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Clay Newcomb gives behind the scenes details and answers viewer questions about the Alaska boat-based black bear hunt feature in the new film for the MeatEater “12 in ‘26” film series.  Both Clay and Bear Newcomb hunt black bears along the Alaskan coast–Bear with a modern rifle and Clay with a primitive self bow.

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The daily lives of deer are mostly a mystery to hunters, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to learn as much as we can about them, especially if we're hunting pressured ground.

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This past winter in northern Southeast Alaska broke the record for snowfall, getting more than 200 inches in my hometown.

The last time we had a similar winter was in ‘06-’07, when the Alaska Department of Fish & Game asked hunters to kill fawns out of mercy. During my last hunt that season, I remember lying in my sleeping bag listening to fawns calling out, desperate, in the darkness. Some bears didn’t hibernate, choosing to stay awake with all the food the dead deer offered.

The following season, the population was significantly reduced in northern Southeast Alaska. Some estimated the decline at 70%.

Sitka blacktail deer are hugely important to Southeast Alaskans. Hunting them, eating them, and sharing their meat are integral parts of communities, big and small, across Alaska’s panhandle.

A big part of what makes hunting Sitka blacktails so cool is the wild country they inhabit. Most of Southeast Alaska is the Tongass National Forest. At 17 million acres, the Tongass is the largest national forest in the country. It’s made up of rainforest, rivers, more than a thousand islands, and a strip of mainland beneath massive, towering icefields. All in all, the Tongass contains some of America’s most dynamic and ecologically intact public lands.

It’s important to understand the makeup of the Tongass when considering the way it should be managed for the future. About one third of it is made up of glaciers. Another third is maybe not quite fairly called “unproductive forest” (muskegs, alders, etc.). The last third is referred to as "productive forest," which is most valuable from both an ecological and timber perspective. Within this category, logging operations have taken all but a small percentage of historically large-diameter old-growth trees.

The remaining stands of big old-growth forest act as a buffer for heavy snows and are vital for deer surviving bad winters.

Right now, the Forest Service is asking for comment on the way the Tongass National Forest will be managed in decades to come. This piece focuses on deer, but the decisions will affect salmon, other wildlife, industries like commercial fishing and tourism, food availability, and the whole spectrum of hunters and fishermen.

These changes could be either bad or good for Sitka blacktail deer. The bad: clear-cutting large swaths of large old-growth forest and losing winter habitat. The good: cutting young growth in a way that enhances deer habitat and supports local mills and the economy.

One of the big changes for the Tongass is that the Roadless Rule, which prevents the federal government from building taxpayer-funded logging roads to facilitate the logging of old-growth forest and degrade hunting, fishing, and other outdoor opportunities, is being rescinded.

This decision was made even though during the most recent USDA public comment period, 99.2% of comments and letters were in favor of keeping the rule. There are a lot of misconceptions surrounding the Roadless Rule. It does not prohibit the building of roads in general or prevent many forms of development.

For instance, in the Tongass, pretty much every hydroelectric project, mine, and community project applied for in Roadless areas has been permitted. I personally know several locals who operate small logging operations or were once loggers who support the Roadless Rule.

The Forest Service is also revising the Tongass Forest Management Plan, which acts as a guide for how the Tongass is managed. The Forest Service wrote in their 2025 Assessment Report that thousands of acres of young growth forest are now ready for commercial harvest—and that the harvest could be done in a way that restores wildlife habitat.

Most users, from dirtbag hunters like me to Alaska Native corporations, requested this approach to forest management. The Forest Service reported that from public feedback it was clear that people want the Tongass to remain a healthy ecosystem. There has long been a push from locals to transition from the controversial logging of old-growth forest to young growth, which until recently the Forest Service supported.

That changed in March of 2026, when the Forest Service released their Preliminary Draft Plan. The plan, along with a co-stewardship agreement with the State of Alaska, shows pressure to increase old growth production in addition to harvesting young growth forests. The changes are being made in compliance with the Trump administration’s Executive Order 14225 (Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production).

