Every bird dog I’ve owned has been the best dog I’ll ever own, until I got my next one. In that regard, I’m a pretty standard dog owner. Our biases toward our current dogs rival maybe only our political identities, or in some cases, our allegiance to professional sports teams. It feels impossible...

Hunting has grown safer in America since states sparked long-term improvements a half-century ago by making hunter education courses mandatory and blaze orange standard garb. Those safety advancements still continue. In Wisconsin, no hunters died from gunshots in seven of the past nine firearms deer...

Imagine a proud new dog owner bragging up their new pup—a hound like Mingus or a retriever like Snort. “My dog has a better nose than a grizzly bear,” he or she boasts. Should you believe them? After all, from the outside, a dog’s and a bear’s noses look very similar. Humans have bred dog...