The MeatEater

Join Randall Williams as he takes on Buckfest 2025 - The 18th Annual Big Buck Hunter World Championships. Will Randall's actual deer hunting skills help or will he be shamefully defeated by this digital hunting competition? Presented by Moultrie

It’s Brent’s favorite time of year and the turkey stories are rolling in. He’s gonna share a couple from some listeners that are great examples of mentorship. One from a father and one about a father figure. The last one is about the man who taught Brent how to hunt turkeys. His lessons however, went far beyond the woods. 

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On Thursday, April 16, the California Fish and Game Commission unanimously passed an amendment to allow bear hunters to buy two black bear tags each license year instead of one. The decision is a victory for sportspeople in the Golden State.

The amendment was backed by numerous conservation groups, including the California Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers (BHA). The season tag limit increase comes as the average annual bear harvest rate hovers well below the quota of 1,700 bears. For instance, last year, according to the California Department of Fish & Wildlife (CDFW), fewer than 1,200 bears were taken.

In the meantime, California’s bear population is currently estimated to be around 59,000 bears, and human-bear conflicts have increased in certain areas. “We are not advocating for an increase in the quota. We’re advocating for a second bear tag to reach the quota established by science, by the management professionals within the Department of Fish and Wildlife,” said BHA Western Policy and Conservation Manager Devin O’Dea. “Not allowing individuals to purchase another bear tag—that’s just a loss in revenue for the department.”

O’Dea’s perspective was supported by science presented to the California Fish and Game Commission by CDFW scientists, who estimated that the regulation change would only marginally increase the overall annual bear harvest. The 1,700 bear quota will remain the same.

“I believe in hunting. It’s a natural way to eat meat. I know for sure that hunting and fishing are ways for people to connect with nature and cultivate a healthy respect for nature,” said Commissioner Samantha Murray. “It’s a scientific question, and the second tag is supported by the information that we have.”

Despite the season tag limit increase, California still has unusually strict bear hunting regulations. Hunting over dogs—a popular and effective way to target bears—was outlawed by state legislators there in 2012. Additionally, the state does not hold a spring bear season.

Still, many local hunters are welcoming the action, especially as it comes just five years after sportsmen’s groups defeated a bill that would have banned bear hunting in the state entirely. For folks interested in taking advantage of the expanded opportunity, California offers great public land access for spot-and-stalk black bear hunting.

This is a weird time of year to be thinking about deer.

It’s turkey season, the fishing is getting really good across the country, and we are at about the exact midpoint between the deer season’s end and its beginning. The default setting right now, with a lot of us, is that there is more than enough time. Which is true, until it isn’t.

There are some ways in which a lot of us sabotage our upcoming season that we don’t even consider until it’s too late. That’s a shame, because a lot of the little things you could do now will pay dividends come fall. The first is actually really simple, and fun.

Due to the fact that I really like to arrow strutting longbeards, I’ve been shooting my bow quite a bit lately. My goal, of course, is to send an expandable through the boiler rooms of as many toms as I can, while trying to avoid non-lethal hits that are so common in turkey bowhunting. My goal once the turkey season is wrapped up, is to keep shooting.

I have some buddies who just love to shoot, and it shows every fall. They are straight assassins when it counts (most of the time). They know what we all know, which is that we should practice year round (or at least more), but how many of us do?

One of the best ways you can ensure you don’t take a perfectly good deer season and turn it into a nightmare is to spend more time at the range. This obviously goes for bowhunters, but also firearm hunters, too. Practice doesn’t make perfect when it comes to deer hunting, but it’ll get you a hell of a lot closer than folks who wait until three days before the opener to fling some arrows or punch paper for a few rounds.

I’m convinced that one of the biggest hurdles most whitetail hunters never clear is the option’s game with their setups. We all know the mobile hunting advantages, but that is so biased in the public land bowhunters’ direction that it really doesn’t enter the conversation for a lot of folks. Whether you own ground, have a lease, or your grandma’s farm is still in the family, having more options is never a bad thing.

This is a hedge against human nature, especially given the current trend in hunting that involves making one spot a whitetail mecca and then setting up a box blind to hunt from season opener to season close, during every condition Mother Nature offers. When we have a good setup, we can’t help but hunt it.

