The MeatEater

Last week, the U.S. Senate voted to overturn three BLM resource management plans (RMPs), paving the way for increased energy development on select public lands. The congressional resolution targeted the Miles City Field Office in eastern Montana, the Alaska Office’s Central Yukon district, and the entirety of the North Dakota Field Office.

The strategic selections single out regions with particularly dense natural resources. In Montana, the primary target is coal deposits in the Powder River Basin; in North Dakota, it’s the oil-rich “Bakken formation;” and in Alaska, the mineral-laden Brooks Range, which would require construction of the 200-mile-long “Ambler Road” to access.

Opening up these areas—and the unique congressional process that was used to do so—could impact hunters and anglers in some surprising ways, both short and long-term.

Immediately, the vote clears red tape for new energy leasing on BLM land—much of which was reopened by Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act in July. In Montana’s Powder River Basin, for instance, 1.1 million acres of mineral estate managed by the Department of Interior were made readily available for leasing in July, along with an additional 5.6 million acres of private, state, and other local land. Repealing the local RMP removes guardrail regulations designed to protect wildlife, water, and other natural resources on those lands.

For instance, the Montana RMP prohibited surface disturbances (coal mining) within a quarter mile of the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers to protect water quality and riparian habitats that elk and deer rely on. Importantly to hunters, it also restricted new mining activity in “developed and undeveloped recreation areas receiving concentrated public use”—essentially a mandate to consider hunters, anglers, hikers, and other users before issuing new leases.

Similarly, the North Dakota plan has special restrictions for critical sage grouse habitat, elk birthing areas, and a half-mile buffer around the Missouri River, Lake Oahe, and Lake Sakakawea to protect drinking water. In addition, there were statues in place to protect other, non-game species like bald and golden eagles and wetland areas—all important parts of the prairie ecosystem.

However, just because more land and more leases are available doesn’t mean they’ll be utilized. That was demonstrated last week, when the BLM held what was expected to be the largest coal sale in nearly a decade in Montana’s Powder River Basin. The sale received one bid from Navajo Transitional Energy for $186,000, or less than one cent per ton of coal. The bid was rejected because it fell below the “fair market value” set by the BLM. After the flop, the agency indefinitely postponed a similar lease sale that was previously scheduled in Wyoming for last week.

In Alaska, though, mining companies are poised to reel in the newfound slack from the overturned Central Yukon RMP. In conjunction, the Trump Administration also announced a partnership last week with Trilogy Metals—a company with plans to develop the Ambler Road and associated mining districts—and ordered that the necessary authorizations and permits be issued by the BLM, National Park Service, and U.S. Army Corps within 30 days. The move also makes the Department of War a 10% shareholder in Trilogy Metals. In short, it’s looking all but certain that the industrial-use road will be built. (For more on the Ambler Road and the impact it could have on wildlife and recreational hunters in this remote region, read this article.)

While the three regions impacted by the repealed RMPs might see varying degrees of new development, there’s another issue at stake: the mechanism by which Congress overturned the plans. Together, senators and representatives invoked the 1996 Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to overturn new rules set by federal bureaus, or rules that were enacted at the end of a previous presidency (all three RMPs fell into the latter category).

The catch, though, is that RMPs have never technically been considered “rules,” according to Department of Interior officials in a letter earlier this year. The thick planning documents (about 300-500 pages) provide guiding regulations, but lack the congressional oversight of official “rules.” Treating the RMPs as such could call into question “the validity of implementation decisions issued in conformance with those plans,” according to the letter. Essentially, any resource plan across the country that has been issued by the BLM since 1996 could be up for debate in court. And along with them, all the associated oil and coal leases, grazing allotments, and access agreements.

To make the waters even murkier, the Congressional Review Act prohibits agencies from re-issuing rules similar to those that have been overturned. The clause is designed to prevent agencies from changing a few words and resubmitting a document, but in the case of RMPs, it could also wipe out thirty years of regulations—collateral damage in the process of clearing the books for energy leasing. Those regulations prohibiting development on the banks of the Missouri River in Montana and North Dakota, for instance, could be wiped clean.

