Pursuits

Pocket sets are a versatile trap setup that you can use to target species like raccoon, mink, and muskrat. First, pick a location with animal tracks near a cut bank and shallow moving water that won’t freeze. Start by digging the pocket into the bank about 14 inches deep. The back of the pocket...

If you're going to bother putting in training hours to improve your shot before the fall rolls around, you may as well create as authentic a scenario as possible. You'll thank yourself later when the buck or bull of your dreams comes strolling into view and you've built the muscle memory to shoot...

This is MeatEater Trivia, the only game show where conservation always wins. If you’re not familiar with the show, it’s a bonus podcast we drop every Wednesday on the MeatEater Podcast feed. This is trivia you’re not going to find in Trivial Pursuit or Jeopardy, because these questions are born out...

From brand new pups to the old guard Labrador, these five commands create the essential base of any good hunting retriever. Regardless of age, they create good habits, set the standard for learning, and most importantly, will help you focus more on the hunt and less on bad behavior. Sit Barton...

No two cartridges embody the old school vs. new school debate better than the .30-06 Springfield and the 6.5 Creedmoor. The former got its start in 2007 as a bougie, long-range cartridge more at home on a competition course than in a deer blind. The latter is a World War I and II vet known worldwide...

This beaver trapping technique has been around for a long time, and for good reason. There are few more effective ways to attract beavers toward a trap than by finding one of their telltale slides, creating a scent mound at the base of it, and topping it with a rival beaver's castor. Beavers have...

Bighead, silver, and black carp—not to be confused with bigmouth buffalo or other native bottom-feeders—are all invasive species that exist in the Mississippi River basin and are on the doorstep of the Great Lakes. These three species of invasive carp were introduced to the U.S. from Europe in the...

In response to heavy crop damage, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission has ordered a special month-long elk hunting season for five counties in the southwestern part of the state. The special depredation hunt will run for the entire month of July and allow landowners to reduce elk numbers as they...

In two bipartisan votes in as many days, the U.S. Congress passed the first major piece of gun-related legislation in over two decades this week. While the bill covers mental health, school security, background checks, “red flag” laws, straw purchases, and domestic violence, it does not include many...

Folks across the upper Great Lakes states said all roads led to Hurley, Hayward, or Hell a century ago as gangsters and bootleggers capitalized on Prohibition and the Great Depression. As a federal investigator named Frank Buckley said in a 1929 report, Wisconsin’s worst community was Hurley...

We’ve all heard about them, seen them, tried to eradicate them, or found cool ways to eat them. Whether we like it or not, invasive species have taken a stronghold across our lands and in our waters. But there are a few repeat offenders that everyone seems to know about—we’re looking at you, wild...

Well, time might still be running out to pass the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA) this Congress, but the bill moved one step closer to the President’s desk on Tuesday afternoon. After several hours of debate, the House passed a massive wildlife funding bill, which would help states, Tribes...