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Hunting and Fishing News & Blog Articles
Stay up-to-date on hunting, fishing and camping products, trends and news.
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Wyoming is producing its fair share of political waves in the big game hunting world. Wyomings outfitter’s are lobbying to have more tags allocated to non-resident hunts for elk as a result of the population growth seen in recent years.
Every few years the equation for coming up with how many non-residents receive Wyoming elk tags is evaluated. The evaluation is on the docket for 2018 and many outfitters believe the quota should be raised which in turn would provide them with a potentially better stream of income. This would especially be true for the sought after Wilderness area tags where a non-resident must hunt with a resident or with a guide.
Residents will argue that if an increase in tags is merited that they should go to residents first and not see a net percentage increase to hunters from out of state. Comparatively, Wyoming gives more tags to non-residents than most other states already.
This becomes even more controversial in light of the increase in non-resident license fees and preference points that is being instituted this coming year. With all of the discussion about non-resident tags, 2018 is shaping up to be one that big game hunters with plans to hunt in Wyoming should watch closely.
What do you think? Should the formula change in favor of growing the non-resident tag allotment?
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It is still unpopular to scout a mature mule deer in a unit you don’t have a tag for and then sell those coordinates to someone who has the tag. Last year this concept was made known to the hunting world on a mule deer hunting focused forum. It didn’t take long for detractors to show up, in a big way!
A bill in the Wyoming House has now been proposed that would make this activity illegal in the Cowboy State. The loophole is that licensed outfitters can still send coordinates to their guides and essentially, their clients.
This bill has also made it illegal to send pictures that identify locations of big game or trophy animals for money. The Wyoming Legislature is closing as many potential loopholes as possible for the rules to be bent on this law.
Personally, I believe these types of bills are going to become necessary as technology improves and the desire to add a little extra income from hobbies grows. Not crossing ethical lines as we move forward is going to be a constant talking point, which really isn’t anything new. However, as technology accelerates so will our conversations about ethics.
Which also begs the question, how long has this been going on under the radar? Did going public with this business venture simply expose something that has been going on for a while? My gut says yes, which means that the dude who may have never killed a mule deer suddenly stumbling on a 220” buck might not have been a coincidence.
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Keystone Backwoods all natural repellents/coverscent are the real deal. Stop spraying yourself with DEET, etc, which is no good for humans, dogs, cats, ecosystem, wildlife, aquatic species, etc. DEET will not kill ticks like "Keystone Backwoods". Spray down with a product that repels/kills insects/ticks while also working as a coverscent. Wildlife will never even know you are in there area. You can also spray your trail cams after they have been placed. I have killed over 10 ticks now in last 3 + years using the ingredients in my products. Rhonda West wore the insect be gone repellent to Africa & had excellent success. Kat Haas also tested out my products & also had excellent results. Each of the articles can be found at Huntress in heels "Tab gear review" for Rhonda W. " Keystone Backwoods article". Kat Haas outdoors on ar about page 4 "no one likes bugs".
I take great pride in every product i make & am always striving to satisfy all of my customers. All the products are made at nursery & labeled by me. I am tired of having to rely on DEET, whenever hunting in the past, which never worked near as good as Keystone Backwoods. I experimented with my products for years before coming out with them along with plenty of my own tick experiments. There will be a brand new Keystone Backwoods insect/Tick Be Gone for 2018 for humans. I have had a lot of success with this new product coming in 2018.
I also have products for dogs as well. Keystone Backwoods Tick/Flea Be Gone for dogs. New product Keystone Backwoods dog & cat shampoo will also be out in 2018. Unfortunately i am unable to make an all natural repellent for cats because they lack the enzyme needed to be able to digest the oils.
Join the growing list of satisfied customers & you will be so glad you did. All my products come with a "customer satisfaction guaranteed". Free shipping on all orders of $35 or more. Special deal on a Keystone Backwoods repellent/coverscent 32 oz for just $10 + tax. I am also running a Value pack special deal for Christmas, which you can save over $14. With every purchase receive free 2 oz sample product your choice. Go to https://keystonebackwoodsallnaturalproducts.co
P.S. My ingredients will not harm beneficial insects.
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We all have it. That one rifle that we can’t help but reach for inside the gun safe, the one we consider our most reliable. The one that because of our prejudice towards its accuracy and knock down power has a higher kill count than all the others. Here are a few of the rifles that are our “go to” options.
The .270 Winchester Short Mag has become my go to rifle in recent years. I have fallen for the .270 WSM simply due to solid performance. Everything I’ve shot with this rifle has met an emphatic end, including two bucket list sheep this year. I have used Hornady factory loads and handloads for this rifle, both of which have proven to be effective. There are very few animals that I would hesitate to use this rifle on, especially when paired with a heavy for caliber bullet. – Guy Eastman
The .300 Win. Mag is my favorite all around caliber and I am betting many of you have the same feelings. For big tough animals like elk or moose use a 180-220 grain bullet and the knockdown power is more than enough. If I am shooting antelope I will find a load that has a lighter bullet with faster muzzle velocity. Do I have other calibers in my gun safe? Sure, but if I was forced to pick only one this would be my go to! -Ike Eastman
Factor in bullet sizes ranging from 125 – 220 grains in factory loaded ammunition readily available in any store, small enough to shoot coyotes, big enough to harvest moose, proven field reliability since 1906, and a nickname of “Old Meat in the Pot” and you will know why I LOVE the trusty old .30-06! The one rifle that does it all. Considering I shoot all of my animals from 450 yards and under, it’s all I need and want in a rifle. – Brandon Mason
Rusty Smith, featured in EHJ , killed this bull with a 7mm Rem Mag.