That’s great, until you want to kill a mature buck. The higher the predator presence in one location, the lower the odds of a good one going there in daylight. It’s really that simple. Giving yourself a few more options for blinds and stands, even when you really just want to go doomscroll in a little house on stilts, is a good idea.

Think about wind direction, seasonal timing, and the likelihood of how and when you might burn out some of your go-to setups. Then, give yourself some ambush options to let the pressure of those locations when you really want to hunt but the conditions aren’t ideal for your mainstay haunts.

Much of this can be accomplished now, while there are still months left before the season.

To a lot of folks, this would be the most pointless time of year to put some trail cameras out. The bucks’ heads are bare, the deer are not necessarily living where they’ll be this fall, and there’s just so much time to gather better intel later.

Over the last several years, I’ve started to believe differently about all of that. Where I can, I often run cameras year round. Even though the info I gather now isn’t going to be as beneficial as the info I can gather in October, it’s not without some value.

What I’ve found about monitoring spring and summer bucks is that they mostly do predictable stuff, but it’s when they don’t, that I find myself learning something. Naturally, they’ll hit the most obvious food sources and all of that, but what I like to try to figure out is where else they might travel.

A mature buck has a home range of around a square mile, which means very little to most of us. Suffice it to say, he knows his home and core range very well, and throughout the spring and summer he’ll walk trails, visit water, and do his thing wherever it is beneficial. While you might only get 10 deer pictures a week on a trail in the woods for the next few months, you might get five that really tell you something.

We think about mature bucks generally in the context of September to December or January, but they live out there all year. Understanding where they like to travel all year, and what conditions might get them to walk through a pinch point in the spring, can play into your fall hunting strategy.

With today’s cell cameras and relatively cheap plans, you can do a lot of scouting and learning without really putting much effort in. And you should, if you can, because there’s really no downside to it.

What can 100+ farms teach us about big bucks? To answer it, Jake is joined by Jack Huston with Midwest Deer Surveys, who has flown hundreds of properties with thermal drones and seen exactly where deer are - and more importantly, where they aren’t. From density rings and social stress to bedding, pressure, and why “thicker” farms consistently produce, this episode challenges a lot of conventional thinking. We also get into how doe harvest impacts herds over time, what role genetics actually play, and why many hunters don’t struggle killing deer.

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Mike Crites wanted to live alone in the Montana mountains. He built a cabin, managed his land for wildlife, and spent his days hunting elk and mule deer. But isolation didn’t mean peace. After years of escalating disputes with neighbors over access roads and property lines, Mike vanished in September 2011.

What investigators eventually found was far worse than a missing person case—it was a dismemberment, with remains scattered across both sides of a mountain pass. Two neighbors emerged as key figures. One had a long history of conflict with Mike. The other showed up the day before he disappeared—and later changed his story. More than a decade later, the case finally made it to trial. But even now, the most critical questions remain unanswered.

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In this episode of In Pursuit with Rich Froning, the Mayhem hunt team break down what it actually takes to stay ready. Training isn’t just for the gym. It’s for the moments that count. From building real strength and conditioning to having the discipline to show up when it’s hard, this is about doing the work before you need it.

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The United States Senate voted today on H.J. 140 to repeal the 20-year mining moratorium on federal land in the headwaters of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The vote, which was an unprecedented use of the Congressional Review Act, passed narrowly, with 50 Republican Senators voting in favor of the action; 49 Senators opposed it, including two Republican defectors, Senator Susan Collins of Maine and Thom Tillis of North Carolina. The decision paves the way for the Trump Administration to reinstate leases for a massive copper sulfide mine proposed by Twin Metals, a subsidiary Chilean mining colossus Antofagasta.

The vote followed several hours of debate on the Senate floor, which stretched from late into the evening on April 15th into the morning of the 16th. Both of Minnesota’s Senators, Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar, spoke urgently and at length about the need to protect the Boundary Waters.

