August 3, 2020 | The Realblog with Stephanie Mallory
A couple of years ago, raccoons wreaked havoc on my screened-in back porch. They tore up cushions, toppled over furniture, and ripped the screen door. So, I set a live trap and waited. Morning after morning, I walked out to discover an empty trap with missing bait. I could never...
July 31, 2020 | The Realblog with Stephanie Mallory
It’s a bad idea to climb into an alligator pit to retrieve a lost wallet. It’s an even worse idea to let a young child tag along, but that’s exactly what happened recently at a wildlife park in Minnesota — and it was all caught on camera. According to Inside...
Growing up, my brother and I had full run of more river bottom farmland than we could cover in a day by foot, by bicycle, or on horseback. Along with the river itself, the land was dotted with farm ponds of various shapes and sizes. We spent our summers fishing...
Every day was a Saturday this recent turkey season. The ongoing pandemic sheltered folks in place. The result: more time to hunt. By many accounts, designated public-land parking areas looked like used-truck lots. Hunting license and turkey permit sales, state depending, increased. That’s a good thing for cash-strapped wildlife agencies...
Duck hunters talk a lot about recruiting the next generation of waterfowlers , and rightfully so. But I think we sometimes fail to hit the right formula for generating interest and fostering the development of young hunters. Too often, I fear, we take newbies hunting but treat the event like...
Think grilled venison backstrap can’t get any better? I’ll admit, a simple medallion of backstrap seasoned with salt and pepper and seared for a few minutes on a hot grill is one of the greatest meals on the planet. But what if you could have that same backstrap smothered in...
As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, success or failure in the duck marsh often hinges on quick in-the-field decisions. Some work. Many don’t. And in hindsight, the wisdom or folly of your actions becomes clear. Consider these examples from my 2019–'20 season. Moving On The first hour at the flooded...
July 27, 2020 | The Realblog with Stephanie Mallory
A group of women were hiking through an ecological park in Mexico when a curious wild bear approached and began pawing at one of them. Video footage shows a medium-sized bear sniffing a woman and even placing its front paws on her shoulders as it licks her hair. You can...
