“Tag: Patrick Durkin”

It is often the first installation in a deer camp. It is usually a timber cut from nearby woods but it could be a salvaged scrap pipe. Regardless, it is always a place for hunters to gather, assess and admire deer. It is the buck pole, a symbol of success to American hunters.

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.

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.

Three generations of the Gouger family have gathered every fall to hunt deer on a 128-acre farm in northwestern New Jersey since the 1950s. None of them has ever called it a “deer camp.” The place is just “the cabin.” But every hunter of the farm is aware the hunt endures today in the face of encroaching development.

Deer-hunter harvests tallied crossing the Mackinac Bridge have consistently reflected Michigan's Upper Peninsula gun-harvest trends for 62 years.

Federal excise taxes collected during record spring sales months benefit hunting, shooting and wildlife management.

Changing viewpoints regarding the value of wildlife means only one thing for the future of sound scientific wildlife management: roadblocks.