Correction: This story was edited on Feb. 24 at 7:00 p.m. to reflect recent developments
Responding to calls from Wyoming’s governor and other officials, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt halted Grand Teton National Park’s use of aerial gunners to cull mountain goats.
Despite state management agency and public opposition, Grand Teton National Park contracted helicopter crews with shotguns to kill nonnative mountain goats today. The...

In our series Ask a Warden, we interview officers from across the country to learn about their role in protecting our game, fish, public lands, and other resources. In this edition, we asked officers from South Dakota, Texas, and Colorado what guns they carry.
Conservation officers have a unique job that’s unlike most other law enforcement. From staking out serial poachers to running down stolen vehicles, routine patrols just aren’t all that...

The howl of a coyote has spread across the Eastern United States, stirring concern and debate among deer hunters and wildlife managers. But according to a new multi-state, decades-long study, whitetail deer have continued to thrive even as coyote populations boomed.
Hunters are often leery of change—especially regarding a new predator they perceive as competition. Of course coyotes eat deer meat given the opportunity, either deer they kill...

This is a slow time of year for most game wardens, but last week one officer got a call that he’ll never forget. It all ended with him taking aim at the antlers of two entangled whitetail bucks and touching off a shot from his 12-gauge.
Officer Scott Kallweit was dispatched in response to a call Russ and Shelley Wright, a couple that came across two male whitetails near their home in Calgary, Alberta, that had locked their horns together while...

In our series Ask a Warden, we interview officers from across the country to learn about their role in protecting our game, fish, public lands, and other resources. In this edition, we asked officers from Oklahoma, Alaska, Kentucky, and Wisconsin about the highest scoring animals that they’ve ever seen poached.
As our friend Pat Durkin likes to say, “Deer make people stupid.” For some outdoorsmen, that means crossing a deep creek without waders...

Can so-called “trophy hunting” alter the genetics of free-ranging big game animals enough to eventually reduce the size of their bodies, antlers, or horns?
Short answer: In small enclosures, yes. In the wild, only in theory.
For our purposes, let’s define “trophy hunting” as selectively shooting only the biggest males of a species year after year. If that’s done, what happens? An infamous article in Newsweek  (Jan. 12, 2009) claimed “trophy...