PITTSBURGH — First detected in Pennsylvania 13 years ago, a fatal, contagious disease affecting deer and elk has yet to be confirmed in Allegheny County. That could change, and soon, as chronic wasting disease continues to spread across the state and was recently detected in an animal in Armstrong County's Freeport — near the Allegheny ...Read more

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — Captain Marc Pincus doesn’t think sharks get enough credit.

“They are smart,” Pincus said. “They adapt.”

The owner of Reelin Charters spends his days taking tourists out shark fishing on the waters around Hilton Head Island, where the currents, water temperatures, bait and other factors add up to an area ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Department of Natural Resources roadside counts for August 1980 reported about 105 pheasants spotted per 100 miles driven on long-established southern Minnesota routes. The next year the number jumped to almost 134.

Compared to the five previous years, those were good tallies for Minnesota pheasants. In 1975, only 35 pheasants ...Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. — During a recent, failed push to ban shrimp trawling in North Carolina sounds, an opponent mentioned a study commissioned by the General Assembly expected to shed light on the state’s coastal and marine fisheries.

The report is now released and doesn’t take a stand on whether a trawling ban is needed to save fish ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Seventy years ago this month, Leech Lake muskies went crazy.

Until that time, the big silvery fish barely gained notice from most of the lake’s anglers. Instead, walleyes were the lake’s major attraction.

But a stifling heat wave that settled over northern Minnesota in early July 1955 changed everything. Walleye action shut...Read more

BOISE, Idaho — Idaho Fish and Game is asking anglers to “catch, kill and keep” a nonnative fish that threatens the populations of other fish species at a popular reservoir in Canyon County.

The guidance comes as Fish and Game officials say a walleye population has “established” itself after illegal introduction to Lake Lowell in Nampa...Read more

ST. CLAIR SHORES, Mich. — On a crisp, overcast morning on the dark, greenish-blue waters of Lake St. Clair, Dave LaVigne's fishing pole bowed like a candy cane as he reeled in what he hoped was a big fish.

A smallmouth bass fought, but LaVigne stayed focused. Wearing sunglasses and a baseball hat backward, he reeled and reeled until the fish,...Read more

RICE LAKE, Wis. — Lever-action rifles, revolvers, gun barrels, trigger assemblies and other firearm components lace the sprawling manufacturing floor here at Henry Repeating Arms, a leading U.S. gunmaker with ties to Minnesota.

Hundreds of skilled plant workers, many sporting hunting apparel, tattoos or merch from the Green Bay Packers, make ...Read more

MIAMI — In Florida, you can’t kill a tarpon — a silver-plated game fish prized by catch-and-release anglers — without a special permit. You also can’t spearfish in almost half of the Florida Keys.

Monroe County Sheriff’s Office deputies say a Port St. Lucie man did both on Sunday, which landed him in jail.

Brayan Martinez Perez, 23...Read more