Articles

There’s a common misconception that all bears spend their winters curled up in a cozy den, sleeping until spring rolls around. While that explanation isn't entirely wrong, black bear winter behavior is much more complex than simply going to sleep for a few months. Across their range, black bears use...

Most hunters don’t think twice about mounting a scope on their deer rifle. It’s a given. Manufacturers stopped including iron sights decades ago, except on lever actions or those earmarked for dangerous game. With the buffet of highly capable scopes at every price tier, it’s easy to see why. If you...

If I had to make a list of the most addicting type of game animals, pheasants would land near the top. There’s just something endlessly fun about hiking through hip-high brush with a shotgun as pheasants suddenly explode into the sky. It’s an old-world type of hunting that makes you think of...

Whenever we drank coffee at breakfast or beer at dinner, my late friend Tom Heberlein and I liked discussing how and where hunters preferred to die. Such talk at Old Tamarack—Heberlein's hunting shack near Mellen, Wisconsin—was usually light-hearted. As Professor Heberlein knew too well, death isn’t...

I was 20 feet up a tree on a picture-perfect October morning, watching my favorite oak flat. It was overcast, and the weatherman was predicting rain in the afternoon. I expected the deer to be up and moving ahead of the front, possibly moving between the neighbor’s cornfield and the trees dropping...

On October 2, the second day of Indiana’s archery season, Tyler Westell was at his wife Becca’s first ultrasound appointment. They have a baby due in February, and while Tyler was excited to see his baby, he was also anxious to get in a tree. Becca knows what it’s like being married to a hunter. She...

If you’re taking to the Massachusetts woods this season, know that the bottle of real doe pee in your hunting bag could get you in trouble. As of August of this year, Massachusetts prohibits hunters from using or even possessing scent attractants made from actual deer tissues or fluids while hunting...

Most duck hunters I know don’t get serious about it until later in the season, but I’ve never been one of those guys. As soon as the summer ends, my brain immediately goes into waterfowl mode. I start gathering my gear, practicing my calling, shooting, and running my dog through his paces. On...

Way back when the original Hunger Games movie came out, I was working as an Associate Editor for the largest bowhunting magazine on the market. I didn’t have kids yet, so it came as a surprise to me when one of the reps for a major bow brand told me they had shut down their flagship line to produce...

President Ronald Reagan was heading into his final year in the White House when Vermont hunters last shot antlerless deer during November’s 16-day firearms season. Vermont’s no-doe hiatus, which began after the 1987 gun-deer season, will end at dawn Nov. 14 when roughly 77,000 deer hunters hit the...

Colonel Tom Kelly, the author of Tenth Legion and renowned turkey hunter died over the weekend. His daughter, Laura Kelly Bates, confirmed the news in a short video posted on Kelly’s website. The cause of death was not initially stated. Kelly was 99. “This weekend, we lost one of the greatest...

Hunting isn’t a cheap hobby, but if you’re looking to recoup some of your expenses this season, you could put a few bucks back in your wallet. That’s right, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) will pay you to hunt with lead-free ammo. The agency’s voluntary lead-free ammunition incentive...

The wind wasn’t blowing right for my favorite treestand, so I set up that morning in a ground blind downwind of the bedding area. I was watching an old logging road. It was thick on both sides, but I figured I could still get a solid broadside shot as deer crossed the road heading back to bed after...

A Maryland man is facing manslaughter and other felony charges after authorities say he fatally shot a 39-year-old woman he mistook for a deer while she was walking through a field with her partner and two children. The shooting occurred on September 18th near Ellendale, Delaware, when Walter...

No matter how much you think you’ve mastered it, shooting a shotgun is a perishable skill. Like swinging a golf club or shooting a bow, you’re always better when you practice. The key with any kind of practice is to isolate your weaknesses and try to improve them. Personally, I’ve found that getting...