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TOP STORIES

Top Whitetail State

We propose a new method of assessing trophy production, one based on real-world considerations. See which state we picked #1 overall for whitetail deer hunting.
12 | Read More

Best Smallmouth Baits

When getting smallies to eat becomes an effort in futility, dig these bronzeback bon bons out of your tackle box. We round up the 15 best smallmouth bass fishing baits of all time.
2 | Read More

Public Land Problem

Understanding and fixing the public land deer hunting problem takes reevaluating our public forests and our role in them. It takes correcting some very wrong popular views.
6 | Read More

New Fish Faces

The bite is on in warm waters around the country. Check out the latest and greatest fish babe shots from Instagram and our friends at Salt Water Sportsman.
80 | Read More
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May 9, 2008

Top Picks

  • Expert tips from the OL editors on how to purchase, evaluate, and hunt with optics.

  • We found the entry hole of a spring fox den and set up a trail cam to record the kits' activity. Here's what we came up with.

  • A look at how—and why—six different companies are providing the world's outdoorsmen with American-made sporting equipment.

  • The votes have been tallied. Here are the 10 finalists in the annual Outdoor Life Fish of the Year contest.

Daily Blogs

  • April 25, 2013

    Survival Skills: How to Make Sharp Stone Tools—Easily! - 1

    We all love our knives. Each of us owns several of them for various purposes and they’re the most indispensable tools that we carry. So the idea of making blades from stone may seem primitive and even backward. But what happens if you get caught without a knife? Or you need to do some butchering work and want to keep clean the only knife you have on you? Sharp stone blades can fill in for your favorite knife, and the best part is that they are easy to make. [ Read Full Post ]


  • April 24, 2013

    West Virginia 8th Grader Arrested After Refusing to Take Off NRA Shirt at School - 5

    A West Virginia 8th grader was arrested on April 18 for obstruction and "disturbing the education process" after he engaged in a heated exchange with a teacher and refused to remove his NRA T-shirt.                

    Jared Marcum, 14, of Logan told the Associated Press on April 19th that he was on a cafeteria line when a teacher demanded that he remove his NRA T-shirt or wear it inside-out because it featured a gun, which the teacher insisted violated the middle-school's dress policy.                

    Marcum refused, stating it was his First Amendment right to voice his support for the Second Amendment by wearing a T-shirt with an image of a gun and the words ”Protect Your Right” on it.                 [ Read Full Post ]


  • April 24, 2013

    Dumb Turkey Stories - 2

    Luke Tonlino of Otis, Massachusetts was admittedly a bit peeved. Upon hearing some odd banging sounds coming from outside his home last week, Tonlino decided to investigate. That’s when he spotted the source of the commotion—an adult gobbler. Apparently enamored with his own reflection in the bumper of Tonlino’s truck, the bird strutted back and forth occasionally pecking at the high-polished chrome.

    “I went inside for the camera and watched him for 5 minutes,” Tonlino said. “He saw me and didn’t care—until I ran him off. I was afraid he would ruin the bumper.” [ Read Full Post ]


  • April 23, 2013

    NY Youth Hunt Controversy Finally Laid to Rest - 2

    With overwhelming support from most of the state’s sportsmen, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation held the state’s first youth deer hunt last fall. The results are in and the three-day Columbus Day weekend hunt was a great success. The DEC estimates that 7,800 junior hunters (along with non-hunting mentors) took 1,411 whitetail deer.  [ Read Full Post ]


  • April 23, 2013

    Spring Fishing: Murky Water Tactics - 0

    As rivers, streams, and creeks across the country begin to flood, we’re reminded that spring rains bring muddy water, which decreases visibility and makes bass fishing even more challenging. Turbid inflows prove particularly disruptive in lakes where fish are spawning, as the dirty—and typically colder—water will push fish off their beds.

    Past the bedding season, murky water in any scenario demands attention and adjustment from anglers hoping to fool bass with artificials. It’s all about increasing the fish’s ability to detect your bait. [ Read Full Post ]


  • April 23, 2013

    Field Remedies For Poison Ivy - 9

    The maddening itch of poison ivy is something that most outdoor lovers know all too well. Poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac are all capable of torturing us at some point during the course of the year. But the shiny, oily springtime leaves of poison ivy seem to be the worst of the bunch. [ Read Full Post ]


  • April 23, 2013

    Best Baits: 15 Top Lures For Pike and Muskie Fishing - 3

    When the stars align and the feeding window is open, a big muskie or pike will hit anything that moves. Your bait selection doesn’t matter and all you have to do is be in the right place at the right time. If you’re lucky, you’ll experience this feeding-frenzy action once or twice a season. The rest of your time hunting trophy pike and muskies will be spent cranking, casting, and waiting. The right presentation will make the difference between a bite and a follow-up. So, don’t waste all of your effort pitching second-rate lures. Here’s our round up of the best muskie and pike fishing baits on the market right now.   [ Read Full Post ]


  • April 22, 2013

    Bowhunting Turkeys: Where to Aim for a Clean Kill? - 7

    Until a few weeks ago, I’d never tried to kill a turkey with an arrow. While bows are permitted during the spring turkey season in my home state of New York, there is no dedicated archery season, so I’ve always just hunted them with a shotgun. When you fire one and a half ounces of number-five lead shot through a tightly constricted turkey choke at a bird’s head/neck area at close range, there is little chance of wounding it. The result will more than likely be either a miss or a very dead turkey.
      
