Archive Articles

Family, Friends, Football and the Outdoors

September 8, 2010   |  From Articles

Realtree has joined forces with Reebok and the National Football League to produce an apparel line designed especially for those who love to watch football and spend time outdoors

Decoy Disasters

December 30, 2009   |  From Articles

Man, that decoy spread looks good in the dark. Illuminated by your truck’s headlights, you are sure all the hard work will pay off. Then failure . The birds don’t come or don’t land where you want ’em. Disaster strikes hard as No. 2 steel. Are your sure-bet Canadas landing...

Budget Bows

August 14, 2009   |  From Articles

Unless you live under a rock, don’t watch TV or surf the web, you know that the American economy is in rough shape. Diehard hunters are pinching pennies by cancelling hunting trips, purchasing fewer gadgets and making the gear they have last longer. Since most bowhunters want the fastest and...

Welcome to Alzada

June 18, 2009   |  From Articles

The rental chugged to a stop in front of the Stoneville Saloon. The driver cut the engine. He could tell there would be no standing in line at this authentic Western watering hole. Not at 4 in the afternoon with most ranchers on the range tending cattle, riding fences and...

Steven Rinella's Near-Death Buffalo Hunt

February 6, 2009   |  From Articles

If you want to know what it’s like to transport a buffalo carcass through the Alaskan bush in mid-October, imagine disassembling the appliances in your kitchen—refrigerator, range, microwave—then carrying them on your back down a snow-covered mountainside. When that’s done, stack the parts on a piece of inflatable rubber and...

The Hometown Buck

December 11, 2008   |  From Articles

Big bucks and small towns. When combined, the two variables create heroes. Rusty Purdy was one of my best friends from grade school through high school, and he killed such a buck. It was a newspaper-maker, one that stirred talk at local ballgames and in the halls at our county...

In Pursuit of Porky

November 7, 2008   |  From Articles

You’ve heard the stories before of lucky hunters stumbling upon and harvesting their bucks of a lifetime. These fortunate people didn’t scout or pattern their monster bruisers. They just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Such a fate falls to very few, and as Shawn...

Cameron Hanes Joins Team Realtree

November 7, 2008   |  From Articles

When preparing for bow season during the summer months, most people tune their bows, shoot them a couple times a week and mend and pack all of their essential gear for opening day. But, if you’re Realtree’s newest Pro staffer Cameron Hanes, you’re not like most people. In fact, if...

Realtree’s 2008-2009 Forecast

October 10, 2008   |  From Articles

Realtree Pro staffers, camera crew and friends know how to hammer huge bucks. Their hunting knowledge and abilities are unquestionable and they are admired by many for their successes afield. Yes, they may have the “skills to pay the bills,” but when it comes to downing monster bucks and other...

An Unusual Opening Day

October 3, 2008   |  From Articles

Outdoorsmen may claim that they don’t consider the harvest of an opening-day trophy as an indication of how the season will unfold. After 23 years of opening-day hunts, I say “Who are they kidding?” On this weekend, every sportsman becomes superstitious. They try to hide it to the best of...

Get Ready for Roosevelt’s

September 25, 2008   |  From Articles

I was stuck—again. My legs were hopelessly tangled in blackberry brambles, the thorns tearing at my legs like a dog on a T-bone steak. The biggest dang ferns I’d ever seen in my life were blocking my vision. My bow was held at arms length above my head and no...

Noodling for Catfish

July 31, 2008   |  From Articles

It sounds like something out of scary movie. Slog along the banks of a river and stick your hands into holes underwater actually hoping something clamps down on your fist. And you hope that the thing doing the biting is a big catfish. This is noodling. No sleek bass boats...

Will Hunt…for Land?

June 6, 2008   |  From Articles

Land … They ain't making any more of the stuff. — Will Rogers America tuned in to color TV. Teenagers danced to “American Bandstand,” and rock ’n’ roll shook up a conservative nation. But John Mullin wasn’t diggin’ the Fabulous Fifties. Life in America’s Heartland was far more serious than...

Turkeys at 2,100 Feet Per Second

April 21, 2008   |  From Articles

There’ve been so many times I’ve yelped on my calls, seductively as possible, and watched in agony as a strutting tom gobbled 70 yards from my setup in a wide-open field. I won’t lie, I’ve thought about having a rifle in my hand and ending that gobbling right then and...

A Grande Tale

March 26, 2008   |  From Articles

Pickles, Ice Cream and a Huntin’ Fool

March 25, 2008   |  From Articles

“My husband is going to kill me,” I thought as I crouched down behind a brush pile while streaks of lightning illuminated the cloud-darkened sky and sleet pelted my jacket. I was three-months pregnant with my second child and had just promised my husband, Brett, that I would use good...

Colorado’s Best Places for Over-The-Counter Bulls

December 7, 2007   |  From Articles

The cadence of shoed hooves slapping the ground filtered through the damp piney air as we eased up the pack-trail. The well-used saddle I was straddling creaked and groaned as it shifted from side to side over my horse’s rippling strong back, which only added to this true Western hunting...

Country Music’s New Big Boy

November 30, 2007   |  From Articles

He knew the buck was big, but he had no idea just how big until he looked over at his guide who was trembling with excitement. “Dude, do you know what you’ve just killed?” the guide asked country music artist Rhett Akins during his hunt at Timberland Outfitters in Illinois...

Shock-N-Roll in BC Bear Country

June 29, 2007   |  From Articles

Hunters: David Blanton, Jim Shockey and cameraman John Tate Location: Vancouver Island, British Columbia Dates: May 24-30, 2007 Species: Black Bear Weapons: Muzzleloaders Question: When filming hunts for Realtree Outdoors, you have to do more than just capture the hunt on film. How did you come up with the story...

Dynamite Dove Hunting!

June 8, 2007   |  From Articles

The annual dove hunt is more than just a day of wing shooting, it’s a social event focused around camaraderie and tradition, and for many a young child, the right of passage into the world of hunting. For generations, sportsmen have gathered in the dove fields to welcome in the...