OutdoorHub
Video: Ring in the Holidays with This Awesome “Jingle Shells” Song
The holidays are upon us, and with them all the attendant gifts, carols, and family cheer. What better way for an outdoorsman or woman to ring in the season with this modern, gun-filled version of a Christmas classic? The video and tunes were made by professional music producer and dedicated shooting sports enthusiast Andrew Clifford of Main Street Music Studios in Bangor, Maine.
http://youtu.be/vSoG8E2UjCE...
10 Long Range Target Shots That Defy Physics
The last time you hit the rifle range, you probably did not spend half of the time there doing math. However, that changes when you want to stretch the limits of what current firearms technology and the laws of physics will allow. If you want to reach out and touch a target at 700, 1,000, or even 3,000 yards, then you will need the best of the best: quality scopes, a well-crafted firearm, the right ammunition, and perhaps most importantly, the skill and experience to make such a shot possible. The shooters on this list almost make it seem easy. There is little discussion of minutes-of-angle,...
Heavy Rainfall in Northern California Confuses Fish
After a long and severe drought, parts of California are now looking at the opposite end of the weather spectrum. Rough storms and heavy rain pummeled the northern part of the state yesterday, and the sudden appearance of large amounts of water is proving to be problematic for Chinook salmon. According to CBS San Francisco, the salmon are getting lost while traveling to their spawning grounds, often ending up in small irrigation canals or in...
Video: Bowhunter Makes Amazing Shot on Deer from the Ground
What is the strangest position you've ever loosed an arrow from? For this hunter, it may be this awkward angle laying down during deer season. The stealthy maneuver seemed more at home in an action flick or an installment of The Hunger Games rather than in a hunting video, but sure enough the bowman managed to bag a deer.
Some archers routinely practice using their bow from a prone position---although it involves some creativity in finding the right pose before you can actually shoot.
http://youtu.be/H5O4eC__d3M...
Video: Ever Wonder How Strong Bears Are?
There's little doubt in anybody's mind that bears are powerful creatures. The largest land predator in North America, bears can move around objects weighing several hundred to even a thousand pounds. If you ever wanted a demonstration of how strong bears can be, Alberta Parks recently released this video of a bear knocking around a metal trap like a toy.
http://youtu.be/YpUxXU6qnzk
In a similar study conducted by researchers at Montana State University, a group of...
Study: Deer React More to Firearms Season Than Archery Season
It has only been about two years since Pennsylvania State University researchers began fieldwork on their deer-forest study, but scientists are already drawing insights about the deer population in Pennsylvania's Rothrock and Bald Eagle State Forests. The study is focused onthe movement of 40 collared deer, both male and female, who transmit their locations back to Penn State researchers every few hours. During hunting season, however, scientists receive updates as frequently as every 20 minutes. In fact, a large part of the study focuses on how the deer react to hunters and hunting...
Photos: A Bucket List Bird Hunt with Pheasants Forever
Taking a road trip with my bird dog to South Dakota in hopes of connecting with wild ring-necked pheasants has been at the top of my upland bucket list for quite some time. I recently fulfilled that dream while on a media hunt and conservation forum sponsored by Pheasants Forever, during which I also learned about the positive impact farming can have on pheasant habitat. Below are photos from our trip.
After arriving in Aberdeen, South Dakota, I spent the first afternoon of our trip hunting Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and...
26 Amazing Women in the Outdoors, from A to Z
There are some amazing women in the outdoor world; many I am proud to call friends and colleagues. Here’s my list from A to Z of women making a difference in their own unique ways. I respect this group of gals and here’s why (please forgive the need to use a last letter rather than a first letter on occasion to make this fit).
A: Nancy Jo Adams
Nancy Jo is a hardcore hunter and I love her social media flare. She names her truck (Cletus) and her bow (Thalia) and balances enjoying the outdoors while blogging and uncovering great photography. Plus, as a Northerner, I need friends who show...
Slowly Moving South: The Migration
The migration, much like the rut down South, seemed to be on its way---until it wasn’t. On a calm and rather warm morning two days before Thanksgiving, sitting in a blind overlooking a rice field near Augusta, Arkansas, Lyle, my father, Chad Powell, and myself waited for a little more light at 6:19 a.m. I was silently happy we’d missed the 20-degree temperatures that had hung around the week before.
Standing there in the Bridge Blind, watching for the coming sun, teal choreographically buzzed by, never a falter or a wrong turn by a single bird. During aforementioned cold snap, as we’d...
Wolf Trapping Tips from Canada’s Premier Trapper
Wolf hunting and trapping is now available to many outdoorsmen and women in the United States after years of prohibition. Expanding wolf populations have created new opportunities for hunters and trappers in states like Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Sportsmen now hunger for information about how to hunt and trap these amazing, but wary canines.
