Ever heard of Friction Forging? I hadn’t either until I spent a week with Charles Allen hunting brown bears in Southeast Alaska. Charles is the man behind DiamondBlade Knives, which are built using Friction Forging. A Friction Forged blade is unmatched in strength and sharpness. Watch this video to learn more about this unique process and discover why DiamondBlade Knives are indisputably the sharpest and best knives in the world. #theHUNGER
Nosler has an intriguing history dating back to its genesis in 1946. It all started with a failed moose hunt and a man who wanted to build a more reliable bullet. From there the Nosler Partition was born and sparked the Nosler Partition Bullet Company, which is now just “Nosler.”
BUY NOW: NOSLER TROPHY GRADE AMMO
LOADED WITH NOSLER PARTITION (NP) BULLETS
There’s no question that original bullet design remains one of the best (if not the best) big-game hunting bullets of all time. As you’ll see in the video above, Alaska Master Guide Charles Allen agrees.
FEATURED IN THE HUNGER:
“MODERN PIONEER OF THE LAST FRONTIER”
“Nick and I wouldn’t claim a buck for ourselves on this trip, but we would get a chance to see the kind of treasure that can be granted by the Badlands. Deer season for tribal members was open for another week, so we accompanied our tribal guide Joe Reddest in his search for a mature buck. I handed Joe my Mossberg and he soon put it to use on a whitetail of epic proportions.” #theHUNGER
[CLICK HERE] TO SEE THE FULL FILM
“Millions of us use deer hunting as a gateway to adventures, experiences and memories that cannot be replaced. But deer hunting isn’t just about you or me. It’s the primary fuel source for an economic, political and biological machine that drives all of wildlife conservation in America.”
In this film we go deep into the Badlands of South Dakota to hunt whitetails and mule deer. But it’s more than a hunt: It’s a vision quest. #theHUNGER
[JOIN NOW] NATIONAL DEER ALLIANCE
It’s early September and we’re westbound on Interstate 90, cruise control set, gliding smoothly and swiftly at 80 mph across the windswept plains of Middle America. Everything changes over the hill at Chamberlain. We can’t get there fast enough. Here, the Missouri River reveals itself and broad, rolling hills abruptly erase the monotony of eastern flatland agriculture. Farms suddenly become ranches, hills become Badlands, and near Rapid City the landscape transforms yet again into the ponderosa pine-covered Black Hills—our final destination. My foot sinks deeper into the gas pedal as we grow restless, anticipating the days ahead. [CLICK IMAGE ABOVE TO SEE FULL STORY]
Mossy Oak’s new Terra from the Elements family of camo patterns is ideal for hunting in the broken, rugged country of the West. Terra was developed exclusively in partnership with Nomad Outdoor, and you’ll find it on several high-performance garments from Nomad both online and in Dick’s Sporting Goods.
I just returned from a pronghorn and mule deer hunt in Wyoming, where I tested the Nomad/Mossy Oak Terra Mid-season jacket and Early Season pant. Each of these items are lightweight, featuring an athletic fit with plenty of flexibility. Weather conditions throughout this trip were a hunter’s worst nightmare: Temperatures ranged from 14-74 degrees with variable winds and moisture, reinforcing the importance of coming equipped and employing a thoughtful layering system.
This Nomad gear was worn as my primary exterior layer as part of a three- to four-part layering system on my upper and lower body. Wind resistance and moisture wicking capabilities proved more than adequate, even during times of gusting, frigid winds and kneeling in wet snow. After an intense 6-day hunt, crawling through long stretches of rocks and sagebrush, I found no abrasion damage on these clothes. I’d imagine this duo would perform equally well as a secondary layer during warmer, drier, early season hunts. Blood stained my pants while quartering a pronghorn in the field, but it washed out nicely in one cycle.
Hunting “exotics” had never appealed to me. The idea of hunting non-native species (anywhere) just didn’t trip my trigger. I’ve heard folks rave about hunting red deer in New Zealand, aoudads in New Mexico, mouflon sheep in Hawaii … the list goes on. Texas dominates this strange hunting scene in America, with transplanted species ranging from nilgai to oryx and several others in between. The tables quickly turned on my exotic desires when I was invited to hunt axis deer in the southern reaches of the Lone Star State. These gorgeous, cunning deer present thrilling hunting opportunities during their rut.
Unlike most of our native deer, the breeding cycle for axis deer is intermittent throughout the year. Bucks and does are unpredictably programmed to do their business at different times, but the peak of axis deer rutting action in Texas is always around June. It’s a spectacle to behold, as bucks are aggressively roaming and roaring for love. That’s when I joined an eager crew of hunters to test new Carbon Express crossbows and Rage broadheads on spotted deer.
