While scoring antlers is a long and complicated process, scoring bears for record books like Boone and Crockett or Pope and Young simply requires two skull measurements. The skull is a good tool for comparison because it’s the most accurate way to compare bears to each other. Skulls must be dried...

There are three knives I use for the vast majority of my hunting purposes. I'm not making this up to be cute; these are just the blades that have found their way into a consistent rotation. The first is my utility rig, the Benchmade Pardue Hunter. It's a sheath knife that lives on my hip and gets...

In this video, I’ll demonstrate how to score a mule deer buck. The main difference between scoring a whitetail and a muley is how you handle the tines. You’ll begin by measuring both main beams, all tines, four circumferences, and adding those numbers up. The last measurement you’ll take is the...

Scoring a bull elk is quite similar to scoring a deer but with some added complexity due to the sheer length of those much bigger antlers. The total score number will include the inches in the length of the main beams, length of the tines, the inside spread, and the volume of the antlers. And we'll...

Have you ever wondered what goes into making a hand-made knife? In this video, knife maker Steve Schultz shows us how to do it. Although the process looks quick, it's quite a chore. Steve's been making knives for over 30 years, and it's a detailed process that requires specialized tools and skills...

If you are bear hunting from late May into June, your hunt will be influenced by the bear rut. Knowing all you can about it will make you a better hunter. A 1980 study by Kim Barber and Frederick Lindzey conducted on Long Island, Washington, found that female bears are in estrus ranging from six to...

After all the work to get within shooting distance of a big bear, you need confidence in your ability to make a great shot. Bears are big, tough animals that are unforgiving when hit badly. Many new bear hunters use shot placement and strategy derived from experience in deer hunting, but bear...

Timing is everything with hunting. The best destinations in the world can be highly productive for a certain species at a given time, but at other times can be only average. Oftentimes spring bear hunting is lumped into one broad category covering the months of May and June. When booking hunts in...

At some point while hunting, you might use an equine animal to access the backcountry. In this video, I’ll go over the basics for saddling a horse or mule. I’ll cover saddle prep, saddle placement, tightening saddle cinches, and the “safe zone” for not getting kicked.

It was the opening morning of the 1996 turkey season when I met my first public land knucklehead. I was 16 years old and barely old enough to drive, and I was hunting an area riddled with gobblers—and hunters. I drove past a parked truck and pulled to the side of the road a quarter mile away. After...