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Hunting Ethics and Conservation
Hunting is far more than a way to fill a freezer. At its best, it is a relationship with wild places and wild animals built on respect, responsibility, and…
Practical how-to guides, real gear round-ups, and the honest version of what works in the field. 50 articles and growing.
Hunting is far more than a way to fill a freezer. At its best, it is a relationship with wild places and wild animals built on respect, responsibility, and…
Field dressing — removing the internal organs from a harvested deer — is one of the most important skills a hunter can learn. Done promptly and correctly, it…
If you want to become a better hunter, start with small game. Squirrels and rabbits are abundant, widely distributed, and pursued with simple, affordable gear.…
Few hunting experiences match a frosty morning in a duck blind — the whistle of wings overhead, decoys riding the chop, and a Lab quivering with anticipation.…
For many hunters, a Western mule deer hunt is a bucket-list adventure. Mule deer roam the sagebrush flats, aspen pockets, alpine basins, and broken canyon…
Black bears are one of North America's most rewarding big-game animals to hunt. They are widespread, intelligent, and live in some of the most beautiful…
Wild hogs — also called feral hogs or wild boar — have spread across much of the southern and central United States, and their numbers continue to climb. They…
Spring turkey hunting is one of the most exciting and accessible pursuits in North America. The woods are waking up, gobblers are vocal, and the game is…
Few pursuits in North American hunting capture the imagination like elk. A bull elk bugling across a timbered mountain basin at dawn is one of the most…
The white-tailed deer is the most popular big game animal in North America, and for good reason. Whitetails are widespread, accessible, challenging, and…
Every hunter has heard the advice: "Hunt early, hunt late." There's real truth in it. Game animals follow daily activity rhythms, and certain windows of the…
Ask any seasoned hunter for the secret to consistent success, and weather will come up fast. Game animals don't read calendars, but they respond constantly to…
Hunting in cold and snow is a test of preparation, judgment, and grit. When done right, it can be some of the most productive and beautiful hunting of the…
By the time the late season rolls around, the easy hunting is over. Animals have been pressured for weeks or months, the rut is a memory, and the woods are…
Opening day carries a weight no other hunt does. It's the culmination of an off-season of scouting, preparation, and anticipation. It's also, statistically,…
The early season is a special window. The woods are still green, the weather is mild, and game animals are living predictable, pattern-driven lives undisturbed…
There's a rhythm to upland bird hunting that gets into your blood: the crunch of fallen leaves, the bell or beeper of a working dog, the sudden explosion of a…
Few experiences in the outdoors match the thrill of watching a flock of mallards cup their wings and drop into your decoy spread as the sun breaks over a…
Coyote hunting is one of the fastest-growing pursuits in North America, and for good reason. Coyotes are abundant, challenging, and huntable across long…
Bowhunting is one of the most rewarding ways to hunt. It demands that you get close, often within 20 to 40 yards of your quarry, which puts a premium on…
For deer hunters, the rut is the most anticipated time of the season. It is the breeding period when normally cautious, nocturnal bucks abandon much of their…
A decoy gives an animal something to see, and seeing is believing. Calling appeals to an animal's ears and curiosity, but a decoy provides visual confirmation…
Calling adds an active, interactive dimension to big game hunting. Instead of simply waiting for an animal to wander past, you can speak its language and pull…
Hunting from a tree stand is one of the most effective ways to pursue whitetail deer and other big game. Getting above an animal's normal line of sight,…
Still hunting is one of the oldest and most misunderstood hunting techniques. The name confuses people, because still hunting does not mean sitting still. It…
Spot-and-stalk hunting is one of the most active, engaging, and rewarding ways to pursue big game. Instead of waiting in a stand for an animal to come to you,…
Predators do most of their hunting after dark, and so do the people who pursue them. Coyotes, hogs, and other nuisance animals are largely nocturnal, and in…
A well-timed call can turn a quiet morning into the hunt of the season. Game calls let you speak the language of the animals you pursue, pulling a curious buck…
A successful hunt creates an immediate responsibility: getting the meat home in good condition. Game meat is the reward for the whole effort, and nothing…
Out West, hunting is often a game of finding animals before you ever move toward them. Across miles of open sage, timbered basins, and rocky alpine slopes, the…
When the hunt is over, the work begins — and a good knife makes that work faster, cleaner, and safer. Field dressing, skinning, and quartering an animal are…
Hunting clothing does two jobs: it keeps you comfortable enough to stay out longer, and it helps you go undetected. Beginners often obsess over the camo…
Few pieces of gear affect a hunt as directly as your boots. They carry you to the stand before dawn, up the mountain, and through swamps, snow, and rock. When…
A hunting backpack carries everything between you and a long, miserable day — and on a successful hunt, it carries the meat out. The right pack disappears on…
A trail camera is like having an extra set of eyes in the woods around the clock. It tells you which animals are using a property, when they're moving, and how…
Knowing the exact distance to your target removes the single biggest variable in making a clean shot. For bowhunters, a few yards of guesswork can mean a miss…
A rifle scope is the bridge between your eye and your target, and it's an area where smart spending pays off for years. The good news for hunters today is that…
A good pair of binoculars is arguably the most-used piece of gear in your pack. You'll spend far more time glassing a hillside or treeline than you ever will…
Field judging is the skill of evaluating a live animal in the field — quickly, often at a distance and under pressure — to decide whether it meets your goals…
Ask a roomful of experienced hunters what beats them most often, and you'll hear the same answer again and again: the wind. Game animals live and die by their…
Animals don't carry calendars or post their schedules, but they leave a detailed record of their lives all over the landscape. Learning to read that record —…
Hunting is, statistically, a safe activity — far safer than many common sports. But that safety record isn't an accident. It exists because generations of…
When hunters set up to ambush game, they usually have two main options: get up in a tree, or stay on the ground in a concealed blind. Both work. Both have…
For a new hunter, the calendar of hunting can feel like a foreign language. Archery season, general season, muzzleloader season, youth weekends,…
Successful hunts are rarely luck. They're the payoff for hours of scouting done long before opening day. Scouting is the process of learning the land, locating…
You don't need to own a ranch or know a friendly farmer to be a hunter in America. The United States is home to hundreds of millions of acres of public land —…
Before you can legally hunt in the United States, you need two things: a hunting license and, in nearly every state, proof that you've completed a hunter…
Hunting is one of the oldest human traditions, and it remains a powerful way to connect with the outdoors, put high-quality food on the table, and play an…
