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The Lesser Prairie-Chicken was listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on November 17th, 2022. Although being listed comes with additional management and financial support, “The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service cannot recover lesser prairie-chickens with regulations” according to the  North American Grouse Partnership . “It is the voluntary parti...

Grassroots conversations regarding the 28-gauge feel more like the passing on of old fantasy stories rather than true, hard facts of ballistics. People smarter than me have pointed out that all shotgun ballistics apply except when talking the 28-gauge. There are myths of its origins, a collective misunderstanding of the “square load,” and a devout following by some of the greatest shotgun experts...

Heartworm disease is caused by a parasite called  Dirofilaria immitis . They’re called heartworms because the worms are typically found in infected animals’ heart, lungs, and blood vessels. Commonly found in dogs and cats, our pets serve as hosts for the worms to mature, breed, and multiply. When mature, the worms look like long strands of spaghetti. Female worms can be 10 to 12 inches in length,...

The Gunnison sage-grouse (GUSG) is a critically imperiled sage grouse species most folks aren’t familiar with. Historically, it was lumped in with greater sage-grouse until the 1990s, when biologists began questioning whether or not it should be its own species. It was designated as a new species in the year 2000 by Dr. Jessica Young and her colleagues. Differences in filoplume length, strut rates...

This summer, reports of a  strange virus sickening dogs in the upper peninsula of Michigan  made national news. Further testing at the Michigan State Veterinary Diagnostic Lab revealed this was not some new disease or variant, but an old, well-known foe: parvovirus.  Parvo is widespread throughout the world and most dogs will be exposed to it at some point (if not several times) in their life. I’m...

Natural selection has a funny way of influencing nature.  American Woodcocks (Scolopax minor)  are a fantastic example of this. Often  referred to as Timberdoodles , the woodcock is one of those strange creatures bopping around our world as a result of evolution. I can recall my first experience observing American Woodcocks. I was an undergrad studying wildlife ecology at the University of Wiscons...

There are a few ways to fuel a fury-filled debate in any subculture. For uplanders, simply state that your favorite game bird is King of the Uplands and watch the chaos ensue. But what does it take to claim the title of king? Is it the bird’s behavior or environment? Are external factors involved, or is it just in our heads? Perhaps it’s a combination of many things.  William Harnden Foster , the...

That year was a particularly challenging one. A record-breaking wet spring during nesting season hit the pheasant hatch hard. The roads into a bunch of properties didn’t fare well, either. Forest fires had been brutal in the Pacific Northwest, burning hundreds of thousands of acres of grouse and quail habitat. The heat dome really did a number on  chukar  and  Hungarian partridge  numbers, too. Th...

To walk the walk, bird hunters need to first learn to talk the talk. Deciphering the various terminology of the pointing dog world can be confusing.  Dog training  verbiage is not universal. It can vary regionally, and the dogs you are running or the program you are following may have their own verbiage, too.  When I picked up my first  Deutsch Kurzhaar  (DK) pup, I was greeted with a long list of...

Non-lead hunting ammunition has been mainstream, especially for  waterfowl hunting , for over 20 years. Since the ban on lead ammunition for waterfowl hunting, many bird species have been conserved due to the decrease in lead on our landscapes like raptors, waterfowl, and scavenging birds; today, these critters are ambassadors for using non-lead ammunition when hunting. But lead ammunition is stil...

However, their reputation is only partially deserved. These birds become far more wary with dogs on the ground. Clearly, they evolved to avoid canids and big cats, not humans. If you want a sporting hunt for dusky grouse, a dog is all you need to make it interesting. In 2006, taxonomists recognized distinct genetic and morphological variability in two major groups of blue grouse.  They renamed the...

While staring out my kitchen window one morning, I watched Rudy, my resident yard  rooster , come sailing through the sky to land in the orchard down below my house. I quickly finished my morning tea and grabbed my two setters to see if we could rouse Rudy from his hiding place.  As expected, my two girls slammed beautiful points in the morning light. Of course, the place Rudy settled in was a nat...

Every bird hunter reaches a point in their life when they desire to travel to a  different state  and hunt a new species. There are too many intriguing birds and landscapes to stay satisfied with hunting near home. Alternatively, in some states, one must travel to find success. While the culmination of a good bird hunt is ultimately the point, flush, and successful taking of the target species, ge...

Similar to many upland game species, the  northern bobwhite  has experienced range-wide declines over the last century. These declines are primarily attributed to changes in land use and habitat loss. However, many unanswered questions remain regarding the sustainability of populations exposed to an annual harvest and associated hunting pressure. Read more at projectupland.com .

Something about side-by-sides speaks to the grouse hunter in me. My personal journey into side-by-sides is likely similar to others’ amongst the under-45 crowd finding their way into them today: nostalgia seeped into my veins. Although I wanted one, I hesitated to buy a vintage gun because I lacked confidence and the knowledge of how to select one that functioned properly and was fairly priced. I...

Learn to avoid these simple mistakes before you step foot in the uplands again.  Read more at projectupland.com .

There is a decent amount of talk about training once hunting seasons end. Oftentimes, that talk turns to dogs—honing skills or learning new ones. There are also discussions about their human counterparts staying sharp, specifically with our shooting.  Read more at projectupland.com .

Firsts can come at any time. For long-time waterfowl hunter Steph Lane, her first snow goose hunts were that of disappointment and heart-beating, exciting redemption, respectively.  Read more at projectupland.com .

A West Virginia University wildlife and fisheries student joins experts from the U.S. Forest Service, Ruffed Grouse Society, and West Virginia Division of Natural Resources on an interagency project outside of Elkins, West Virginia. Through this visit to the worksite, it's clear that multispecies management via interagency collaboration is a successful model to bolster successful conservation...

The "glamorous" life of a chukar hunter is like no other. You will spend nights away from your family, sleeping in your trailer, tent, or in the bed of your truck. You will experience incredible vistas that stretch on for miles in all directions. The rugged mountains, steep hills, and grassy flats that make up chukar country are a monochromatic feast for the eyes. At different times of t...

If you have been searching for that "one," that Holy Grail gun, don’t overlook the Fabarm Autumn; it will likely surprise you. Although my experience with an injured arm is on the extreme side of the spectrum, it illustrates perfectly what a properly-balanced, lightweight side-by-side can do for you. After a long day of pushing brush and following dog bells you may only get one opportuni...

I've learned why West Virginia isn’t a bucket list state for waterfowlers. Still, I learned a few things from those mistakes and few successes that have translated into tactics necessary for hunting ducks in the best places the Mountain State provides for waterfowl hunting: small bodies of water.  Read more at projectupland.com .

Wearing an oversized camo jacket, a generic blaze orange hat, and awkwardly carrying a borrowed youth 20 gauge, I walked into the lobby of the local trap club where the participants of the Eastern Oregon Women’s Pheasant Hunt were gathering. It was clear almost immediately that I was not the only newbie; if not from the other neophyte’s nervous shuffling, then from their attire. Only the women who...

It's one of the most dreaded announcements a North American government agency can make: a species has been proposed to be listed under the Endangered Species Act. The announcement that the lesser prairie-chicken had been suggested by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to be re-listed was painful but not unexpected. According to the USFWS, it's estimated that the species’ range has been r...

Hunting gloves are, perhaps, one of the less considered items in our kits. I’ve personally been on a quest to find a solid, all-around glove and have been met with mixed results. They all work for some applications, but I have struggled to find a general-purpose glove that checks all of the boxes. The “boxes” I look to check are fit (including any break-in period), which is affected by material, i...