Hunting in Warm Weather Requires Extra Care to Prevent Meat from Spoiling

Plan ahead to ensure you end up with quality game meat in the freezer.

Some early season hunting opportunities have already begun in Idaho, with additional archery seasons and moose hunts starting in September. While early season hunts can provide an excellent opportunity to harvest a big game animal, warm weather brings additional challenges when it comes to properly caring for game meat to prevent it from spoiling, especially when dealing with larger animals like moose and elk.

The key to preserving meat in hot weather is to begin the cooling process as quickly as possible. Meat spoils the quickest around the ball joints in the hip and underneath the front shoulders. Your harvest should be immediately skinned, reduced to quarters, and quickly transported to cold storage. In larger animals it may even be necessary to make some cuts in between muscles to the bone to allow heat to escape. Larger muscle masses take a long time to cool, and meat can spoil in a matter of hours if heat cannot escape.

Failure to cool meat down fast enough may result in what is commonly referred to as bone souring. Read more

Michigan results for two limited-license deer hunt drawings available now

Drawing results are available to hunters who applied for the antlerless deer hunting access permits for Deer Management Unit 352 in the Upper Peninsula or for reserved deer hunts in the Lower Peninsula.

Check your drawing results online at eLicense, in the Michigan DNR Hunt Fish app or call 517-284-9453 to see if you were successful. Leftover licenses for remaining deer hunting access permits will be available beginning Monday, Sept. 8, at 10 a.m. until the quotas are met. There is no guarantee that leftover access permits will be available.

You can buy a license online at Michigan.gov/DNRLicenses, from any license agent or through the Michigan DNR Hunt Fish app. Keep in mind, licenses bought online will be mailed to you seven to 10 days after purchasing.

Check drawing results ?

Top 10 Preseason Checks for Web-Footed Quarry on the Water and Over the Fields

Early Canada goose and teal seasons are imminent (a few states have already opened resident only Canada goose seasons), so it’s time to check your waterfowl hunting kit – shotguns, boats, decoys, and blind bags, if you haven’t already. Following are ten go-time tips for hunters who are giddy for the most wonderful time of year.

ONE: Clean that filthy gun. Okay, okay, some hunters are good about gun maintenance, and the irons are tended to and spick and span right after the hunt – possibly stored much like a valuable archeological relic. Then there are the rest of us. Tear them down and get them ready for game day. This includes checking for magazine plugs and making sure said shotgun has the appropriate choke tube installed (remember you threw it in the corner of the closet the day after turkey season…).

Bonus Tip: Do. Not. Over-lubricate. Read more

Michigan’s Early waterfowl seasons open Sept. 1

teal duck swimming
Early goose and teal hunting seasons, as well as common gallinule, Virginia rail, sora rail and Wilson’s snipe seasons, open Sept. 1.

We get a lot of teal questions this time of year. Here is a highlight from the 2025 waterfowl hunting regulations summary that is one of the most frequently asked:

What can I hunt during the early teal season?

Only blue-winged and green-winged teal may be harvested during the early teal season. Hunters are strongly encouraged to refresh their duck identification skills for this season. Do not shoot if you are not sure of your target. The daily bag limits and possession limits are the same as those allowed in the regular duck hunting season.

The full waterfowl hunting regulations summary information, with information on teal hunting and everything else waterfowl, is now available online in mobile-friendly and desktop PDF formats.

Whether you’re looking for season dates and bag limits, hunting hours or anything in between, you can find it all at the link below.

Waterfowl regs summary ?

Fish and Wildlife Commission Passes New Wolf Regulations

The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission finalized wolf hunting and trapping regulations during a lengthy meeting Thursday where commissioners heard passionate comments from people around the country.

The Commission debated several amendments to the 2025/2026 Furbearer and Wolf Hunting and Trapping Regulations proposal that FWP released in early July. Though the regulations cover all furbearer trapping and wolf hunting and trapping, the central focus of the discussion was crafting a new set of wolf regulations.

For the 2025/2026 wolf hunting and trapping season the Commission approved a 452 statewide wolf quota, which includes a sub-quota of 60 wolves in Region 3, and separate quotas of three wolves each in Wolf Management Units 313 and 316.

