Migration
I like using wild game meats for breakfast meals because it is when I put on my best thinking cap. Dinner recipes tend to fall towards a variation on a steak. Sharing wild game is one of my favorite ways to start a conversation about hunting, wild lands conservation, or even just life in general. To make everyone feel comfortable, I tend to make dinner meals that feel familiar, like a steak with a mushroom sauce or brown gravy, and then switch the wild game in. Breakfast seems to be the time when I stray away from the familiar and share something a little bit different.
It’s Christmas week here on the Mule Deer Foundation and Blacktail Deer Foundation comms team so we thought we would have a little fun. When you waited years to finally draw that big buck mule deer tag in a stellar unit it can be a miserable time when you’re staring at an un-notched tag on the last day of your hunt.
Hunting season is over and most of the lower 48. You may have a late season muzzleloader tag for a primitive weapons tag burning a hole in your pocket, but for the rest of us the 2024 season is done. What should I do now? After 90+ days of chasing bucks and ducks or grouse free time may feel strange. It’s a bit too cold out to start practicing marksmanship for next season. You can only put so much time into buying preference points, or applying for tags, and eventually scanning OnX in the evening for ridges or saddles you may have missed gets boring. When the boredom finds you one of the best ways to spend, the winter is sitting next to the fire with a good book. What follows are a few winter reading suggestions from the Mule Deer Foundation and Blacktail Deer Foundation?
December has come again. The season started with such promise, full of aspirations for massive antlers fitting perfectly in the empty space on the wall. A winter of deer steaks and chili enjoyed while retelling the story of conquest, of trials and tribulations that lead to the meal before you. A summer spent practicing with your rifle and optics, buying the newest “must have” gear, and watching every Mule Deer hunting video on the internet lead to a September full of deliberate scouting and combing the fields and sage flats for your target buck in anticipation of opening day.
The Mule Deer Foundation thanks Colorado voters for rejecting Proposition 127, which would have banned the hunting of mountain lions and bobcats throughout the state. Colorado voters affirmed a strong belief in the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation and asserted their desire for Colorado’s wildlife to be managed by wildlife professionals, rather than through citizens initiatives.
When heading out for your first western hunt, there are a million things to prepare for. We often focus on the gear we need, what type of tent, what kind of pack, and the list goes on and on. Part of the prep phase is picking your rifle and heading to the range to get practice in. We often do this from a fixed, stable position. These stable positions will be nearly impossible during a western hunt due to terrain and the speed at which opportunities often happen. With that in mind, here are three positions you should practice shooting with and why:
During hunting season at the Mule Deer Foundation, the staff becomes obsessed with gear. The office is bubbling with debates over any type of gear, from brands of water filters to wall tents. When applicable, we try to publish these debates for the reader to consider when making purchasing decisions during hunting season.
Today, we are discussing which boot is best. This debate has multiple facets, from cost to break-in period to overall comfort and, finally, regionality. We recognize that there is probably no one boot that’s best for all scenarios, but we’ve done our best to decipher which is the closest.