OutdoorHub
How Expensive Shotgun Shells Save You Money
How many shotgun shells do you fire for each duck or goose in your bag? I’m not talking only of the hits and misses at fresh birds coming to the decoys, passing overhead, or jumped from a meandering creek or cut field. Be sure to add in the shells you use to recover cripples, too. When you include ducks and geese hunted over water in that number, those extra shots can add up fast.
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Hawaii’s Hoomaluhia Botanical Garden May Open Its Doors to Hog Trappers
Trappers interested in harvesting wild hogs may soon get their chance at Hoomaluhia Botanical Garden in Kaneohe, Hawaii. According to KITV, city officials are about to finalize a memorandum of understanding that would allow trappers inside the gardens to help cull the booming pig population. The 400-acre Oahu refuge has been home to feral pigs for years, and attempts by the Department of Agriculture have proven to be overly expensive and only moderately successful. Since 2007...
Delaware Angler Catches “Delicious” Record Sheepshead
David Walker, 32, says he tries to fish at least three times a week near his hometown of Boothwyn, Pennsylvania. Since his wife does not care for the taste of fish, it means that Walker is able to enjoy more than his fair amount of seafood, including one succulent baked sheepshead late last month. The Delaware Department of Natural Rescources and Environmental Control (DNREC) recently announced that Walker's 17.1-pound sheepshead was actually a state record. Thankfully, Walker managed to have it certified before it became dinner.
“I didn’t actually know it was going to be [a record] but...
NRA Freestyle’s ‘NOIR’: Born on the 4th of July
In NOIR Episode 14 “Born on the 4th of July,” Colion and LaSorte are in awe of John Wayne Walding’s accomplishments and story. His relentless mindset and tips for accuracy inspired Colion and LaSorte during Stage 6 of the NOIR Challenge.
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Video: 5 Long-range Hunting Shots That Will Make You Squint
It takes an incredible amount of skill and experience to take an animal at 300, 600, or 900 yards---or farther. This is because the top priority of the ethical hunter is to make a clean and humane kill. This is also why long-range hunting is a bit of a controversial topic in many sportsmen's circles. Ultimately the decision to take a long-distance shot is dependent upon the judgement of each individual hunter. These five videos showcase some of the best in long-range hunting.
1. 1,090-yard Wyoming elk
Brothers Mike and Aaron Davidson recorded this video with Todd Sholly and Curt...
Charades and a 12 Gauge: One Wisconsin Hunter’s 780-pound Black Bear Harvest
With sunset approaching September 21 and time running out on days he could devote to hunting a giant Waupaca County, Wisconsin black bear, Dennis Arndt decided to try something radical to coax the old boar out of hiding.
Arndt, 35, of rural Manawa, gambled that the bear was holed up in a nearby cornfield, probably within hearing range of his ground blind. Trail-camera photos proved the bear had recently visited the bait site in daylight, so when it didn’t appear by early evening, Arndt assumed the bear knew he was waiting nearby.
Rather than wishing and hoping the bear would risk a...
Video: Buck Wants to Fight French Bulldog
This young buck from Wellington, Nova Scotia is not about to take any guff, even if it's from a French bulldog a fraction of its size. Jamie-Rae Fifield posted this video on YouTube of what appears to be a buck attempting to spar with her dog. The challenge was quickly accepted and Ellie-Mae---the three-year-old bulldog---literally ran circles around the deer as it attempted to lock antlers. The bulldog's superior speed and maneuverability were eventually too much for the buck, and it was chased off back into the forest.
http://youtu.be/LchurtBR_LE
While the video may be humorous, it...
Oregon Officials to Launch Rescue of Stranded Fish in the Upper Deschutes
Later this month biologists from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW), along with a number of volunteers, will launch a rescue mission for fish stranded by low water levels in the Upper Deschutes River. Brought to the area by high summer water flow, many redband, brown trout, whitefish, and other species are now trapped as the once free-flowing channel becomes separated into small, shallow pools. Last year the water draw down killed hundreds of fish in the river and resulted in a call for action by many local anglers and conservationists.
Saving the fish will not be an easy...
Vacationing UK Anglers Catch World Record Catfish Back-to-back
What started out as some friendly angling competition between two life-long friends eventually ended in a two back-to-back catches of world-record fish. According to the Daily Mail, the retirees from the United Kingdom each hooked what are believed to be record-setting albino wels catfish. Of course, one of the records only lasted about an hour. Tom Herron and John Edwards were fishing in the River Segre in Spain when their group...
Bullpup Breakdown: What I Learned by 3-Gunning with a Tavor
I'm a beginner to 3-gun, there can be no doubt about that. My first officiated shoot was only in April of this year. But what I lack in longevity I've made up for in volume by attending the MGM Ironman, the Crimson Trace Midnight 3 Gun Invitational, the Kentucky Bullpup Convention, and any "local" match less than 10 hours away since my first event. I've shot seven matches over the summer of 2014, and put thousands of rounds through each of my primary firearms.
A constant throughout my recent series of competitions has been my Tavor. As a Canadian, I've owned a semiautomatic-only version of...
