It was simply too fucking hot. We were in Santa Monica, Texas, for a media hunt, and 110-degree temps meant no animals were moving during the day. So we went vampire mode. We slept in our air-conditioned windowless barndominium rooms all ...
Bear Crashes Wedding, Kills Moose During Vows
“Till death do us part” took on a new meaning when a wedding was interrupted by a grizzly bear killing a young moose behind the bride and groom. The happy couple and their guests were enjoying the picturesque backdrop of Two Medicine Lake in ...
Major Mountain Lion Hunting and Trapping Fight Boils in Texas
The future of mountain lion hunting and trapping is under debate in Texas after an animal-rights group petitioned to change regulations within the state. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission (TPW) directed staff to form a mountain lion working ...
Atlatls, Pits, and Persistence: How Early Hunters Killed Big Game
Imagine heading into an endless expanse of prairie before dawn with a group of people all armed with a stone-tipped throwing spear or even just a sharp stick and possibly carrying painfully empty bellies. Imagine knowing that the lives of your ...
The Best Tourniquets: Experts Discuss the Trauma Kit Essential
Tourniquets are the most important piece of equipment in your EDC or backcountry first aid kit, no matter which style you choose to carry. Period. But if you get two or more people from the SOF community talking about which is best — a ...
Field Test: Armasight Contractor 320 Thermal Optic vs. Texas Hogs
When you hear the terms infrared scope or thermal optic, if you’re of a certain age, you probably think of Predator, which is the first time most people saw an approximation of what “heat vision” could look like: green, yellow, orange, red, and ...
Roadkill Rules: 30 States That Let You Keep Dead Deer
Until recently, an affinity for picking up roadkill wasn’t something you’d discuss in polite barbecue company. But salvaging the good meat from a dead deer — especially one that died after meeting your front bumper — is becoming more acceptable in ...
Giving Back: BRCC Fund is Changing Lives and Saving Lives
Sometimes, it’s a large charitable gesture of kindness that forever changes the course of a life — or many lives. Other times, it’s a single small act of compassion that burns the brightest. For the leadership behind Black Rifle Coffee Company’s ...
HOUSES Act Aims to Build Apartments on Public Hunting Grounds (This is Not a Joke)
If you think you've heard it before, it's because you have. A trio of western Senators have picked up a bill that's died two or three times, brushed it off, given it a catchy name, and are trying to peddle it yet again. Meet the newly-minted Helping ...
Survival Tactics: Life and Death Lessons From Our National Parks
Search and rescue efforts in our national parks and wilderness areas are climbing in direct proportion to the explosion of visitor numbers over the last few years. Even with the surge in people getting lost or injured, though, the basic survival ...
9 Solid Ways to Recycle Used Coffee Grounds
Every time we finish a pot of coffee, an existential problem arises. No, it’s not whether we make another pot — that’s a given. The bigger question is what do we do with the coffee grounds? In the United States, 64% of adults currently consume ...
Insane Smoky Mountain Largemouth Bass Action
The second episode of "Fishing the American Dream" rolls into the Great Smoky Mountains, where Oliver Ngy and Austin Neary go big-show with big bait for big largemouth bass. Ngy has heard stories about trophy bass that haunt lakes in the Smokies ...
Crushing Big Bass With Oliver Ngy, Brandon Palaniuk, and Roland Martin
Episode one of professional bass angler Oliver Ngy’s "Fishing the American Dream" makes a stop at the Harris Chain of Lakes in central Florida. The Black Rifle Coffee–sponsored pro is in town for his first Bassmaster Open tour stop, but first, he ...
Freedive Safe Hawaii: Saving Kids and Changing Lives
In Hawaii and many other ocean-centered cultures, freediving is a way of life. Learning to become one with the water and rely on it for sustenance — both physical and spiritual — is very much a rite of passage. But it’s also dangerous to the ...
Left for Dead: Dan Bigley Recounts Horrendous Bear Mauling Details
Among apex predators, there’s a fairly clear hierarchy. In Alaska, brown bears sit at the top of that wild social structure — above even humans. But for Dan Bigley, a seasoned outdoorsman, guide, and adventurer, enduring a brutal bear mauling brought ...
