Wildlife agencies could more easily assess their state’s elk, deer, or pronghorn populations if every animal alive in August fell into one of two groups by Christmas: those registered as hunters’ kills, and those destined to see spring’s fawning or calving seasons.
It’s never that easy, of course, because legal hunting harvest isn’t the only drain on a herd’s bottom line. The long list of other possible deductions includes disease, injury...

Fellow Americans,
Wouldn’t it be great if a presidential candidate solely focused on hunting and fishing? If someone prioritized the hunting and fishing public and provided more outdoor opportunities and better habitat for wildlife? These are the real issues that matter to the sportsmen and women of America. It’s about time someone did something about it.
Our fellow MeatEaters have joked that Steve and Janis should run for office. Honestly, we...

In our new series, Ask a Warden, we’ll be interviewing officers from across the country to learn about their role in protecting our game, fish, and other resources. In this edition, we asked officers from Minnesota, Arizona, and West Virginia about why reg books are so complicated.
This fall, I’ll be gun hunting deer in Montana, South Dakota, and Nebraska. In my research, I’ve learned that all three states have very different laws on...

In our new series, Ask a Warden, we’ll be interviewing officers from across the country to learn about their role in protecting our game, fish, and other resources. In this edition, we asked officers from California, Ohio, Montana, and Alabama about the lengths they’ve gone to catch poachers.
Conservation officers deal with a lot of unique characters in a lot of unique environments. As one warden put it during an interview for this series, “There...

By most accounts, the 1970s and ’80s were the good ol’ days for public land hunters in the East. Deer and hunter numbers, along with success rates, were booming on national forest land in the region.
These days, the hunting cultures that once thrived in places like the George Washington, Pisgah, and Monongahela national forests are largely gone. Meat poles are more likely to bear the weight of wet clothes than fresh venison, and instead of tales...

In our new series, Ask a Warden, we’ll be interviewing officers from across the country to learn about their role in protecting our game, fish, and other resources. In this edition, we asked officers from Alaska, Kentucky, and Wisconsin about the how Facebook and Instagram factor into modern wildlife management.
As a writer, social media has totally changed my job. For instance, you probably came to this article through MeatEater’s page on...