Video: Georgia Hunter Finds Confused, Naked Man in the Woods
What's the craziest hunting story you've ever heard---or experienced yourself? Casey Sanders recently posted a video on YouTube depicting what appears to be an encounter with a disoriented, lost, and, most importantly, naked man in the woods near Chattahoochee Hills, Georgia. The incident took place four days after TomorrowWorld, a three-day electronic music festival that ended on September 28. According to Sanders, he was nearing a creek when he discovered the naked man out in the open. Unsure of the situation, the hunter stayed at a distance while...
Video: Jerry Miculek on the Mossberg 500 Shotgun (with Gratuitous Slow-motion Footage)
The Mossberg 500 is one of the most popular shotguns in America, and there is little doubt why. Its reliability, simplicity of design, and massive aftermarket has earned the Mossberg 500 a place in many shooters' hearts and many gun safes as well. Speed shooter Jerry Miculek is also one of the shotgun's fans.
In this video, Jerry shows us a few quick drills with his custom shotgun, as well as a detailed review and brief history of the Mossberg 500's evolution throughout the decades.
http://youtu.be/Z3m-WNk44hI...
California Officials Install Water Coolers to Aid Heat-weary Fish
As California's waters continue to dry up in the state's record-breaking drought, construction is underway to build water coolers to aid vulnerable fish species. These giant devices are already being installed in facilities like Rancho Cordova's Nimbus Fish Hatchery, the Livingston Stone National Fish Hatchery, and the America River Hatchery just east of Sacramento. Officials hope that the coolers will alleviate the strain from abnormally high water temperatures, which can be fatal to fish like trout and salmon.
The problem is that like elsewhere across the state, hatchery managers are...
What Every Hunter Needs to Know about Whitetail Travel Habits
In 1993 Tom Miranda and I teamed up to write a book called Corn Fed Giants in which we offered a lot of good information for the farmland whitetail hunter. I wrote something in that book about an interesting phenomenon relating to whitetail travel: sometimes giant bucks appear out of nowhere for a few days, and sometimes they just disappear. I wrote of my belief that once an outsized, genetically superior buck gets big enough and strong enough to beat up every other buck he comes across, he just goes wherever he wants during the rut. He breeds does as he pleases, traveling far and...
Video: 10-point Buck Rescued from Iowa Sinkhole
Thanks to three young men coming home from a football game, a 10-point buck in Iowa has a chance to spend the fall somewhere other than a sinkhole. Eric Smorstad, Gavin Nimrod, and Dryton Meyer used some rope and a tractor to rescue an unfortunate buck last Friday night on Smorstad's family farm east of Decorah. Smorstad's father, who runs the farm, was the first to find the animal after the tractor nearly got stuck in the sinkhole itself. Seeing as how Smorstad and his friends were home from college, his father recruited them to haul the deer out.
“It was hard to see; only three or four...
Michigan Angler Pulls Massive 105-pound Sturgeon from St. Clair River
Donald McChristian, Jr. has been fishing for sturgeon for about 13 years, but he has never seen one as big as the 105-pound fish that his friend Dennis Moritz landed late last month. The two anglers were fishing in a charity tournament run by the St. Clair-Detroit River Sturgeon for Tomorrow on the evening of September 27 in the St. Clair River. Fishing had already gotten off on a good start with Moritz catching and releasing a 45-inch sturgeon early on, and the two were leading the tournament.
"Some spots are better than others,...
High Waters and Plentiful Bass on the Kalamazoo River
On Scott Markham’s third cast, I heard the whoosh of his hook set and looked up to see his rod bent into a parabola.
“This is a good one,” he said.
I scrambled to grab the landing net, but the fish, a very sizable smallmouth bass, broke the surface and threw the bait back at Markham.
He was philosophical about it.
“The good ones are just starting to bite again,” he said. “For the last six weeks you could catch all the little ankle-biters you wanted, but the better fish were hard to come by. We’re getting back into some good fish again.”
Within a cast or two it...
7 Upland Hunting Essentials for Female Hunters
If you’re interested in trying your hand at upland hunting, there are a few gear essentials that will make your time afield comfortable and enjoyable. Below are my recommendations for basic women’s upland gear.
1. Blaze orange hat
Wearing blaze orange while upland hunting is an important safety aspect that shouldn’t be overlooked. Be sure to check your state’s regulations for specifics on how much blaze orange is required by law. I’m a believer in the “more is better” mind-set when it comes to orange, especially if you’re hunting in thick cover during the early part of the...
Video: Kangaroos Duke It Out in Suburban Street
Wildlife encounters in Australia are markedly different from those in North America. For example, whereas deer fights or even duels between rival bears may occur outside someone's lawn here in the Northern Hemisphere, we'll likely never see a battle between two kickboxing kangaroos. The video embedded below, posted to YouTube by Rodney Langham on October 2, depicts a five-minute bout between two equally-matched 'roos right in the street.
http://youtu.be/ciDAfhhSgns
This fight may look comical, but rest assured that you wouldn't want to be in the middle of those kicks. Kangaroo fights can...
Study: Efforts to Preserve Sage Grouse Also Benefit Mule Deer
Researchers have found that conservation efforts for sage grouse in Wyoming may have benefited the local mule deer population as well. Scientists at the University of Wyoming, US Geological Survey, The Nature Conservancy, Western Ecoysystems Inc., and the University of Montana recently published a study confirming "umbrella" benefits stemming from grouse habitat conservation. Many conservationists have long argued that protective measures for sage grouse would benefit other species as well.
"The study results are heartening, because they show that benefits of sage grouse conservation by...