When veteran outdoor writer Dave Richey followed a blood trail to a limping buck that had survived an earlier hit, he showed how often deer are wounded yet never recovered by the original shooter. Wildlife managers who study How natural mortality figures into deer management also accept that some animals on every property will die from…
A small nocturnal mammal in Wisconsin has turned out to be far stranger than it looks under ordinary light. When exposed to ultraviolet light, the southern flying squirrel’s fur shines a vivid pink, a glow-in-the-dark effect that has startled backyard naturalists and professional researchers alike. What began with a chance observation in the Northwoods has…
Ohio lawmakers are moving to bring elk back to the state for the first time in roughly two centuries, tying the idea to new trail building and outdoor recreation funding. At the center is House Bill 641, a proposal that would order state wildlife officials to study where elk could live, how they would affect…
Across the country, lawmakers are rewriting the rules that decide who gets to hunt, where they can go, and when they can pull the trigger. From Congress to county courthouses, elected officials are weighing new limits, new guarantees, and new ways to open or close access to wildlife. The fight is quieter than the national gun…
Some of the most dangerous animals on Earth don’t resemble movie monsters. They look soft, slow, even friendly, which is exactly why people drop their guard around them. When that happens, a curious selfie, a casual swim or a quick walk in the park can turn into a medical emergency. This piece looks at fifteen…
The largest wild elk herd in the United States gathers in a stretch of western Colorado where deep forest, high plateau and open meadows all meet. At the center of this range sits the White River National Forest, a public landscape that has quietly become one of the most reliable places in North America to…
The Wyoming Senate’s lopsided vote against two landowner hunting tag bills capped an intense fight over who should benefit most from the state’s prized big game licenses. Lawmakers brushed aside arguments about rewarding private land stewardship and instead sided with hunters who warned the measures would turn public wildlife into a private commodity. The result…
Colorado has a long history of outsized mountain lions, from early trophy hunts to modern GPS collars that trace cats across entire states. The story of the biggest mountain lion ever tracked in Colorado sits at the crossroads of that history, mixing record body size, record distance, and a changing sense of what it means to…
Deer live and die by their noses, and they are very good at it. Long before a buck sees a shape in the trees or hears a stand creak, it is often smelling a hunter’s approach and changing course without a sound. The most common scent mistakes happen well before anyone settles into a stand,…
Oregon is again at the center of a national fight over animal rights and outdoor traditions, as a sweeping proposal to criminalize most hunting and fishing moves closer to the statewide ballot. Backers say the measure is a moral reset in how people treat animals, while opponents warn it would wipe out long-standing ways of…