Kayaks make an ordinary angler a fishing ninja. They’re stealthy. They can get into target-rich skinny water that a larger boat can’t reach and would be impossible to wade, and they hold all the gear you’ll need for a day on the water or a multiday ...
10 Fishing Podcasts Every Angler Should Check Out
You can’t swing a dead possum without hitting an “outdoors” podcast these days. All you need is a microphone, a laptop, a subscription to a podcast hosting service, and a half-assed idea of what you want to talk about. Okay, maybe even half of ...
Local Smoke: 5 of the Best Barbecue Joints in America
Barbecue is personal. It captures the flavor of a region, a community, or a culture. It celebrates struggle as much as it does success. Those who work in wood, fire, smoke, and meat are storytellers. They carry on traditions, which is why we flock to ...
Winning the Half-Marathon Mind Game
Hall of Fame distance runner, collegiate cross-country coach, and author Rich Davis said that "long-distance running is 90% mental, and the other half is physical." It’s funny because it’s true. And it’s applicable to both trail and road ...
Everest Base Camp Sees Its First COVID Case
Not even the top of the world is out of the pandemic’s reach. Reports out of Everest Base Camp have confirmed that the first case of COVID-19 has finally hit their ranks. Three climbers had shown symptoms of high-altitude pulmonary edema, or ...
Trail Running Shoes: How to Choose the Right One for You
Rolling uphills and downhills. Rocks, tree roots, and muddy stretches. Creek bed crossings. Brush-lined, single-track paths. Tall grass, slippery leaves, and steep switchbacks. At first glance, trail running can seem intimidating. The truth is, ...
For A Custom Motorcycle Build, Visit New York’s Interstellar Motors
Walking down a second-floor hallway of a decades-closed post office to the Interstellar Motors custom motorcycle shop, the last thing you’d expect to see is ballet studios with handmade welcome signs and a dozen moms shepherding pint-sized darlings ...
Boat Building: Pat Smith’s Handcrafted Cedar-Canvas Canoes
Pat Smith’s boat shop is not a place for those with OCD. One step inside and you get the smell of Captain Black pipe tobacco, cedar sawdust, epoxy, and varnish. "A Whiter Shade of Pale" drifts from the transistor radio in the back of the ...
7 of the Toughest Trail Races in America
If you think it’s totally normal to run until you hallucinate, reach total muscle failure, lose toenails, or can no longer feel your feet, you’re a perfect candidate for one of America’s toughest trail races. It takes a special type of person to ...
The Hunter Recruitment Project Introduces Veterans to Fly Fishing
Conversation the night before covered the usual bases. Everyone knew the shit that everyone else had seen and no one really wanted to rehash most of it anyhow. Everyone spoke the language, the shorthand of combat experience, and that acknowledgment ...
Zebra Mussels: The $1.5 Billion Invasion
The pike is as visible 20 feet away and 10 feet down as it would be in a fish tank in some doctor’s waiting room. Suspended in gin-clear water in the shadow of a forest of milfoil, he spooks before a single cast can be made. It’s the curse of the ...
Off Script: Free Range Q&A With Dalton Villines, Axe Thrower
Dalton Villines could easily be a fan favorite on The Walking Dead. As a matter of fact, the folks at AMC might want to take note ASAP. He'd be as deadly with axes as Daryl is with his crossbow. The Kingston, Arkansas, native and Marine veteran ...
Monarch Butterflies, On Brink of Extinction, Garner Congressional Attention
The western monarch butterfly — the iconic creature that’s a universal beacon in generations of childhood memories across the country — is but a wing-flap away from disappearing completely. The literal butterfly effect of this could further ...
How to Make A Slow-Cooked Pulled Venison Roast
When speaking of venison recipes, tenderloins and backstraps tend to be the heroes, with some version of sausage or stew meat not far behind. The good-old venison roast simply doesn’t get the love and attention it deserves. In the slow-cooked meat ...
Trail Running: 6 Basic Tips to Train Successfully
You don’t have to be a wiry, mesh-tank-top-and-short-shorts-wearing, Gu-eating, ultra-zen human mountain goat to run trails. There are actually a lot of average people into trail running. Why? It’s easier on your body than running on pavement; each ...