    And then I was invited to try and kill a couple turkeys with a crossbow in Nebraska the last week of March during that state’s archery turkey season. Needless to say, I was intrigued. After all, I do understand the appeal of the challenge of trying to kill a bird with an arrow, and if a state like Nebraska is going to provide an opportunity to hunt turkeys in March (another thing I’d never done) then why not take them up on it? (By the way, if New York tried to implement a three-week bow-only turkey season prior to the firearms season, I’m... [ Read Full Post ]


  • April 22, 2013

    Turkey Hunting: What the Biologists Can Teach You - 0

    A new generation of wild-­turkey researchers is seeking to answer questions about turkey population declines, habitat preferences, and geographic distribution. Their findings will influence turkey management for decades to come. But hunters can learn from them right now about where and how to hunt our most evasive gobblers.

    Turkey biologists aren’t quite calling it a crisis, but significant population declines in some regions of the country have them wondering why, after decades of growth, turkey numbers are flat or nose-diving. What they are finding is that, in some areas, the trend is predictable: After filling all available habitat, turkey populations have reached a sustainable plateau. [ Read Full Post ]


  • April 22, 2013

    Do All Dogs Go to Heaven? - 6

    Canine mortality has crossed my mind more often then I would care to acknowledge—I have a 13-year-old English bulldog, and after Kona's cancer scare. Then I saw a post on Facebook about dogs going to heaven and greeting us when we get there. The caption asked: "Do you believe our dogs go to heaven?"

    I'm conflicted when I think about this topic; emotion and logic run headlong into each other and it combines with a good bit philosophy, too. [ Read Full Post ]


  • April 22, 2013

    Gun Manufacturing Jobs: Colorado, Connecticut Losses Could Mean Texas Gains - 3

    When Connecticut legislators passed Senate Bill 1160 on April 4, they essentially outlawed an industry that employs 3,000 state residents and generates $1.75 billion annual taxable revenues.
                   
    The state's firearms manufacturing industry, which includes Hartford-based Colt, Southport-based Sturm, Ruger and Co. and New Haven-based Mossberg & Sons, warned lawmakers all winter that if they adopted Democratic Governor Dannel Malloy's gun control package, they would move their operations elsewhere.
                   
    The first gunmaker to follow up on that threat is Bristol-based PTR Industries, which announced on April 9 on its Facebook page that it will take its 40 jobs and $50,000 weekly payroll to another city in another state. [ Read Full Post ]


  • April 19, 2013

    How to Call Turkeys: Ultra Aggressive Hunting Tactics - 0

    Before Dave "Cozz" Cozzolino began hunting turkeys at age 16, no one ever suspected he had attention deficit disorder. He had no more trouble staying seated at his desk than other students and was no less attentive than the other boys. No, it was the sound of gobbling that stirred Cozzolino too deeply to stay put. Instead of calling and waiting like most turkey hunters, Cozzolino routinely makes hen talk as he moves in on gobbling birds. In fact, he argues that because of his aggressive style, he regularly dupes savvy gobblers that have evaded more patient hunters.

    Here are some of Cozzolino's favorite aggressive tactics. Try them where you have room to maneuver. [ Read Full Post ]


  • April 19, 2013

    ATV Review: 2013 Suzuki King Quad 400 ASi - 0

    2013 Suzuki King Quad 400ASi
    MSRP: $6,499-Flame Red & Terra Green; $6,899-True Timber XD3 Camo
    Final Thoughts + Key Specs at a Glance

    I had the opportunity to spend two epic days aboard the 2013 Suzuki King Quad 400 ASi in a place nearly too beautiful to describe. My journey took me across California’s Mojave Desert, where the sand and rock miraculously transform into the gorgeous marble peaks of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. At 10,000 feet, the high elevation was the perfect place to test out many of the 400 ASi’s key features. [ Read Full Post ]


  • April 19, 2013

    Commercial Fishermen Accidentally Net 13-Foot Shark Near Beach in Australia - 0

    Commercial fishermen in Western Australia accidentally netted this 13-foot great white shark just 100 meters off a popular beach earlier this week. The big shark died in the net because it was unable to move water over its gills.

    Cheyne fisher Dumpy Wheatcroft (yeah, apparently his first name is Dumpy) told thewest.com that tourists flocked to watch the shark being loaded on to a forklift. [ Read Full Post ]


  • April 19, 2013

    Dry-Fire: The Key to Better Rifle Accuracy and Trigger Control - 5

    I had just missed my third consecutive shot at a 600-yard, man-size steel target when Rifles Only shooting instructor Jacob Bynum tapped me on the shoulder.

    “Unload the gun,” he said. I was about to chamber another round, but I followed his direction and emptied the rifle. “Now shoot.”

    I did. Click. “Do that until you’re ready to hit what you’re aiming at.”

    This is why his advice works. [ Read Full Post ]


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