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TOP STORIES

OL 25 2010

Now in its third year, the OL 25 program honors 25 men and women who have changed the face of hunting and fishing. Vote for Readers' Choice and you'll be entered to win 1 of 5 Leatherman e55 knives!
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25 Greatest Deer Rifles

Here are our picks for the greatest deer rifles ever made. Let the arguments begin.
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Colorado Slam Day 6

Join Outdoor Life Grand Slam Adventure winner John Stanley and Editor-In-Chief Todd Smith on the final day of their Kessler Canyon Ranch adventure.
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UPDATE: BBZ Live

UPDATE: Join the BBZ's live hunt in Illinois and the big pay off.
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May 9, 2008

Top Picks

  • We’ve rounded up the best new hunting, fishing and outdoors-related gifts for the 2009-10 holiday season. It's time to start making your list!

  • EXTREMELY GRAPHIC CONTENT: Incidences of snakebite are unusually high this fall. Don't become a victim.

  • BULL DOWN! Outdoor Life's Grand Slam Sweepstakes winner John Stanley scores on an awesome bull elk on this 3-part journey to Kessler Ranch in DeBeque, Colorado.

Homepage Gear and Forums

Gear » All Gear

VW Touareg

There’s a certain stigma that goes with driving an SUV in these increasingly “green” times of ours. Crawl up into the cab of an oversized gas-guzzler these days and you subject yourself to the most humiliating type of scorn known to man: Environmentalist Scorn. Hop behind the wheel of a Volkswagen Touareg, however, and you can tell the greenies to stuff it. [View Gear]

Daily Blogs

  • November 20, 2009

    Texas To Join Interstate Wildlife Compact - 1

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    With last week’s approval by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission, The Lone Star State will soon join 31 others as part of the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact (IWVC), a cooperative agreement honoring hunting and fishing license suspensions enacted by all member states. [ Read Full Post ]


  • November 20, 2009

    Most Unlikely Gun Test Ever - 3

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    This should have gone under the heading “Hell Freezes Over,” but the global warming crowd would have complained. Yes, this is a gun test in the New York Times.

     

    (h/t Uncle [ Read Full Post ]


  • November 20, 2009

    Fall Turkey Transition Time - 10

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    You’ve put some venison in the freezer, and need something to do. Spring turkey seasons are a winter away. Check your state’s website because there might be an opportunity available right now. For starters, Strut Zone’s Fearsome Threesome of fall/winter turkey hunting might give you some road-tripping ideas. [ Read Full Post ]


  • November 20, 2009

    Zero Hour - 1

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    Thursday, November 19 [ Read Full Post ]


  • November 20, 2009

    How To Make Liberals Into Libertarians - 1

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    Somehow, 'putting another code in the books' is a bad thing when it reaffirms Second Amendment rights in national parks.  [ Read Full Post ]


  • November 19, 2009

    Obama's Homeland Security: Blame Guns for Fort Hood, Not Islamic Extremism - 8

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    Jim Kouri in a Nov. 11 column in Mens News Daily examines how anti-Second Amendment Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano's comments following the murder of 13 people at Fort Hood by an American-born Muslim, serving as U.S. Army psychiatrist, has inspired a great deal of angst from wide range of sources -- and spurred calls for her to step down. [ Read Full Post ]


  • November 19, 2009

    Hoosier Daddy - 1

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    As hunters in several states prepare for their firearms season openers, reports of some absolute stud bucks are streaming into the Big Buck Zone from around the country. Just take a look at this Indiana beauty sent to us by Tim Lord.

