Archive
Hunting & Shooting: every article
51 articles, newest first.
23 September 202638 pieces
- Hunting & ShootingBuy the Bullet, Not the CaliberWhat to feed your rifle, shotgun and carry gun, by the animal you're hunting and the room you're standing in.
- Hunting & ShootingTexas ranch hunts, region by region, and what they really costThe package price is never the price. Get the all-in number in writing, know what a trophy fee does to it, and pick the right part of Texas first.
- Hunting & ShootingBuy the Boots First and the Rifle LastA gear budget that actually matches how hunting goes wrong, from the ground up to the glass on top.
- Hunting & ShootingThe Wind Beats Every Scent Spray in the StoreWhat actually keeps a deer from smelling you, what's just packaging, and the cheap habits that do most of the work.
- Hunting & ShootingWhen the blood runs out, the tracking job startsMost animals lost after a hit aren't lost at the shot. They're lost forty minutes later, when somebody decides there's nothing more to find.
- Hunting & ShootingHow to load, clean and hunt a muzzleloader without guessingOne shot, one powder charge, one chance to get it right. What a smokepole asks of you before you ever climb into the stand.
- Hunting & ShootingBlack bear hunting, the bait argument and what to do with the meatBait is legal in some states and outlawed in others, bears don't leak blood like deer, and the only kitchen number that matters is 165.
- Hunting & ShootingYour first elk hunt is decided four months before opening dayThe fitness, the calling and the pack out, from a guy who learned the hard way that killing the elk is the easy part.
- Hunting & ShootingWhat your hunting license actually pays forThe duck stamp, the excise tax on your ammo and the tag you never filled all feed one system. Worth knowing how it works before you complain about the price.
- Hunting & ShootingWhat to do in the thirty seconds after your dog pointsYour setter locks up forty yards out in waist-high grass. Everything that matters about upland hunting happens in the next half minute.
- Hunting & ShootingWear the harness, and stay clipped in the whole way upMost stand falls don't happen while you're sitting. They happen in the fifteen seconds nobody thinks about, and that's fixable.
- Hunting & ShootingCalling Coyotes Without Losing Your PermissionCoyotes come in fast, from the wrong side, and usually behind you. The harder part is still the guy who owns the gate.
- Hunting & ShootingPick a bow that fits you, then shoot it all summerDraw length beats arrow speed, 60 pounds beats 70, and the archer who shoots ten good arrows a day in July is the one who fills a tag in October.
- Hunting & ShootingPattern the gun, learn one call, then sit stillSpring gobblers are won on a paper target in March and lost by a hunter who moves at 9:40 a.m. Everything else is detail.
- Hunting & ShootingYour freezer is where most venison actually gets ruinedYou did everything right in the field. Then the meat sat in a bad bag at 10 degrees for eight months. Here's how to keep a season's worth eating well.
- Hunting & ShootingShot Placement Starts At The Front Leg, Not The ShoulderWhere the heart and lungs actually sit on a deer, an elk and a bear, and why the advice you were given at deer camp puts holes in the wrong place.
- Hunting & ShootingApplying for limited tags without burning a decade of pointsDraw odds, point creep, deadlines and the money you front — how to build an application plan that actually puts you on a mountain.
- Hunting & ShootingBrush the blind, cut the spread, fix the wadersDucks don't care how many decoys you own. They care about your face, your shadow and where the wind is putting them.
- Hunting & ShootingRetake the hunter safety course you already passedYour certificate never expires. Your habits do, and the field day is still the best few hours in hunting.
- Hunting & ShootingThe first hour of light is decided in AugustMost whitetail stands fail before daylight, and almost always for the same three reasons. Fix them while it's still hot out.
- Hunting & ShootingCooking venison so your kids ask for secondsMost "gamey" deer meat is just overcooked deer meat. Fix the temperature, fix the fat, and dinner stops being a debate.
- Hunting & ShootingRabbit and squirrel teach you more than a deer tag ever willCheap ammo, long seasons, and enough repetitions to actually get good. Small game is where a hunter gets made.
- Hunting & ShootingWind Beats Every Bottle In Your PackCarbon suits, ozone boxes and cover scents all have a job, but none of them outrank knowing which way the air is moving at your tree.
- Hunting & ShootingAim at the crease, not behind the shoulderThe vitals sit lower and farther forward than most hunters think, and the old advice puts a lot of good animals in the liver.