In short, unless Congress chooses to selectively reintroduce regulations, the impacted areas will be, at best, in a realm of regulatory uncertainty. Experts expect the issue will be taken up in court.

Unfortunately, there are no cut-and-dry answers for sportsmen wondering about the future of their hunting spots. Though additional BLM land could be open to leasing, it still takes private companies, backed mostly with private equity, to sign the papers and fire up the equipment. With Trilogy Metals in Alaska being an exception, those companies appear somewhat reluctant to do so as a result of both consumer pressures and a Biden administration that squashed new coal and oil production. However, new government partnerships could be a powerful incentive for companies to pursue new leases.

Political issues aside, though, energy leasing could have some benefits for hunters. On the Montana and North Dakota oil fields, for example, antelope hunters on BLM land can take advantage of thousands of miles of dirt roads to scout and hunt for speedgoats. Mining companies also pay royalties to the states (usually in the range of 7 to 15% of revenue), some of which is used for road improvements and funneled into local conservation districts.

Of course, wildlife tends to pay the price for development of any kind—housing, wind and solar farms, mining, etc. In 2018, wildlife biologists conducted a study in eastern Montana and western North Dakota to assess the impacts of oil and gas development on mule deer. They found that low levels of development didn’t have much of an impact, but areas with high oil-pad and road densities resulted in a change in deer behavior and lower overall survival. In light of the repealed RMPs, considering research like this will be much harder for land managers to justify when considering new leases in the future.

The bottom line is that the next few years could see an uptick in development, especially in Alaska and on the open western prairies. As hunters, we would be wise to keep wildlife and conservation at the forefront of the conversation.

When mid-September hits, deer feeding patterns start to shift, and you can take this as one of the few nearly-true blanket statements in the whitetail world. So, no matter where you live, fall brings change. Whether you’re hunting deer in ag country or the big woods, once acorns start dropping, the deer will find them. If you want to punch a tag, you need to do the same.

The term “feed tree” gets thrown around a lot. Loosely, it refers to a specific mast-producing tree (typically acorns) that seems to attract the local deer herd like a magnet. While targeting feed trees can be a dynamite strategy for hunting deer, it’s not as simple as finding just any acorn-producing tree. Here are a few things to consider before striking out into the woods this October.

Depending on where you live, you’ll have to figure out which acorn trees drop first in your area. Where I live in South Mississippi, water oaks start dropping the first two weeks of September. Depending on that summer’s weather, white oaks typically follow suit by the time October rolls around, and you can find plenty of red oaks well into December.

In a perfect season, you can find a steady acorn crop through the first three months of the season. But that’s because different trees drop at different times. Think of it as a staggered dropping as opposed to all the trees dropping at exactly the same time. For this reason, you need to find the fresh feed sign if you’re trying to target deer under a specific feed tree, which isn’t that different from hunting other deer sign.

Don’t just find a tree that’s dropping acorns (though it should be). Even if you find one that’s raining, look for fresh tracks or where the leaves have recently been mashed or cut into the ground. Heavier deer can even poke holes in the leaves with the front of their hooves. You should probably see tiny bits of dirt scattered in the leaves, too. Look for acorn caps, munched-up acorns, and most importantly, fresh droppings. If you find a place that looks like the deer have hammered it, but the droppings are dry, move on. The deer have already ransacked that tree and moved to another one. If you do spot fresh feed sign from the past 24 hours, pick out a tree and hang a set.

Mobile hunting often gets overstated. However, it’s perfect for targeting feed trees. Trees don’t drop all season long. Some are only “hot” for a week or two. Because these windows are so short, you have to constantly scout your way into fresh sign. A feed tree might be hot one weekend and dry by the next. This is especially noteworthy for weekend warriors. You might find the jackpot one weekend, only to find it’s a ghost town the next. Don’t just plan on going back to that tree, get there early to see if it’s still in play. If not, you’ll still have plenty of time to scout another place.

