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By David E. Petzal

The first Nosler Reloading Manual appeared in 1976 and contained 234 pages, about the size of the French novels we read in college to impress girls with our intellectual powers. It has now morphed into a veritable tome of 864 pages, a work of such godless and massive thoroughness that one shudders at the thought of lifting it.

Picking it up, however, is well worth the trouble. There are 117 cartridges in here. I did not see the .22 Velo Dog or the .498 Thunderfu**er, but they’ve got just about everything else, including a fair number of rounds of which I’ve never heard. [ Read Full Post ]

By Chad Love

A British man who just landed the largest skate ever caught off the coast of Great Britain won't be getting the record because he refused to kill the fish.

From this story in the (UK) Daily Mirror: 
An ecstatic fisherman landed this huge skate after a 90-minute battle and set a new record – but it will not stand because he refused to kill it. David Griffiths, 47, hooked the 235lb monster at 500ft below the sea off Oban in Scotland. The publisher from Sarn, Powys, said: “It was an unbelievable feeling. It’s was a really beautiful fish. And the skipper said it’s a new British record.” But rules say fish must be weighed on land. And David said: “I won’t kill a fish for a piece of paper.” He was mobbed ashore when word spread of the 7ft by 6ft skate which he threw back in the sea. [ Read Full Post ]

By Dave Hurteau

Read Part I here; Read Part II here

The next morning, while Diana dreamed of nilgai steaks, our guide Clay led me still-hunting in another expanse of live oaks and mesquite thickets. This time Cabela’s Joe Arterburn tagged along, not wanting to miss the free entertainment virtually guaranteed in watching me try to shoot a nilgai with the .45-70. 

Close, and a Pig
Not a hundred yards along the first sandy path cutting between the oaks, two or three bulls bolted in odd directions. None smelled or heard us; they just freaked on principle, as they do. But suddenly the brush parted and there stood one of them, stopped and standing broadside just 60 yards away. [ Read Full Post ]

By Dave Wolak

Over the years, I've fished with a lot of folks on my boat, and during those countless trips I've witnessed all kinds of common bass fishing brain lapses (and been the executor of said brain lapses, as well). The thread I've noticed that ties many of these common bass fishing foibles together is poor concentration-keeping practices during the mundane, monotonous times when the action isn't hot. It's easy to be on your A game when the bass are biting with regularity, but it's just as easy to lose focus when it's slow, which often causes you to screw up during those explosive moments peppered among the doldrums. These are the 5 mistakes I witness most often in descending order of criticality, and they're all easily fixable.

[ Read Full Post ]

By Phil Bourjaily

Along with “splitting Oreos,” “shooting odd stuff out of shotguns”  is now a YouTube sub-genre. In this clip it’s dimes and pounded pellets. Others have bits of wire, hot dogs (seriously), washers, .22 pellets, and almost anything else you can fit in a 12 gauge hull. Don’t try this at home. Let other people try it at their homes and watch the results instead. It’s safer. These particular guys seem to sort of know what they are doing, but, to no one’s surprise, many YouTube reloaders do not. [ Read Full Post ]

By David Draper

Last week’s Food Fight winner is back at this week, though with a different alias. Upland_Canuck is actually Upland_Hunter here at FieldandStream.com. Either way, I’m excited to pair up this savory pheasant soup my hearty meatloaf sandwich in this week’s matchup. [ Read Full Post ]

By Lance Schwartz

2013 Suzuki King Quad 400ASi
MSRP: $6,499-Flame Red & Terra Green; $6,899-True Timber XD3 Camo
Final Thoughts + Key Specs at a Glance

I had the opportunity to spend two epic days aboard the 2013 Suzuki King Quad 400 ASi in a place nearly too beautiful to describe. My journey took me across California’s Mojave Desert, where the sand and rock miraculously transform into the gorgeous marble peaks of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. At 10,000 feet, the high elevation was the perfect place to test out many of the 400 ASi’s key features. [ Read Full Post ]

By Tim Romano

This video shows one of my dear friends demonstrating "proper trout catch and technique" while "guiding" on the Bighorn River in Montana. His name will be withheld to protect his true identity. Notice the super effective one hand retrieve, non-use of the net, and hip check of the boat. This was just too good not to share. [ Read Full Post ]

By David Draper

My girlfriend, T. Rebel, tried to kill me once.

Her weapon of choice? Exploding meatloaf. She claims it was an accident, but I know better. The whole scene went down like this.

She offered to cook me dinner, which should have tipped me off from the start. I do most of the cooking, so this was a rare occurrence indeed. As the meal was coming together, I was in the kitchen helping out, which generally consists of me saying, “That’s not how I would do it.” (I never said she didn’t have a good motive.) She pulled the meatloaf from the oven, sat it on the stovetop and asked me to stir the risotto simmering on the back burner. I started to lean over the meatloaf when I realized there wasn’t a spoon in the pot. [ Read Full Post ]

By Joe Cermele

There's nothing I love more than vintage tackle that proves a point: Back in the day, a fly rod was just another tool used to catch fish. No one cared if you were only a dry fly guy or thought you weren't the real deal if you used split shots or coneheads. Case in point, this Russelure Flyrod model submitted by Bill Harp. It's basically a metal spoon designed just for the long rod. Dr. Todd Larson of The Whitefish Press and "Fishing For History" blog is most familiar with the company, as they are still in business today.

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By Chad Love

The environmental group American Rivers just released its annual list of the top 10 endangered waterways in the nation. Topping that list is the once-mighty—but now beleaguered—Colorado River.

From this story on abcnews.com:
Drought and demand are pushing the Colorado River beyond its limits — with the needs of more than 40 million people in seven Western states projected to outstrip dwindling supply over the next 50 years, according to an advocacy group's report on endangered rivers released on Wednesday. The annual top-10 list by Washington, D.C.-based American Rivers points to a three-year federal Bureau of Reclamation study that warned last December that the river won't always be able to serve all the residents, businesses, ranchers, Native Americans and farmers who rely upon it. [ Read Full Post ]

By Kirk Deeter

Now that Tim Romano has given away a pair of the new Cabela's Guidewear BOA Wading Boots, I'm going to tell you how they work.

They're great. If you like the Boa lacing system.

BOA laces are wire, and they can be wound on a circular dial knob. Crank the dial and the laces come tight. Pull the knob out and the system loosens up, and you slide your feet right out. The lingo from everyone who markets boots with BOA laces is that the easy-on, easy-off advantages are especially valuable when it's muddy, or icy, and so forth. But let's be really honest. Boa laces work really great for people who have a spare tire around their middle, and don't like squishing themselves when they tie their laces. (I have a friend who told me this.)

[ Read Full Post ]