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game writes that "clearcut logging has and will continue to further reduce deer carrying capacity in some areas. Of more concern (than severe winters), habitat capability and deer numbers are expected to decline in some areas as large tracts of previously logged areas reach the closed canopy stem exclusion stage and become extremely poor deer habitat.”

Stem exclusion is when young growth forests have grown so close together that they blot out the sun, creating a closed canopy where there is no understory for Sitka blacktails to browse. If these trees aren’t thinned, a Southeast Alaska forest stand in the stem exclusion phase may languish in this unproductive state for a century.

Right now thousands of acres of young growth in the Tongass are old enough to harvest in a way that could enhance Sitka blacktail habitat and provide timber to local mills. Many users along with a collaboration of Alaska Native corporations, conservation groups, and agencies are working to make that happen. In the decades to come, the amount of young growth available for harvest will grow exponentially on both Forest Service land and land owned by Alaska Native corporations. This is an exciting opportunity that could better balance a timber industry while enhancing deer habitat.

The opportunity with young growth does not fix the habitat issues and diminished hunting opportunities that would result from clearcutting more old growth, though.

I’m hearing varying reports of how big of a hit Southeast Alaska’s Sitka blacktail population took after this record-breaking winter. Most the deer around my house have died, though I'm hopeful it wasn't nearly as devastating in other places I hunt. Some hunters in more southern areas are reporting decent numbers. Others, farther north, offer varying and sometimes dismal observations.

One thing is for certain—record-breaking snow coinciding with the rescinding of the Roadless Rule and revisions to the Tongass Forest Plan could not make it more clear that Sitka blacktail should be a priority in terms of how the forest is managed.

The Forest Service has a comment period open until May 6th regarding the preliminary draft plan for Tongass management, as well as species of conservation concern. If managers decide to allow the increased logging of old growth and we see more winters like this one, the future of Sitka blacktail deer could be concerning. Besides salmon, there is no species in the Tongass that deserves more thought and care in terms of how the forest is managed.

If you’d like to comment, click here.

Wild Turkeys have been a shining example of conservation efforts since their recovery from the brink of extinction in the late 1900s. In this episode, we not only talk to a gentlemen who has had the unique perspective to see the the recovery of the wild turkey and participate in some of the early conservation work, but we then spring forward to present day to talk about some the most current efforts being initiated to ensure turkeys and turkey hunting for the foreseeable future!

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Steven Rinella talks with outdoor legend and veteran outdoor writer Jim Zumbo. 

Topics discussed: Playing with insects as a kid; going to school for biology; winning a bet and and getting your first article published by Outdoor Life; how the editors always wanted bear mauling stories; "The Cow Call" and the "World Record Whitetail'; the very first rifle; having Obsessive Compulsive Firewood Disorder; philanthropic efforts with veterans; Jim's To Heck with Elk Hunting, To Heck with Deer Hunting, To Heck with Moose Hunting books; and more.

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This week, Cal delves into a whole bunch of bear-related developments, an AI robot chasing wild hogs, and the unusual backstory story behind a whopper fish.

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To learn more and get involved with any Cal to Action, click here.

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A mild winter and warm spring across much of the West have contributed to extremely below-average snowpacks and widespread drought conditions, prompting experts to use terms such as “historic” and “abysmal” when describing the current outlook. According to Climate Matters, the western U.S. snowpack was 65% below the 1991-2020 average as of March 30, marking the worst snowpack on record since 1981. Conditions vary depending on the subregion, but as of April 22, every region in the Westwide SNOTEL data provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture is below average.

The dismal snowpack has worrying implications not just for irrigators and water managers but for fish and wildlife populations across the West. But not all is lost—at least, not yet—for hunters and anglers who care about western wildlife populations and related recreational opportunities.

We spoke to leading experts for the major fish and wildlife groups impacted by the low snowpack about what to make of the conditions, potential conservation initiatives, and what you need to consider if you’re still planning western hunting and fishing adventures.

