Spend enough time in the outdoors hunting, especially in the backcountry, and odds are good that you'll eventually find yourself in a less-than-safe situation. Bear attacks, tree stand falls, fast water; the list of dangers are many. The following tales are real. They show us just how quickly things can...
“I can guarantee that you will see a bear,” said Vern Hylsted, our Saskatchewan bear hunting outfitter. And indeed my wife, Reuth, and I did see bears. Many bears. In fact, some of those bears came well within rifle range, and few came well within biting range. That’s the real...
If viewer feedback is any indication, the new Sheep Shape TV series could be the next big thing in hunting TV shows. Since its June 25, 2015 premier on Sportsman Channel, social media has lit up with praise for the show and its cast, but stardom and praise aren’t what...
My palms hurt and my knees were bloody from crawling over rocks. My legs ached. My lungs were threatening to quit on me if I had to climb one more mountain chasing a herd that was skittish to the point of paranoia. The guide and I had pursued them up...
Like skinning cats, there's more than one way to hunt for bears. For those that tell you bear hunting is just too easy and unchallenging, they've probably never hunted the majestic black and colored bruisers. The basic descriptions of the various types or styles of bear hunting are covered here...
The elk hunt of a lifetime doesn’t require a guide or prime private ground. In fact, some of the best elk hunting out there is on public land It was the last morning of a week-long elk hunt on public ground. I already had a miss and a blown stalk...
Death is always near. None of us are sure of what form it will assume when it arrives, but when it does, you’ll recognize it, if only at the last second. With luck on your side, you’ll have more time and maybe escape it or fight it off with something...
The sound of a bull elk screaming in a mountain meadow is one of the purest of outdoor experiences. The rush of a harem of elk crashing through the pines provides a thrill few other things can surpass. And the moment just prior to releasing an arrow or pulling the...
The bear advanced, completely unaware of me. I sat high above him with my legs dangling, I was suspended and strapped to a tree in hopes of catching a glimpse of a black bear. Now, here he was ambling toward me, for many bear hunters just sighting a bruin in...
Aim at a high mark and you will hit it. No, not the first time, nor the second and maybe not the third. But keep on aiming and keep on shooting for only practice will make you perfect. Finally you’ll hit the Bull’s Eye of Success.— Annie Oakley You hear...
It was a lazy October day, remarkable only in that I was outside and away from my desk with the forest an utter cornucopia of hunting possibilities. I was bowhunting tassel-eared squirrels with my good friends Dave Faiello and Pat Keith in New Mexico’s northern Gila National Forest. Essentially, it...
Billy J. Daw of Wheel Chair Outdoors was born with spina bifida. This is a congenital disease of the spine in which part of the spinal cord and its meninges are exposed through a gap in the backbone. It often causes paralysis of the lower limbs. Well, I guess someone...
Like countless other big game hunters across the U.S., I dream of one day roasting tenderloins in a high-altitude camp as the flickering firelight casts its glow on a set of wild sheep horns strapped to my backpack. Be it a fully curled Rocky Mountain bighorn, Dall, Stone or Desert,...
I was one of 24 individuals selected from the Northeast and Eastern Canada to attend the Boone and Crockett Club Records of North American Big Game official measurer training workshop. The workshop was held in Kittery, Maine and was the third of five such events held across the United States...
Dates: September 30 to October 1, 2005 Location: Arizona Species: Elk Weapon: Thompson/Center Encore muzzleloader Hunters: David Blanton Weather: Temperatures would rise into the mid 80s in the afternoons and drop to the mid 40s at night. When September 29 arrived, John Tate and I flew out to Phoenix, Arizona...
It felt refreshing to set my bow down and peel away my 55-pound pack. After the grueling 4-mile hike — mainly uphill no less — the force of the pack’s weight pressing on my back, in addition to gravity’s pull, was causing my legs to scream, my shoulders to ache...
From the hot hills of Arizona to the thick bush of British Columbia, raging bull elk scream far and wide. And hunters capitalize on it. Here are a few tales of giant bulls from the past. Hunter: Greg Busch Weapon: Bow, Rifle Area: Arizona and New Mexico When it comes...
There are many hunting guides, myself included, who contend that black bears are quite possibly the most difficult North American big game animal to field judge. Even little ones look big, particularly to a novice. And in the dim light of dusk, when you most often see them, the task...
A few years ago, I was setting in deer camp when a buddy looked at me and said, “It’s illegal to trap mice in California without a license.” I really didn’t know how to respond. I just shook my head, gave a wry smile and told him to lay off...
Bruce Cochran is a funny guy. If he wasn’t, he’d starve to death. Most outdoor celebrities and writers take their job seriously. They bring the great outdoors to your TV screen, computer monitor and magazine pages in a responsible fashion. They seldom joke around. But not Cochran. He pokes fun...
