Countless things go into achieving rifle accuracy, and just as many things can make a rifle shoot poorly and erode accuracy. So where do you look when your trusty rifle isn’t grouping like it used to, or when that new barrel burner isn’t shooting up ...
Latest Articles
Hunter Tags Two ‘Albino’ Deer with One Arrow in Texas
When David Santini spotted the doe from his stand, he knew immediately that it was the “albino” deer the property owners had seen numerous times on the adjacent lot. The rare blond-colored doe had successfully eluded hunters on this Texas ...
Watch: Polar Bears Are Apparently Hunting Reindeer Now
Recent footage of a polar bear hunting down a reindeer off the coast of Norway is fueling debate over the effect of climate change on the threatened species. In August, scientists filmed the bear chasing the deer into the sea and dragging it ...
Coyote Hunting: Intense Scouting and Planning Pay Off
There was a time when one could head to the prairie, turn on a fairly low-quality e-caller, and bring in song dogs at full tilt before blasting them in the face. Hell, it didn’t even have to be an e-caller. As a young man on the plains, I got coyotes ...
North Carolina Black Bear Hunting May Be Expanded to 3 Sanctuaries
While Washington state has canceled its spring bear hunting season for 2022, wildlife officials are considering opening three sanctuaries to North Carolina black bear hunting in the western part of the state this year to address an increasing number ...
Utah Wildlife Board Bans Trail Cameras for Hunting Big Game
Hunters and wildlife lovers will no longer be allowed to use trail cameras for hunting big game animals in the Beehive State. The measure passed with a 4-3 vote by the Utah Wildlife Board, which also banned the use of thermal imaging night vision ...
6 Simple Steps for Duck Hunting Creeks: Guns, Gear, and Tactics
Waterfowl hunting is some of the most fun that a guy or gal can have in the outdoors, and puddle ducks are some of the tastiest critters on the planet. Yet the barrier to entry to waterfowl hunting seems huge if you don’t have big water flowing ...
Underdogs: 4 Hunting Dogs That Beat Death and Got Back in the Field
Americans love their underdogs. The comeback story is an age-old reminder that you can’t count someone out till the final whistle, bell, buzzer, or fat lady dropping the mic. Of course, some of the best comeback stories aren’t about people. In ...
These New Year’s Resolutions Will Make You A Better Hunter
We asked friends of FRA if they had any New Year’s resolutions for hunting — it came as no surprise, a lot of them did. Whether stalking elk in the mountains, waiting out whitetail in a tree, or calling at cupped mallards in a beaver swamp, so much ...
Key West Bouy Burning Still Unsolved, Case of Rum Offered as Reward
The iconic Key West Southernmost Point buoy is a landmark that has attracted millions of tourists — some drunken, most sun-drenched — and generated a lot of cheesy photos since its official dedication in 1983. Two men participated in this ...
Grizzly Steals Kill From Yellowstone Wolf Pack – Again
A grizzly stealing a kill from a Yellowstone wolf pack is not particularly new news. It’s actually a pretty common occurrence for a grizz to grab an easy meal from wolves after they’ve done the heavy lifting. The two apex predators have been at odds ...
How to do Bulgarian Split Squats
Bulgarian split squats, also known as rear foot elevated split squats, were popularized in the 1980s by Bulgarian weightlifting coach Angel Spassov. This gnarly single-leg squat variation is revered by all who do them, and for dang good reasons. ...
Get a Little Classy With This Venison Wellington Recipe
Beef Wellington is an iconic British dish that lends itself well to a wild game adaptation. In fact, plenty of you will probably prefer the venison Wellington you're about to learn how to make, and that's a good thing. In the traditional recipe, a ...
Rocky Mountain National Park Shootout: Ranger Hit, Suspect Wounded
A man who shot a federal ranger inside Rocky Mountain National Park is in custody and charged with assault with a deadly weapon, according to the FBI. Daron Marquel Ellis, 29, was arrested at a hospital in Loveland, Colorado, by FBI Special Agent ...
$2.5K Knives and Cougar Sausages: Meet Master Bladesmith Josh Smith
Josh Smith held a long blade in his hand. Maybe 18 inches long, it was still black and ragged from the forge, but he had a point he wanted to make. He held it up, so that the group of close to 20 in his shop could get a good look. All were ...