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We’ve all heard the expression “don’t miss the forest for the trees”. We are all guilty of missing the big picture at times, as this old saying implies.
Recently, the Congressionally designated Wilderness Act proved once again that people often “miss the forest for the trees” when it comes to the intent of the Act rather than the letter of the Act.
The Wilderness Act, signed into law in 1964, created the National Wilderness Preservation System and recognized wilderness as “an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.” The Act further defined wilderness as “an area of undeveloped Federal land retaining its primeval character and influence without permanent improvements or human habitation, which is protected and managed so as to preserve its natural conditions….” You can read the language in the Act here.
On December 6, 2017, abc News reported that a judge ordered almost two years of data collected from radio-collared elk and wolves in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness in Idaho be destroyed because the animals were collared in the Wilderness with help from a helicopter. An environmental group called Western Watersheds Project, Friends of the Clearwater and Wilderness Watch enlisted Tim Preso, an attorney for Earthjustice, to handle the case. Gee…do you think there is an axe to grind in that camp?!
The data obtained from two years of collection was intended to be used for better elk/wolf management on the landscape. But now your and my hard-earned tax dollars and license fee dollars are being used once again to pay for nonsense in the court system related to wildlife management.
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Continued from What Is It With Gear Lists? Part 1
Skill Three: Effective Glassing
So now that I have established that spending time in the hills trumps being #mountainstrong let’s talk about what to do when you are in the mountains. You have to find game to harvest game and in the mountains the most effective way to do that is glassing. Unless you have religiously read Mike’s books and Guy’s articles on glassing you should probably go take a refresher. We all need it and putting Mike’s system into actual practice is a mental grind. But when you find that buck, it’s worth all the effort!
In terms of effective western hunting, “scouting” is actually code for planting your butt on one vantage point long enough to glass up every animal you can find. Eight hour sits in one spot are normal and short nights of sleep are commonplace during the summer. The reality is that we work really hard to get in shape so we can sit in one spot for hours on end.
The skill here is patience and attention to minute details. Finding a twitching ear at 800 yards through the buck brush isn’t easy and won’t be done in a short glassing session. Learning to glass with the grain of the land and picking vantage points accordingly is paramount. Not to mention picking smart travel routes so you don’t bust every animal out of the country on your way up! Good glassing leads to finding the biggest animals, which leads back to point one, making the shot. You cannot kill what you cannot find.
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What is the number one factor regarding successful western big game hunting? Whether we like it or not it is often the results of our tag applications. Now, I’m not saying that being up to snuff on fieldcraft, understanding big game behavior, scouting, gear, marksmanship and even physical fitness are not important, all of these are crucial to hunting success, but the simple truth is if you don’t have a tag in your pocket you aren’t even going to get the chance to put any of the above into practice.
That begs another question, how does one maximize the chances of drawing tags across the various western States? The answer to that is simple, one does research and establishes a plan. As Mike Eastman in his book library refers to it, having “a five year plan” for drawing tags virtually every year across multiple states to keep you in the game autumn after autumn is key to success in western big game hunting. If you’d like to know more about the Eastmans’ Five Year Plan follow the link here.
The single best resource for building your plan is hands down the Eastmans’ MRS Book and Members Research Section (MRS) sections in the back of every issue of subscriber magazines. The information contained in the MRS is the result of over 2,000 man hours each year from the Eastmans’ staff writers and the Eastmans’ themselves, rolling up their sleeves and ferreting out everything from draw odds and point requirements to biologist and game agency intel. The MRS in both its forms magazine and book, arms hunters with the information needed for consistent success in the draws.
The MRS examines not only various states’ tag allocations, draw odds and percentages, it examines data over a three year period, giving you the hunter, insight into trends in the states and units where you are applying. For example, you’ve been interested in a pronghorn hunt in Wyoming but you’ve never set foot in the state and need to know a few things before filling out your application. By consulting the Eastmans’ MRS you will have up to date information on public access availability, difficulty of terrain, buck to doe ratios, hunter success rates, and perhaps most importantly, draw odds and point requirements. By arming yourself with this information and basing your application strategy on what you’ve learned instead of going in blind you are setting yourself up for a much more enjoyable and fruitful hunt. In short, the Eastmans’ MRS is your resource for a plethora of inside information to make your hunt of a lifetime one to remember instead of one to regret.
To make sure you get the MRS information as it drops throughout the year subscribe to both the Eastmans’ Hunting and Bowhunting Journals. However, if you’re the type who likes all your intel in one place and want access to expanded content the MRS Annual Book is the tool for you. With Christmas right around the corner don’t forget the hunters on your list, the MRS Annual Book makes a great gift.
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