OutdoorHub
The Eyes Have It: Protecting Your Vision in the Outdoors
The eruption of fire as the sun rises over the distant horizon. The glow of a campfire shared with friends and family. The waning light as night chases the sun to set in the west. The nuances of the hair on the side of the buck as seen through the scope just before that moment of truth. The explosion of colors and feathers as the ducks race skyward. The way the trees and scenery rushes to a blur as you accelerate down the trail. The look on your kid’s face when you come home after a hard day, or even that look from a pretty girl passing by you in the store. These are just a few of the...
The Way It Had to Be: A South Carolina Hog Hunt
The barking and growling and squealing grew louder the closer we got as we slogged across the wet, furrowed field. I carried an old Remington Gamemaster in .30-06 to service the hog and give the dogs and us some relief. Exit the field and into a deep, swampy marsh, maybe a bog, if you will. We were yards away and the screams were deafening. The saw grass trembled ahead as we neared the inevitable.
On a calm, pleasant evening in southern Tennessee, when all I had to do was watch the sunset in the cool evening light after a long day of planting, my phone buzzed with a text message from a...
Video: TrackingPoint’s Google Glass App in Action
Austin-based TrackingPoint has already built up a considerable buzz over their Precision Guided Firearm (PGF) systems, and the firm is sure to get even more attention with a recently released video that showcases the technology on Google Glass. It may still seem like science fiction now, but TrackingPoint intends on pushing the needle forward.
"When paired with wearable technology, PGFs can provide unprecedented benefits to shooters, such as the ability to shoot around corners, from behind low walls, and from other positions that provide exceptional cover," the company stated. "Without PGF...
Utah Approves Crow Hunt Starting in Fall
In a vote of 3-2 on Thursday, the Utah Wildlife Board approved the state's first crow hunt starting this fall. According to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR), the decision came about after the steady increase of crows in the state for the past 24 years.
"Taking some crows will not hurt the overall population," said Blair Stringham, the DWR's migratory bird coordinator.
In fact---if the surveys of crow numbers are anything to judge by---the hunt will actually help fruit farmers and...
Experimental Vacuum Method Used to Transport Salmon in Washington
Every year, thousands of spring chinook salmon return to Washington's Yakima River and cross Roza Dam to their spawning sites upriver. Not all make it through however---a portion of the fish are captured and transported to the Cle Elum Hatchery as brood stock. According to the Yakima Herald, this delicate process usually sees workers hastily ferrying the fish by hand from a holding tank to a tanker truck. Biologists with the Yakima Nation Fisheries think they have a better...
World’s Largest White Deer Herd at Risk
A herd of about 200 white deer still roam the empty US Army depot in Seneca County, New York. The white-tailed deer are not albino, instead their white coloring comes from a set of recessive genes brought on by generations in isolation. For now the abandoned depot is their sanctuary, but town officials from nearby Varick and Romulus are eager to use the land for development. In 2016, the skeleton crew from the US Army Corps of Engineers now maintaining the depot will be leaving---and likely opening up the 7,000-acre parcel to businesses, residential development, and farms.
"We have one of...
Wedding Singer to Rock Star: USSA Steps Up
The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance (USSA) has won over 90 percent of the battles they've fought since the inception of the non-profit organization. Unfortunately, they would win and then leave, not telling anyone about the victory. Now this group has reorganized, with a focus on the mission and good communication, too. This grassroots network monitors and initiates activism in all 50 states everyday to protect the right to hunt, shoot, trap, and fish in the outdoors of America. “You can be a wedding singer or a rock star,” said Nick Pinizzotto, the new President/CEO of USSA. “We’re going...
Video: Backcountry Survival Gear Essentials
Many of us enjoy spending time in the backcountry, but figuring out exactly what stuff you should bring with you can be difficult. While a good collection of tools will not only make overcoming certain obstacles easier, it also may very well save your life.
"Now I hate carrying a bunch of stuff, especially if it's redundant," says Idaho biologist and bowhunter Clay Hayes. "But you still need all the things you use on a daily basis and to be prepared for an emergency if you happen to get in trouble out there."
In the following video from Read more »
Louisiana Governor Signs Bill Allowing Expanded Suppressor Use by Hunters
Last week Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal signed House Bill 186, which allows hunters to use suppressors when pursuing all game animals in the state. The law will take effect on August 1, making Louisiana the third state in 2014 to legalize suppressors for hunting. The governments of Georgia and Alabama have also approved similar legislation.
“This is about mitigating the noise and preventing hearing loss,” Louisiana Representative Cameron Henry (R-Metairie) told Read more »
First Wolf Pups Born in Oregon Cascades in 70 Years
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) confirmed on Wednesday that wolf pups have been sighted in Oregon's southwest Cascade Mountains. It is the first documented instance of wolf reproduction in the mountain range since the mid-1940s, and it marks the westernmost point of wolf expansion in the Lower 48 states.