Reader’s Choice: The 10 Biggest Free Range American Stories of 2021
This was a good year for Free Range American. We grew by hundreds of percentage points in every conceivable metric and covered a wide range of topics (and controversies) other outdoor media sites were afraid to touch. We broke the news on an ...
Warts and Beauty Marks: The Homestead Act and the Making of America
The United States is referred to as “The Land of Opportunity,” and while “opportunity” has long been the focal point of that phrase, there was a time when “land” was the opportunity. On May 20, 1862 — smack dab in the midst of the Civil War — a piece ...
The 8 Greatest Hunting Dog Breeds of All Time
When it comes to flushing birds, retrieving waterfowl, treeing big cats, or tracking wild game, every hunter has a dog in the fight. Many hunting dog breeds are absolute killers when it comes to the chase that’s coursed through their veins for ...
Get in Bow Shape: A 21-Day Archery Lesson Plan
Are you hitting high, low, or burying carbon in the dirt? Yup, I’ve been there. Shaking so bad that you struggle to bring your pin down on a patch of brown hair, and when you do, you jab the release like a prizefighter? I was president of that camp ...
How To Make a Perfect Bowl of Creamy Grits and Crispy Fish
Seafood and grits is a southern classic. Whether we’re talking shrimp or a fried or blackened fish filet, a bowl of cheesy, buttery grits is the perfect companion. Being an inland Yankee, freshwater fish such as panfish, bass, and trout are usually ...
Zambian War on Wildlife Poaching Captured By Montana Filmmakers
Wildlife poaching in Africa is an extremely complex and deep-rooted problem that sucks the life out of local communities while intensifying systemic poverty, disease, and hopelessness. For the Soli community in Zambia’s Lower Luano Game ...
Banded Birds: Why Leg Bands are More Than Mere Hunting Trophies
For serious waterfowlers, few things are more exhilarating than your retriever returning to the blind with a bird bearing bling on its landing gear. Taking banded birds is a rare thing; it’s the waterfowler’s equivalent of dropping a 150-class ...
Shotgun Shells: The Most Important Changes in the Past 10 Years
You would immediately recognize shotgun shells from the 1860s as shotgun shells. They would have brass cases, but you could put one in your modern shotgun and fire it, as long as you didn’t mind cleaning the corrosive black powder and primer residue ...
Peters Paper Shotshells are Back! Remington Reintroduces the Legend
The legend returns! Remington has re-introduced the Peters Paper line of shotshells. As part of Remington’s revitalization under Vista Outdoors, the legendary line of shotgun shells is making its return. What Makes these Shells ...
How the American Civil War Changed Santa Claus
Ask any kindergartener what Santa looks like, and they’ll probably tell you he has a red suit, a big, round belly and a long, white beard. The classic Christmas song “Must Be Santa,” written in 1960 by Mitch Miller, describes him in even greater ...
Hunting Big Air and Big Game: Meet Olympic Gold Medal Skier David Wise
Freestyle skiing and big game hunting are rarely mentioned in the same conversation — unless you’re chatting with two-time Olympic gold medalist David Wise. The 31-year-old Nevada native has been in the field hunting for wild game as long as he’s ...
Ducks and Coffee: Three Days in Oklahoma With FowlCo Outfitters
Watching the horizon turn from darkness to a mixture of piercing pinks and oranges reminds me of sunrises over the Carolinas’ intercoastal waterway. The way the nearly-neon colors push the night’s cloud coverage away to reveal a sky so brilliantly ...
Washington’s 1776 Christmas Crossing of the Delaware Was a Last Resort
Emanuel Leutze’s 1851 painting, Washington Crossing the Delaware, is undoubtedly one of the most “America, fuck yeah!” paintings that depict any part of the American Revolution. In recent years, the painting of George Washington crossing the ...
Cold Weather Duck Hunting Gear That Will Keep You Warm and Shooting
After a long, cold boat ride, we broke ice in the hole. Then, my host dropped me, outfitted in waders, by an oak tree in waist-deep water. “Don’t fall in,” he said as I was halfway out of the boat. “It’s 45 minutes to the ramp. You’ll be dead ...
AK Caribou Herd Decline Could Shut Out Nonresident Hunters
The Western Arctic Caribou herd in Alaska has shrunk by an estimated 23% over the past couple of years. For Alaskan communities that depend on an abundant caribou herd for their very existence, this is a major wake-up call that says better management ...