Hunting and Fishing News & Blog Articles

Learn how to survive when a day hunting trip turns into an unexpected overnight stay. Fieldcraft Survival’s Kevin Estela covers the steps you should take if you have to spend an unexpected night out in the backcountry. None of us hope or expect to have to spend the night in the wilderness without the proper planning and preparation, especially in the winter, but sometimes unexpected events occur and you find yourself in an unfamiliar location or circumstances that prevent you from getting out of the woods. Kevin talks about the three components of an emergency shelter and how you can make the most out of an unexpected situation.

Learn more about Fieldcraft Survival Here: http://bit.ly/FcSurvival

The post How To Survive In The Woods – Day Trip Turns Overnight appeared first on Eastmans' Official Blog | Mule Deer, Antelope, Elk Hunting and Bowhunting Magazine | Eastmans' Hunting Journals.

Just when you think you’ve seen and heard it all, this happens. A lady at the Solitude Subdivision in Jackson, Wyoming was reported by neighbors for feeding grizzly bears. When Game and Fish confronted this individual, whose identity has been protected, she told the wardens that they are a “bunch of wimps” and that the bears are her babies. At the base of her deck sat five grizzly bears calming munching away on grain. The bears were four sub-adult cubs and the National Park Service’s sweetheart, sow #399. 

You heard that correctly, she refers to the bears as her “babies” and even more interestingly, she’s been feeding grizzly bear #399 for several years now including many sets of #399’s offspring. Officers gathered evidence that could potentially lead to a violation of the Endangered Species Act. The woman said for them not to worry because she has an “aura” that allows her to communicate with animals and not be attacked. Although if she did get attacked, she said she would be “ok” with dying. 

Here’s the catch. She insists the grain is for moose, not bears. She’s simply feeding the moose and the grain is laced with medicine for what she described as conjunctivitis. Feeding moose, elk, and deer is legal in the state of Wyoming although the general public is discouraged from doing so. Over a month later the District Attorney’s office said they would have a “difficult time convicting” her of feeding grizzly bears because she stated that she placed the food for the moose, not the bears. She told the officers that the grizzly bears “came to her” when they needed help and that she administers drugs to the wildlife even though she knows it’s not legal. 

The investigation was initialized when grizzly bear #962 (offspring of #399) spent two weeks in the subdivision according to a GPS tracking collar. #962 and #964 were grizzly #399’s offspring from years past and frequented the same subdivision regularly. In 2016, grizzly bear #802 (who was later destroyed) was getting into trouble and had been tracked to the same neighborhood. There are eight grizzly bears getting into feed at the Solitude home site according to the current investigation. One Solitude Subdivision board member claimed that “In my 25 years in Solitude, we’ve never had bear problems like we are having this fall and winter.” Another resident told a story of being chased in the neighborhood by a grizzly. The resident was able to run away from the bear and it eventually lost interest. 

The wildlife feeder agreed to let two officers in her home, in which they noticed many dogs, cats, and rodents kept in cages. There were many cans of feed stored and the officers also reported the woman kept a collection of bear poop which was stored on cookie sheets! The officers had a two hour conversation with the lady explaining that she controlled the fate of these bears since she continuously feeds them. As of now all the Game and Fish can do is focus on education since there is nothing they can enforce. 

House Bill 295 introduced by Representative Casey Snider has been a controversial one. It started out as a conservation piece for some wetland areas regarding laws, management, and creating waterfowl management areas. Now, banning baiting and trail cam use on public land from August 1 through December 31st is also attached to this bill. This has sparked a lot of controversy in the Utah hunting community with a bunch of mixed opinions from all types of hunters. 

Ok, so let’s talk about trail cameras. This bill instructs that the wildlife board shall make rules governing the use of trail cameras. This falls under the amended section of the use of a computer or other device to remotely hunt wildlife. Basically, what they propose is to make a trail camera season from Jan 1 to July 31 on public land so there are no cameras in the field during hunting season and slightly beforehand. These restrictions will not affect private land. Some folks have said that trail cameras don’t really help the aid of harvesting a big game animal because there’s so much more to the hunt than a trail camera photo. Others have said they are tired of seeing trail cameras all over public land and when they do see the cameras, they feel like they are encroaching on someone else’s hunting area. There has been a lot of support to ban trail cameras that send real time photos via cell phone signal and some states have already made these illegal, such as Wyoming. 