When it comes to the mild winter conditions, the low snowpack is a two-sided coin for elk, mule deer, and other native ungulates, according to Kent Hersey, big game research coordinator for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR). On one hand, the mild weather likely led to good overwinter survival rates.

“Most of our [mule deer] mortality tends to occur during the winter, largely due to malnutrition with deep snow and things of that nature,” Hersey told MeatEater. “This year, we didn’t have that, and deer didn’t have to burn their fat reserves. We’re coming out of the winter with really high adult and fawn survival rates.”

Similarly, elk benefited from better feeding opportunities due to the lack of snowpack. The flip side of the coin, though, is that dry conditions may have negative impacts going forward. “There’s probably not going to be as much vegetation produced because of the faster-than-usual melting period,” he said. “This means there’s going to be increased competition for food, and it could impact milk production.”

Another negative impact could be stunted antler growth for some mature bucks, bulls, and rams, not to mention the potential for impacts from catastrophic wildfire and altered predator behavior. That said, while drought conditions are currently widespread, Hersey says it’s too soon to say for sure how bad the impacts will be; spring precipitation and monsoonal moisture could offset the worst effects.

“We’re not pressing the panic button now,” Hersey said. “There are still a lot of unknowns, and we are in a wait-and-see mode.”

Should the dry conditions persist, he says that it’s likely that hunters will have plentiful opportunities—though perhaps not for trophy animals—this fall as wildlife managers seek to reduce wildlife populations to prevent habitat damage from overfeeding.

“We drop populations a little bit in the short term. Then, when conditions improve, we would allow them to come back up to objectives,” he said. “We do this to hopefully save habitats from long-term damage.”

Unsurprisingly, some of the most significant impacts from the “historic” low snowpack are likely to be seen in the West’s trout populations, according to Chrysten Rivard, VP Pacific Conservation for Trout Unlimited. Low snowpack conditions lead to cascading impacts to coldwater fisheries, while warmwater fisheries will largely record less serious impacts.

“When there's less water, the water warms up more quickly, and so you have too warm of temperatures for fish,” Rivard told MeatEater. “Over time, this decreases their fitness levels. And then warmer water temps also lead to other water quality problems like hazardous algal blooms and excess nutrient concentrations, as well as excessive aquatic vegetation growth.”

Additionally, the low water levels will concentrate fish in both rivers and lakes, potentially leading to increased angling pressure and related mortality for them. Poor spawning conditions are likely to be widespread, too. The negative impacts will also extend beyond inland trout to anadromous stocks such as steelhead and salmon reproduction.

“When peak flows happen at different [than usual] times, it disrupts their normal migratory cycles,” she said. “In addition, when we have really low flows in the summer and early fall, migratory fish are unable to go upstream [to spawn] where they want to.”

Rivard says this year’s brutal water conditions are likely to be particularly widespread. That said, there will be pockets of less-impacted cold-water fisheries, such as some alpine lakes and rivers and certain tailwaters. That said, not all tailwaters, which can buffer poor conditions because of water released from beneath dams, will escape unscathed. For instance, Colorado has already announced it’s fully draining a famed fishery, Antero Reservoir, and a significant drawdown is also on the horizon for the Flaming Gorge Reservoir.

An important way to mitigate the impact of dry years like this one, Rivard said, is meadow restoration in the headwaters of river systems, which raise stream levels, replenish groundwater, and provide shallow-water storage. She said that for folks still planning trout fishing trips in the West, it will be important to consult local shops to figure out where and when to fish.

“Understanding the local conditions of where you're planning to go is really important,” she said, adding that local guides and biologists can “direct folks to places that are still appropriate and good to fish and have a wonderful trip this year.”

Patrick Donnelly, currently a research scientist for Ducks Unlimited, is a specialist in spatial ecology for both waterfowl and upland birds. The outlook is poor for birds in the Mountain West.

“Snowpack is an ecosystem driver of water in the West,” he said. “It keeps places like riparian corridors green late in the summer. If you don’t have that water, you don’t have those little grocery stores that birds rely on late in the summer. Soil moisture also dries up, there’s not as much grass, and there aren’t the invertebrates that feed birds and chicks.”

