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Duck Numbers for 2022 and 2023

Beginning in 1935, with what at the time was the first waterfowl census, the International Wild Duck Census began to take a look at the population.

Simple Gourmet: Venison Sausage Dutch Baby

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Basically, it’s an egg-rich dish baked in the oven. You can add powdered sugar and butter for a sweet breakfast, or make it savory style with sausage or bacon and other additions for a tasty meal any time.

6.5 Grendel,….Little Giant!!!

The Grendel has been used for a variety of purposes, including long-range competitions, practical competitions, hunting, and for tactical use.

Lucky Duck’s New Goose Agitator

This is not something small or a ducktail painted to look like a goose, rather this is a full-size goose tail with a powerful pump capable of moving a lot of water.

Considerations To Make When Booking A Whitetail Hunt

Before you book your hunt, there are a few questions that you should be asking a potential outfitter. Each outfitter is going to offer unique experiences from lodging, all meals, and fully-guided service, to a basic trespass fee with stand locations, no lodging, meals, or guides.

Review: N-Vision Optics NOX18 Thermal Monocular

The coolest thing about this unit is the ability to use it as either a helmet-mounted monocular or scope for your rifle. The versatility is amazing. For those who want a quality thermal rifle scope, but also the ability to hike around hands-free looking through thermal, the NOX18 was made for you. While other dedicated thermal scope options with a larger objective lens would provide more clarity, the NOX18 blends weight, size, and function beautifully.

Choosing an Alpine Hunting Camp Site

It’s of utmost importance to know what to look for in a camp site. Read on for some tips on safe and successful locations to maximize your days afield.

The Savage Impulse – An American Straight Pull

The world of hunting rifles tends to be relatively stable. We have single shots, bolt actions, lever guns, and a few semi-autos. Nothing crazy, and most hunters don’t seem to want anything crazy anyway. Well, Savage decided to shake things up with the Impulse. The Savage Impulse is a bolt action rifle but isn’t your traditional rotary bolt. Instead, Savage went with a straight-pull bolt.

Blood Trailing

Your ability to follow the traces an animal leaves behind will make the difference between success and failure because not every shot hits its mark.

Simple Gourmet: Hunting & Eating Desert Raccoons

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I took this raccoon roast to Sunday Dinner at a friend’s house. 16 people ate it and they all agreed that it tasted like a beef roast — what do you expect when it eats the same things as cows each day?

Simple Gourmet: Hunting & Eating Desert Raccoons

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I took this raccoon roast to Sunday Dinner at a friend’s house. 16 people ate it and they all agreed that it tasted like a beef roast — what do you expect when it eats the same things as cows each day?

Simple Gourmet: Hunting & Eating Desert Raccoons

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I took this raccoon roast to Sunday Dinner at a friend’s house. 16 people ate it and they all agreed that it tasted like a beef roast — what do you expect when it eats the same things as cows each day?

Bagging a Billy

Count yourself lucky if you ever see a Rocky Mountain Goat in the wild, let alone hunt one. This high-altitude hunt is not for the faint of heart.

Loch Ness Roe Deer

My hunt for Scottish Roe deer…It was unknown to me but we would be hunting the highlands surrounding Loch Ness of all places. This detail added considerably to the memory of the hunt.

InfiRay Outdoor Mk1 384 RL42 Thermal – Full Review

The Rico MK1 384 thermal riflescope from iRayUSA features a rugged, waterproof, construction with a base 4x magnification making it ideal for long range nighttime hunting. It’s driven by a 12μm sensor with a 50hz refresh rate. It features the new optimized MATRIX III image algorithm software for sharp image resolution.

New Vortex Razor HD LHT 4.5-22×50 FFP: Full Review

In my never-ending search for the perfect optic to pair with a lightweight, long-range hunting rifle, Vortex Optics’ Razor HD LHT piqued my interest with its impressive feature set to weight ratio. How well does it perform in the field though? I’ve put the new 4.5-22×50 MOA model through extensive testing and am here to answer that exact question.

Backcountry Prep: Test It!

Few things trump a backcountry wilderness adventure but make no mistake, these far-off-the-beaten path hunts have been over-romanticized and can be flat miserable if you’re not prepared.

Waterfowl Camouflage

The variety of camouflage possibilities in today’s waterfowl market is huge.  What to wear and what to choose are both based on what store carries what and what you can get sight unseen on the internet. For this article, I will focus on waterfowl camouflage used primarily from October to February in marsh and timber settings. As well as fabric in most of these patterns is available allowing one to make their own outer gear. 

Simple Gourmet: Smoked Summer Sausage with Bear Meat

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This summer sausage recipe is ideal for all those animals whose steaks are less delicious than you’d hoped. You can make as much as you like and store it in the freezer. It makes excellent sandwiches and terrific low-carb meals with cheese. Serve it at the Super Bowl party with cheese and crackers. And it’s a must-have for all your upcoming hunts this year. These sausages are a terrific way to share game meat with first-timers. It tastes like sausage and doesn’t have any particularly wild flavors. Friends will see that wild meat taste good.