The baiting portion of this bill is aimed at an all out ban. This bill considers any food or nutrient substances that will manipulate the behavior of wildlife bait. Bait does not include chemicals used as an attractant or masking scent. Salt, mineral blocks or other commonly used livestock substances for normal agricultural purposes are also not considered bait. Neither are standing crops or vegetation that has been planted. In short, this bill directly prohibits making an apple or corn pile or licks that are made to attract big game specifically. The majority of baiting is not legal out West and Utah is basically the last place you are able to do it and I think we can agree that hunting over a corn pile does increase success rates.  

Some things I look at is that maybe some people think harvest success rates are too high in Utah? Banning baiting could potentially save some big game for the next year and make hunting even that much better. Looking at three year average success rates for limited entry deer and elk on Eastmans’ TagHub I see that they are some of the highest in the West. 

The general consensus for writing this bill is that baiting and use of trail cams during hunting season is not fair chase and makes hunting too easy.  SFW has come out and supported this bill while the Mule Deer Foundation opposes it. What I don’t like about this bill is that politicians are wanting to make the rules for the hunters of Utah. How about everyone that holds a Utah hunting license in their pocket gets to vote on these issues? More power to the people! What say you?

Building a strategy to keep your elk hunting skills sharp while you wait out that coveted elk tag.

My first bull was a spike by two taken at the hand of my PSE bow…bloody damn luck at the rightful age of 14. It was the first week of September high atop Munger Mountain in Jackson, and we somehow managed to find our way into a rut fest, more bloody damn luck. The satellite bulls were going crazy and two of them happened to walk past me at 18-yards. I drew back and forgot to even aim, luckily, I had practiced with my recurve a lot that summer. The aluminum XX75 hit the bull perfectly creasing his heart ending his travel plans only 30-yards away, even more bloody damn luck. It would cost me the better part of a decade to kill another bull, proof that luck just isn’t enough when it comes to killing a big bull elk, skill is a much better plan.

There’s no doubt about it, elk hunting is a skill sport. Most new elk hunters can hunt for the better part of a decade to kill their first six-point bull with a bow. While at the peak of his elk hunting career, the same hunter will kill a mature bull or two each and every year thereafter, once the skill is finally fully mastered. 

Keeping a sharp elk hunting skill takes practice and repetition. This is not always the easiest of concepts in reality, particularly if you live back East or in a state that does not afford an elk opportunity like California or Texas. There are still options available throughout the West however that will get you out into the elk woods each and every fall, you just have to put together a plan and be calculated with your options. Getting to know an area well can also produce some very solid results over long periods of time. You might be very surprised to know how many big bulls are actually taken each and every fall in general and OTC (over-the-counter) units. 

The key to a solid back-up elk plan is to first learn your options, weight them out, and then formulate a plan that puts you into the elk woods each and every fall possible in an effort to not only broaden your elk horizons, but you master your craft or cut your teeth under some of the toughest circumstances the elk hills have to offer. It’s like New York, “if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.”

 

In this Pelican review, Eastmans’ staffer Luke Washington breaks down all the features of the Pelican Vault 800 Double Rifle Case. Pelican is calling this product crush proof, dust-proof and ergonomic. We put that to the test!! Watch to find out if it survives a crush test in below zero temperatures!

BUY this V800 Case Here: https://bit.ly/3aeivvP

The post Protect Your Rights! – Pelican Case Product Test appeared first on Eastmans' Official Blog | Mule Deer, Antelope, Elk Hunting and Bowhunting Magazine | Eastmans' Hunting Journals.

GUEST AUTHOR: Jake Leonard 

I want to share this story in the hopes that it may potentially save someone’s life. I want to bring awareness as this now can literally happen anywhere at any time so if my experience helps any fellow hunter, fisherman, hiker, trail runner, or anyone else in the woods for that matter then it was all worth it. I’m not the type of person who would be okay if I saw in the news somebody had been attacked, injured, or killed if I had not shared this story. I believe that if this happened to someone with less experience in the woods they may not be here today….

