We have been planting food plots for almost 25 years and have learned a thing or two about what works with whitetails and what doesn’t. And, when it comes to planting food plots you can’t beat clover.

Clover is relatively easy to grow, is loaded with nutrition, and whitetails simply love it. A good clover plot will produce 2 to 4 tons (per acre) of easily digestible plant matter and give your whitetails a shot in the arm when it comes to nutrition. [ Read Full Post ]

Crooked Horn Outfitters was launched in 1989, when Lennis Janzen designed a fanny pack for use by the U.S. Forest Service. In 1990, he unveiled a new type of binocular-­carrying system unlike anything seen before.

“People thought I was crazy. They looked at it and thought there was no way anyone would buy them,” he says. “We sold 300 in 1990. The next year, we sold 30,000.” [ Read Full Post ]

In 1949, William “Bill” Ruger and Alexander Sturm, armed with just $50,000 in capital, opened a small manufacturing facility in Southport, Conn. Their only product was a graceful and innovative .22LR semi-auto pistol—the Ruger Standard Pistol.

Today, Sturm, Ruger & Co. ,Inc., has grown considerably. A publicly held corporation (NYSE: RGR), Ruger now operates a 300,000-square-foot manufacturing facility with about 1,000 employees in Newport, N.H., and a smaller facility in Prescott, Ariz., that employs about 650 people. With more than $500 million in annual sales, the company has become a major factor in the firearms industry, and in 2010 Forbes magazine named it one of “America’s 100 Best Small Companies.” [ Read Full Post ]

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 ]

Years ago, while working for an independent hardware store, Ken Griffey got some advice from the store’s owner.

“You’re never going to have the lowest prices,” he recalls being told.  “You have to have good service and sell quality products and listen to your customers. That’s how you’ll succeed.”

Griffey is now the owner of Bear & Son Cutlery, which  manufactures more than 300 styles of knives. Every part—down to the tiniest screws—is made in the U.S., many of them right at Bear’s facility in Jacksonville, Ala. [ Read Full Post ]

The Sunshine state may not be at the top of the list when it comes to public hunting opportunities, but 26 percent of the state is publicly-owned. And, of course, there's no shortage of excellent fishing areas with good access options as well. [ Read Full Post ]

While less than six percent of Connecticut is public land, there is a modest array of public areas ranging in size from just a few hundred acres to several thousand, offering respectable public hunting and fishing access.

Natchaug State Forest

• 13,454 acres

• Noted for excellent fishing opportunities and designated trout park [ Read Full Post ]