Simple Gourmet: Bear Stroganoff with Wild Mushrooms

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This recipe is seriously hearty and the perfect thing after a long day hunting. Stroganoff is credited as being a Russian dish, and I gotta believe making it with bear meat is more Russian than using beef. Plus, you gotta save the cows to make all the sour cream you’re going to need.

Once In A Lifetime

When you draw a coveted tag you’ve waited a lifetime for, the preparation starts the day you pull the tag.

Finding Grandpa

I watched helplessly as the struggle carried them closer to the trail’s edge and a long drop below.

Burris Thermal Scope Plus a (Not) Boring Rifle = A Great Night Hog Hunting Rig

I dropped down onto the other side of the ranch gate and onto the saturated soil. I was hunting private property south of Longview, Texas, in early April 2021, and it had been raining much of the last 24 hours. It had been raining pretty steady for the last three days of my time here in East Texas, which made the fields and pastures even more inviting to the feral hogs that so love to root up the ground.

It’s Time To Hit The 3-D Trail

One of the best ways to break the routine, sharpen your bow shooting skills, and prepare for a freezer-filling fall is to pen the dotted line and enter a few (as many as you can) 3-D shoots. 

Handgunning Hogs: 357’s & 41’s

This is going to be a 3 part article of calibers suitable for handgun hunting feral hogs and we will deal with those calibers that are typically used in revolvers.  I will attempt to cover each group of calibers sufficiently and provide some good examples and information.

Handgunning Hogs: 357’s & 41’s

This is going to be a 3 part article of calibers suitable for handgun hunting feral hogs and we will deal with those calibers that are typically used in revolvers.  I will attempt to cover each group of calibers sufficiently and provide some good examples and information.

Wader Leaks & How to Repair Them

I recently discussed waders and the many options available for purchasing the right wader.  Once you have a new pair reality sets in that all waders will leak sooner or later.  Aside from warranty to make the repairs, often you are forced to make the repairs yourself after the warranty has expired or to prepare immediately for another hunt.  This is how to make the best effort at repairing those waders. 

Wader Leaks & How to Repair Them

I recently discussed waders and the many options available for purchasing the right wader.  Once you have a new pair reality sets in that all waders will leak sooner or later.  Aside from warranty to make the repairs, often you are forced to make the repairs yourself after the warranty has expired or to prepare immediately for another hunt.  This is how to make the best effort at repairing those waders. 

Darn Tough Socks: Lifetime Means Lifetime

Clay, are you really gonna write a column about socks? Yes. Yes, I am. Socks are an underrated part of your combat chassis unless you happen to be an ex-Grunt. For a Grunt, socks are of the utmost importance. If boots are the equivalent of tires, then socks are the air in those tires. A good sock can make the difference between arriving at your destination ready to fight, and arriving with blisters and boo-boos.

Field Test: Stone Glacier Sky 5900 w/XCurve Frame

I’m a bit of a backpack fanatic and I’ve tested piles of them over the years. One of the things I’ve learned is there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Each adventure — from the whitetail woods of the Midwest to the elk-rich Rockies — requires a particular pack.

Wyoming Handgun Antelope

Handgun hunting tends to make every animal a memorable trophy. Although I personally prefer to take my handgun game at more sedate or reasonable distances. Knowing that the XP is capable of making solid hits on game at rifle distances allows me to carry it as a backup for those rare instances where getting closer isn’t possible.

Know Your Duck Calls – How to Clean, Repair, & Rebuild

If you are like me you tend to buy calls, use them, like them, hate them and move on to the next one.  Calls take a ton of abuse and often we pay little or no attention to taking care of them both for maintenance and for adjustments.  I sat down with a good friend and someone that calls as well as anyone I know, to discuss the call components and how anyone can disassemble, adjust, and rebuild just about any call with a few spare parts.

Know Your Duck Calls – How to Clean, Repair, & Rebuild

If you are like me you tend to buy calls, use them, like them, hate them and move on to the next one.  Calls take a ton of abuse and often we pay little or no attention to taking care of them both for maintenance and for adjustments.  I sat down with a good friend and someone that calls as well as anyone I know, to discuss the call components and how anyone can disassemble, adjust, and rebuild just about any call with a few spare parts.

Tag A Pressured Public-Land Longbeard with Archery Tackle

When I show up to a public-land hunt area, even if the location seems to be void of other hunters, I treat the dirt and the birds on it like they’ve been hounded to death. I’ve used what I learned to harvest pressured public-land birds with my stick-and-string. Here’s what you need to know.

Thermal Review: Bering Optics R-35 vs Hogster Stimulus

The Bering Optics Hogster Stimulus is no question fantastic for the dollar, if you are on a very limited budget. At $1599, you would be hard pressed to find something that will hang with it as far as capabilities go. But what if you have a little more in the tank? To answer that question, we took a look at the Stimulus side by side with Hogster R-35.