We are all partakers in something that is inherently good. The backcountry awakens a pent-up wonder that is innate to our existence. As we breathe in the mountain air or witness the majesty of the river bottom, we are connected to all those who came before us.   By John Cook I grew up hunting the Mud Creek bottom in East Texas. As early as I can remember I was following my dad through the mature hardwood bottom on the north side of our deer lease hunting squirrels. I can remember being ...

By Rich Rosenthal Conservationists celebrated a legal victory over captive deer breeding operations after a Texas appeals court reaffirmed the public ownership of wildlife, thanks in part to efforts from Texas BHA and other like-minded conservation organizations. The opinion made by the Texas Court of Appeals, Third District, affirmed the trial court’s decision in Bailey, Peterson v. Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. In the case, owners of a deer-breeding operation sued the state, arguing ...

This article first appeared in the Winter 2020 issue of Backcountry Journal. Join BHA to get 4 issues a year in your mailbox.  By Lukas Leaf I grew up on the ice, listening to the lake thunder and crack as it constantly expands and shifts. Frankly, you either love it or hate it. Fortunately for me, it’s the former, and I’ve been pursuing everything from walleye to lake trout since I was able to fall through a tip-up hole. It’s a Midwest outdoor tradition filled with eelpout festivals, giant ...

  By Corey Ellis One of the greatest impacts of the hunting conservation movement that is our history, all hunters’ history, did not only benefit the game species that hunters pursue. That sage flat that hunters protected not only saved pronghorns and sage grouse; it also saved long-billed curlews and gray flycatchers. A ponderosa glade that was purchased with sportsmen’s dollars and deposited in the bank of public lands not only protected wintering grounds for elk and mule deer; it also ...

  By Mike Clingan, Montana Outdoor Imagery   An email in my inbox from BHA caught my attention: “6 days volunteering for the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation to improve trails in the backcountry with fellow BHA members.” Exactly the type of adventure that I needed and an opportunity to contribute to a place and cause that mean so much to me.   BHA partnered with the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation, which was founded in 1996 when the U.S. Forest Service and a group of concerned citizens ...