Open Pit Mining May Be Banned in Bristol Bay — Permanently
For most Americans, Alaska exists somewhere between high school geography lessons and Nat Geo documentaries. The scale of its breadth and pristine wildness and why it's called The Last Frontier is beyond the understanding of those born and raised in ...
Like Eating Red Meat? Steer Clear of the Lone Star Tick
Ticks suck. It’s not bad enough that they burrow their tiny heads into places on your body that you can’t see without two mirrors and a flood light as well as spread diseases that can be potentially fatal to humans and animals — one species of the ...
Cutts, Cutties, and Cutthroats: America’s Frontier Trout
There is a magic hour on the South Fork of the Snake River — maybe only a magic half-hour actually — when cutthroat trout seem to spontaneously appear in the long sweeping riffles that spill into the river’s deep emerald green troughs. The ...
TN Revamps Turkey Hunting Regs, States Adapting to Declining Numbers
The Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission recently took significant steps to reverse the downward trending turkey population in the state. In a decision that seems in step with national conservation momentum, the 2023 Tennessee turkey season will ...
Sitka Unveils ‘Most Advanced’ Insulated Jacket and Hoodie Line
Every hunter can attest to just how miserable a day in the field can be if you don’t have the right layers. A shell that sheds water when it’s pouring, moisture-wicking base layers for frigid pre-dawn hikes, or an insulated jacket that’s easy on/easy ...
Got a Few Million to Blow? Check Out These 7 Dream Hunting Properties
If you do any sort of hunting, the dream of owning a patch of wild game heaven has absolutely crossed your mind. Whether you’re a diehard whitetail hunter in the East or Midwest, if you chase elk and muleys in the West, or if you haunt cut corn and ...
3-Year-Old Boy Found After 2 Days Lost in Montana Wilderness
Spending a single night alone and lost in the Montana wilderness wearing just pajamas would be a harrowing experience for most adults. A 3-year-old surviving in those circumstances for two full days is simply unfathomable. That’s exactly the ...
Fatherhood, Sammy Hagar, and Salmon Fishing in Alaska
My son, Cam, had a pretty short list of what he wanted out of our trip to Alaska. “I just want to see one bear,” he said. “If nothing else happens and I see a bear, I’ll be happy.” Running a jet boat back down the Naknek River toward camp ...
Stonehenge Dig Reveals 400 Ancient Deer and Boar Hunting Pits
Stonehenge has long been known as the site of burial rites from the mysterious days of prehistory, but it turns out that this famed location on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, still has secrets to reveal about its deep past. About 5,000 years ...
5 Tips for Surviving a Dog Attack From a Secret Service K-9 Handler
Marshall Mirarchi knows a thing or two about surviving a dog attack. He’s a former US Secret Service Special Operations Officer and the handler of Hurricane, a Distinguished Service Medal recipient. He recently told Free Range American that he’s ...
Mahi-Mahi: So Strong They Say It Twice
In Hawaiian, mahi-mahi means “very strong” — but through a linguistic process called reduplication, the Hawaiian people say the word twice to signify greater intensity. In other words, these fish will beat you up. Mahi-mahi, aka ...
New California Bill Takes Aim at Wild Pig Hunting, Again
On the heels of a recent resounding win for bear hunting in California, a less-than-stellar wild pig hunting bill is currently with the state's Senate Appropriations Committee. According to a letter to the Senate Natural Resources committee signed ...
Free Fly Fishing Video Series Sets Up Beginners for Success
If you’re one of the tens of thousands that tried fly fishing for the first time during COVID as something to do that also allowed you to social distance, or if you’re “fly curious” because you watched A River Runs Through It, there is a new series ...
U.S. Turkey Super Slam: How a Hunter Bagged Mature Toms in 49 States
Chip Davis hit the road in 1992 with the goal of bagging a mature tom in each of the 49 states that have a huntable turkey population. After 30 years of windshield time and a lot of patience, over Easter weekend this year, he punched a tag in West ...
Isaac Sr.’s Total Archery Challenge Playlists
If you’ve never met Isaac Aleman Sr., you’re not surrounding yourself with the right people. He’s one of the funniest and most genuine people you’ll ever meet. Senior, as he's called, along with his son Isaac Aleman Jr. are the archery gurus ...