I began my still hunt walking very slowly on a road with the wind blowing fairly strong into my left shoulder. I made my way into the thickest part of the riparian jungle that borders what looks like two fields but is really dried up drainage overflow ponds. The wind was now blowing directly to me as I weaved my way over and under branches that seem to go in every direction. I slowly made my way to a clearing that I had been headed for. As I emerged from the riparian habitat through a small clearing, I looked back and got my landmark. …

As I am still screaming at the mountain lion, for what felt like forever and my thoughts were running wild in the back of my head, I knew it was too long, completely uncomfortable with the thought that I had any chance of scaring it off. I realized the lion wasn’t going anywhere. I realized this thing just followed my steps exactly. It was directly behind me for who knows how long as the wind was playing to its favor covering any potential misstep it had made before breaking the twig at 16 yards behind me. It had come through the same exact route I took to my current location 16 yards in front of him. I knew it was going to turn into a knife fight real quick if I didn’t act as my bow could only be used as a shield if I hesitated any longer. I also knew I had to keep yelling just in case I had a chance of throwing him off of his intentions and holding him up….

So how do you make a great product, which has garnered acclaim and helped put your company on the map even better? Well, if you’re YETI you step back, roll the dice and completely redesign it, to the extent that the product is unrecognizable. That is exactly what YETI did to their tried and true fan favorite, Roadie Hard Cooler. They rebranded it the Roadie 24 Hard Cooler and reimagined it from the ground up. 

The all new Roadie 24 Hard Cooler is 10% lighter, has 20% more capacity, and performs 30% better across thermoregulation variables. However, it’s also a better shape for stashing tall bottles you want to keep cold. Couldn’t do that with the old one. The new shape also fits in your vehicle better, a feature my wife and I appreciated when we road tripped with our kids this summer and she needed quick, easy access to snacks and drinks while I drove. 

I have to admit that when I first laid eyes on this new cooler I was skeptical but after a handful of uses I found myself reaching for it time and time again. I even used it in my drift boat on fishing trips that required a tad more room than my YETI Tundra 65. It was the perfect companion as it kept all the food cold on those blistering August days while the Tundra 65 housed all the drinks. 

I also used the Roadie 24 hunting and scouting this past September as a quick day trip cooler. It holds the perfect amount of snacks and drinks and served me very well as a seat while I was glassing. I used YETI ICE packs to save space and they fit inside the Roadie 24 as if they were made for it, wait a second… I also added the Roadie 24 Seat Cushion because, well, why not? 

The YETI Roadie 24 weighs 12.8 lbs. empty, stands 17.5” tall and is 16.5” wide across the top. Side to side, the Roadie is a trim 11 ⅞” at its base and 14” across its lid. This makes it easy to stow just about anywhere, which I did with regularity. 

Bow hunting public land elk takes grit! Eastmans’ Elevated podcast host Brian Barney stays persistent to get it done on a Montana elk hunt. Brian end’s up self-filming his DIY bow kill on this web episode of Eastmans’ Hunting TV.

The post Bow Hunting Public Land OTC Elk in Montana appeared first on Eastmans' Official Blog | Mule Deer, Antelope, Elk Hunting and Bowhunting Magazine | Eastmans' Hunting Journals.

Be sure to get your applications in before February 9th, 2020 for Arizona elk and pronghorn! TagHub has every stat you need to make a decision on a unit!!

The post 2021 Arizona Application Deadline Reminder appeared first on Eastmans' Official Blog | Mule Deer, Antelope, Elk Hunting and Bowhunting Magazine | Eastmans' Hunting Journals.

Hunting for a 200+ inch mule deer is a dream for many hunters! Two Eastmans’ subscribers, sisters Imari and Ellai Black, lived the dream on their fall 2020 deer hunts. Each sister harvested a trophy deer over 200 inches!

The post Over 400 Inches!!! DIY Deer Hunting appeared first on Eastmans' Official Blog | Mule Deer, Antelope, Elk Hunting and Bowhunting Magazine | Eastmans' Hunting Journals.

