A ton of preparation goes into the front-end of a hunt—between gear, species, maps, draw-odds, and calendars, executing a successful hunt is a puzzle that often takes years to perfect. There is so much excitement over harvesting a game animal, whether it be a dove or an elk and then you realize that you have a whole new set of challenges ahead.  From field dressing to transporting, from breaking-down into manageable parts, to cooking a meal. A game animal, particularly a big-game animal will provide many months worth of meat, and generally a bunch of cuts of meat that are unfamiliar to city-dwelling grocery store shoppers.  Not everything that comes off a cow, elk, deer, or wild pig is a...

My friend Ryan is gifted and inventive in the kitchen, and his fascination and love for food is about to go to a new depth—Ryan is planning his first Pronghorn hunt for Wyoming this Fall.  Kind of a fork leading him to the field thing... Having been on exactly one more Pronghorn hunt than Ryan has, I feel compelled to help get him as ready as possible for this experience. My 2016 Pronghorn Hunt with my Dad was one of my all-time favorite experiences, and a memory I will cherish a lifetime.  The amount you learn by experiencing something once is significant, although I know enough to know I'm no expert. For the sake of this article, we are going...

How many fewer paper and plastic cups would we all use if we carried a steel mug around with us everywhere? It’s like when you go backpacking and you drink your coffee and eat your ramen noodles out of the same mug... but in everyday life. Photo: @cam_oden

Let me be super clear: you should absolutely be using OnX Maps. There is an out-of-state unit that I'm researching for a hunt that I would love to try to do this Fall, and I don't know what I would do if it weren't for OnX.  If you're unaware, OnX maps is a hunting app that allows you to see land-ownership data, which is incredibly helpful to have on your smartphone when you're navigating public/private boundaries and looking for pockets to hunt that you otherwise would have driven right past. The slickest part of the whole system is you can download the map data, and go to "offline mode" so even when you have no cell service, your GPS still...

As advocates for the outdoors, we use the words conservation and preservation seemingly interchangeability, however there are distinct differences to each. Conservation is the sustainable use of a resource to ensure its longevity, and Preservation is to keep the resource the way it is now with minimal human interference or disruption. Conservation involves ensuring that natural resources are not consumed faster than they can be replaced.  Conservation of natural resources typically takes into consideration interests of human beings—such as the biological, economic, cultural and recreational values such resources have. Preservation, in contrast, attempts to maintain in the present condition areas of the Earth that are so far untouched by humans. As self-aware humans in 2019, we must accept that the impact of human expansion has long since passed...

For the last few years, I’ve trekked north into the foothills of Northern California specifically for Thanksgiving, and during that break I’ve spent the majority of at least one day sitting in blinds for my chance at a wild turkey. The rolling hills of Oak and Pine trees lend to particularly great turkey habitat. With plenty of acorns and pine nuts for food, local cover and water to create a thriving ecosystem for a healthy bird population.   This year, I was more determined than ever to give myself a serious opportunity to get a bird with the limited time I had. So, there I was sitting in a small oak tree to act as cover, waiting. Like any game bird,...

Recently, I’ve been been exposed to a very real and natural boundary that I have built up  between the light and darkness. The setting has presented itself in the form of Lobster diving here in Southern California.   While the technique for lobster is rather simple, and it can be described as a “Grab and Bag” sport, the application of the strategy is unnervingly different.  By nature, lobsters live settled into deep rock crevices and holes, where they spend the majority of their time. During the day a diver is forced to swim deep into holes and caves to grab these bugs.  However, at night, lobsters come out to feed and can often be found walking around the reefs looking...

You know when you finish a book and you like it so much that you want to buy a copy for everyone you know who may appreciate it? I just finished Steven Rinella's  American Buffalo and I was ready to buy a whole case from Amazon. I may be 10 years late to the American Buffalo party, but it was every bit as sharp and relevant today as the day it came off the press. Thoughtful, informative, and packed with history of man and this particular beast, and how they have affected each other dating back to the Pleistocene; as well as taking a deep dive into the author’s personal relationship with this iconic species. Steve is a great communicator with...

The Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains are a wild place—not the typical image of California that first comes to mind. They are rugged, exposed, epically dramatic.  For those who are able to look past the allure (and crowds) of the Yosemite Valley, to the range that surrounds it, there is much beauty to behold.  Bordered by Highway 395, there are endless possibilities in The Sierra from Lone Pine to Bridgeport—a region that brings life, wilderness, and opportunity for adventure, to those who travel its way. I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Seth Blackamore and got to hear about his own adventure in the Eastern Sierra Mountains. Seth is a fly-fisherman, former-college professor, current high school football coach, and inspirational...

My plan is to hunt elk this October, in a general unit in Idaho.  Idaho is unique because there are many general season tags that are available Over-the-Counter.  The upside to these tags is that they are available without the need for entering a draw or lottery in the Spring.  The downside to general season tags is that the season is short and success rates are very low.   This particular hunt takes place in the post-rut period. The post-rut is the most difficult time to find a mature bull elk, because the mating season is over, and they are holed up in thick, dark woods where they can replenish lost calories and avoid hunters. Having never hunted elk before,...