Remington’s new .360 Buckhammer kicks less, shoots flatter than other straight-walled offerings By Shawn Stafford This year, Remington is adding a new cartridge to the straight-walled ranks — the .360 Buckhammer — and Henry has decided to build the firearm in lever action around the caliber. Not growing up much of a rifle guy, a .22 long rifle was as close as it got for me. Smoothbore pump shotguns carried the brunt of hunting activities — from deer to birds to small game. At some point, the muzzleloader came into play, extending seasons, and eventually, my dad threw a .300 Winchester Magnum i ..read more

G5 Outdoors turns out Prime Bows, industry-leading broadheads and recently acquired Montana Rifle Company all from Michigan By Allen Crater Thwack! Another arrow finds its mark in the black foam. My younger son is out back in his hunting saddle, getting the reps in. It’s Labor Day, barely September, and while summer officially goes on for a few more weeks, mentally the date marks the beginning of fall. It’s probably all in my head, but even the breeze seems to carry a crispness it didn’t just a few short days ago. The countdown to October has begun in earnest, and Michigan’s deer season will s ..read more

By Jack Ammerman The Michigan 2023 bear season will soon be upon us. If you’re interested in participating, you must make a move very soon. Michigan bear hunters must enter a lottery for the limited licenses available in the 10 areas designated by the state’s DNR as bear management units. There are 22 hunt period designations spanning the 10 units. The lottery drawing deadline is June 1, and successful applicants will be posted online by June 26. Limited Licenses for Quality Hunts Unlike whitetail deer hunting, where over-the-counter licenses are sold, enabling hunters to harvest a deer, Michi ..read more

Without mentors engaging youth turkey hunters and teaching them about conservation, no one will If you’re like me, the spring turkey woods bring a welcome relief from a long winter. Each spring, I try to wring as much as possible out of my favorite season outdoors. Michigan has enjoyed an abundance of turkeys in recent years thanks to the conservation efforts of many, including MUCC. While the NRC recently declined to increase bag limits from one to two birds, that doesn’t have to mean your season has to be limited. One benefit of turkey hunting is that it doesn’t come with the pressure that d ..read more

By Allen Crater An old Faroese proverb warns: “A man without a knife is a man without a life.” While that may sound a little extreme, a decent knife is essential to any outdoorsman’s kit. What other single utensils can be used for game preparation, cooking, wood cutting and fire making, shelter building, tool construction, first aid and as a defensive weapon? None that I can readily conjure. Knives have become a ubiquitous symbol of wilderness, drawing to mind legendary American woodsmen and explorers like Daniel Boone, Davy Crocket, William Clark and Meriwether Lewis, or one whose name has be ..read more

By Dr. Russ Mason This article appeared in the Winter 2022/23 Edition of Michigan Out-of-Doors.  Editor’s Note: Michigan United Conservation Clubs, the publisher of MOOD, passed a policy resolution in 2021 asking that hunters be allowed to harvest two spring turkeys if the best available science shows it is sustainable. This resolution has led to conversations regarding more turkey research and a collaborative approach to policy recommendations. Michigan’s turkey population, once estimated at almost 100,000 birds, was extirpated at the beginning of the 20th century. The causes were unregu ..read more

By Robert Kennedy I began my journey of woodsmanship by practicing feverishly with my recurve and tested my stalking and archery skills through the woods in pursuit of squirrels. Time does not bless us with a path without difficulties, but more often than not, we find ourselves basking in victory at the end of our hardships. This same philosophical outlook can be applied to our hunting practices and the tools we use in trying to outsmart elusive wild animals. In many ways, some of the most challenging hunts with the longest waits can result in a peak experience. The challenges we face leadin ..read more

Moments come and go in our hunting lives. The moments over a bird dog, though, stick with us indefinitely. We couldn’t quite find where the doodles wanted to be. The tight aspen stand that had been holding the birds was desolate except for one grouse that we missed, of course. My German shorthaired pointer, Summit, worked the cover as enthusiastically and efficiently as a one-year-old dog could. Summit averages about 14 miles per hour in the grouse woods, and for his first year hunting, that caused some problems. He consistently overran his nose — meaning that he was moving too fast, and when ..read more

For some, the idea of bear hunting with hounds brings to mind savage images of salivating dogs chasing some terrified animal through the woods, culminating finally in a bloodbath as the animals rip their prey to shreds. As experts in the practice will attest, nothing could be further from the truth. Tracking bears with hounds isn’t a fair-weather hobby aimed at amassing trophies; it’s a way of life that revolves around the special relationship between dogs and their masters. Enthusiasts say the amount of time and money they put into training their hounds — as well as the emotional investment t ..read more

Early teal season is a good time to hone your skills and get outside before the traditional duck opener By Nick Green It seemed my eyes had just shut when the irritating sound of my alarm woke me. I never sleep on opening eves — ever. And the teal opener is no exception. The anticipation of what is to come takes hold of me, and I have learned to embrace it rather than fighting it. The 3 a.m. wake-up call is nothing new to a duck hunter. We pry ourselves from warm beds with our four-legged best friends hoping to hear that whistle overhead at first light. We do it day in and day out because it i ..read more