When looking at skills and training for hunters and fisherman, typically rifle and bow skills are the first to come to mind. Many outdoorsmen spend time learning animal behavior, conditioning their bodies for the backcountry, and honing in their weapons, but neglect proper training in other skills that could be needed for various situations and emergencies that could arise. Kevin Estela and Austin Lester from Fieldcraft Survival sit down and review medical equipment that you should know how to use and carry in the backcountry. They review survival wraps, eye cups, splints, boo boo kits, and trauma gear that they recommend carrying into the wilderness. 

About Fieldcraft Survival

Fieldcraft Survival’s mission is to expand your capabilities in the genre of survival. Our goal is to educate, train, and equip you to survive and thrive in any situation that life may bring. To accomplish our mission, we offer products built to enhance dependability, as well as training courses led by resident duty experts. Founded and run by Special Operations veterans, we have decades of real-world experience in survival and preparedness. We are excited to have partnered with Eastmans’, a three-generation media-based hunting company whose goal is to promote the pursuit of elk hunting, deer hunting, and all western big game. Our partnership with Eastmans’ is a great opportunity for both of us to use our combined expertise and provide education and gear to each other allowing us to connect with hunters and fishermen, teaching survival, medical, emergency preparedness skills. Our goal is to not only learn and grow in our technical hunting expertise from Eastmans’, but to help increase the overall level of preparedness and survivability of hunters if they are facing an emergency situation—with Fieldcraft gear they can depend on, training they can rely on.

 

The post Build a first aid kit: Fieldcraft Survival Gear for Hunting appeared first on Eastmans' Official Blog | Mule Deer, Antelope, Elk Hunting and Bowhunting Magazine | Eastmans' Hunting Journals.

Has the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission gone completely off the rails?

If you are not aware of some of the latest controversial policies and directives of the Colorado Parks and Wildlife department; overhunting a struggling mule deer herd into oblivion during the late season is, well, just the beginning of the story. 

On the first day of February the Wyoming Game and Fish department was tipped off to an apparent wolf capture going on by the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission inside Wyoming’s borders! Needless to say, this is a huge, and I mean HUGE no-no. When it comes to wildlife issues, states are almost treated as their own sovereign nations and to have one state conducting wildlife operations inside another state’s borders without a very detailed plan and agreement in place is, let’s just say, highly frowned upon. Particularly when it comes to situations as controversial as unauthorized wolf reintroductions. 

The incident occurred while a CPW team was attempting to capture and collar a wolf inside the northernmost reaches of the state of Colorado with a helicopter, a tranquilizing dart and a net gun. A pretty standard procedure here in northern Wyoming, but new to the Colorado CPW. Apparently, the darted wolf frantically ran into “enemy” territory toward possible safety and across the state line about one third of a mile into Platte County, Wyoming, therefore making it now a Wyoming wolf. Not to mention a Wyoming wolf inside the predator zone where wolves can be hunted 24/7 with no license required.  

The CPW continued their wolf capture, where the wolf was finally run down, collared and released back into Platte County, Wyoming. The Wyoming Game and Fish was quickly notified of these troubling developments, but could not respond before the wolf was released about one third of a mile inside Wyoming’s borders. 

“Over the past few years, black bears have faced unprecedented habitat loss due to climate change and wildfires, and continued sport hunting in California makes survival an even tougher climb… It’s time we stop this inhumane practice once and for all.” Senator Scott Wiener – CA

California Senate Bill 252 proposes the end to hunting black bears in that state. Yeah, you read that correctly, zero hunting of black bears in California. That is not to say that bears will not be “managed”, as bears that come into conflict with public safety or livestock will be killed by the state of California and with a growing bear population this will add up to a lot of bears.  

So, let me get this straight, and yes, this will be a bit of a rant. The state of California is going to put more burden on its taxpayers by paying government sanctioned shooters to eliminate bears that hunters would gladly pay to do? Genius! Why don’t other states do that? Here’s why… 

With its current 1700 bear quota California nets around $1.39 million in revenue from tag sales and Pittman Robertson Act monies. As we sportsmen know that money doesn’t just benefit bears, it goes to a much broader fund earmarked for conservation by the state. The North American Model of Wildlife Conservation at work. Question answered? Not really. 