“This is an incredibly special place, beloved by Minnesotans and people all around the country, and this mine poses an unacceptable threat to it,” Senator Smith said. “[The Boundary Waters have] some of the cleanest water you’ll find anywhere in this country. You can drink it right out of the middle of the lakes. You’ll find lake trout, northern pike, and walleye—there is no better place in the world for that.”

Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico also spoke out against the action, which was soundly opposed by dozens of hunting and fishing conservation groups. “Public lands are the closest, most tangible thing we have to being able to represent true Jeffersonian democracy,” he said. “They are the thing that often unites us across the political spectrum. If you take these public lands away, you tear away the places where we are most free. This is an issue of heritage, and of our inheritance.”

On the other hand, Republican Representative Pete Stauber, who represents Northeast Minnesota, spearheaded the effort to repeal the mining moratorium, arguing that it cost “countless good-paying union jobs, and it also put our nation’s mineral security at risk.” He said that it is possible to hold the proposed mine to a high environmental standard, despite the dismal environmental track record for the style of mining.

Opponents of Stauber’s effort also argued that the Antofagasta mine would not improve mineral security, given the foreign ties of the mining corporation, as well as the fact that the ore would almost certainly need to be exported to Asia to be processed and then purchased from Antofagasta. Still, political pressure from the Trump Administration helped Stauber’s effort succeed.

“The short-sightedness of this incredibly disappointing decision is staggering. By overturning the mining moratorium in the Rainy River Watershed, our elected officials have put the interests of a few above the benefit of many. including the future generations we are fighting for,” said Lukas Leaf, executive director of Sportsmen for the Boundary Waters. “Paving the way for the Twin Metals mine does little, if anything, to satisfy the America First agenda, and is a direct assault on our outdoor heritage and public lands nationwide.”

The original mineral withdrawal was instituted by the Department of the Interior in 2023. The use of the Congressional Review Act (CRA) for a mineral withdrawal is unprecedented. Historically, the act has been used in a far more limited scope to review recent rules instituted by federal agencies, not overturn moratoriums several years old.

"This unprecedented use of the CRA to strike down public land management actions could have broad and long-lasting ripple effects far beyond the Boundary Waters,” MeatEater’s Director of Conservation Mark Kenyon said. “If carefully considered, years-long planning processes to manage our public lands can be disregarded with a simple majority vote, Americans of all political persuasions will pay the price for generations to come. Our public lands should not be left adrift and at the mercy of the political winds of the moment."

The CRA also prohibits a management agency from again issuing a new rule “that is substantially the same” as the old one, meaning that reinstating the Rainy River Watershed mining moratorium is now off the table. It also opens up the door for future uses of the CRA to claw back mineral withdrawals and land management plans several years after they were instituted by federal politicians, without any public process.

“We're disappointed by today's vote, especially considering the dramatic outpouring of public input from the hunting, fishing, and outdoor community in defense of the Boundary Waters region,” Mark said. “The will of the people was obviously heard, but apparently not heeded. Nonetheless, we look forward to continuing to raise the voices of the hunting and angling community as this process moves on."

That the vote came down to such a narrow margin is a testament to the effort of sportsmen and women across the country. “The support over the past few months from this community has been incredible and almost overwhelming,” Leaf said. “We’re super thankful for the amount of support that’s been coming in and how quickly people have been willing to go to bat for this issue.”

He added that the fight to conserve the Boundary Waters is far from over. While the Twin Metals leases will almost certainly be reinstated, the process to actually develop the mine remains arduous and requires agency reviews and approvals of mining plans and permits.

“This is far from shovels in the ground,” Leaf said. “Folks need to understand that this isn’t the end-all and be-all of this situation. It is a huge step forward for the supporters of this project, but there’s still a ways to go for getting it off the ground.”

I got excited the second I heard the gobbler answer my pot call from his pine tree roost. I scraped a couple of soft yelps on my slate, and he hammered back a response that sounded like "Let's meet up at sunrise.”

He did everything you pray a gobbler will do. He flew down, cut the distance, and came in on a string. But he broke strut at 60 yards like he’d hit an invisible wall. He just stood there staring holes in my decoys before circling around and disappearing into the hardwoods like he’d never been interested.

