Our readers' hands-on spirit is reflected in the magazine's comprehensive gear tests and personal adventure stories. Whether shopping for a new rifle, searching for the hottest fishing holes this weekend or thirsting for exciting adventure tales, Outdoor Life is the ultimate resource.
PHILIPSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA/12:32 p.m.
LETTERS
TECHNOLOGY IN THE FIELD • How much is too much when it comes to abiding by fair chase?
DISPATCHES • WHAT THE OL STAFF IS…
HOG WILD
BASE CAMP AND BEYOND
BEST IN CLASS • Think mule deer hunting is easy? Think again. The biggest, oldest bucks are like a species apart
MAKING GIANTS
BIG BEAR BOWS • When it comes to arrow penetration on big game, weight, not speed, counts most
HIGH AND MIGHTY • Seven simple hacks to make your climbing stand setup deadlier than it’s ever been
HYBRID VIGOR • Five fixed-mechanical combo broadheads tested and ranked
HOW WE TEST
THE 2018 OPTICS TEST • Death of the duplex? New riflescopes are high on tech but low on basic functionality and affordability
THE STATE OF OPTICS
HOW WE TEST
WILD VS. PRESERVE BIRDS • Both have feathers, but the shooting is very different
BENELLI ETHOS 28 • THE CROSSOVER SUB-GAUGE
LABRADAR • An easy-to-use, but (slightly) finicky, chronograph
COLD BORE ZERO • Make that first shot from your rifle count
BIG HORN ARMORY MODEL 89 • TAKING THE 500 S&W TO THE NEXT LEVEL
WILD AMERICA • LOAD YOUR DAYPACK AND LACE UP YOUR BOOTS, BECAUSE OUR PUBLIC LANDS OFFER ENDLESS HUNTING OPPORTUNITIES. HERE’S HOW TO UNLOCK THEM
BULL FEVER • NOTHING GETS A HUNTER’S HEART RACING FASTER THAN A BUGLE AND A CRACK
Stalk Bulls in Dark Timber • Pressured elk slip into cover. You should too
SLEEP WITH THE GIANTS • Spend a night on the mountain for a chance at a trophy muley at first light
Go All-In for Roosters • Find pheasant islands in a sea of cattails
Ambush Antelope on the Edge • One of the best ways to tag an antelope on public land is to hunt the border of private land
A WALK IN THE BIG WOODS • PUTTING THE WILD BACK INTO AMERICA’S FAVORITE BIG-GAME ANIMAL
Roll Canadas on the River • When winter hits, migrating geese flock up on tributaries
THE OPENER • THE BEST SPOT ON THE FIRST MORNING OF DUCK SEASON IS THE ONE THAT NOBODY ELSE HUNTS
Find a Flooded-Timber Hotspot • Some of the best duck hunting in the South is wide open to the public
ALL ACCESS • A DEEP DIVE INTO PUBLIC-LAND HUNTING
This Land Is Loaded • Here are some of the more surprising hunting opportunities our country has to offer.
RUFF COUNTRY • GROUSE HUNTING IN THE NORTH WOODS IS A TEAM EFFORT
A Bighorn in Broken Country • A young hunter and his dad dedicate their season to a ram that turns out to be a new world record
THE LOST ART OF SHOOTING RUNNING GAME • We head to Europe to rediscover a style of hunting that used to be second nature for American sportsmen
RUNNING-GAME RIGS • These two rifle-and-scope combos are formidable against game on the move
NO EXCUSES • From opening morning to the frigid finale, there are plenty of ways to screw up a perfectly good deer season. Don’t let one of these 22 miscues get the best of you and your tag
A Bunny Pulpit • Pennsylvania Pastor Robert Ford finds his calling amid his flock—and a pack of beagles
THE LONGEST WALK • FOR BIG-GAME HUNTERS, FROM THE SUBLIME TO THE RIDICULOUS IS BUT A FEW MEAT-LADEN STEPS
THE FINAL SEASON • After decades of seemingly limitless abundance, Quebec’s caribou herd is in decline, and hunting has been stopped. Out on the tundra,...