OutdoorHub
Strong Gun, Ammo Sales Benefit Wildlife as Firearms Industry Settles into “New Normal”
The firearms and ammunition industry is once again returning to normal after a busy and chaotic 2013. Manufacturers found themselves pressed by sky-high demand as customers stocked up on guns and ammo, causing visible shortages in items such as AR-15-style rifles and .22 LR ammo. According to statistics from the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), background checks in 2013 rose to a record 14.8 million as compared to 5.64 million in 2011.
While last year may have been immensely profitable for the industry, it was also a shot in the arm for critical conservation projects across the...
5 New Deer Hunting Rifles to Help You Fill Your Freezer This Season
Rifle season’s just around the corner, and you’re still fiddling around with the lawn mower. A whitetail isn’t going to serve itself on a platter, so if you plan to get the family some steaks, you better get in gear. Here are five new guns that offer zero excuses for buying meat from the grocery store again.
CVA Accura MR Nitride ST
In several Booner-buck-producing Midwestern states you must choose a shotgun or muzzleloader for the firearm season. I opt for the muzzleloader---specifically CVA’s Accuru MR Nitride ST---because it...
On the Front Lines with the Thin Green Line
Federal game warden Brandon Jones lies motionless in the steely gray of dawn, the frozen Louisiana ground hard beneath him. It’s cold, unseasonably so. The weeks leading up to the deer opener permeated sultry summer air throughout the Southeast, and a front from the north had only moved in the evening before---the night he was supposed to stake out an area where a lock-on stand hung over a pile of corn.
Four days prior, on a Tuesday, Jones and another warden came across a trail camera placed deep in the woods. A quick check of the SD card revealed a large buck. They erased all evidence of...
Cookin’ in Camo: Suds and Squirrel with a Mushroom-vegetable Ragout
Squirrel is one my favorite small game animals. They come in a variety of species and are wildly abundant throughout the world. With many of our states’ squirrel seasons finally open, it only seems to bring this dish to the table! Braised in rich, flavorful beer and infused with the earthiness of mushrooms, you can’t help but go "nuts" after the first bite!
Ingredients
4 ounces thickly sliced bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 squirrels, 2 pounds each, cut into 6 pieces (don’t dare discard the heads---put them in the pot as well)
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
4 ounces...
Michigan’s Youth Hunting Programs Keep Sporting Traditions Strong
Most of us who hunt come from families of hunters. The love for the sport gets passed down from one generation to the next, with fathers and mothers looking on with pride as sons and daughters take to the field. With the rich tradition of hunting ingrained in the DNA of the state of Michigan, it does the heart good to see how the state has embraced our youthful hunters.
I can remember the first time I went deer hunting. I was very young, not able at the time to carry a rifle of my own. My father has passed away several years before, so Ted, a family friend, asked my mother whether I could...
Why Conservationists Are Opposing Maine’s Anti-hunting Ballot Proposal
For the past several months, Maine's Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (DIFW) has been promoting awareness of the upcoming bear referendum and what it would mean for the state's bear hunt. This November voters will have the choice to vote yes on Question 1, which would ban the use of bait, hounds, and traps for bear hunting in the state. As the vote nears, the DIFW is stepping up its attempts to encourage residents to vote against the ban.
"The Department opposes Question 1 since if it passes, it would cripple the Department’s ability to control the bear population. That will...
Fishing for Alabama Gator Trout
One gator has dominated the outdoors coverage this summer and rightfully so. Mandy Stokes’ world record American alligator at 15 feet, nine inches is famous worldwide.
However, a gator of another sort has surfaced along the Alabama Gulf Coast that has inshore fishermen excited. It’s called a gator trout. Conjecture is that when the speckled trout (spotted seatrout for you purists) reaches 25 inches or larger, its tooth-filled mouth begins to resemble that toothy, giant...
Video: Greedy Bear Stuck Between Rocks Tries to Reach Fish, Deals with It
It must be said that while bears are powerful and intelligent creatures, sometimes they do put on an entertaining show. According to the Telegraph, a German family visiting Anan Creek, Alaska managed to take this funny video of bear attempting to get its paws on some fish when it got stuck in a gap. After trying half-halfheartedly to get out, the bear then resigns itself to fishing from the section of the creek he's still able to reach.
We're not sure if the bear was able to...
Alaskan Anglers Catching Foreign Fish as Pacific Heats Up
Tell anybody that you caught a tropical skipjack tuna in Alaska's Copper River, and you are likely to get some questions regarding your mental health. The last confirmed case of a skipjack being found in Alaska can be traced back to 1981. Yet that did not stop one fisherman from pulling a skipjack from the Copper River just last month, and it is not the only strange fish to visit Alaska recently. Scientists at NOAA's Northwest Fisheries Science Center say that the unusually warm waters of the North Pacific may have "jostled" the food chain with new arrivals, affecting everything from jellyfish...
“Activists” Say They’ll Stalk Montana Hunters During Wolf Season
When Montana opened its six-month general rifle hunting season for wolves on Monday, hunters found themselves watching their backs, but not because of the threat of a wolf attack. Instead, sportsmen and women in the Absaroka-Beartooth wilderness area just north of Yellowstone kept an eye out for animal rights activists. According to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, nine members of the newly-formed Yellowstone Wolf Patrol claimed they would shadow hunters for about 10 days...
