By Philip Bourjaily

Here’s a good rumor to chew on. Will Idaho be home to one of our major gunmakers?  Much as South Dakota attracted gun and ammunition makers like Dakota, Black Hills, Corbon, A-Square and others, Idaho is actively courting the firearms industry. It is, after all, an extremely gun-friendly state, and it doesn’t hurt that it offers tremendous outdoor recreation as well.

By Philip Bourjaily

The October 2009 Popular Mechanics  “Self Reliance Issue” is all about fending for yourself: surviving emergencies, living off the grid, as well as just being generally handy. One feature, “The Soul of an Old Machine” profiles do-it-yourselfers who prefer to fix and maintain old stuff rather than replace it. It includes a sidebar called “Tomorrow’s Classics,” listing four tools which, if given a modicum of care, will work for you and for your children.

By Philip Bourjaily

Hunting season started exactly the right way for me this year. I tagged along with my son John and my friend Mike (pictured below) for an evening hunt on opening day of our youth deer season. Mike had graciously invited John to sit in his bowstand and take first crack at his best spot.

By Philip Bourjaily

We don’t usually address conservation in this space but the way I look at it, shotguns aren’t good for much if you don’t have birds to hunt with them.

Back in the early 80s, when fencerow to fencerow farming was devastating pheasant populations, I can remember going hunting with my cousin one day. It was right at the beginning of the whitetail population boom, and all we saw that were a couple of hen pheasants and dozens of deer.