This hunt was just that—a hunt. I fully expected a buffet of shot opportunities on axis bucks, but a couple of days into the hunt I fully realized there were no martyrs among these cagey herds. Afternoon temperatures stretched above 100 degrees, so morning and evening sits near water presented the best odds of connecting with an axis. It wasn’t until my third and final evening of the hunt that I got my chance.
Want to book an axis deer hunt? Look no farther than the crew at Southern Outdoor Experience (SOE Hunts). They offer a variety of axis deer hunts for different goals, timelines and budgets. I’ll be heading there again when it’s time to renew my supply of axis venison.
photo credit: Todd Obiedo / @tmobie12
As the video up top reveals, I was concealed in a Primos Double Bull SurroundView 360 ground blind overlooking a large, swampy pasture. As a herd of axis deer teetered on the brink of my effective range, I wasted no time in making good on a split-second opportunity with a tremendous buck. The buck’s handsome hide and majestic antlers will adorn my home, but his venison is what I’ll cherish most. When my freezer runs dry of axis meat, you’ll find another trip to Texas marked on my calendar.
CLOSER LOOK: CARBON EXPRESS X-FORCE PILEDRIVER 390
It was a trip of hunting firsts: First time hunting big game in June. First time hunting axis deer. First time hunting with a crossbow. None of these ice-breakers were regrettable, and after my experience with the Carbon Express Piledriver, my urge to go horizontal in my forthcoming bowhunting pursuits has come to fruition. I hunt for many reasons, but meat is always near the top of the list. I’ve taken numerous animals with a compound bow, but the majority of my time is allocated burning gunpowder … simply because my cutting board craveth fresh meat. Hunting with a vertical bow is a noble undertaking, yet I’ve encountered a fair share of hunts where bullets didn’t save my bad luck—so a crossbow hits a happy medium if you’re equally hungry for challenge and high odds of bringing home protein.
As its name suggests, the Carbon Express X-Force Piledriver 390 pushes bolts downrange at speeds up to 390 feet per second. I didn’t chronograph mine, but bolt drop was shockingly minimal at my target practice distance of 50 yards. Penetration on both target and beast also proved to be more than sufficient when shooting a Rage Hypodermic crossbow broadhead. At 62 yards quartering away, I didn’t get a complete passthrough on my axis buck, but it was damned close. The broadhead fully deployed and created a violent wound channel to ensure rapid expiration.
The Piledriver is lightweight, quiet shooting, and it comes as a value-priced package complete with bolts and a 4×32 scope with a ballistic reticle. Just screw in broadheads, get it dialed on target, and start hunting. As a crossbow for beginners or avid horizontal bowhunters, this rig is dressed to kill.
Our paths converged after a decade of doing life in different directions. It was music that first brought us together, and hunting that triggered a reunion. Benny Carl, from Nashville rock-n-roll band The Tip, joins me to get down and dirty on an Oklahoma hog hunt with another hunting buddy, Jeff Puckett. #theHUNGER
Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is real. That’s a fact. Beyond that, however, this mysterious disease is rife with unknowns.
We can’t be absolutely certain that CWD-infected meat isn’t a risk to humans. To put it sensibly, that’s … unsettling for someone like me, because wild venison makes up a huge part of my protein diet. There haven’t been any documented cases linking CWD transmission to humans, and a recent study in Colorado gives us deer eaters mild reprieve. But research is new and very limited at this point.
The CDC advises against eating deer infected with CWD. The only way to know for sure if your deer is infected with CWD is to get it tested. Some states, such as Iowa, have teams of wildlife specialists on duty to gather samples from hunters at no charge. In states such as my home state of Minnesota, you can collect samples yourself and get them tested at the University of Minnesota. Typically you can get results from your deer in 2 weeks.
To get a deer tested for CWD, the most common method right now is to collect the lymph nodes from a deer that’s at least 1.5 years old. In the video above, Greg Schmitt from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources explains how to remove the lymph nodes from a whitetail for CWD testing. Admittedly, the CWD testing debate is one in itself, but as of now testing is an option for those who wish to pursue it.
My odds of being struck by lightning are known to be much higher than suffering from health issues related to CWD, but there’s something to be said about fear of the unknown—especially as it relates to stuffing my face with meat. So how will this deer hunter proceed? I’ll continue to follow CWD news and get my deer tested when possible, and should I come across an infected deer I won’t eat it. Otherwise, venison will remain a staple in my diet as I continue to dance below the darkening thunderheads.
The Hybrid X from ALPS OutdoorZ was created to be a cross between a daypack and a meat hauler, primarily for those of us who love to hunt Western big game. I tested this pack along the rolling sage hills of Wyoming and Colorado this season, with both pronghorn and mule deer in my sights. Its design, durability, and overall versatility were proven tenfold during these hunts. When I find myself packing in for dark-to-dark, daylong hunts, the Hybrid X will forever be reserved as one of my go-to hunting packs.