The way that bird put on the brakes had me cussing the decoy company under my face mask. It had to be the decoys. They must have been too shiny, too stiff, too fake. It couldn’t have been me. But the hard truth is what hunters don’t always like to hear: the problem isn’t usually with what you stick in the ground, but how.

It’s easy to obsess over picking the perfect decoy, but when a decoy spooks a bird, it usually comes down to the setup, not the decoy itself. Typically, a small detail ends up blowing the whole gig. Here are a few of the most common mistakes hunters make with their turkey decoys.

It’s tempting to put your decoys where you’ve got a good view of them from your blind or setup. But good placement has nothing to do with your comfort and everything to do with the bird’s.

Placing decoys at 15 to 20 yards from your position is a good distance for pulling a gobbler into range and far enough to keep his focus off you. Closer than that, and you risk him staring straight through the decoy and into your soul. If he sees movement behind the decoy, it’s over. Set your decoys farther than that, and you risk him hanging up just out of range.

A gobbler doesn’t need much reason to abandon a setup. Sometimes bad distance is all the excuse he needs.

Turkeys do more than look at a decoy when they approach. They’re also reading their body language. Face a hen straight at an approaching gobbler, and you risk turning a courtship into a standoff. Gobblers like their hens to play a little hard to get—not look like they’re ready to fight.

A hen decoy facing slightly away from the gobbler’s expected angle of approach is tough to beat. It looks natural, like she’s feeding and potentially drifting away from him. Most gobblers will try to circle in front of her and often strut to impress her. If that decoy is angled toward you, that little positioning could be enough for him to step into shooting range.

Most hunters choose decoys based on how they look to them when they should consider what the turkey sees and how they might react.

A feeding hen is your safest bet. It’s relaxed and non-threatening, and it works almost anywhere. An upright, alert hen can make a bird cautious, especially later in the season. Add a jake, and now you’re changing the script entirely. That might pull a dominant bird early in the season, but a few weeks of pressure can shut things down fast. If you’re not sure what kind of bird you’re dealing with, start with a single feeding hen decoy.

Turkeys have sharp eyes, and after they hear calling, they come in looking for proof. A decoy is supposed to give them something to look at, but it will only work if they can see it.

If a gobbler hears your calls but doesn’t see the hen those calls are coming from, he’ll turn skeptical fast. That’s the whole point of using a decoy. But that decoy won’t be worth a hill of beans if the tom can’t see it. Because turkeys have such keen eyesight, a little brush or grass in between that gobbler coming in and your decoy can sometimes buy you a few more yards. Don’t just stick your decoy out in an open field unless that really makes sense for your setup. You want him to find it, not stand and study it from 80 yards.

Real turkeys are rarely still. Watch a feeding flock, and you’ll see constant motion. Turkeys expect movement, and if they don’t see it, they get suspicious fast.

You don’t need remote control robot decoys to keep your setup realistic. Even subtle movement helps. Using lightweight decoys and flexible stakes that let the decoys twist and shift with the breeze can add enough realism to fool a wary bird. In some scenarios, a cheap decoy and a little wind can be far more convincing than a hyper-detailed statue. Turkeys can forgive a lot, but they won’t tolerate something that feels dead.

That gobbler that came in hot only to jump ship at 60 yards didn’t bust my decoys. He read my setup and decided it was telling a story he didn’t want to be a part of.

It’s far easier to blame your gear than to admit a bird with a brain the size of a walnut picked apart something small you didn’t even notice. Most of the time, success in the turkey woods doesn’t rest on how much money you dropped on your dekes, but how you position them.

Mike Crites wanted to live alone in the Montana mountains. He built a cabin, managed his land for wildlife, and spent his days hunting elk and mule deer.

But isolation didn’t mean peace.

After years of escalating disputes with neighbors over access roads and property lines, Mike vanished in September 2011.

What investigators eventually found was far worse than a missing person case—it was a dismemberment, with remains scattered across both sides of a mountain pass.

Two neighbors emerged as key figures. One had a long history of conflict with Mike. The other showed up the day before he disappeared—and later changed his story.

More than a decade later, the case finally made it to trial. But even now, the most critical questions remain unanswered.

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