The best way to learn how to catch a wolf is to look to those who have been doing it. In Canada and Alaska, wolves have not had the protections that they’ve known in the Lower 48, and many hunters and trappers...
A Closer Look at the Aimpoint Micro T-2 Red Dot
We’re a people of excess. Not that excess is bad in general, but there are situations in which too much can be a bad thing. Firearm optics are a prime example of that.
Almost without fail, we shooters go “all in” when it comes to magnified optics. Even though most of us will be shooting at ranges of 100 yards and less (usually much less), we tend to crank up the power on rifle optics. Gimme that 12-42x monster scope so I can precisely target the “y” on the back side of a Bayer aspirin, will ya?
While that sounds good on paper, too much power can be detrimental. Try shooting a...
Video: How to Properly Pronounce 10 Gun Names You’re Definitely Saying Wrong
There are few things more embarrassing for a new gun owner than mispronouncing the name of a firearm. It's even more embarrassing for a long-time gun owner. To help out the gun owning public, we've put together this video to clearly lay out how to properly pronounce 10 commonly mispronounced gun terms. If you need further help, don't worry, we've got some flash cards made up for you just below the video.
http://youtu.be/hTDj8BFH9uI
Read more »
Yamaha’s Partnership with the Outdoors and What It Means to You
Conservation organizations are always in need of more money and toward that end, there are always contests and raffles used to raise awareness, funds, and involvement. Quite often these groups give away an ATV. Have you noticed that more often than not, that ATV is a Yamaha? Yamaha’s involvement with the outdoors goes a lot further than a few donated machines, however. The outdoors is part of the company’s culture.
Yamaha has had a long-standing partnership with the outdoor world, and not just as...
What Does Washington’s New Background Check Law Mean for Gun Owners?
Washington's controversial I-594 went into effect last week and many gun owners are worried that ambiguous wording in the law could mean trouble ahead.
The law, which passed by an 18-point margin in November, expanded background checks in the state to all gun sales, including those made in private, online, or at gun shows. Yet many critics say that the law only loosely defines what constitutes a transfer, and some gun owners worry that something as simple as handing someone else a gun at the range or while hunting could be illegal. According to Read more »
Kentucky Officials Consider Longer Sandhill Crane Season
Biologists from the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife have proposed extending the state's current sandhill crane hunting season by as much twice the current length of 30 days. According to the The Courier-Journal, the maximum harvest limit of 400 birds has not been changed.
Although sandhill cranes are not considered threatened, Kentucky was the first Eastern state to open up hunting for the birds in 2011. The decision was hotly opposed...
Viewers Disappointed ‘Eaten Alive’ Star was Not Consumed by Anaconda
It is not every day that TV audiences root for a man to be consumed alive by a massive anaconda, which was the subject of the much-anticipated Discovery special Eaten Alive starring conservationist Paul Rosolie. The two-hour documentary focused on Rosolie's expedition to the Amazon rainforest in pursuit of a local legend known as "Chumana," rumored to be one of the largest anacondas in the world at a purported 25 feet long. The plan was to capture the anaconda and then "feed" Rosolie to the animal while he wore a specially-designed suit that would prevent the giant snake from...
The Czech vz. 58 Rifle: The Kalashnikov’s Superior Cousin
The 7.62x39mm Czechoslovakian samopal vzor 1958 (frequently referred to as the vz. 58) is often overshadowed by the Kalashnikov-pattern rifles that many Eastern Bloc nations adopted during the Cold War. Despite their external similarities, the firearms that make up the vz. 58 family are actually dramatically different from the AK dynasty. In addition to the physical differences, vz. 58-pattern firearms sport several unique features that set them apart and above the venerable AK.
When the USSR decided to standardize use of the 7.62x39mm cartridge for all Warsaw Pact...
Young Ice Fishermen on Lake Winnebago Rescued after High Winds Broke Ice
A dive team from the Fond du Lac County Sheriff's Office staged a daring rescue operation on Sunday when five ice fishermen, ages 16 to 20, reported that they were stranded on Wisconsin's Lake Winnebago after high winds shifted the ice. According to a press release from the Sheriff's Office, by the time rescuers arrived, the crack separating the anglers from the shore was roughly 50 yards wide.
"This crack and the unsafe ice associated with it travels from an area of approximately Fisherman’s Road...
7 Surefire Signs Your Spouse or Significant Other is a Hunter
If you’re reading this, you’re likely a hunter, or at least married to or dating one. There are some ways to know for sure, and I've compiled the following list of seven surefire indicators.
1. They own "casual" camo clothes
I once bought a pair of camo slip-on shoes. I had to promise my wife that I was only buying them to wear around the house and I wouldn’t go out in public wearing them. That was a lie, of course. Camo is more than just hunting clothing. It’s a lifestyle. I have a lot of camo stuff that I wear on a regular basis that isn’t hunting gear. My wife has finally seen...