    "It was on opening day, this past Saturday, Nov. 14th in Huntington County in Northern Indiana," says Tim. "I was hunting our 250-acre family farm where we grow corn, beans and premium grade alfalfa for a local dairy farm. I was in a Pop-up ground blind on a ridge overlooking our big creek  bottom at 2 in the afternoon when I saw this big 11 point running and chasing a hot doe. They ran right up to me and we’re going to race on by. It was bright, sunny and warm,  around 60 degrees. [ Read Full Post ]


  • November 18, 2009

    Sportsmen Beware! - 7

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    A newly formed congressional caucus comprised of those who generally share the views and agenda held by the country’s most outspoken and politically active anti-hunting organization has yet to make any serious legislative inroads on Capitol Hill, but deserves the continued watchful eye of sportsmen.  [ Read Full Post ]


  • November 18, 2009

    Fort Hood Fallout - 2

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    Anti-Second Amendment zealots wasted little time in exploiting the massacre of 13 people at Fort Hood by a gun-wielding loon. But there was also an array of sober, sane responses to the shooting as well -- responses that offered solutions, not ideologic diatribes, responses that say freedom, not repression, is the always the best answer.

    [ Read Full Post ]


  • November 17, 2009

    BBZ LIVE! Day 3—Score! - 4

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    It’s 1:24 and I am writing this from camp. I shot a buck this morning in the pouring rain and made a less than perfect shot and we decided to back out of the area and go back to get him this afternoon. The waiting is driving me insane. I keep re-creating the moment in my head….

     

     

     

    [ Read Full Post ]


  • November 17, 2009

    Montana's Mixed Bag - 9

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    Having just returned from hunting the Ft. Benton area of Montana with Pheasants Forever, I have to tell you it's in stark contrast to South Dakota. Especially a South Dakota ranch managed for pheasants and holding a preserve license. But this is true wild-bird hunting in thick, heavy cover for a variety of skittish avian prey and when you put one in the vest, you, and especially the dog, have earned it.

    [ Read Full Post ]


  • November 17, 2009

    Missouri River Breaks LAST DAY - 1


  • November 17, 2009

    The Scariest Part of the AWB - 30

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    Even though Halloween is behind us, we still live have to keep an eye out for dead things coming back to life. Attorney General, Eric Holder, is still pushing for a renewal of the Clinton gun ban, which expired in 2004. 

    Last February, he made strong statements about fulfilling the promises made by President Obama on the campaign trail to make the ban permanent, but the economic and political climate the administration encountered made that legislation a non-starter.  [ Read Full Post ]


  • November 17, 2009

    Deer Hunters On The Front Line - 1

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    Hunting takes patience, mental focus and drive. 

    Small wonder then that the soldiers who excel at one of the toughest jobs in the military—the guys who sweep for roadside bombs and other IEDs—also happen to be hunters. 

    From a CBS report that features Specialist Christopher Parsons, a member of the Michigan National Guard who is tasked with “Route Clearance Patrol”: [ Read Full Post ]


  • November 17, 2009

    Questions In A Quandary - 3

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    Does denying guns to 'prohibited persons' ensure public safety?  

    Gun Rights Examiner David Codrea has been writing a series of blogs about the slippery slope in allowing some people to have Constitutional rights, but not others. He asks some intriguing questions that require more than a knee-jerk, emotional response. [ Read Full Post ]


  • November 16, 2009

    "World Record" Update - 6

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    We here at the Big Buck Zone promised to keep you apprised and updated on some of the monster bucks shot across the country this fall. Here's the latest on the big Wisconsin deer we told you about last week directly from the good folks at Boone and Crockett Trophy Watch.....

    [ Read Full Post ]


  • November 16, 2009

    Shep's Vigil - 5

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    When a town puts a mutt on equal footing with Lewis and Clark, you know as a dog person you're in the right place. When I reached Ft. Benton, Mont., to hunt with Pheasants Forever, sitting next to the parking lot of the Grand Union Hotel was a statue of a dog. The history behind that statue is a story of enduring loyalty that any dog owner can understand.

     

    [ Read Full Post ]


  • November 16, 2009

    When Discrimination Is OK - 3

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    The 'No Guns' sign insult – What if the signs read 'No Jews? 'No Dogs or Sailors on the Grass'? 'Whites Only'?  