You see the reason that California is willing to turn their backs on that money is that “public opinion polls” show that the majority of the state’s residents disapprove of bear hunting as they are a “charismatic species”. So this is basically the same reasoning that grizzly hunting was banned in British Columbia… feelings! Not science, feelings! Did I mention that the lead sponsor on this bill is the Humane Society of the United States? That alone should make this bill suspect and the fact that it’s yet another step down the slippery slope of throwing sound wildlife management out the window because reality is scary and uncomfortable.

You now can manipulate the maps and charts with the click of a button!

The post TagHub Table and Charts Expansion – UPDATED appeared first on Eastmans' Official Blog | Mule Deer, Antelope, Elk Hunting and Bowhunting Magazine | Eastmans' Hunting Journals.

Eastmans’ reviews the IA2K backpack made by Initial Ascent. This pack has a rugged carbon fiber frame that is tough enough to handle just about any load you strap on. Combined with the pack of your choice, you can create a versatile day pack or multi-day backpack for any hunting adventure you can imagine.

The post Backpack Review: IA2K by Initial Ascent – Affordable CARBON FIBER Hauler! appeared first on Eastmans' Official Blog | Mule Deer, Antelope, Elk Hunting and Bowhunting Magazine | Eastmans' Hunting Journals.

The elk herd in Wyoming continues to be very stable and healthy. Although the hunter success survey results for the 2020 hunting season have yet to be released I fully expect to see little change in unit ratings versus last year. The elk hunt season in Wyoming seemed to be very average with horn growth being off a touch due to the very hot and dry summer we experienced. So far, the winter has been extremely mild with very little moisture. The bulls should be wintering out very well putting them in great shape for a spring green up. As long as the moisture cooperates this fall should be another solid year for Wyoming bull elk hunters.

Note: As soon as the hunter success numbers are release I will “re-grade” the elk hunts in Wyoming with any corresponding changes. Be sure you check out our TagHub digital application for that updated information when it comes available right around the draw deadline, go here for a 30-day free trial.Area 59-1: Put into the right hands, this hunt has all the makings of big bull greatness, if the weather cooperates. With only 10 tags available on quota this hunt is a late season migration type hunt with season dates the first two weeks of November. This area is known for massive bulls if you get the perfect weather window to work with. Too much snow and you can get back to the bulls, not enough snow and the bulls will stay nearly too high to get to. This hunt area is extremely rough and you should expect to have to use horses on this hunt. Max points is a necessity to even think about this hunt, there are no random tags in the draw for this hunt however. Hunter success here hovers around the 70% mark which is pretty high for a hunt of this type. This hunt scores a perfect 100/100 due to the limited nature, huge bull potential and very solid hunter success track record. OVERALL SCORE: 100/100

