Big Game

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...

This is the third and final installment of a three-part elk hunting story by FHF founder, Paul Lewis. You can read the first and second segments here. I slid behind the rifle, scanning the dark timber. Silence reclaimed the woods. Then, suddenly, he was just there. He didn't walk out of the trees so...

This is the second segment of a three-part elk hunting story by FHF founder, Paul Lewis. You can read the first here and check out the final installment here. On the morning of September 13th, I slipped into the river bottom, only to bump the herd and listen to them splash across the river. I...

This is the first segment of a three-part elk hunting story by FHF founder, Paul Lewis. You can read the second and third instalments here. The silence was the worst part. Not the sudden silence of elk themselves, but the silence right after the shot, that sudden crushing, anxiety-filled pit in my...

I first heard about the frontal shot on an elk from a friend and watched a few clips on YouTube to try and learn more about it. My interest was peaked, but the shot still seemed risky to me. Shooting right at the chest of an elk doesn’t seem to leave much margin for error. Not to mention, in my...

Few things humble a man like public land elk hunting. You can spend all year shooting your bow, studying maps, watching videos, and convincing yourself you've got elk figured out. Then opening morning rolls around, and they make you look completely incompetent. The mountains are steep. Deadfall...

In mid-May of 2025, my son Bear Newcomb and I headed to southeast Alaska to hunt with my friend and outfitter David Benitz. I’ve previously hunted for mountain goats and also went wolf trapping with David. He’s an incredible Alaskan bowhunter, trapper, commercial fisherman, and he’s been an...

Hunters debate the validity of baiting black bears (or any game for that matter) all the time. Baiting often raises questions of sportsmanship or fair chase, but it might not be as black and white of an issue as hunters sometimes make it. I’ve only hunted over bait a few times—for deer and pigs in...

Javelina are one of the most underappreciated of all our big game species. Their unique history and physical features spark curiosity from hunters and other wildlife enthusiasts. What is not to like about a native pig-like critter that ekes out a living in dry, cactus-dominated Southwestern...

I just kept trying to breathe. The big bull elk was trotting forward with his head down as he chased another bull down the side of the mountain. “He’ll stop,” I said to myself as I did my best to hold down the rising panic I felt fluttering in my chest. He was 350 yards away, and I tried not to look...

This fall, Nick Schmitz, of Grand Forks, North Dakota, killed an absolutely massive bighorn sheep that stands to set the new state record. The story of his hunt began when he drew one of the most coveted tags in North America: a North Dakota bighorn sheep tag, of which North Dakota Game and Fish...

I didn’t expect to kill a buck. Didn’t deserve to. Last year, by the second to last weekend of Montana’s month-long rifle season, I’d gone deer hunting a grand total of zero times. My focus had admittedly been elsewhere: it was my bird dog Gunney’s first season, I was deep in the grips of the fall...