After decades of decline and neglect, the 16-gauge is getting a lot of attention right now; it’s the in gauge. I recently told a friend who is a double-gun expert that I was trying to talk myself into a 16, but I couldn’t find a reason. Stuck in a ...
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Fatherhood, Sammy Hagar, and Salmon Fishing in Alaska
My son, Cam, had a pretty short list of what he wanted out of our trip to Alaska. “I just want to see one bear,” he said. “If nothing else happens and I see a bear, I’ll be happy.” Running a jet boat back down the Naknek River toward camp ...
Don’t Screw Up Father’s Day: Get Dad Cool Stuff He’ll Actually Use
Shopping for Father’s Day is hard. It’s tempting to just get dad a gimmicky barbecue tool that will be used once before getting hung in the garage for the next decade. Or maybe a new pair of Crocs. But, this year, you don’t have to be that lame. ...
A Stick-To-Your-Ribs Wild Game Shepherd’s Pie Recipe
Difficulty: EasyPrep Time: 30 minutesCook Time: 45 minutesServes: 2 – 4 Shepherd's pie is one of those dishes that’s worth more than the sum of its parts. Sure, ground meat, mixed vegetables, and mashed potatoes are great on their own, but ...
How to Identify Wild Medicinal, Useful, and Edible Plants
In my opinion, one of the most impressive survival skills one can possess is knowledge of wild edible plants. I know I know, a picture of a leaf or bark on Instagram isn’t going to garner as many likes as a shiny new knife, a “one, reload, one” ...
Stonehenge Dig Reveals 400 Ancient Deer and Boar Hunting Pits
Stonehenge has long been known as the site of burial rites from the mysterious days of prehistory, but it turns out that this famed location on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, still has secrets to reveal about its deep past. About 5,000 years ...
Davy Crockett: The Man Who Showed Us The Way
I think almost every kid on the planet had a coonskin cap growing up. It may have been for a Halloween costume, a brief phase or, at least for me, a precursor to a life as an outdoorsman. The coonskin cap has become an iconic symbol of the ...
5 Tips for Surviving a Dog Attack From a Secret Service K-9 Handler
Marshall Mirarchi knows a thing or two about surviving a dog attack. He’s a former US Secret Service Special Operations Officer and the handler of Hurricane, a Distinguished Service Medal recipient. He recently told Free Range American that he’s ...
The Origins of Memorial Day, from Decoration Day to ‘Flags In’
In front of a grave marked with spring flowers and a small American flag, Gilbert Freer held his bugle at his side. He had just finished playing taps at Mount Hope Cemetery in Boston on May 30, 1868. Freer had stubbly facial hair, but his ...
Take The 72-Hour Power Outage Challenge, Home Edition
One of my favorite books is “One Second After” by William Forstchen. The short novel tells the tale of a small-town family dealing with the effects of the power grid going down, most likely from an EMP (electromagnetic pulse) blast over the ...
Mahi-Mahi: So Strong They Say It Twice
In Hawaiian, mahi-mahi means “very strong” — but through a linguistic process called reduplication, the Hawaiian people say the word twice to signify greater intensity. In other words, these fish will beat you up. Mahi-mahi, aka ...
Specialist Dogs Are Kicking The Hell Out of Rhino Poachers in Africa
Experts say rhinos are teetering on the brink of extinction, with 27,000 of the animals left on the entire planet. In Africa, the stakes are life and death for people defending their homeland by battling rhino poachers who would kill the few ...
7 Bear Attacks So Far in 2022: Two Attacks Since Fatal Army Base Mauling
When a freak bear attack claimed the life of a paratrooper stationed at Alaska’s Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER) and injured another on May 10, it became the seventh bear attack reported in the US in 2022 so far, and the first to be ...
Army Chinooks, USAF PJs, Park Rangers Rescue Hikers on Mount Rainier
He was trapped in an ice crevasse knifed into the side of Mount Rainier, his arm and leg busted, his buddy nearly eight stories above him getting whipped by winds blasting the snowy ridge at 50 knots. But he had excellent cell phone service. And ...
The Molotov Cocktail: How They’re Made and Defending Against Them
Throwing a Molotov cocktail against a buttoned-up tank means that somebody might eventually repaint the tank. Throwing one against an unarmored civilian vehicle — if you don’t break a window — means the owner is going to be incredibly annoyed and the ...