Area 100-1: As usual, the Area 100 elk hunt hits the list due to its nearly perfect track record in almost every measurable element. With a newly increased quota to 200 bull tags instead of the historic 100, this hunt is a tick easier to draw as of recently. This hunt will still take max points to have a good chance at a tag here, however with the new higher quota there are a few tags available in the random draw which for low point holders looking for a lightning strike on something very lucky this tag would be a great long shot option. A stealer 95% hunter success average on branch antlered bulls is very hard to argue with on this hunt. This is the easiest elk hunt in the state of Wyoming but finding a true giant here can be very tough on most years. The bulls in here are generally in the 300 to 340 range. But there are lots of them. The bull to cow ratio here is extremely high and the herd continues to expand into the masses of desert terrain in this massive elk unit. The first two weeks of the hunt here will still see some heavy rutting action and the bowhunt in here is about as good as it gets in Wyoming. Due to the extremely high hunter success, massive area, favorably long season and easy terrain this hunt scores a perfect 100 out of 100 again this year.
OVERALL SCORE: 100/100Area 54-1: The elk hunt in Area 54 is certainly no secret. I live in this elk unit and I can tell you first hand, this elk hunt has about every type of elk terrain imaginable. The elk hunting in here has wavered a tick over the past few years mostly due to elk changes in behavior and location, which has some of the elk now drifting in and out of the unit depending on moisture and weather conditions. The bull to cow ratio in this area is very high and the elk herd continues to be very healthy. This area has incredible antler genetics and can produce true giants on a good year. The hunter success here has dipped a bit over the past five years but has now seen a resurgence as of the last two years and now is back up to over 60% for the 2019 hunting season. The elk season in this area is a full eight weeks long, giving a hunter plenty of time to get the job done here. With plenty of area to hunt, good access and no Wilderness to deal with this hunt is a very solid choice for a savvy elk hunter in good shape who wants a chance at a real giant. The bulls in this area can run anywhere from 320 up to 380 and larger. Due to the long season, limited hunting pressure (50 tags), and huge bull potential this hunt strikes big bull potential gold with a score of 90 out of 100. OVERALL SCORE: 90/100Area 16 (Either Type): As another great opportunity option the Shirley Basin elk hunt is as close to a slam dunk for a six-point bull as Wyoming gets. With two hunt options here, an early type-1 hunt in October and a later, November type-2 hunt this area is a very solid choice for the hunter who wants a great shot at a nice 300-330 class bull in relatively hunter friendly terrain. The later hunt has only 50 tags available on quota and is a bit more hunter friendly when it comes to hunting pressure, but the earlier hunt will see some great rutting action, and a bit lower hunter success at 70% versus the 76% hunter success rate that the later hunt produces. The bull to cow ratio here has dropped a bit over the past five years, but the overall herd size has expanded drastically to over double the state management objective. This hunt is 65% public land with no Wilderness to worry about. There are a few large ranches in this area that guide hunters and if you are open to a guided hunt, this area is as good as it gets for Wyoming elk hunts. An applicant will need 12 or 13 preference points to draw a tag here. Due to the very high hunter success rate, good public access and favorable seasons this are scores a very solid 95 out of 100. OVERALL SCORE 95/100Area 61 (Either Type): The Greybull River elk hunt is a very desirable trade off between big bull potential and public land hunt excitement. There are two hunt available here and either hunt is very, very solid. The type-1 hunt is a Wilderness only hunt and therefore a guide would be required. The more limited later season type-2 hunt is a non-wilderness option with very solid hunter success at nearly 70%. The bull to cow ratio here is extremely high with over 50 bulls per 100 cows making this hunt a very, very action-packed elk hunt in some very scenic country. This elk area borders and comprises the back side of our top elk hunt area of 59. The bulls here can move back and forth between the two units making the potential genetics for big bulls here a given. The non-wilderness hunt here will take you 13 or 14 points to draw while the Wilderness hunt will only require about 10 or 11 preference points. The hunt-able elk country in this area is nearly all public and very glassing friendly. The bulls in here tend to be in the 320 to 350 class on average, with a long shot at a 370+ on a good year. Due to the very glassing friendly nature and favorable season dates this hunt scores a very solid 90 out of 100. OVERALL SCORE 90/100

The post WYOMING ELK – Guy’s Top Picks 2021 appeared first on Eastmans' Official Blog | Mule Deer, Antelope, Elk Hunting and Bowhunting Magazine | Eastmans' Hunting Journals.

True or False – If you have the most points of anyone applying for a particular sheep hunt in AZ you are guaranteed to draw it.

False – for any one of five reasons. I’ll bet the last one will shock you.

You were ineligibleThere were more people than just you with that level of points, more the number of permits available in that hunt and they lucked out and you didn’t.The nonresident cap of 10% was filled before your app came up and you are a nonresident.Youi are a nonresident and there was only 1 permit available for the hunt. That’s because nonresidents are not allowed to get more than 50% of the permits for a hunt and 1 of 1 is 100%. You should have read the Expert Analysis on the Arizona TagHub page first. In 2020 there were 16 single-permit sheep hunts and 666 nonresidents wasted their application by applying for them.Last, and this is the one most people don’t know, out of 49 desert sheep hunts in Arizona last year, only 12 had any permits at all drawn in the first, that is, bonus point round. That’s less than 25% of the hunts.

