to the hunting world free of charge.