The Revolutionary New Skiff That Could Change How Anglers Fish
It may look like it came from outer space---or receives 250 channels in stunning HD quality---but designer Jeff Lizzio says his disc-shaped craft belongs on the water. The Ultraskiff 360 is a six-foot-wide, 110-pound polyethylene saucer personal watercraft for anglers looking for a different experience than what they will find in a more traditional boat. Due to its circular design, the Ultraskiff allows its user to swivel like they're in the gun turret of a tank, allowing for increased access and comfort.
"The main thing that inspired me to design...
The BAREBOW! Chronicles: Compound Trouble at Skinboat Lake
As outfittter and bush pilot Greg Williams spiraled his Cessna downward, banking sharply to the right, my insides felt uncomfortable from the additional pressure, and my hands grabbed my knees in white-knuckled protest. I looked at Greg questioningly. His right arm shot in front of me, finger pointing out my window. “There’s a good bull standing down there in that old burn area,” he shouted, above the roar of the engine. “Look for the lightest-colored thing you can see, and that will be his paddles.”
Almost immediately I spotted the big moose 400 feet below us---stationary,...
Video: Inventor Tests New Circular Skiff for Stability
When Jeff Lizzio enticed anglers with a introductory video of his saucer-shaped Ultraskiff 360 in June, he wasn't expecting such a large response. After a torrent of emails and calls to his office, Lizzio told OutdoorHub that he was quickly overwhelmed by demand with only a small inventory of boats available for sale.
"We’re still in the beginning stages," said Lizzio, the only employee in the small start-up.
But the Ultraskiff, with its strange shape and one-piece construction, caught...
Coyote Sprints into Arizona Home to Take a Nap
Jonathan Radow of Scottsdale, Arizona was heading to work last Thursday when he found himself grappling with a home intrusion---by a 25-pound coyote. Radow told KPHO that the coyote may have been attracted to the house by his small terrier, which would have been a large snack for the predator. Radow and his neighbor tried to shoo the coyote away, but the predator instead hightailed it inside Radow's house, eventually taking refuge in his fireplace. Amazingly, the coyote then appeared to fall...
Are You Releasing Too Many Fish? Utah Anglers Are
It is a rare occurrence when fishery biologists proclaim a state to have too many fish (except perhaps Asian carp), but that is exactly what is happening in Utah. The Utah Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) recently announced that it will be proposing rule changes for 2015 that encourage anglers to keep their fish. The popularity of catch-and-release fishing boomed over the last decade, dramatically changing how biologists are approaching fish management. Too much releasing, it seems,...
Alberta Hunter Killed by Grizzly as Bear Encounters Increase
A missing hunter that was found last week in Kananaskis County, Alberta appears to be the latest victim of an uptick in bear encounters across the province. According to the CBC, the remains of veteran hunter Rick Cross were found near Picklejar Creek Trail alongside his backpack and rifle. Cross was reported missing on September 6, just one day before search teams recovered his body. Officials from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) confirmed that the cause of...
5 Tried-and-true Tactics for Small Pond Fishing
Ask most anglers where they first learned to fish, and the response will likely include a nostalgic description of small ponds that played important parts in their lives and ensuing love of the sport. For me, it was small waterways on Grand Lake St. Marys in Ohio, where Grandpa taught me how to fish for bluegill, crappie, perch, and catfish. These pond-dwelling fish are still fun to catch today, but the tactics for landing them have improved with tackle, technology, and experience.
I teamed up with my fishing mentor, Dan Brodbeck, to look at the best ways to apply tried-and-true fishing...
Irish Setter VaprTrek Boots
I'd like to thank Kim Emery from Firefly Publicity and Irish Setter Boots for sending me a pair of the VaprTrek boots to do a review on. These boots looked ideally suited to the deserts I frequently hunt here in Arizona.
Straight from Irish Setter, here are some details on these boots:
New VaprTrek boots are 40% lighter than traditional Irish Setter big game hunting boots without sacrificing support or stability. RPM Technology, a breakthrough composite material, significantly reduces the weight of the boot, providing...
Early Season Whitetail Strategies
Many deer seasons open for bowhunters in September, which offers an opportunity to hunt them when they are still in late summer predictable patterns. Here are some tips to help you fill your tag in a hurry
While I don’t love the mosquitoes that often accompany an early season deer hunt, I do love the opportunity that early bowhunting presents. Deer are in predictable patterns during the early weeks of many states' archery seasons in September.
Whitetail bucks are in velvet until about the first of September. In fact, the bucks in my area lose their velvet nearly always within...
How to Survive Backcountry Snakebites
Snakes are an integral part to many ecosystems and, as an outdoor enthusiast, it is only a matter of time before you encounter one in the backcountry. Venomous snakes are most prevalent in temperate and tropical climates, with April through October being peak snakebite season. There are roughly 15 to 20 deaths per year in North America related to venomous snakes. The risk of dying from a venomous bite increases when multiple bites are involved and when the bite occurs in the very young, old, or in persons with underlying respiratory or cardiovascular problems.
In the United States, venomous...