Dallas Safari Club and Ducks Unlimited Team Up for Conventions
The Outdoor Wire
Dallas Safari Club (DSC) and Ducks Unlimited are working together to strengthen the overall public reach and conservation impacts of two major sporting conventions in 2010. Both conventions are slated for Dallas and each is expected to draw attendees from throughout the region, across the nation and around the world. The DSC event, First Light, will take place Jan. 7-10, 2010. Ducks Unlimited's Convention and Sporting Expo will take place May 28-30, 2010. Ducks Unlimited will sponsor and promote the DSC convention, and DSC will reciprocate.More

Numerous Regulatory Changes in Effect this Deer Season
The Tyler Morning Telegraph
If there ever was a year for deer hunters to keep a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Outdoor Annual handy, this is it. Thanks to a three-year cycle for deer-hunting regulation changes, Texas deer hunters face more new rules this fall than in recent years. Changes include an additional 52 counties to the list with antler restrictions, expansion of doe days, including the first for some Northeast Texas counties and expanded days for others.More

Deer Expert Has Hunting Down to a Science
The Dallas Morning News
Dr. James Kroll is director of the Institute for White-tailed Deer Management and Research at Stephen F. Austin State. The man known as Dr. Deer has published more than 200 scientific and popular articles and numerous books based on years of telemetry-tracking whitetails. He was one of the first deer hunting writers to back up theory with science and debunk many popular myths. As another deer season begins in Texas, Dr. Kroll answers questions about America's most popular big-game animal.More

Hunting Market Forecast
Ansom Magazine
On a year-over-year basis, sales of both firearms and ammunition have been up each month for at least the past 10 months, according to the National Shooting Sports Federation. In the first quarter of this year, the most recent for which data are available, manufacturers paid $109.8 million in federal Firearms and Ammunition Excise Tax, up 43 percent from the same time period the year prior. A statement from Federal Ammunition says that "demand for our products is at an all-time high. We continue to work seven days a week, making multiple daily shipments to meet the current demand." This all bodes well in the short term for the health and vitality of hunting, a sport that pumps an estimated $23 billion per year into the U.S. economy. Looking at the long term, however, there have been indications for the past several years that hunters as a percentage of the total U.S. population are on the decline, although how sharp a decline is open to debate.More

Texas Deer Season Prospects Shaping Up With Recent Rains
Texas Parks & Wildlife
An early and abundant acorn crop, combined with new growth of native vegetation may force Texas deer hunters to stray from supplemental food sources during the 2009-2010 general deer season, which opens Nov. 7. Reports from Texas Parks and Wildlife Department field biologists indicate above average mast crop production and an early acorn drop. Recent rains across much of the state have also helped generate forb production, adding to the availability of native food sources for deer. "It’s been at least three years since ground moisture has been this good at this time of year," said Mike Krueger, TPWD district wildlife biologist in Kerrville. "It looks like springtime in the Edwards Plateau at this time.More

Making Sense of Cartridge Names
Petersen's Hunting
Caliber. Everyone talks about it, but the word is commonly misused. The caliber of a rifle or pistol is the diameter of its bore. You can fret about whether that actually means bore (land) or groove diameter; conventionally it is bore. Read on for a detailed explanation of how to properly understand and refer to different types of ammuntion.More

Remembering Rhodesia
Petersen's Hunting
Join Craig Boddington as he reminisces about his hunting experiences in 1970s Rhodesia.More

10 Ways To Improve Your Decoy Spread
American Hunter
Sure, you might decoy a duck or two with any old spread, but many migrators are too smart for dated tactics. In the linked article, find ten helpful tips for improving the efficiency of your decoy spread this year.More

Food Safety Tips For Hunters
Food Safety News
Hunting season is well underway. Countless hopeful men, women, and children dressed in camouflage and bright orange have ventured into the wilderness in search of wild game. Like livestock, deer, elk, wild pigs, and other game can carry pathogenic bacteria like E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella, and Campylobacter jejuni. Proper processing can help keep food safe after a successful hunt, so read on to explore the proper precautions to take to keep meat safe from field to fork. More

South Dakota Man Found Guilty of Smuggling a Leopard Hide into U.S.
Reuters
A federal jury in Aberdeen, S.D., has found a South Dakota man guilty for smuggling the hide of a leopard into the United States in violation of the Convention on International Trade in Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES), an international treaty that regulates international shipments of listed species, to which the United States and 172 other countries are members. The leopard allegedly was hunted and killed in South Africa illegally. Wayne D. Breitag of Aberdeen, S.D., was also found guilty for violations of the Lacey Act, a federal wildlife statute. More