Free Republic

Democrats are warning hunters if they show up at the polls they may miss out on the next hunting season. The ads are well-designed and authoritative and the message, misleading: “Attention Hunters: Voting in North Dakota could cost you your out-of-state hunting licenses.” Put another way, it seems the party is telling voters that they can’t exercise one right without losing another.

A Wyoming hunting guide was fatally mauled and his client was injured when a pair of grizzly bears attacked them Friday, officials said.{snip} Uptain and Chubon were attacked by bears as they field dressed the elk they had shot Thursday but were only able to find Friday, officials said. The bears “aggressively charged” the men and didn’t touch the dead elk, Teton County officials said.{snip} Authorities later euthanized two grizzly bears, a mother and a cub, who wildlife managers believe killed guide Mark Uptain and wounded his client Corey Chubon near the Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks border, according...

Is this stalking killer clown for real, or is this a hoax? Or just another copy cat using the new Stephen King remake of “It” movie to craft a publicity stunt. Facebooker Draven Riffe swears this knife-wielding clown was quite real. Afterwards, Draven was so shaken by the encounter that he waited in his treestand for two hours for law enforcement to escort him out safely. Imagine this scene. You are up in your treestand with your bow ready for your big buck to come by. Instead of a buck, it is a madman dressed like a clown, armed with...

Two hunters have been indicted in a West Texas shooting they falsely claimed was started by unauthorized immigrants. Michael Bryant and Walker Daugherty were indicted by a grand jury Wednesday on a charge of using deadly conduct by discharging firearms in the direction of others, Presidio County Sheriff Danny Dominguez told CBS7. A Presidio County sheriff's deputy responded to the Jan. 6 shooting at Circle Dug Ranch, near the border community of Candelaria, where he found Daugherty and Edwin Roberts with gunshot wounds, the station reports. They said immigrants attacked them to try to steal the RV the hunting group...

The sound of a gunshot crackled through miles of soon-to-be combined land, bringing one pheasant to the ground in a single plop. Carol Bothe and her crew spent the opening day of pheasant season pushing through fields, waiting for the perfect shot. Bothe, of Brandon, is part of a growing female segment of small game hunting license holders.

The United States Forest Service severely damaged a forest road and trail in Northwestern Idaho earlier this month, raising serious questions about the agency’s ability to care for federally-managed lands. During the first weekend in June, several members of Northwestern Gold Prospectors Association (NWGPA) planned to attend a gathering to prospect private claims in the Bedrock Gulch and Eagle Creek areas. When the prospectors arrived, Forest Road 152 was blocked with cement barricades and hundreds of felled trees. ... Photographs from that day show large logs laid crosswise and laterally on the trail, covered with hundreds of large pine branches...

You read the headline correctly: Namibia took a giant step forward for hunters yesterday when the country’s Ministry of Environment and Tourism said it will officially oppose any calls to restrict hunting and export wildlife products. Chalk one up for common sense as the Namibian government got around worldwide anti-hunting extremists seeking to stop hunters’ critical conservation efforts—and, in turn, destroy the economic benefits hunters provide... the cabinet voted to go on the record as a pro-hunting nation, opposing any and all hunting bans-and to campaign against any bans proposed in the future. ... You may recall that the rhino...

<p>MADISON -- Wisconsin deer hunters will now be able to wear blaze pink instead of blaze orange after Gov. Scott Walker signed a bill into law Thursday morning.</p> <p>Walker's office says the governor signed 21 bills. Most of the legislation was passed by the Assembly and Senate with bipartisan support.</p>

A growing number of state organizations seek to remedy what they consider negligent policies and shoddy oversight of public land on the part of federal agencies. Under the umbrella name Transfer of Public Lands, the movement offers a solution to the problem that is simple in concept: transfer ownership and management of public lands administered by federal agencies to equivalent state agencies. These agencies, being accountable to governors, state legislators and citizens, will manage the public lands in a more conscientious, cost-effective way. ... Unlike states east of the Continental Divide, public lands in Western states such as Washington and...

