2025 Public Lands and Waters Photo Contest 2025 Public Lands and Waters Photo Contest Zack Williams / Friday, September 26, 2025 Taking pictures of our backcountry experiences is just one way hunters and anglers capture their most beloved memories in designated wilderness, on Bureau of Land Management tracts, Forest Service parcels, and on public waters in between. And we want to see your pics! Our winners will take home over $8,900 in prizes from partners like Savage, Simms, Fishpond, Seek Outside, Benchmade, Sitka, First Lite, Walton’s, Irish Setter, Grundens, NRS, and more! Media News North American News Backcountry Journal Read more
Continuing the Conservation Ethic Continuing the Conservation Ethic Brandon Ellis / Monday, December 9, 2019 By Corey Ellis One of the greatest impacts of the hunting conservation movement that is our history, all hunters’ history, did not only benefit the game species that hunters pursue. That sage flat that hunters protected not only saved pronghorns and sage grouse; it also saved long-billed curlews and gray flycatchers. A ponderosa glade that was purchased with sportsmen’s dollars and deposited in the bank of public lands not only protected wintering grounds for elk and mule deer; it also ... Media Backcountry Journal Backcountry Journal Fair Chase Read more
Physical Fitness as part of Ethical Hunting Physical Fitness as part of Ethical Hunting Brandon Ellis / Monday, October 7, 2019 Photo by Alex Kim This article first appeared in the Fall 2019 issue of Backcountry Journal. Join BHA and get the journal, quarterly, in your mailbox. By Corey Ellis While recently rereading Beyond Fair Chase by Jim Posewitz, the founder of Orion and a conservation legend and expert in hunting ethics, I was struck by a section that had not caught my attention before; the section was titled, "Physical Fitness as a Part of Preparation." Although we often think of fitness in preparation ... Media Backcountry Journal media Backcountry Journal Fair Chase Read more
Is CWD an ethical issue? Is CWD an ethical issue? Arkansas BHA Chapter / Tuesday, July 9, 2019 This article first appeared in the Summer 2019 issue of Backcountry Journal. Join BHA and get the journal, quarterly, in your mailbox. By Patt Dorsey There is a lot we know about chronic wasting disease and there is much to learn. We know that CWD is affecting members of the deer family, including mule deer, white-tailed deer, elk and moose. We also know that CWD is spreading. Biologists have now detected it in 26 U.S. states and in three Canadian provinces. Scientists know that prions ... Media Backcountry Journal Backcountry Journal Fair Chase Read more
Are Big Racks Ethical? Are Big Racks Ethical? Zachary Williams / Thursday, April 11, 2019 Above: In 2016 the BHA North American board passed a policy statement in support of policies which aim to prohibit new captive cervid canned hunting operations. As concerns around the spread of CWD from captive cervid operations mount throughout the country, BHA chapters are drawing on this statement to advance policies that put meaningful limits on such operations. Photo by Lynn Bystrom by Jan Dizard Orion and BHA share a commitment to face clearly the many ethical and related ... Media Backcountry Journal Backcountry Journal Fair Chase Read more
Grip and Grin: Ethics and Emotions in Images Grip and Grin: Ethics and Emotions in Images Sam Lungren / Monday, September 10, 2018 by Tovar Cerulli - Orion: The Hunter's Institute The image is familiar: A hunter crouches beside a dead deer, grinning into the camera. What do we make of this picture? We all see the hunter’s smile. We all see the beautiful animal, now dead. And we all recognize some connection between the two. From there, though, interpretations diverge wildly. Critics of hunting are apt to see mindless brutality. The hunter has killed, appears to have enjoyed killing, and now gloats over a carcass. ... Media Backcountry Journal media Backcountry Journal Fair Chase Read more
Live Action Game Cameras Live Action Game Cameras Jan Dizard / Wednesday, July 18, 2018 Photo by Barry and Cathy Beck On an October morning a decade or so ago, I was hunting woodcock in an abandoned orchard. A flight had come in and, in less than an hour, I collected my three-bird limit. That evening I got a call from an acquaintance, a deer hunter, who hunts the same orchard. He asked how I did and if I’d seen evidence of deer. How, I asked, had he known I had been hunting there that morning? He said he saw me on the trail camera he’d placed in cover. I was amused. It’s now ... Media Backcountry Journal media Backcountry Journal Fair Chase Read more
Fair Chase and Public Access: Joined at the Hip Fair Chase and Public Access: Joined at the Hip Jan Dizard / Wednesday, January 17, 2018 Photo by Daniel Wilde For roughly two-thirds of the 20th Century, hunters and fishers were the bedrock of conservation. But beginning in the early 1970s, the ground shifted. The accomplishments of the conservation movement, to which hunters contributed mightily, began to pale in the face of new environmental issues and a new environmental movement that had priorities not centered on restoration of game and fish and the habitats on which they depend. Indeed, protection of wildlife and ... Media Backcountry Journal media Backcountry Journal Fair Chase Read more