Few things in the natural world will get your blood pumping and adrenaline running like the gobble of a big tom turkey responding to your call. And few things will make your blood run cold like watching him approach and realizing you’re not totally certain where your shotgun shoots. Don’t get caught unprepared this spring
There are numerous reasons why we hunt. From reconnecting to nature, to exploring aspects of our primal selves, to simply putting meat in the freezer. Yet for many, the prevailing thing that drives them into the forest every fall is the desire to hang a big set of antlers on the wall. Antlers are what
Written by Phil Bourjaily, this article was originally published by Free Range American on February 15, 2021. Once you hunt over a dog of your own, hunting birds without a dog, or hunting over anyone else’s dog, doesn’t feel like hunting anymore. It’s just walking around trying to shoot stuff. A gun dog connects you to the unseen world
In the late 18th and early 19th centuries the entire world experienced a sudden and dramatic lunge toward the modern age. It was known as the Industrial Revolution, when post-war societies around the world saw dramatic increases in population and technological advancements, which drove a widespread economic surge and a shift from predominately agrarian economies
In the moments after a successful hunt, when approaching a downed animal, we all—consciously or not—take a small moment to give thanks. Whether it’s to God or the spirit of the fallen animal itself, we feel compelled to send a small prayer of gratitude out into the astral plane. It’s a compulsion as old as
Tag soup, as it’s known in the hunting community, is what a hunter is left ruefully sipping on instead of savoring a choice piece of backstrap or turkey leg when they fail to fill their tag. It’s a common recipe, served frequently at the end of most hunting seasons. Although tag soup has gotten a