“This is very exciting news,” said Paul Henson, state supervisor of the Oregon US Fish and Wildlife Service, said in a press release. “It continues to illustrate that gray wolves are being...
A Beginner’s Guide to American Machine Gun Ownership
What makes a clip a clip, or a magazine a magazine? What the heck is a milsurp, and why are there all these online forums about it? These are a few of the questions I asked myself when I began to get serious about owning, collecting, and shooting firearms several years ago. But the most persistent questions in my mind always revolved around one topic in particular: machine guns.
One of the first things I was surprised to learn about firearms and firearm ownership in the United States was that I could legally own a machine gun. For clarity’s sake, let’s lay out what exactly a machine gun...
Kitting Up and Paddling Out: Kayak Fishing 101
Kayaking and kayak fishing are among the fastest-growing watersports activities, and with the arrival of summer weather and water conditions, now’s a great time to give "paddle fishing" a try. Once you launch a kayak with fishing in mind, you’ll see why it’s so popular: the easy access these adaptable boats offer---from vehicle to water and on the water itself---is incredible, allowing you to hook-up in places you could never reach from a conventional craft.
Any kayak can be used for fishing---and that goes for anywhere you choose to angle. I’ve seen traditional “sit-in” styles...
NRA Freestyle’s ‘Media Lab’: Shoot, Move, Communicate
In this special edition of Media Lab, "Shoot, Move, Communicate," Dom breaks down the art of shooting, moving and communicating with a scene from Heat. Heavy bags and constant movement are only minor obstacles for Dom because he practices safety with a “train like you fight” mentality.
...
Crawlers and Bottom-bouncers for Saginaw Bay Walleye
Saginaw Bay might not have been exactly angry, but the ol’ gal had a little bit of an attitude. The ride on Brandon Stanton’s 30-foot center console was bumpy enough that he decided maybe we should just set lines and troll out to where we were going, rather than fight the waves.
More than an hour later, when we reached the 14-foot hole Stanton had targeted, one of the rods began bouncing in its holder. I grabbed it and we were in the plus column.
Stanton, who guides walleye anglers on open water and through the ice on Saginaw Bay, had invited me to join him and his brother-in-law,...
Scenes from a Gun Show
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to ingest a super-sized slice of Americana.
I rented a table at a local gun show for the weekend to sell some of my books. Obviously my primary goal was to break my back for a weekend to provide for the family. Hanging out at a gun show for two straight days was purely an unplanned fringe benefit, and I'm sticking by that story.
You hear a lot on the news about gun shows, and how delightfully evil they are. Criminals buying guns, thermite grenades, and TOW missiles with not a single background check to be seen for miles. While I’ve attended...
Smallmouth Bass Thrive in Harsh Waters of Northern Lake Michigan
Life’s never easy for smallmouth bass around Washington Island at the tip of Door County, Wisconsin, but this stalwart fish somehow weathers the toughest challenges Lake Michigan can summon.
At least that’s how things looked in late May as biologists from the state's Department of Natural Resources conduct a formal checkup on this remote fish population for the first time since 1997. The crews caught smallmouths with Fyke nets at six locations in Detroit Harbor from May 13 through early June to help assess the population’s age and length composition.
After measuring each bass,...
St. Louis Police Department to Auction Off Thompson Submachine Guns
Firearm collectors: have a spare $20,000 or so lying around? Interested in owning a piece of history that's a blast to shoot, too? Then you should keep in touch with the St. Louis Police Department. The agency is set to auction off nearly 30 .45-caliber Thompson submachine guns that have been in a PD "basement bunker" for roughly 60 years.
Writing for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Joel Currier reported that the...
Video: Anglers Engulfed by Massive Fog Wall
Two anglers fishing in Northern Michigan's Platte Bay last month witnessed a strange meteorological event: a wall of fog. According to The Detroit News, Andrew Ballard and his father debated whether to stay or pull in their lines and head to shore. In the end, their curiosity got the better of them and the pair let the fog wall roll over their boat.
Many anglers may be already familiar with this type of fog, which is referred to as advection fog. Unlike other types of fogs, this phenomenon is...
West Virginia Celebrates Safest Turkey Season on Record
The West Virginia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has announced that the 2014 spring turkey season has gone down as the safest in the state's history. Hunters ended the four-week season without a single incident, which is an unmatched record since the state formally instituted turkey hunting in 1960.
"In the early 1990s, spring turkey hunting incidents had double digit figures with near double digit figure fatalities before hunter education became mandatory," said DNR conservation officer Tim Coleman. "Thanks to the volunteer...
Florida Officials to Count Black Bear Population for First Time in 12 Years
Black bears seem to make the news in Florida with increasing regularity, yet the state's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) still lists the population at a minimal 3,000. The truth is, biologists can only guess at the true number of bears living in Florida today. The last survey was completed in 2002, when the FWC estimated that there were between 2,500 to 3,000 of the animals roaming the state.
"We're pretty sure it's going to be a whole lot more than that now," FWC biologist Walter McCown told Read more »