Nearly every hunter has a different answer when asked why they hunt. Some do it mostly for the reward of meat, others for friendships and camaraderie, and others still ... for the love of the dog. Then, there are some dogs that come into a hunter’s life and completely change their “why.” This is about one of those special dogs. As college students, my wife and I couldn’t afford professional training, so we bought and read books, took advice when we could and tried to spend as much time on it ...

We awoke to grim skies Saturday morning, but with raincoats in tow we were prepared to have a great day on our public lands, nonetheless. The hour drive was unexpectedly dry and when we arrived at Gale Meadows Wildlife Management Area we were greeted by a platoon of men and women ready to get to work. After a short walk through old forest cuts to promote early successional growth (which they did, successfully), we emerged from the canopy to the foundation of an old farmstead, which happened ...

Last month, the Castleton Backcountry Hunters & Anglers Club worked with the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department to restore five-lined skink habitat on Vermont public lands. This project was supported by a grant the club received last fall through BHA's Public Land Owner Stewardship Fund. The five-lined skink, a threatened species in Vermont, is the only lizard species in the state. Unfortunately, this rare cold-blooded vertebrate is only reported to exist in a few towns in the state ...

BHA's University of British Columbia Okanagan collegiate club is helping students overcome barriers to hunting. By Peter White The pursuits of hunting and fishing aren’t easy pastimes to incorporate into life on campus as a university student. For one thing, on a student’s budget you are continuously flipping a coin between a piece of new hunting gear and a required textbook. Plus, if you are new to campus, it can be hard to find accessible hunting and fishing areas and to meet like-minded ...

Last fall, BHA's Collegiate Program hosted their inaugural Critter Classic: part R3, part stewardship, part wild game cooking competition. Brought to life by Mississippi State University club president, Landon Carlton, the event was an opportunity to get new hunters afield and connect them to hunting through the lens of a local, sustainable, and often overlooked source of food: small game. Points were accumulated for each small game hunter or license, bag of trash packed out, and small game ...