The 5 Most Original and Futuristic Weapons Ever Created for Combat
China and Russia are designing new, futuristic weapons that can supposedly take down an entire aircraft carrier anywhere in the world or zoom past American radar and detection defenses. These innovations are just the latest in the long human history ...
The Fallacy of the ‘If You Had Only One Survival Tool’ Debate
I’ve been a professional survival instructor since 2007. Before that, I worked as a canoeing and kayaking outfitter from 1998 to 2006. I’ve seen the booming interest in survival television shows, the popularity of survival gear surge in retail ...
Bring Firearms Inside: Most Stolen Guns Taken From Unattended Vehicles
For a lot of gun owners, a thief stealing one of their firearms and then later finding out their gun was used in a crime is at the top of their potential worst-case scenarios list. While many people prepare for a gun theft from the home by dropping a ...
Inside Black Rifle Coffee’s Veteran Adaptive Athlete Archery Shoot
Standing on the backside of the bass pond at the Black Rifle Coffee Company Ranch near San Antonio, Texas, the 7-foot foam Sasquatch target was laser-ranged at 106 yards. We were halfway through the 15-target Veteran Adaptive Athlete Shoot, or VAAS, ...
‘Revision of a Man’: Army Vet Tackles Modern Manliness With Poetry
Editor's Note: Here at FRA, we are a small but aggressive team. We're like a race car that we’re building while it zips around the track. Extending that analogy, Matt Smythe is the wheels: He is the primary point of contact between our edit team and ...
New California Bill Takes Aim at Wild Pig Hunting, Again
On the heels of a recent resounding win for bear hunting in California, a less-than-stellar wild pig hunting bill is currently with the state's Senate Appropriations Committee. According to a letter to the Senate Natural Resources committee signed ...
Where Does the $9K Trijicon REAP IR 60mm Rank Among Rifle Optics?
The world of rifle optics is deep and wide. There is a piece of glass for pretty much anything that goes boom. Some high-end and some bargain-basement options with everything else in between. It can be difficult sometimes though to pick just which ...
Free Fly Fishing Video Series Sets Up Beginners for Success
If you’re one of the tens of thousands that tried fly fishing for the first time during COVID as something to do that also allowed you to social distance, or if you’re “fly curious” because you watched A River Runs Through It, there is a new series ...
Sleep or Die: Survival Shows Don’t Stress the Importance of Getting Rest
In 2012, I asked a friend to help me assemble a demo reel to show executives in Hollywood after being signed by WME in the reality unscripted genre. I was instructed to show as much movement as possible to attract the interest of these production ...
U.S. Turkey Super Slam: How a Hunter Bagged Mature Toms in 49 States
Chip Davis hit the road in 1992 with the goal of bagging a mature tom in each of the 49 states that have a huntable turkey population. After 30 years of windshield time and a lot of patience, over Easter weekend this year, he punched a tag in West ...
Prison for Man Who Illegally Trapped Thousands of Turtles for Pet Trade
A man who helmed a crew that illegally trapped thousands of turtles in Georgia and South Carolina to sell to Chinese pet collectors is going to prison. In Atlanta, US District Judge William M. Ray II sentenced Nathan Horton on Tuesday, May 10, to ...
Isaac Sr.’s Total Archery Challenge Playlists
If you’ve never met Isaac Aleman Sr., you’re not surrounding yourself with the right people. He’s one of the funniest and most genuine people you’ll ever meet. Senior, as he's called, along with his son Isaac Aleman Jr. are the archery gurus ...
Clint Emerson Teaches Readers to Live ‘The Rugged Life’ With New Book
In today’s society, someone can tap the screen of a smartphone, and moments later, food or supplies arrive on the doorstep. Modern technology and the convenience it brings have made the average American lazy and complacent — so much so that they ...
Meet Justin Lee: Spearfishing Champ, Bowhunter, Cancer Survivor, Role Model
You’ve heard the saying “like shooting fish in a barrel.” When Hawaiian spearfisherman Justin Lee dove into Lake Powell for the National Spearfishing Championship held the last two days of April, fish in a barrel might’ve actually had a better chance ...
How Army Special Forces Pulled a Fast One to Get Glock Pistols
Glock pistols have become the standard that modern handguns are measured against. The polymer-framed, striker-fired design has served as the inspiration for the most popular handguns on the civilian, law enforcement, and military markets. Even the ...