Articles

On paper, shotgun patterns are deceiving. The pattern board reveals only a two-dimensional representation of a three-dimensional shot string, suggesting that all the pellets from a payload arrive simultaneously. Nothing could be further from the truth. As soon as pellets exit the shotgun muzzle...

Guns aren’t always a great financial investment (though they can be), but this is one firearm purchase you can definitely feel good about. Lot 1 at the Rock Island Auction on December 5th is a one-of-a-kind set of five Purdey & Sons side-by-side shotguns. Valued at a whopping $800,000, the proceeds...

Selecting the right shotshell for ducks, geese, and pheasants can be a daunting task. Not only are there numerous options to choose from, but there’s also considerable misinformation or “marketing speak” that can mislead hunters. One of the best shotshell selection resources for waterfowl and upland...

Matt Jefko of Wisconsin says he can’t sacrifice the time and money to hunt Western states, so he turns his stay-at-home hunts into hard-earned adventures whenever possible. But after this public-schools teacher arrowed a buck in southwestern Wisconsin’s Yellowstone Lake State Park in early November...

In Texas, a state known for its lack of public lands, the tide may be turning. Though only four percent of land in the state is publicly owned (and of that, only 1 million acres are open to hunting), those numbers are set to grow substantially in coming years. That’s thanks to a 2023 voter-approved...

In the battle over public land access, the sides often seem to have heroic DIY hunters on one side vs villainous landowners scheming to keep us out on the other. But it’s hardly ever that simple. Take, for example, David Faubion, a Wyoming-based big game hunter who has been chartering a helicopter...

Western states have a mule deer problem. Deer populations are down across the board, leaving fish and game commissions grasping for means to mitigate the declines. Often, the only lever immediately within reach is a control on hunting pressure, which commissioners are reluctant to touch, as it...

Earlier this month, the U.S. House Committee of Natural Resources held a hearing on sea lion management on the Columbia River. According to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, “Columbia River salmon and steelhead face a serious threat from sea lions that have learned to consume these...

On December 15, the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) announced the end of a controversial CWD control program: a sharpshooting initiative that involved baiting and spotlighting deer in areas where CWD has been detected. MDC Director Jason Sumners announced the news in an open letter. “As...

Several years ago, I drew a limited hunt on public ground in my state. Part of that draw required hunters to harvest a doe before filling their buck tags. I went into that hunt assuming I’d tag a doe on the first day and have three days to find a buck. Boy, was I wrong. It wasn’t until my third day...

For dedicated whitetail hunters, December can feel like a comedown after a killer party. November holds the noise and excitement of the season. Fresh scrapes pop up overnight. Hot rub lines dot the ridge. Antlers clash as big bucks crash through brush on a hot doe. Then December hits, and the woods...

The Homochitto River winds through the southwest corner of Mississippi and empties into the river that shares the state’s namesake. Other than Natchez, a preserved antebellum town, it’s a scarcely populated region, defined by historical markers and the dilapidated mills that stand in perpetual...

Selecting the right shotshell for ducks, geese, and pheasants can be a daunting task. Not only are there numerous options to choose from, but there’s also considerable misinformation or “marketing speak” that can mislead hunters. One of the best shotshell selection resources for waterfowl and upland...

My introduction to shotgun suppressors was more than a decade ago, just after SilencerCo debuted the Salvo 12 by taking a group of gun writers on an Eastern Shore Canada goose hunt to test and promote its new cans. A colleague was on the hunt and told me about the suppressor. Soon after, I had the...

If you take a peek inside the average hunter’s gun safe, you’ll find many of the same popular cartridges: .30-06 Springfield, .308 Win., .270 Win., .243 Win., .30-30 Win., .300 Win. Mag., and a few others. You don’t need me to sing the praises of those old-school cartridges. They’ve been hammering...

Shotgun recoil is much like the game “two for flinching” many of us played as kids. The game's premise was to fake like you were going to punch your buddy, they flinch, and receive two punches on the shoulder as a penalty. It may not initially hurt, but your shoulder would become sore if you played...

The arrival of autumn means a lot of things to outdoors folk. It’s the start of hunting season, the first step towards cold-weather activities like ice fishing and trapping, and if you’re the type, the first chance to grab a pumpkin spice coffee on your way to the woods. However, for anglers, the...

There’s a long history of record fish being eaten by the angler who caught it. The world record walleye, coho salmon, northern pike, and several others were all consumed after being weighed and measured, including the world record largemouth bass, which was famously eaten for three straight days by...

When I was a kid, deep water fascinated me. I was convinced that those dark, seemingly fathomless depths that stretched into blackness below my boat held fish of unimaginable size. I believed that all I had to do to catch them was to somehow get my lures and baits down into the 50, 80, 100-plus-foot...

One of the things people like to say about my job, is that it sure must be nice to hunt and fish all the time. I always agree, because that sounds a lot better than mostly sitting at a desk pounding on the keyboard while waiting for the next Google Meet to start. While my job puts me into the field...

First Lite just unveiled their brand new Forge Waders, and for the past four years, some of the MeatEater crew have been putting them through the ringer as part of testing measures. From setting beaver traps to bear hunting and, of course, good ole late-season duck hunting, the crew threw everything...

Depending on the context, a good shooting rest could be a tripod, a couple of shooting bags, or even your best hunting backpack. Some serve as a steady prop in the field, while others are designed for precision shooting and tuning at the range. Whether you just need a pair of sticks or a shooting...

If Doug Duren placed historical markers on his family’s farm in southwestern Wisconsin, one would mark the car crash that killed his brother Matt in January 1995, and the other would show the log landing where a chainsaw nearly killed his father, Vince, in April 1991. Matt died near the farm’s...

Depending on your profession, a good every day carry (EDC) Knife might be a discrete folder that hides in the bottom of your pocket. Others might require a medium-sized fixed blade that comfortably rides on the hip and has the backbone to handle more heavy-duty tasks. Regardless, your EDC knife...