HUNTING -- Fall turkey hunters must wear a hunter orange vest or clothing during the portion of their season that corresponds with any modern rifle big-game seasons. Without a formal announcement, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has posted online an emergency rule a...
HUNTING -- Pre-season scouting has left me with some serious doubts about the prospects for a successful elk hunt. The area I've been hunting in the Blue Mountains has been hit hard by logging in recent years. That was OK for awhile, but in the...
WINTERSPORTS -- A free program spotlighting gear skiers will need in the transition from inbounds slopes to the winter backcountry will be presented by representatives from G3 (Genuine Guide Gear) and Scarpa at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 18, at Mountain Gear's retail store, 2002…
WILDLIFE -- Kids will get the real scoop on the largest member of the deer family this month as state wildlife biologists have scheduled 45-minute "On the Trail of the Moose" programs at Spokane Public Libraries. The free programs for K-5th graders will include moose...
TRAILS -- I often see and hear about close calls between cyclists and walkers on the Spokane River Centennial Trail. Sure it can go both ways. I've seen walkers in groups rudely taking up the entire trail as others approached, or walkers with dogs on...
HUNTING -- Shooting ranges require users to have hearing protection. But many of the shooters who are honing their shotgunning skills at the skeet range this week or zeroing in their deer rifles will head into the fields or forest on opening day with nothing…
FISHING -- Idaho's 2017 coho fishing season will open Saturday, Oct. 7 -- that's 10 days earlier than announced in an Idaho Fish and Game Department release earlier this week. The date change reflects a clerical error. The season is set to run Oct. 7-Nov.…
HIKING -- Three “triple crown” hikers and one “double-triple crowner” will be among the presenters at the Fall Hikers Fest on Oct. 14 at Lake City Church, 6000 N. Ramsey Rd. in Coeur d’Alene. This is a place to learn from those who have learned…
ENDANGERED SPECIES -- A Washington State University professor erred in controversial research released in 2014 suggesting that killing wolves that attack cattle is counterproductive because it stimulates more attacks, according to a statistical analysis released today. Working with a Ph.D. statistician, the Washington Policy Center...
FISHING -- Fisheries managers in Idaho and Washington could be on the verge of reopening steelhead harvest on the Snake, Salmon, Little Salmon and Clearwater rivers and opening a coho season on the Clearwater. But on the hot topic of opening harvest on a weak...
SHELLFISHING – The first razor clam dig of the fall season will get underway Oct. 6-7 at four ocean beaches, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife announced today. The agency has approved the dig on evening tides at Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis and...
FISHING -- The catch of chinook in the Hanford Reach of the Columbia held steady last week with an average of 1.2 salmon per boat. Last week was perhaps the peak of the run heading to spawning areas below Priest Rapids Dam. The 2017 run…
WILDLIFE -- Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge, Spokane Audubon Society and Friends of Turnbull will host a community work party on Oct. 14 as part of an ongoing effort to restore native riparian habitat to benefit birds and other wildlife species. “We have hundreds of native…
WILDLIFE – Researchers in a five-year study of moose in Eastern Washington are asking the public to report any moose they see to help get more data on their preferred habitat. Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists are especially interested in reports from people who...
SKY WATCHING -- In case, like most people, you need to sleep in order to function the next day, enjoy the northern lights vicariously in this short video featuring time-lapse photography by Spokane photographer Craig Goodwin. The images were shot Sept. 27 north of Wilbur,...
ENDANGERED SPECIES -- DNA tests have confirmed that a wolf captured, tested and fixed with a GPS collar on June 8 is indeed a wolf. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says a GPS collar placed on the wolf captured in June shows the 100-pound…
FISHING -- In this Outdoor Tech story about Stream Map USA, I explored an application that combines searchable mapping, GPS location and navigation, stream flow information and other features into a useful tool, especially for exploring new lakes, rivers and streams. I know there are...
WILDLIFE -- A pair of trumpeter swan successfully raised four cygnets this summer at Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge, and the young birds made their first flights this month, says frequent refuge visitor and photographer Carlene Hardt. "I'm glad to say that the family of six...
HUNTING – A man shot and killed a grizzly bear after it ran out of some brush and bit his adult son’s arm, Montana wildlife authorities say. The father and son were hunting black bears near the Hungry Horse Reservoir on Sunday when the bear…
PUBLIC LANDS -- In an apparent effort to open more federal public lands to oil and gas development, mining and grazing, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke reportedly is considering a rollback of the Sage Grouse Management Plan that was hammered out by a wide range of...
HUNTING – Hunters can zero-in their rifles before the general hunting seasons at the annual Sight-In Days at the Spokane Rifle Club. Club facilities along the Spokane River downstream from the Bowl and Pitcher will be open to nonmembers starting Friday and Saturday from 10…
HUNTING -- After reading the alarming account of a grouse hunter's way-too-close encounter with a pack of wolves, I may always leave the window of my pickup open when I'm out in wolf country with my bird dog. Minnesota hunter Justin Bailey was hunting ruffed...
FISHING -- Chumming – the practice of dumping bait of some sort in the water to attract fish so they can be caught -- is generally prohibited in Washington. That could change if a proposal to make chumming legal statewide for sport fishing is approved...
HUNTING -- Because of an apparent oversight in Washington's 2016 and 2017 fall turkey hunting seasons, camouflaged hunters could find themselves in the field during the general modern rifle deer season. Washington seasons for turkey hunters as well as archery and muzzleloader big-game hunters who...
WILDLIFE -- Mountain lions are far more likely to kill a cow or calf elk than wolves in the Idaho Panhandle. And nutrition plays a large role in how many calves survive a winter. Those are some of the findings emerging in the first two…
Rich Landers writes and photographs stories and columns for a wide range of outdoors coverage, including Outdoors feature sections on Sunday and Thursday.