This was a good year for Free Range American. We grew by hundreds of percentage points in every conceivable metric and covered a wide range of topics (and controversies) other outdoor media sites were afraid to touch. We broke the news on an ...
Peters Paper Shotshells are Back! Remington Reintroduces the Legend
The legend returns! Remington has re-introduced the Peters Paper line of shotshells. As part of Remington’s revitalization under Vista Outdoors, the legendary line of shotgun shells is making its return. What Makes these Shells ...
How the American Civil War Changed Santa Claus
Ask any kindergartener what Santa looks like, and they’ll probably tell you he has a red suit, a big, round belly and a long, white beard. The classic Christmas song “Must Be Santa,” written in 1960 by Mitch Miller, describes him in even greater ...
12 Christmas Songs That Don’t Suck
There are two kinds of people in this world: Christmas song people and people who hate Christmas songs. Both stances are completely understandable. While the haters are subjected to saccharine tunes about trees and snow and a mythical home-invading ...
How a Depleted Utah Silver Mine Almost Started a War With England
Local rumor has it that the Emma Silver Mine in Utah’s Little Cottonwood Canyon almost started a war with England in the 1870s. Located near the Alta Ski Area (of 2002 Winter Olympics fame), the Emma Mine consists of a large tunnel bored ...
The Sharks Took the Rest: WWII Marine Tells True Horror Story from ‘Jaws’
“Eleven-hundred men went into the water; 316 men came out. The sharks took the rest.” Robert Shaw utters that line toward the end of his haunting monologue — one of the best movie moments of the last 50 years — in Steven Spielberg’s ...
Dead Silent: How To Hunt Quiet Elk
Whenever we think of elk hunting during the rut, we think of monstrous, screaming bulls, bugling and chuckling as they canter after cows and chase off all challengers to their reign as kings of the mountain. We fantasize about calling them in, ...
Hunt for Bighorn Sheep Triggers Steep Federal Fine
A New Mexico guide who could’ve paid a $530 citation for leading a hunt for bighorn sheep in the Carson National Forest took his case to court and ended up with a $7,600 fine and 18 months of federal probation. A federal judge in Albuquerque ...
Burnover: Shocking Video Reveals Daring Hellscape Drive
For at least 109 seconds, the night turned orange as a towering blaze closed over the firefighters. Captured in a video shot Sept. 10 from inside the cab of a truck, at least two men can be heard screaming obscenities, shouting directions, ...
Here Kitty Kitty: The Delicious Ins and Outs of Mountain Lion Hunting
“Do you want a pulled pork sandwich?” I was sitting in a kitchen waiting for a girl to get ready to go to dinner with me and had mentioned that I was starving, so her roommate asked me the question. I looked at the guy with the questioning look I’d ...
The Free Range American 2021 Holiday Gear Guide
We asked our motley crew of hunters, fishermen, backcountry athletes, survivalists, and ex-operators to give shout-outs to the best gear they used in 2021. They came back with this eclectic list of archery gear, backcountry gear, clothing, EDC kit ...
Mount Up: The American Range Wars Of The Wild West
The Wild West of lore ended a little after the turn of the 19th century, but it didn’t go down without a fight. As civilization made its final push into the West, farmers and ranchers had a war over whether the region would be open range or ...
Cold Sharp Steel – A Guide To Putting A Razor Edge On Your Knife
The cliché exists because it is true. A dull knife is a dangerous knife. When our trusty blade doesn’t have the edge, it once did, we tend to force the cut a bit more. Or we simply reduce ourselves to sawing whatever it is we are trying to ...
International Ass Kicking: Combat Sports By Country
There are a few things all cultures have in common: language, some type of bread, religion and fighting. Weapons made unarmed combat obsolete as a means of defending or expanding civilization long ago, but hand-to-hand fighting remains a celebrated ...
Too Efficient at Maiming and Killing? Here Are the Top 5 Combat Shotguns
Americans began fielding shotguns on the battlefield during the final stretch of World War I and with great effect. German soldiers, who had regularly utilized chlorine gas on their enemies, found the wounds left by the weapons to be egregious and ...