For hunters who can hit the woods during the week or slip off after work, I’d hunt that tree until the sign and deer sightings said otherwise.

If you’re still trying to find a hot tree, plan to go in early and scout your way around until you find one. This is where tree saddles, climbing sticks, and ultralight hang-on stands earn their keep. Even if you find a hot tree several hours before dark, don’t hesitate to set up right away. I’ve seen deer traveling and feeding at all times of the day, especially hunting acorns near edges or bedding areas.

Other than finding one during that small window, there are a few other challenges to hunting feed trees. Anytime I specifically hunt a feed tree, I typically see multiple deer. This is great, until it comes time to draw your bow and you have six pairs of eyes to avoid. As long as you don’t sit in the wide open, you can remedy this conundrum with a good setup. For saddle hunting, you can hide behind the tree. Just make sure you have plenty of cover or height so you don't get busted when you draw.

I’m all for hunting mornings (or whenever you can) in the early season. Though, I will admit that it gets tricky if you’re targeting a specific feed tree. You might not think of it as a destination food source, but that’s kind of how it operates. As such, you might want to consider hunting them in the evening if you’re worried about bumping deer off a feed tree as you walk in for a morning hunt. Of course, I’ve done this only to have deer come feed at that same tree just a few hours later.

Hunting feed trees requires constant scouting and familiarity with the landscape. It forces you to adapt almost every time you go to the woods, and that’s a valuable skill you’ll need all season long.

This week on the show we are diving deep into the big buck lessons taught by the late, great, Roger Rothhaar, the influencer of todays greatest whitetail influencers - with a guest appearance from Don Higgins.

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In this Spike Camp episode, Rich and the team unpacks their conversation with Nate and takes a dive into what a friend is doing with a non-profit that he started and hosts dream hunts.

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Have you ever wanted to squeeze just a little more velocity out of your hunting rig? You like your rifle and the cartridge it shoots, and you don’t want to make a big change. But adding 150 feet-per-second of bullet velocity would increase your effective range and make you more comfortable taking that shot across the canyon.

You aren’t alone. Legendary wildcatter P.O. Ackley had a similar impulse when he pioneered the “Ackley Improved” (AI) family of wildcat cartridges. Rather than invent an entirely new cartridge, Ackley took an existing case and fired it in a rifle with an Ackley Improved chamber. This modified (or “improved”) the cartridge case in a way that increased muzzle velocity and performance.

It sounds like a no-brainer and an instant commercial success. But Ackley invented dozens of these Improved variants, and only the .280 Ackley Improved has made the jump from the reloading bench to the ammunition factory, courtesy of Nosler.

AI cartridges are perhaps the most popular wildcat cartridge designs, but the fact that only one has been widely(ish) adopted begs the question: are they worth it? Keep reading, and you can decide for yourself.

Ackley Improved cartridges have been so popular among everyday hunters because you can make them yourself. If you have a rifle chambered in an Ackley Improved cartridge, you can fire the standard version of that cartridge in that rifle to create fire-formed cases with the correct dimensions.

For example, if you like the .30-30 Win. but want better muzzle velocity, you can purchase a rifle chambered in .30-30 AI. Then, you can fire your standard .30-30 Win. loads in your new rifle to create .30-30 AI cases. Those cases can be reloaded with .30-30 AI dies, and voila!—you have a .30-30 that hits 2,600 fps, a 200 fps improvement over the standard cartridge.

How AI cartridges increase bullet velocity is a testament to P.O. Ackley’s genius. He realized that increasing the angle of the shoulder on a bottleneck rifle cartridge–usually to either 28 or 40 degrees–increases case capacity and, therefore, potential bullet velocity.