Donnelly said that waterfowl won’t be as impacted in the same way as upland species because they are able to fly to find better habitat conditions. That said, local waterfowl production is likely to be down in some areas, and there is the potential for significant disease outbreaks such as avian botulism if birds are concentrated in limited wetland areas later in the year. In terms of major wintering grounds, the impacts on Pacific Flyway birds are likely to be felt strongest in the Klamath Basin and Great Salt Lake, while California’s Central Valley has a better outlook.

For upland species, the mild winter may have led to good overwinter survival, like ungulates, but those positives are likely to be more than offset by poor summer habitat conditions, especially for birds such as chukar, pheasant, sage grouse, Hungarian partridge, and sharptail grouse in systems that rely on snowpack moisture. Quail species in the desert Southwest are also being impacted by persistent drought conditions.

Donnelly said this year’s dry outlook is particularly widespread, though conditions will have local variation due to spring and summer precipitation. Negative effects on habitat can be compounded in localized areas by wildfire, which, in sage brush ecosystems, can facilitate the spread of invasive cheatgrass, among other issues.

Donnelly also notes that upland birds have cyclic population fluctuations, meaning they’re likely to bounce back in future years. That said, while this year appears to be exceptionally dry, it’s part of a broader trend, which is particularly bad for imperiled sage grouse. “I think of sage grouse populations as a pogo stick that goes up and down with weather,” he said. “But we’re going down an escalator instead of staying on flat ground.”

Come fall, bird hunters can adapt to the variable conditions by concentrating on pockets with good spring and summer precipitation, as well as parts of the western U.S. that aren’t as dependent on snowpack.

“You want to find a place that’s less impacted by some of the drought conditions covering the entire region,” he said. “For upland hunters, I’d particularly look at parts of the Great Plains that get precipitation as rainfall and aren’t dependent on snowpack levels.”

Feature image via Mitch Tobin/The Water Desk.

It’s time for Brent’s annual Alabama turkey hunt with Reed Barganier. Just like most of Brent’s projects there's no shortage of calamity and adventure. This one is no different. Shots have been fired so get comfortable and let’s see how he fared. 

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Ham is a wonderful thing: beautiful as the centerpiece of a holiday meal, fantastic in sandwiches, or perfect when crisped up and sprinkled on top of a baked potato. It completely changes the character of the meat, transforms tough cuts into tender morsels, and is a great way to truly celebrate your harvest.

When it comes to curing meat (the first step in making wild game ham), there are two general approaches: excess-salt curing and equilibrium curing.

Excess-Salt Curing: You bury the meat in salt or in an extra-salty brine and pull it out after a specific time. It’s faster but risky; leave it in too long, and it becomes a salt lick. This is a great approach for brining a whole turkey or a standard-size ham if you’ve got the timing down right. The thickness of the meat matters most in determining how long you should leave it in.

Equilibrium curing (EQ): This is essentially the "low and slow" method of curing. Unlike the excess-salt method, EQ curing uses a precise amount of salt based on the weight of meat and water and then takes as long as necessary for that salt to distribute evenly through the meat. It takes longer but is impossible to over-salt, as the final state is where the salt has reached an equilibrium throughout—it can’t get any saltier.

When curing smaller or non-standard cuts of meat, I prefer the equilibrium cure method over the excess-salt method. While the excess salt method is faster, it’s easy to over-cure your meat and end up destroying the meat you worked so hard to harvest, butcher, cure, and smoke. If you want an idiot-proof ham that’s guaranteed to taste good and don’t mind waiting a bit longer, this recipe is for you.

This recipe is for a simple, basic ham using the equilibrium cure method. Start with that, and then feel free to tweak the ratio of salt to sugar, the glaze, and add other flavor elements to find what you prefer.

A Note on Trichinosis: Wild hogs and bear meat can contain the larval form of Trichinella spiralis. When ingested by humans, these larvae can cause the disease trichinosis. It’s very important that you cook all bear and wild pig meat to an internal temperature of at least 160°F.