The Commission established that a person may harvest 15 wolves via trapping and 15 wolves via hunting, provided that five wolves from each method of take are harvested in FWP Region 1 or Region 2. Hunters must purchase a wolf license for each wolf they harvest via hunting, but they may purchase up to 15 licenses before going afield. Read more

2025 Montana Regional Hunting Forecasts Available

As leaves fade to yellow, storefronts across Montana turn orange, adorned with huge “Welcome Hunters” banners. FWP also steps up to help people prepare for the season with its annual Hunting Forecast. The links below break down the state region by region to outline what hunters can expect for deer, elk and pronghorn. It’s also not just focused on big game. The forecasts include an upland game bird season outlook with trends for grouse, partridge and pheasant using FWP’s spring survey results, weather and other data. Read more

Pronghorn Numbers Strong in Eastern Montana, Mixed Bag Everywhere Else

Pronghorn are some of Montana’s most popular game animals to pursue, and their populations span much of the eastern two-thirds of the state and even some valleys in western Montana.

However, hard winters and droughts can have big impacts on populations and so from year to year the numbers can fluctuate some. A few years ago, a tough winter in central Montana took a toll on antelope numbers, but in many places, things are looking up. Particularly in part of eastern Montana where numbers are well above normal trends.

Population Monitoring and Licenses Read more

Michigan fall turkey licenses on sale now

Don’t miss the chance to bag a bird for Thanksgiving. Fall turkey licenses are now on sale wherever you get your hunting licenses.

You can purchase a license over the counter from any license agent, online at Michigan.gov/DNRLicenses or through the DNR Hunt Fish app. Hunters who purchase a fall turkey license through the DNR Hunt Fish app will receive a digital eHarvest tag on their mobile device immediately.

To receive a physical tag, purchase your license at a license agent or online. After an online purchase, your paper kill tag will be mailed to you in seven to 10 business days.

Fall turkey season dates are Sept. 15 – Nov. 14. Find hunting regulations in the 2025 Fall Turkey Regulations Summary, available at Michigan.gov/DNRRegs.

Buy a license ?

Michigan’s NRC to Rescind Coyote Protections

This from MUCC:

Yesterday, at the Natural Resources Commission (NRC) meeting, MUCC achieved victory for Proposal G and the scientific management of our natural resources: a commitment from the NRC on the reinstatement of the year-round coyote hunting season.The NRC unanimously passed a resolution that said the following:

“The Michigan Natural Resources Commission is committed to enacting a regulation for Michigan citizens to take coyotes year-round on public and private land through a combination of hunting, trapping, and lethal take of nuisance and damaging animals; and that the Michigan Natural Resources Commission is committed to acting on this matter before next regular furbearer regulation cycle in the Wildlife Conservation Order in 2026.

MUCC’s mission is to unite citizens to conserve, protect and enhance Michigan’s natural resources and outdoor heritage – and today we lived that mission.

The commission has made clear to the conservationists of Michigan that they will fix the 2024 commission’s error, and the responsibility now rests with all of us to hold them to their word.

Through the continued efforts to elevate sportsmen’s and sportswomen’s voices to the NRC, MUCC has worked tirelessly over the last 15 months to achieve this win for sound scientific management and the protection of our outdoor heritage.

Millennium’s RG2 Run ‘n Gun Hang-On Combo

Deer hunters who need to be mobile and stealthy need look no further than the RG2 Run ‘n Gun Hang-On Combo from Millennium Outdoors. The Run ‘n Gun provides everything required for quick and safe stand setup in remote and/or hard-to-access areas, where big, mature bucks often roam. The combo includes the M8 Hang-On Stand, M255 Vulcan Climbing Sticks, and MQV8 M8 Stick Quiver, providing everything needed for a safe and efficient elevated hunting experience. Each component has been carefully designed and crafted for ease of use and extreme durability, making it the ideal solution for hunters who need to move fast and set up quickly throughout the season. The entire combo weighs just 19 pounds, making the Run ‘n Gun Combo a breeze to transport over challenging terrain.

The RG2 Run ‘n Gun starts with the popular M8 Hang-On, an advanced stand made of 6061T6 aluminum with a durable powder-coat finish, weighing only 9 pounds but with a maximum weight limit of 300 pounds. The M8 also includes a 20.5-inch by 20-inch platform and a 20-inch ComfortMax camouflage seat that easily and quietly flips up for standing shots. Its unique standoff design helps straighten the M8 for use on crooked trees, while the large-hole, expanded metal platform makes snow and mud removal a cinch. The M8 fits trees with diameters of 9-22 inches, folds flat, and features handy backpack straps for easy transport. Read more

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