- Hunting & ShootingWaders Leak Where You Kneel, and Other Marsh LessonsHow to brush a blind that birds don't read, set a spread with a real landing hole, and stay dry enough to still be there at 10 a.m.
- Hunting & ShootingBuy the Bow You Can Draw in DecemberMost bowhunting problems start at the counter with too much draw weight, and every one of them shows up in October. Here's how to fit a bow and build a summer that fixes it.
- Hunting & ShootingThe harness goes on before your boots leave the groundAlmost nobody falls out of the seat. They fall on the sticks, in the dark, with a bow in one hand. Here's the system that stops it.
- Hunting & ShootingThe ten seconds after your dog points are the whole huntMost missed birds, and every genuinely unsafe moment in upland hunting, happen between the point and the flush. Walk in like you mean it.
- Hunting & ShootingTracking A Wounded Animal When The Blood Runs OutMost deer that get lost were lost in the first ten minutes, by a hunter in a hurry. Slow down, mark everything, and work the problem.
- Hunting & ShootingTake hunter ed again, even after thirty seasonsThe course isn't just a card for a 12-year-old. It's the cheapest tune-up in hunting, and the field day will humble you.
- Hunting & ShootingYour best deer stand is the one you can reach in the darkScout your walk-in before you scout the sign, hang for the wind you actually get, and then do almost nothing for the first gray hour.
- Hunting & ShootingSpring Turkey Comes Down to Your Pattern and Your PatienceMost missed gobblers aren't a calling problem. They're a shotgun nobody bothered to pattern and a hunter who stood up too soon.
- Hunting & ShootingPlan Your First Elk Hunt Backward From The Pack OutElk country doesn't grade on a curve. Build the legs, learn two calls, and know exactly how the meat comes off the mountain before you ever pull a trigger.
- Hunting & ShootingYour dog's first duck season is really a training seasonShoot less, watch more, and fix the holes you built in. What a home-trained retriever needs from you between October and January.
- Hunting & ShootingYour kid's first hunt should end before they want it toPlan ninety minutes, set the maximum range in the backyard, and rehearse the shot out loud before you ever leave the truck.
- Hunting & ShootingHow to field dress a deer without ruining the meatThe clock starts the moment the animal is down. A calm, ordered method for getting the cavity open, the heat out, and the venison home clean.
- Hunting & ShootingFishing With Kids Without Ruining It For ThemNinety minutes, a dock, a box of worms and a bluegill. That's the whole plan, and it works better than anything ambitious.
- Hunting & ShootingYour first hunting season will mostly be waitingLicense deadlines, access, cold feet, and the hour after the shot. The parts of a first season the gear catalogues leave out.
22 September 202610 pieces
- Hunting & ShootingWhen you're not sure of the shot, you already have your answerDoubt in the moment isn't weakness or nerves. It's your brain telling you something you decided to ignore, and it's almost always right.
- Hunting & ShootingWhere to hunt when you don't own a single acrePublic ground is already yours, and private permission is won in July by people who ask well and then keep their word.
- Hunting & ShootingCutting up your own deer without wasting half of itWhat home butchering actually takes — the cold space, the tools, the legal checks, and the mistakes that cost you meat.
- Hunting & ShootingThe First Hunt Should Be Short, Warm and a Little BoringPlan a kid's first time in the field around whether they'll want to come back, not around whether anything gets shot.
- Hunting & ShootingYour knife, your saw, and what else the pack has to carryThe gear that matters starts working two hours after the shot, when the light is going and the animal is bigger than you remembered.
- Hunting & ShootingDressing for the stand when you won't move for six hoursSitting still in the cold is a different problem than hiking in the cold, and most hunters dress for the wrong one.
- Hunting & ShootingReading Sign Is a Clock, Not a MapMost hunters can find deer sign. Far fewer can tell you when it was made, which is the only part that puts an animal in front of you.
- Hunting & ShootingSight in six weeks early, not the night beforeA rifle that shot well last November doesn't owe you anything this year. Confirm it early, confirm it cold, and confirm it from the positions you'll actually shoot.
- Hunting & ShootingYour first hunting rifle and the optic that earns its keepPick the cartridge you'll actually shoot, spend real money on the mount, and stop worrying about the brand name on the barrel.
- Hunting & ShootingField dressing alone and getting the meat outThe clock starts the second the animal goes down. A practical sequence for gutting, quartering and packing when nobody is coming to help.