    Jeff Knox of the FirearmsCoalition.org notes in a Nov. 1 blog posted on AmmoLand.com that "no gun" signs are "just another form of discrimination but against gun owners of all races." [ Read Full Post ]


  • November 15, 2009

    The Lucky 13th - 5

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    Fifty-three hours. That’s how long I sat on a plastic deck chair inside a 4-by-4-foot ground blind, looking over the same 40 acres of Saskatchewan woods before I finally killed a buck on Friday.

    This hunt for a big Canadian buck was the toughest hunting challenge of my life, and I hardly moved a muscle. Mentally straining, psychologically crushing, I sat in the same seat—actually two, since I moved blinds after the first two days in the field—for 12 hours a day straining to see a bruiser buck step out of the poplar forest. [ Read Full Post ]


  • November 15, 2009

    Fall Turkey Dog Questions - 16

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    Regular Strut Zone commentator “charlie elk” sent along some questions after our “Finding a Turkey Dog” post. My answers follow here:

    Q. When you pick out a pup are there any indicators one should look for? Or is it the luck of the draw? [ Read Full Post ]


  • November 15, 2009

    Timber Rifle For A Timber Deer - 5

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    Just got out of the woods in Northern Saskatchewan after a week of stand hunting during the rut. Friday the 13th was my lucky day as this buck strolled by me at about 11:30 on the second to last day of the hunt. Like every mature buck my fellow hunters and I saw in camp this week, he was cruising. [ Read Full Post ]


  • November 14, 2009

    Facist Dismisses 10th Amendment Cause As 'Unconstitutional' - 16

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    Dennis A. Henigan, the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence Vice President, author of "Lethal Logic," and elitist worm-tounge, cherry picks his way through history and court rulings to support his skewered contention that, essentially, the 10th Amendment in unconstitional in his Nov. 2 hysteria-blog -- Guns in Montana and Tennessee: Is Secession Next? -- posted on huffingtonpost.com. Read it to see how this Big Brother bamboozler uses rationalized benevolence to hoodwink the unthinking into unthinking his way. [ Read Full Post ]


  • November 13, 2009

    Black Water Rising - 2

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    SEE ALL THE PICTURES HERE!

    I’ve been running a number of trail cameras on my property this pre-season trying to do an extended test on battery performance, trigger speed and overall image quality as an off-shoot of a story I worked on earlier in the year. Some of the models I’ve been checking out include Bushnell’s compact Trophy Cam, the Cuddeback Capture IR, the Moultrie GameSpyi60, the Stealth Cam Prowler, the Reconyx Rapidfire and the high-end SmartScouter.

    [ Read Full Post ]


  • November 13, 2009

    World Record—Poached - 8

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    A Minnesota man with a criminal history is suspected of illegally killing a massive-racked whitetail buck that could be the largest 8-point ever recorded.

    Last week, Minnesota conservation officers seized the antlers involved in the case and on Thursday, Nov. 12 filed charges against Troy Reinke, 32, of Cannon Falls, Minn. Reinke was charged by the Goodhue County Attorney’s Office with 13 counts, including exceeding his limit and failure to register a deer. [ Read Full Post ]


  • November 13, 2009

    Missouri River Breaks Day 2 - 4

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    A stark reminder of a tag we will hopefully draw someday... the coveted Montana Breaks Rocky Mountain Bighorn tag. Someday!!!

    Enlarge Photo

    After some long drives and lots of time spent looking at maps we're finally in position (with plenty of elk spotted) to have a really good chance at scoring on a couple cows tomorrow morning. We're hunting BLM lands here in Montana and armed with our GPS and a BLM map we're scouring the countryside!!! We spoke with a Montana Fish and Game warden this evening who helped us to pinpoint an access that would put us right on top of a pile of elk! We scouted out the area this evening and found over 300 elk spread between five different herds. From on butte this evening we glassed 30 different branch antlered bulls, biggest being in the 340" class... wow what a glassing point! We also found a great mule deer buck that was on a section of... [ Read Full Post ]