At least, that’s the layman’s explanation. The actual physics has been outlined by P.O. Ackley's biographer and accomplished wildcatter, Fred Zeglin. He explains in “Cartridge of the World” that, technically speaking, a wider shoulder diameter is what explains the velocity gains. This wider shoulder lowers the ratio between the case capacity with the bullet seated and the total capacity of the bore and chamber, what he calls the “expansion ratio.”

“When we ‘Improve’ a cartridge, we create more chamber volume for the same bore volume, so the expansion ratio is less,” he writes. “This seems confusing until you realize the pressure curve for any load is a curve, with a peak pressure and a timeline. So, we’re talking about changing the timing related to the pressure. The greater the pressure at the muzzle when the bullet exits, the higher the velocity.”

Whatever the reason, the proof is in the pudding. AI versions of standard cartridges increase bullet velocity. Sometimes it’s only three or four percent; sometimes it’s greater. But the improvement is there, which explains why AI cartridges have been attracting hunters and sport shooters for nigh on 70 years.

Data from Fred Zeglin, “Cartridges of the World”

Of course, if you want a more powerful hunting cartridge, you can always just get a new rifle chambered in something a little hotter. This, I think, is why AI cartridges haven’t been more commercially successful: you can’t shoot an AI cartridge in a gun chambered for the standard version. Instead, you have to buy an entirely new rifle, and if you have to do that anyway, a lot of hunters figure they might as well jump to a magnum cartridge or something with significantly better performance. Plus, since the .280 AI is the only Improved variant available from the factory, you’ll probably have to reload all your own ammunition.

Ackley aficionados will counter that once you have that AI-powered rifle (so to speak), you can fire both standard and Improved versions of the cartridge. This gives you the flexibility to take advantage of Improved performance while also using standard loads if you don’t have time to dedicate to the reloading bench. Improved variants also offer better performance without delivering the recoil of a magnum cartridge, which is always a big plus.

I can see both sides of this argument. If you roll your own ammunition, you’re tickled by the idea of fire-forming your own cartridges, and you just generally like tinkering with guns and ammo, the Ackley Improved concept is for you. It’s a great way to dive a little deeper into the Wonderful World of Firearms, and the performance gains are real (though they also sometimes come with shorter barrel life).

But if your only reason to get an Ackley Improved rifle is for 150 more fps of bullet velocity, save yourself some time and money and just get a gun chambered in a different cartridge. As I covered here, modern versions of older cartridges often offer better downrange performance, and you can also step up to a magnum class if you want to chase a bigger critter.

Whether you like the idea of giving your favorite hunting cartridge the Ackley treatment or think the whole concept is a relic of a bygone era, you can’t deny that P.O. Ackley had a profound impact on ammunition development. His steeper shoulder angles are a hallmark of modern cartridges, and his constant striving for better, more effective ammunition has inspired many to undertake the same project. Perhaps more importantly, Ackley gave everyday hunters what we’re always looking for: an exciting, rewarding way to give ourselves an edge in the field.

Tony Peterson heads to Iowa to chase whitetails bucks on public land. Tony's no stranger to the Hawkeye State and hunting pressured bucks. But with warmer temperatures in the forecast, Tony must adapt and stay flexible with his plans. After a few trials, errors, and an executive hunch, Tony sets a decoy along a river bottom and waits for his golden opportunity. Presented by RAM

This week on Rut Fresh, Jake is joined by Hunter Hogan of Missouri, Rob Sand of Iowa, Josh Profit of Kentucky, and Chris Jones of Plot Advisors in Illinois.

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On this episode of the Bear Grease Render, host Clay Newcomb along with Bear Newcomb and Josh “Landbridge” Spielmaker are joined by Ishi series guest and tradition archery expert Gene Hopkins. Gene talks about his impressive collection of archery history, his work with the Pope and Young Club, and his personal connection to Fred Bear. Clay also shares his firsthand knowledge of the recent tragic black bear attacks in Arkansas.

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