Sporting Art: Zippo Lighters Designed with the Outdoors in Mind
Early man in Africa and Eurasia first harnessed the power of fire 2 million years ago, discovering its usefulness for not only warmth and light but also protection from predators — and the ability to cook food. The earliest cave paintings, ...
Rick Wilcox: The Most Accomplished and Least Known US Mountaineer
Chunks of ice break free from about 70 feet above, clacking off lower bulges before landing in heavy, dull thuds on the snow-buried slope only feet away. “Ice!” The climber that yelled down is pegged to the face of the wall by two ...
Pro Tips For Shooting Better Outdoor Photography
Shutter speed, aperture, exposure, focal length, depth of field, composition. There’s a lot to take in if you want to up your photo game. Whether you’re using an iPhone, a point-and-shoot digital camera, or the latest and greatest Sony Alpha, putting ...
Portraits of Strength: The Unseen Suffragist Photographs
In December 2020, David Whitcomb, an attorney in Canandaigua, New York, bought a historic building in neighboring Geneva. While renovating the space for a new office, he discovered a secret attic that held a trove of old photographs, props, and early ...
Captive Audience: 5 Live Prison Concerts for the Ages
Solidarity seems to be the common thread that draws certain musicians to tall walls and concertina wire. Some of them are outsiders or rebels, some would be on the other side of the bars save for the fickle smile of fate, and some just have ...
Dick Hoyt Dead at 80, Pushed Quadriplegic Son in 1,000+ Races
Dick Hoyt, the man who inspired a worldwide running community by pushing his wheelchair-bound son, Rick, across more than 1,000 finish lines, died peacefully in his sleep this week at his home in Holland, Massachusetts. Rick Hoyt was born with ...
Minnesota: There’s a New Trophy Game Fish in Town
Pike just aren’t cutting it anymore. Minnesota wants its monster sunfish back. In light of angler reports of declining sunfish size in the land of 10,000 lakes, the state’s Department of Natural Resources has announced new regulations that aim to ...
Starter Kit: Learning To Fly Fish — Flies
There are as many fly-fishing patterns as there are bugs and baitfish in nature. Understanding fly patterns and then selecting the right flies to put in your box is actually pretty simple though, which means you won’t have to rely on luck alone to ...
Fugazi for the People: The Punk Icon Takes Their Library Digital
If you’re a guy who came of age in the ’80s, you know the band name Fugazi, whether you listened to them or remember Fugazi T-shirts that were not Fugazi T-shirts worn by angst-addled, mouthy troublemakers in the halls at school. The underground DIY ...
10 Cheap, Classic American Beers Made To Drink Outdoors
Our dads and granddads knew the deal. It didn’t matter the location or season. Beer was cheap, American, ice-cold, and best enjoyed outdoors. Hunting camp, fishing trips, summer league softball games, horseshoe pitching, drive-in movies, barbecues, ...
From Battle to Field: 5 Popular Military Knives That Are Also Great Hunting Knives
Every human has the knife-appreciation gene in their blood. We’ve inherited the recessive trait from our earliest and most inventive hunter-gatherer brethren. While the trait is not expressed in everyone, for those who served in the military or spend ...
Starter Kit: Learning To Fly Fish — Casting
Learning a basic fly cast is probably the coolest part of the process aside from actually catching a fish. Fly casts are inherently beautiful, for sure. But when you drop a fly on the water above a fish and it happily grabs that fly and puts a great ...
Proposed Legislation That Impacts the Outdoors and Outdoor Sports
Legislation that directly affects our legacy outdoor pastimes like hunting, fishing, and shooting is in a constant state of flux. In an effort to keep you informed, we’re pulling together a monthly roundup of national and state-level ...
Get Off the Couch: 8 Easy At-Home Fitness Hacks
If you’re like 99.9% of new-year-new-you resolution makers, then you need to put down the bag of Doritos right now. If you want to get in shape, it’s all about forming some simple and healthy daily habits. When they’re simple, it’s easier to blend ...
Starter Kit: Learning To Fly Fish — Gear Up
Fly fishing can seem overwhelming at first. Truth is, it’s not. Learning how to fly fish is actually easy and fun as hell. And it won’t immediately empty your wallet. With the right gear and some fundamentals, you’ll be ready to pester farm-pond ...
