Get Out Hunting!

On the minds of hunters all year long, the rut is a magical time to be in the woods. And although every day spent afield is a good one, mark these dates on the calendar as some of the best for 2017.

Traveling to hunt is something I feel everyone should do at least once; it represents an adventure that can quickly make a hunter feel years, if not decades, younger. An unseen valley, an exotic species, perhaps the need for a different rifle or cartridge, it all adds a flair to the sport we love so much. Now, depending on where you call home, the destinations I’m about to list may or may not seem like an exotic place to hunt, but here are ten places that I’ve either fallen in love with or plan to in the near future.

There’s a lot of science behind creating the perfect venison cheese steak, from thinly sliced meat to slowly cooked onions. Venison sandwiches can be a thing of beauty, but they can also be a nightmare. There’s a fine line between the two when it comes to deer, and it’s usually crossed when the lean meat goes from tender to leather.

For deer hunters that have grown restless in their home state, finding a new area to hunt can be maddening. Instead of dropping your money on an expensive lease, though, look to one of these seven states as a potential public land whitetail destination.

The National Park Service is looking for competent hunters to volunteer to help thin the Grand Canyon bison herd which is overpopulated.

Legendary custom builder Ed Brown just unveiled their new hotness, a hunting- and competition-ready longslide 1911 chambered for 10mm Auto.

FLIR has expanded its product line with the ThermoSight Pro Series thermal weapons sights. These sights attach to a MIL-STD/1913 picatinny rail, and would be perfect for hunting feral hogs or predators at night.

Ashbury Precision Ordnance is now offering a lightweight, modern Remington Model 700 built on their accuratized Saber chassis that features AR components.

On a hunt in Zimbabwe, trophy hunter Theunis Botha was crushed after a fellow hunter shot and killed an elephant which collapsed and crushed Botha.