Transferring Federal Lands to the individual states is a very bad idea if you enjoy hiking, hunting, fishing, camping, or exploring our public lands.  Randy Newberg does a fantastic job explaining the nuanced details of Federal Land Ownership versus State Land Ownership. It's not simply a matter of "let the states manage their own lands" it's a matter of a complete departure in purpose and intention.  The States are legally required to use their State Land to raise money for education. They are by no means obligated to make State Lands available for recreational use, and in many cases, State Lands are entirely closed to the public.  Enjoy this series of videos courtesy of Randy Newberg, as he does a...

Robert Ruark was born December 29th, 1915, which means he would have been 101 years old today.   Somewhere between the bullfights, drinking, African Safaris, best-selling books, magazine articles, and Spanish mansion, he earned the nickname "A Poor Man's Hemingway".   Old Bob Ruark didn't dislike the nickname on bit; as he looked up to Papa greatly.  He even joked in his autobiographical essay The Man I Know Best, "most days I was just hoping to be a poor man's Ruark!"  He wrote about things he knew, and he knew much because he experienced it first hand.  Happy 101st to one of the greatest, and most under-appreciated writers of the 20th Century.

The Greatest Job I'll Ever Have is working at a safari outfit in the remote bushveld of Tanzania. The Greatest Job I'll Ever Have pays next to nothing in the way of finances, but the benefits are unmatched.   The Greatest Job I'll Ever Have will never make any sense to the Fellow Back Home who wouldn't dream of sleeping in a tent in his own back yard; surrounded by a six-foot fence and a thousand square miles of suburban cushion between himself and the nearest hint of wild. The Fellow Back Home will never understand, because he has it all wrong.  The Fellow Back Home projects his own greed and ambition onto a world that doesn't play by any of his...

I just finished listened to a compelling, engaging and inspiring podcast (Episode 041) from Randy Newberg (someone who is rapidly becoming one of my favorite voices in the outdoor world) His guests were Gray Thorton of the Wild Sheep Foundation and Shane Mahoney, a hunter/conservationist who is as wise as they come.  I have become familiar with Shane's writing through Sports Afield over the last several years, and I truly appreciate his mindful approach to hunting and the communication that stems from hunters. About an hour and a half into the conversation (it's well worth it), Shane made several interesting points about the generational motivations for hunting evolving.  The guys my age are not necessarily drawn to hunting for the same...

We received an incredibly inspiring email from a customer last week about the Backcountry .22 that he purchased for he and his son: "For the almost two months that we've had it, the stock has continued to intrigue us as much as it did the first day... it has prompted [my son] to focus more on his marksmanship and he plans to use it hunting whenever Pennsylvania's small game season rolls around." If that doesn't summarize why we built this thing, nothing will...! Here's a 1950's Hunting Magazine Inspired advertisement for the Back-Country .22 Conversion Kit, available now as an 8" x 10" poster.

Like sons for many generations before me, few things excite me quite like the prospect of going hunting with my Father. Growing up in a town that few would consider to be a hunting town, our opportunities to go afield have been relatively limited.  In fact, town isn't even a fair description- we live in a city.  A city surrounded by other cities. Heading to Wyoming in pursuit of Pronghorn was the result of many years of us reading, scheming, dreaming and planning our eventual pursuit. (More on that in Part 1 of my Pronghorn Hunt story) October 1, 2016 I tagged out fairly early in the morning, and we made the hour-long return trip to camp to hang my...

Landing in Casper, WY was the culmination of many months of dreaming and planning and practicing; but it was also the very beginning of an entirely new shared experience for my Dad and I. We came into the trip knowing that we would see a lot of game, but I don't think anything could have prepared us for just how many Pronghorn we would see.   Jason Hill from SNS Outfitter picked us up from the Casper Airport in his pickup truck, and before we could even get to the highway to head towards camp, we were already seeing herds of antelope hanging out on every third hillside. We were pleased to learn that there would only be four hunters...

Traveling to Wyoming to pursue Pronghorn Antelope with my Dad is something that has been many years in the making. The purpose of this experience was in part to celebrate entering my 30's, and in part to share a memory with my Dad that would undoubtedly last a lifetime.  We landed on Pronghorn Antelope as the goal, both because of their fascinating taxonomy, and abundance of them in the West.   Once the goal became a Pronghorn hunt, I made it my personal mission to learn everything I could about them.  I read articles online, bought and devoured books, and enlisted the help of my grandmother to draw me a detailed pen and ink sketch, so I could print a...

While visiting Wyoming a week or so ago, we headed out on a drive, in search of bison. We had heard that the herd frequented the Gros Ventre, working their way down from further North near the Parks.  As we approached Kelly, WY, my wife spotted a few black beetles on the horizon. When I say on the horizon, I mean way, way out there.   We were trying to devise a way to get out in their direction, and close the distance on the formless black shapes. We turned off the pavement onto a dirt track that followed a line of telephone poles, hoping it would connect through somewhere that wouldn't leave us stranded in the sagebrush. As we...

This Pronghorn buck grew tired of us watching him, so he gave us the slip through the sagebrush.