OutdoorHub
Seven Things I Learned from My First 3-Gun Competition
I recently decided to jump into the 3-gun world with barrels blazing. With a background in upland bird hunting, big game hunting, and defensive handgun, why not? So, I bent the ears of some of the best pro shooters in the industry, soaked in as much information as my brain could handle, gathered gear, and hit the range for lots of practice with 3-Gun Nation competitor Rick Birdsall. At the end of May, I was invited to shoot the Hornady Zombies in the Heartland – Pandemic 2014 in Nebraska with Team Burris---my first real competition!...
Alligator Confrontation Leaves Louisiana Man with 80 Stitches
When Glen Bonin and three of his friends recently encountered an 11-foot alligator in the middle of a road south of Sulphur, Louisiana, their first impulse was to try and move it. Now Bonin is recuperating after 80 stitches to his hand---and he is thankful the large reptile did not bite it off entirely.
"I've always been the kind of guy who learns the hard way," Bonin told KPLC.
The alligator was reportedly blocking traffic on Prater Road when Bonin first approached it. The...
Nighttime Fishing for Summer Lunker Bass
The daytime temperatures had climbed to over 100 degrees. Even at night, the mist coming off the water felt more like steam than a cool breeze. As I cast a black, wooden Musky Jitterbug, the constant plop, plop, plop, plop sound it made was interrupted by an explosion. I used 55-pound-test, braided line and a pool-cue-sized rod to set the hook on the fish hard. As I saw the 8-1/2-pound bass' head, I reeled furiously, dragged the big largemouth to the boat and then removed the hooks and let the lunker go. To catch a trophy-sized bass during...
‘Treasures & Traditions’: A New Show Outdoorsmen Can Appreciate
A new television show is worth setting the DVR or TIVO for, especially if you enjoy collecting sporting goods such as guns, wildlife artwork, antique lures, or old fishing rods and reels. Treasures & Traditions looks familiar in some ways to other shows, where a guest brings an attic-found item and the appraiser says, “Tell me about this piece.” Half the fun is hearing how much an old spiral-wire, minnow-cage lure is worth (spoiler alert: thousands!), the other side is the enjoyment of the stories behind the artifacts. The best part of this show? Everything is hunting- or...
Polaris RZR XP 4 1000
When I asked Polaris to test a four-passenger RZR UTV, I was given a choice: I could either test out a RZR 800, which has been around for a few years, or go for the “big dog,” the new RZR XP 4 1000. In that moment, I channeled my inner Ricky Bobby to help guide me, and an internal exclamation of “I just wanna go fast!” led me to choose the XP 4 1000.
Polaris Industries turned the industry on its ear when they released the first RZR machines. The original 800 evolved into the XP 900 and...
Video: Marlin Jumps Onto Boat Bill-first
Marlin are known for their high jumping antics, but anglers rarely welcome one of these heavy fish jumping bill-forward into their boats. A marlin jump is enough to make more skittish fishermen jump clean overboard---and with good reason. That has been more than one occasion where a marlin managed to skewer an unsuspecting angler.
Thankfully, nobody seemed to be hurt in the following video depicting just such a leap. The same couldn't be said for the marlin however, which seemed to have injured itself during the impact and consequent thrashing.
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John Stallone: A Filmmaker to Keep an Eye On
Anybody who has ever tried to film a hunt can attest to the fact that it's harder than it looks. Filmmaker John Stallone said there's no exception to that for him, although he has a bit of experience with a camera by now.
"Something always goes wrong," he told me, chuckling. "On one occasion, an elk hunt in Canada last year, the battery on our camera died and the GoPro we had wasn’t working right. We ended up filming on an iPhone."
John has been hunting more or less since the age of five, and he first took up the bow and arrow at 13. His obsession with the sport saw him...
Family Pitches in to Help ‘Grandpa’ Bag His First Turkey
When the alarm clock in Carol Collins’ home sounded at 3:45 a.m. on a recent day in May, she was soon swept out of bed by her husband Milton’s eagerness to hunt turkeys.
“I got up with him because I’ve never seen so much energy at that time of day,” Carol said of her 86-year-old husband. “He was so anxious to get out there. I was wondering how he could do this, but I knew he would be in good hands.”
Her certainty rested with their son-in-law, Gregg Maes, 56, of Suamico, Wisconsin, who’s married to their daughter Bonnie. Carol Collins, 83, knew Maes would be arriving soon,...
Bait Shop Rivalry: Florida Man Uses Bleach to Kill Competitor’s Fish
More than $20,000 worth of bait fish in a Florida shop are dead after one man poured liquid bleach into their holding pens late last month. According to WPLG Local 10, police arrested 25-year-old Alexander Ramer for the act, an independent seller associated with another another bait company.
Gary Case, the owner of the Boynton Beach shop that was vandalized, recognized Ramer and his boat in surveillance video which showed someone dumping two buckets of...
A Bass Every Minute: Early Summer Fishing on Lake St. Clair
I felt like the odd man out.
John Cleveland, the marketing director at Eppinger Manufacturing---makers of the iconic Dardevle spoon---was on the back deck of the bass boat, casting one of his company’s products. On the front deck, our host Jon Bondy was fishing a drop-shot rig with a Bondy perch, the latest in his line of soft-plastic baits.