Despite a long process involving collaboration between local officials the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Western Colorado, the federal land agency is proceeding with the closure of roads that have been traveled for 50 or more years. The road closures comprise a portion of the BLM’s Resource Management Plan (RMP) for Mesa County, of which, 73 percent is controlled by the federal government . ... public roads, used by off-roaders, hunters, farmers, ranchers and, during wildfire season, firefighting crews. ... Jody Green, a member of Public Lands Access Association and long-time activist working to preserve access into federally-managed lands,...

Montana wildlife officials are dropping a proposal to keep confidential the names of hunters and trappers who kill wildlife in Montana. ... That information is now available under the state's right-to-know laws. Some hunters and trappers had claimed they were being harassed by people who had obtained the information.

If you’ve turned on the TV, radio, looked at a newspaper, or used the internet in these past few weeks, you have heard of Kendall Jones. Kendall Jones is a 19 year old cheerleader studying at Texas Tech who has stirred up some recent controversy. She is a seasoned hunter that has been lucky enough to travel to Africa to hunt the big five; work alongside organizations to provide meat to local communities and help treat wounded animals. Recently, she has been targeted on social media sites and attacked by news agencies for having pictures of her hunts published on...

David W. Snook, 57, of Bridgewater, New Jersey, died on Wednesday, January 15, when two deer leaped into the path of his Dodge Ram on Route 206. One of them was airborne when it smashed through the front windshield, striking him before exiting out the rear window. This caused the truck to veer into the guard rail and come to rest in a ravine.

A law in Russia banning "homosexual propaganda" has been condemned by critics, who say it incites hatred. But a day hunting and relaxing in the forest - and hearing some extreme views - suggests it has plenty of support. Saunas are supposed to be relaxing but the prospect of this one filled me with dread. I was to share it with two heavily armed Russian hunters - Yuri, a steely-eyed veteran of Russia's bloody war in Afghanistan, and Georgy, a burly businessmen who cut his teeth during the violent chaos that consumed Russia after the fall of communism. That afternoon,...

It’s January. If you resolved to lose weight, forget the cotton ball diet. To become a lean, mean muscle machine: eat venison. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo feign to keep us healthy and safe by restricting our dietary choices and attacking our constitutional right to use guns for hunting and self-defense. Both men are dead wrong about health, hunting and guns. Bloomberg chastises folks who slurp sugary soda pop while lambasting hunters who eat organic, lean, high-protein venison. Meanwhile, Cuomo has been known to holler at the top of his lungs: “No one needs...

U.S. law enforcement agencies are conducting thousands of investigations using a law that makes violating state wildlife statutes a federal crime, often ensnaring hunters and fishermen for seemingly minor infractions. Some even suffer stiff federal prison sentences. Special agents and wildlife inspectors for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conduct about 2,500 investigative cases a year of violations of the Lacey Act, a 1900 law meant to combat illegal trafficking of wildlife. ... Rock star Ted Nugent, an avid hunter and fisherman .. "Good, decent families' lives are being turned upside down and ruined by out-of-control jackboot game agencies, particularly...

Hunting show hostess Melissa Bachman recently shot a lion in Africa, posted the triumphant picture on Facebook and now ABC (among many other enlightened parties) are all over her. An ABC World News segment shows New York-based Lana Zak petting a tame and cuddly cub on location in a South African zoo, while purring that: “lions like these are beloved in Africa.” Maybe by some of Zak’s yuppie counterparts in places like Capetown and Nairobi. But not by Africans who live among wild ones. Lions are certainly beloved in Hollywood, the Upper East Side, Georgetown, etc. It’s a different story...

MADISON — Here’s some good advice my daddy once told me: Try not to tick off a bear hunter. Words to live by. In Wisconsin, hunters of all stripes — bear hunters included — are applauding the state Department of Natural Resources’ decision to keep state properties open to hunting during the federal government’s partial shutdown. Last week, the National Park Service issued a directive demanding that the DNR close several state-owned properties, jointly run by federal and state agencies. The DNR effectively told the Park Service to go hunt itself, for a couple of important reasons: a) because a...

Alaska lawmakers accused the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service of violating federal law by shutting down hunting on its lands during the government shutdown, saying a 1980 law guarantees state residents must have access to the land.

PETA plans to acquire one or more drones to be used to harass deer and dove hunters. They are looking at the CineStar Octocopter, which can carry a camera for up to five minutes. This likely will be a one-shot operation because the first group of hunters they try to use it on will blow it out of the air!