Why Germany Wanted to Ban America’s Trench Shotgun During WWI
By the end of World War I, the Winchester model 1897 pump-action shotgun had gained a nasty reputation across no man’s land on the Western Front. Despite the emergence of numerous novel weapons technologies, including mechanized armor, ...
Who Is the Best James Bond? All Six 007 Actors Ranked
In 1953, British intelligence officer and author Ian Fleming created one of the most recognizable characters of all time: James Bond. The fictional secret agent has been fighting for queen and country since first appearing in Fleming’s ...
The Real Spooky Stories Behind 3 Iconic Stephen King Novels
Master of horror Stephen King has collected interesting anecdotes and real-life characters since before he was a teenage gravedigger, saving them to weave into future stories. Luckily, the frighteningly prolific author seems to run into an ...
Broken Arrow: How a Marine Pilot Found New Life After a Crash Took His Legs
The hospital room at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center was cold, dark, and quiet as Maj. Eric Burkett lay in his bed. He stared at his legs — what was left of them, anyway — pinned together like an Erector Set and suspended from the ...
Peace in the Clouds: How This Deadly Warrior Found His Zen
The sun has barely crested the snowcapped peaks of “his canyon” when Dan Schilling pulls into the back lot of Snowbird ski resort. He grabs his ruck — packed with snowshoes and hiking poles — from the back seat and shuts the truck door. His white ...
Borka Blades: Grinding Away at the American Dream
Let’s discuss the typical American day. It normally starts out by hitting your local Starbucks and buying that $5 cup of coffee. Drink it all down, and then it’s time to hit 24-Hour Fitness before heading into that cushy office job. At ...
How Marine Who Stunned World in ‘64 Olympics Healed a Broken Soul
At the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, the world watched in awe as an unheralded Oglala Lakota runner came from behind and conquered the 10,000-meter race, setting a world record and becoming the first and only American to ever win gold in that event. Legendary ...
Cold Steel Hudson Bay Camp Axe Updates Centuries-Old Design
The axe continues its unlikely comeback as a staple of modern life. From axe throwing to hipster backyards, the axe suddenly finds itself cool again. But hey, we know it never lost its appeal. ‘Cause sometimes, you just gotta swing a good axe to get ...
Navy Veteran Finds Peace Through Motorcycles, Photography
When you’re cruising at 80 miles an hour on a custom-built chopper, everything becomes quiet, and it feels like flying. For Liam Kennedy, it’s when he finally finds himself free from insecurities and past missteps and finds a balance between self and ...
Naked And Afraid: What I’ve Learned From Survival Shows
We have all been guilty of being backseat adventurers when watching programs such as Naked and Afraid, Man vs. Wild or Alone, just to name a few. We kick back, crack open a cold one and proceed to judge the ever-loving shit out of ...
Perfecting the Art of the Japanese-Style Iced Pour Over With Cafe Virtuoso
As the closing ceremony of the 2020 Summer Olympic Games draws near, we thought it might be fun to add a Japanese-inspired brewing method to our knowledge database. Coffee beans first made their way into Japan through the ports ...
Skunkwerks The Cut: Did Gunwerks Create the Ultimate Mountain Gun?
For some hunters, especially those who operate in extreme elevation, chasing mountain goats and the like, the ultimate mountain gun forever remains the holy grail. Well Gunwerks just threw down the gauntlet, releasing a high-end platform that shaves ...
6 Veterans Who Are Killing It on the Archery Range
Archery as a pastime has spread like wildfire among veterans. Quieting their minds and focusing on the simple task of aiming and shooting an arrow is therapeutic for some. Economically minded shooters can reuse arrows over and over until they break, ...
Bare-Knuckle Boxing Champ And Hollywood Stuntman Shannon Ritch
Ask yourself this question: “What do you see yourself doing when you’re 50?” I am sure most people would come up with predictable answers that might include “Working toward retirement,” “Taking leisurely bike rides to stay fit,” “Friday night Yahtzee ...
Quill Master Hand Crafts Gear The Native American Way
A lot of people think of beadwork as being the quintessential Native American decorative art, but long before Europeans brought glass beads to these shores, tribal artists were crafting beautifully decorated clothing and objects. The media they ...