Having no bait company of my own, I chose a Rapala X-Rap, which is always a good choice for early season, shallow-water bass fishing on Lake St. Clair.
We were fishing for smallmouths just down the lake from the yacht club and I was pretty much...
Is This UFO-shaped Skiff the Future of Personal Watercraft?
It looks like a cross between a UFO and a radar dish, yet designer Jeff Lizzio hopes it will soon be the new face of fishing, duck hunting, and just about any form of recreation where you would need a single-person skiff. The Ultraskiff 360 is a 110-pound mass of polyethylene that offers just about all the amenities of a conventional boat, yet can be moved easily and fits in the back of a pick-up. Most importantly, Lizzio says the circular design of the craft promotes comfort and healthy fishing habits.
"The problem I had that I think many other people have is that we love to fish so much...
Federal Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Opposing Pennsylvania’s Sunday Hunting Ban
On Wednesday, US District Judge Yvette Kane tossed out a lawsuit that challenged Pennsylvania's long-standing Sunday hunting ban. According to pennlive.com, Kane made the ruling roughly one year after Hunters United for Sunday Hunting (HUSH) filed the lawsuit against the state Game Commission. HUSH argued that the ban on Sunday hunting not only deprived hunters of valuable weekend hunting...
Study: Wolves Suppress Coyote Populations, Help Red Foxes
There is little doubt that wolves, one of North America's most iconic and contentious predators, greatly impact their environments. While the precise effects of wolf reintroduction are still hotly debated, scientists at Oregon State University (OSU) have found that there is at least one clear winner and loser following the return of the gray wolf. In a study recently published in the Journal of Animal Ecology, researchers found that wolves are capable of suppressing coyote populations and boosting those of the coyote's ancient rival: the red fox.
The study was led by Thomas Newsome...
Iowa Begins Ambitious Project to Create Upland Habitat
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is now recruiting landowners for participation in a project that could save up to 50,000 acres for pheasant habitat. The Iowa Pheasant Recovery: State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement (SAFE) program is now reopening enrollment for landowners who want to return pheasants to their property. As a continuous Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), landowners will be reimbursed based on the quality of their land and length of their contract, as well as an initial sign-up bonus of $100 per acre. So far 4,000 acres have already been registered, and officials say...
IMI Razor Core 77-grain OTM 5.56x45mm Ammo
I’m a relative newcomer to the 5.56x45mm round. The first gun I had chambered in 5.56 that was truly my own and not a “shared custody” piece between my father and I was my Tavor SAR. However, my inexperience with the round evaporated during extensive accuracy testing with the Israeli bullpup. I’ve now shot thousands of rounds of 55-grain XM193, 62-grain green tip, 77-grain Black Hills OTM (open tip match), and many others. I’ve also become intimately familiar with the high cost of quality 5.56. When word started...
NRA Freestyle’s ‘Media Lab’: There’s Always a Way
Dom proves that with the right mindset, there’s always a way to use your environment. In Media Lab Episode 7 “There’s Always A Way,” Dom breaks down scenes from Killer Elite and Bourne Supremacy to show how everyday objects can become tools for defense.
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Broadheads for Bears: Seeking to Settle the Debate
Choosing the right broadhead for bears is a touchy subject. Opinions range from “anything that will work for deer will work for bear” to outfitters that will not allow expandable broadheads in their camp. Here’s a voice of reason.
I couldn’t help but overhear the conversation. Two guys standing in the local archery shop, each with a package of broadheads in their hand, insisting that their opinion of the best broadhead was right and the other’s was wrong.
I’ll bet you can guess which broadhead was in the hands of one guy---yes, an expandable that opens up to a...
Video: The Million Duck March
A video showing what looks like a waterfowler's dream come true turned out to be a nightmare for motorists. Yahoo News reported that traffic near the town of Nakhon Pathorm, Thailand was slowed to a crawl when a mass of ducks decided to cross the road. Jack Sarathat was driving to work when he was waylaid by the army of ducks, and he used the opportunity to take video of the bizarre event.
"I'm not sure why these ducks are in revolt," Saranthat said in the video, as translated by the...
Video: Louisiana Tour Guide Feeds Alligators by Mouth
Lance LaCrosse of Airboat Adventures in Jean Lafitte, Louisiana has some tricks up his sleeve that few other tour guides in the state can match. LaCrosse was caught on video last month jumping off his boat and swimming with alligators in Jean Lafitte National Historical Park. In the footage, the 29-year-old can be seen hand feeding the reptiles pieces of chicken, and at one point puts a marshmallow in his mouth and lets an alligator take it off his lips. The video, taken by a passenger on one of Airboat Adventures' tours, quickly gained attention on the internet. According to Read more »
Father and Son Land Massive 900-pound White Sturgeon in British Columbia
It is a North American tradition to celebrate Father's Day with a fishing trip, but 19-year-old Paul Jarvis did not expect his holiday to be as eventful as it turned out to be. Paul and his father Ron, both natives of Georgia, flew to British Columbia's famed Fraser River for a chance at white sturgeon. Last Thursday the pair pulled in an estimated 900-pound specimen, marking it the fourth monster sturgeon caught in the river in the past two years.
“In the first few minutes I had it on the line I couldn’t believe the weight and power of the fish," Paul, a sophomore in college, said in a...