What? How can that be?  R12-4-114 Issuance of Nonpermit-tags and Hunt Permit-tags, section C.1 a. “The Department shall reserve a maximum of 20% of the hunt permit-tags for each hunt number, except as established under subsection (C)(2)(b), for antelope, bear, deer, elk, javelina, and turkey and reserve a maximum of 20% of the hunt permit-tags for all hunt numbers combined statewide for bighorn sheep and buffalo to issue to persons who have bonus points and shall issue the hunt permit-tags as established under subsection (C)(2)(c).”

So, in 2020 there were 107 desert bighorn permits available. Once 20 were drawn in the bonus point round, all the other 37 hunts were shut off and all their permits went to the second, random draw round.

So, how come the draw report only shows 16 people drawing in the bonus point round? Simple answer – if 4 people drew but had their card declined, they were shown as not having drawn until they were called to correct that, which surely all did, but the report doesn’t get adjusted to reflect that.

 

Hoof rot or TAHD has been around for more than 30 years in the Pacific Northwest but has spread and really become worse in the past 15 years. Unfortunately, we still don’t know what causes the disease. Over the last few years, I have looked into possible causes and the plethora of theories on the disease, which is found primarily in elk. For anyone not familiar with hoof rot, I encourage you to take a look at the blog I did two years ago introducing some of my findings and reported theories. This article can be found here.https://blog.eastmans.com/hoof-rot-a-crisis-in-the-pacific-northwest/

Since then, the situation has been brought to light even further. As more and more people grow concerned, the idea of herbicides used by timber companies to eradicate vegetation in cutting units has caused a change in the soil which allows bacteria to flourish that haven’t in the past. The spraying regiment by the Weyerhaeuser timber company that was implemented in 2006 consists of five different chemicals used on clear cuts after they are logged. Chemicals like Atrazine, Clopyralid, Hexazinone, and Indaziflam are a part of that regimen. You might know them as Roundup, Crosshair, Rodeo, Transline, and Velpar. These chemicals keep brush at bay, such as Alder, Scotch broom, and blackberry for a long time so it doesn’t compete with the new chemical resistant Douglas fir seedlings. There are four plausible hypotheses for how chemicals sprayed in the forest may be the root cause of hoof disease in elk as described in the Daily Chronicle by Jon Gosch.

The first is that herbicides are known to dramatically reduce the quantity and quality of forage for elk, and that alone can cause hoof problems as farriers have testified, as I illustrated two years ago. The forage that remains after the herbicides is of questionable quality, and likely a factor in researchers’ findings of poor forage quality in the Mount St. Helens elk herd. 

The second hypothesis is that the immunotoxic properties of the herbicides such as atrazine are weakening the immune systems of elk and making them susceptible to bacteria they had previously been able to ward off. Atrazine is one of the most commonly sprayed forestry herbicides despite being banned by the European Union in 2004 because of persistent groundwater contamination. According to a report by the National Toxicology Program, which is administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “atrazine was found to adversely affect the immune system and, thus, is considered to be an immunotoxic compound.”

This review video compares the backpacking pillows from Klymit and Sea to Summit! Both of these pillows give you extra comfort on your next camping trip, especially when you’re five miles from the trailhead. Watch our review to see which of these camping pillows would be ideal for your next adventure!

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE THE SEA TO SUMMIT

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE THE KLYMIT

The post Travel in Comfort! Backpacking Pillows for Hunting appeared first on Eastmans' Official Blog | Mule Deer, Antelope, Elk Hunting and Bowhunting Magazine | Eastmans' Hunting Journals.

Eastmans’ family friend and trophy tour pioneer Roger Selner measured more big game trophies in his lifetime than any Boone & Crockett scorer. He traveled the country with his elk and deer tours for over 30 years covering one million miles. Known as the “trophy whisperer” and Uncle Rog to those who knew him best, Roger Selner left us in December 2020. He will be sorely missed.

The post Saving Hunting History! Roger Selner – The Trophy Whisperer appeared first on Eastmans' Official Blog | Mule Deer, Antelope, Elk Hunting and Bowhunting Magazine | Eastmans' Hunting Journals.