Alabama’s saltwater fishermen and charter-boat captains got a surprise on Thursday when the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) extended the red snapper season by seven days and increased the red-snapper quota for both recreational and commercial by several hundred thousand pounds of fish this season.

NOAA officials said the increase is because of...

We’re glad to report that AON’s Truck-Buck Shoot-Out will once again be one of the main attractions at the 30th Annual World Deer Expo July 19-21 at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex. The Shoot-Out is open to all show-goers and will start at 2 p.m. on Saturday, July 20. However, if you want a seat, we recommend you get there early. The Shoot-Out continues to grow in...

Do you need a new hunting club, new members for a club or land to lease? Do you have land you want to lease to hunters? Here’s your chance to get it done before deer season.

In AON’s Hunting Land Special—a free, classified listing that is published each July in AON—we connect hunters with clubs or landowners. All you have to do is send in the coupon below...

A record 94 deer racks were scored for Truck-Buck VI contestants who showed up in Irondale hoping their deer racks would score high enough to win a Truck-Buck week or wildcard division so they could advance to this summer’s Truck-Buck Shoot-Out.

Pending polygraph examinations, 16 weekly and three wildcard winners are now headed for the Truck-Buck Shoot-Out on July 20 at...

In conjunction with AON’s Truck-Buck deer-scoring event on Saturday, April 20, Alabama DCNR folks will be on hand to score racks for its Records of Alabama’s White-tailed Deer (RAWD) program. The RAWD program is open to antlers from all free-ranging bucks legally taken or found dead in Alabama, regardless of the year the deer was taken or found. The minimum scores for the program are...

It’s almost time to get those racks scored and see who is coming to this year’s Truck-Buck VI Shoot-Out in Birmingham. Please read the following Truck-Buck scoring details carefully, so you don’t miss out on your chance to win a brand-new Chevy truck.

• The scoring will take place at the Holiday Inn Express in Irondale (Exit 133 off Highway 20) on Saturday,...

Alabama hunters will encounter a number of new regulations in the 2013-2014 season including mandatory reporting of all deer and turkey taken during the season and a reduction in doe days in a wide swath across north Alabama.

Other new laws hunters will see include a long-overdue clarification of what constitutes illegal baiting for deer and feral swine, the end to fall turkey...

Despite pleas from a vocal crowd of dog hunters and small-game hunters, the Conservation Advisory Board (CAB) unanimously passed a proposal from Commissioner N. Gunter Guy Jr. to extend the deer season in southwest Alabama to Feb. 10 for the 2013-2014 season. It will mark the first time any part of Alabama will have a deer season that extends past Jan. 31. A new zone will have a split season with...

The humble, retired Alabama ironworker who stunned the Alabama fishing world with a 70-lb. striped bass he caught on the Black Warrior River in late February is now awaiting confirmation his monstrous fish will be both a state and world record.

James R. Bramlett, 65, of Dora, thought he was just going fishing for catfish in his favorite spot on Feb. 28. Little did he know, he was...

Despite pleas from the Orange Beach Fishing Association, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council has voted in favor of a 27-day red snapper season with a bag limit of only two-fish per day per angler for 2013.

The snapper season that begins on June 1 will mark the shortest season ever for snapper fishermen in the Gulf.

National Marine Fisheries Service Regional...

The mystery of the white-tailed deer with the odd-looking internal organs that began appearing on and around the Barbour WMA and a surrounding county earlier this year has been solved.

District Wildlife Biologist William “Bill” Gray says WFF had several deer taken from Barbour and Dale counties tested after deer processors and hunters began reporting odd formations of...

Giving the sportsmen of Alabama a voice and sharing those opinions in print for all to see is an ongoing focus of AON. Nowhere is that more evident than with VOTES: Voice of the Educated Sportsmen. This month, for the first time, our VOTES survey questions appear on the cover of the magazine.

You can cut off the bottom of your cover and mail the survey, or if you’re an AON...

Alabama’s hunters and fishermen will have the opportunity to have their voices heard on Saturday, Feb. 9 when the Conservation Advisory Board (CAB) holds its first meeting of 2013.  The meeting will start at 9 a.m. in Montgomery at the State Capitol Auditorium. Visitors should use the entrance behind the Capitol on North Union Street.

The board is expected to hear a wide...

Several organizations are studying Alabama’s black bears to better understand their population dynamics.

According to the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), black bears were once prevalent across Alabama, but, until recently, bears had been relegated to a small and isolated area north of Mobile, mainly due to habitat loss. Officials estimate that...

I’ve been reporting on the Youth Hunts at The Oaks Hunting Club in Boligee for several years now, and this year produced another of those days when a person decides that doing something for someone less fortunate is what needs to be done. The eighth-annual youth hunt at our club was exactly what we all needed—the volunteers and the kids. This day proved once again that the adults get...

The practice of releasing enclosure-raised white-tailed deer into the wild in Alabama was brought to a halt Dec. 7 when N. Gunter Guy Jr., Commissioner of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, signed an emergency regulation prohibiting the practice.

The procedure, and the emergency regulation that now bans it, are expected to be a hot topic when the...