Disabled hunters can get special privileges to drive through locked gates onto some forest roads that are otherwise closed to public vehicle travel. The first step is to get the disabled sportsman permits from the Idaho Fish and Game or Washington Fish and Wildlife departments before applying or signing up for these opportunities.

In the early 1990s, a group of unheralded chemists gave the world one of the greatest gifts since penicillin: A cheap, effective treatment for a skunk-sprayed dog. Be prepared. Stock the ingredients in your rig.

Cougar hunting seasons have become considerably more restrictive this year in Washington. Instead of simple statewide rules, a zone management approach has been incorporated with rules that vary depending on cougar populations in each zone.

Keep it cool; keep it clean. These two basic rules for bringing premium game meat to the table are a challenge when hunters face hot weather, dirt and insects in the field.

Hunting seasons for some of the smallest and most difficult targets in the Inland Northwest opened on Sept. 1. Mourning doves and forest grouse already are fair game in Idaho and Washington, as well as cottontail rabbits and snowshoe hares.

Washington sportsmen who venture out-of-state to hunt big game cannot legally return with certain parts of ungulate species taken in states or provinces where chronic wasting disease has been detected. CWD, a form of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, is a degenerative brain disease that afflicts North American deer, elk and moose. While fatal to the infected animals, wildlife and health authorities have found no indication that CWD can be transmitted to humans.