Big Game

In the realm of the average hunter, elk are king. While the one-percenters busy themselves with $50,000 sheep tags, or African safaris to quickly fill up their trophy rooms, the Rocky Mountain elk remains at the top of the heap for most hunters. Why shouldn’t it? Bulls can weigh four times that of a...

For most hunters living on the East Coast, hunting elk usually involves traveling hundreds of miles to the Western wilderness stronghold states of Montana, Wyoming, or Colorado. But, after decades of absence in the East, they’re starting to reclaim their former range. They’re not as abundant as...

There are plenty of ways to kill a pig. As a Texan, I’ve heard them all, ranging from guns and bows to explosives (not recommended) and stone-age spears (also not recommended). In many ways, these creative pursuits were born out of necessity—to thin out the ever-growing population of wild swine...

There isn’t a more coveted game animal for the common hunter than a bull elk. Sure, the one-percenters might get glossy-eyed over some type of sheep that lives in the mountains of some country most folks have never heard of, but for the average hunter, it’s the Rocky Mountain elk. This is a hunt...

If you’re feeling a little too cheerful about hunting, and you’re interested in inducing a bout of depression, do a quick search on over-the-counter elk hunting odds. They aren’t great, but what’s worse, is that most info you’ll find that is focused on easy-to-get tags, is far worse. The bitching is...

More bear come into the taxidermist screwed up than not. The skinning cuts are made in the wrong places, the hides are full of holes, or the faces are ruined. Since it's a tragedy to see such a badass animal not taken care of properly, I worked with John Hayes, from Hayes Taxidermy Studio, to...

Blue whales have them. Songbirds have them. Turns out bugling bull elk have them too. Not just a song of their species, but local dialects that separates their tunes from others in geographic locations. In a discovery that may stir the coals of campfire debates for many Septembers to come...

Western big game hunts are no walk in the park, so here are three tips to help you out. It may not be hunting season now, but it’s never too early to start learning the country that you’re going to hunt. And when the time comes—get there early, stay late, and always keep a weather eye on the horizon.

After crawling on my hands and knees some 200 yards up a wrinkle in the prairie, I slipped my binos from my bino harness and carefully looked back over my shoulder. In the distance behind me, I could see my white pickup on the roadside, wavering in mirage, and my buddy, Hunter, watching me through...

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...

I watched the big cinnamon bear blow out about 300 yards from the two orange dots working their way up the mountain. “There goes that,” I said, peering at them through my spotter. I waved a white game bag back and forth overhead until those little orange dots seemed to take notice and began...

This video shows a herd of elk booking it over a fence. Who knows what’s making them move—could be predators, could be hunting pressure, or maybe they just felt like running. The cows and calves make it over the barbed wire with some effort, but they’re moving remarkably faster than the 6x7 bull in...