In 2017, you have more power to influence your favorite brands and businesses than you might realize. Buying habits are always changing.  This is something brands have been trying to keep up with (or if they are wise, get ahead of) since the beginning of time. With our heavy dependency on the internet, we miss out on the face-to-face small talk with the local shopkeep. However, what the internet does allow, is for brands to reach large majorities of their fans and customers with relative ease.  This makes the lines of communication between businesses and customers even more profound. KUIU founder, Jason Hairston, has built his business on the premise of industry-leading innovation and performance.  Product Development of this level...

Here is a recipe for the perfect breakfast: Antelope Breakfast Sausage + Veggie + Avocado + Egg Scramble (with a side of Sourdough Toast). This is a meal that I believe everyone should experience in their lifetime, but I am going to assume many of you do not have any Pronghorn Antelope breakfast sausage laying around in your freezer.  First we must address the issue of acquiring Antelope breakfast sausage. Buying and selling wild-harvested game meat is illegal in the United States.  This was instituted over a century ago, to end market hunters from slaughtering herds of game for meat to sell to the nearest town.  If you have ever been to a restaurant and ordered an Elk Burger or Venison Chili,...

We have been fortunate across the West this year; after years of minimal rainfall, the last several months have dumped precipitation on our parched soil.  (In many areas we are now getting too much rain and snow.) I learned an important lesson regarding game habits and movement during the drought: the dryer the season is, the lower the game will hold.  This was made apparent during an October 2015 deer hunt in Idaho. I hunted with my Dad and Brother, in an area we were very familiar with.  It was a favorite Summertime hiking route of ours, and we had always had great luck seeing game there.  It seemed every time we ventured into these woods, we saw deer, elk,...

Panthera Arizonensis    Californians are likely familiar with the Mountain Lion, however most would not expect to hear that their distant cousin, the Jaguar, once roamed the landscape we call home. Big Cats have a majestic quality about them; likely because of the danger and mystery they possess.  The Jaguar is the third largest cat on Earth, trailing only the African Lion and the Tiger. Coming from the family of Panthera - translated appropriately as predator - they are an apex predator, dominating and controlling the ecosystems in which they are found.   Americans may expect a cat of this caliber to be restricted to a deep, dark jungle in South America or Asia; or perhaps the Plains of Africa, but...

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...