Bulldozers have begun clearing land for a new border wall inside Big Bend National Park.

On August 4, bulldozing for the $1.7 billion project began in earnest, despite strong bipartisan opposition from locals. Private contractors are carrying out the project under the authority of Customs and Border Patrol.

The federal government is waiving scores of bedrock environmental laws for the project. According to the National Parks Conservation Association, contractors have already bulldozed key areas of the park as part of a plan to build new border barriers, paved roads, and other types of border wall infrastructure.

The Texas Chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers @texas_bha has voiced significant concerns about the projects, citing negative impacts to the area’s hunting and fishing heritage. The group says a physical border wall would block native wildlife from accessing the Rio Grande and impede known movement pathways for black bear, mountain lion, big horn sheep, pronghorn antelope, and hundreds of bird species.

Maps seen by Texas BHA Policy Chair Jake Walker show a definite loss of hunting access if the wall goes through, including an entire public hunting section near Lake Amistad and current public hunting areas inside the Black Gap Wildlife Management Area.

Full story by @travishallmedia ...

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When you’re putting up enough Kenai salmon to eat through the winter, systems matter.

If you don’t know Cory Loeffler, you’ve been missing out. Loeffler is an avid outdoorsman who hunts, fishes, makes duck calls, you name it and he’s got the recipes to show for it. When it comes to fillets though, he’s doing it in the water. Once the knife comes out, he works around the ribs, leaving as much good meat intact as he can. None of it is particularly complicated but deliberate.

Loeffler says taking the extra time to scale the fish makes for better table fare. When he’s in a time crunch, he can move can move quick too… cue his 60-sec fillet challenges, as seen on his page. Give him a follow for more cheat codes and trip ideas: @cory_loeffler (he’s got a few rental properties worth looking at too!) ...

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This pond shags its own balls. Masters champ Charl Schwartzel took a one-stroke penalty on this 134-yard “cast” at LIV Golf New York. His tee shot found the drink, and the second it hit the water, a waiting bucketmouth blew up on the ball and tried to swallow. ...

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For the first time in U.S. history, an AI data center has been approved on federally managed public land.

The project is slated for BLM land near Boulder City, Nevada, about 10 miles from Lake Mead National Recreation Area. The parcel had previously been approved for solar development. Boulder City has appealed the decision.  Their concern goes beyond one patch of Nevada desert: city officials believe this could become a test case for putting more data centers on public lands across the West.

According to the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, data centers require significant amounts of power, which can increase demand for energy development and supporting infrastructure. “Construction of new facilities, transmission lines, and cooling infrastructure often requires large footprints that can fragment or displace wildlife habitat,” TRCP reported last summer.

This is the first such approval on federal public land. Whether it becomes a model for similar projects elsewhere remains to be seen.

Full story by @travishallmedia ...

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When the 18th Amendment ushered in Prohibition, the nearly century-old brewery could no longer legally produce the beer that kept business flowing since 1829.

As part of an effort to keep illegal beer from being produced and stored, the government ordered brick walls to be built inside the brewery, blocking access to its aging tunnels. 

So, Frank Yuengling thought of other ways to keep the business alive by creating a legal 0.5% “near beer,” a non-alcoholic porter, as well as building a dairy across from the brewery to make Yuengling ice cream.

While breweries across the country closed and thousands of workers lost their jobs, the family found enough ways to keep the business alive. 

Prohibition finally ended in 1933 and Yuengling celebrated by brewing Winner Beer, a special batch reportedly sent by truck to President Franklin D Roosevelt at the White House. ...

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White River guide Jesse Brison has spent years putting clients on trout in Arkansas. This 17.5-pound rainbow was biggest he’s ever seen on the river.

Here’s the story in his own words: “As guides, it’s easy to get caught up chasing the next big fish. Then every once in a while, the river reminds you why you started. That morning, my clients weren’t interested in trophies. They wanted to throw Rooster Tails, laugh, swap stories, and enjoy a day on the White River. Then a rainbow followed a Rooster Tail to the boat. The second I saw it, I knew it was different. In all my years guiding this river, I’d never seen a rainbow that size. Over the next few chances, I hooked it twice and lost it twice. No big mistakes, just the kind of luck anglers eventually learn to live with. We don’t call it failure. We call it ‘bad science.’ But I couldn’t get that fish out of my head. A few nights later, after work, the water dropped and gave me a small window. I launched the boat alone and decided to make one more attempt. It ate on the second short drift. When I turned on my light and realized it was the same fish, everything after that was a blur. When I finally slid my hand under that rainbow, I just sat there for a minute.”

That put it just 1.6 pounds shy of the Arkansas state record, a 19.1-pound rainbow that’s stood since 1981.

People asked Brison if he wished it had been the record. “Honestly, no,” he said.

“To change history, that fish would’ve had to die, and that was never the point. Records are meant to fall eventually. A fish like that deserves the chance to make someone else’s hands shake the same way it made mine.
That’s why I guide. Not for my name on a plaque, but for that moment when a big fish comes to the net and you look over at your clients and realize they’ll remember that day for the rest of their lives. It was never just about catching a giant. It’s about giving somebody else the chance to feel it. I’m just grateful I get to be here for it.”
—Jesse Brison

This story was shared exclusively with @travishallmedia by @white.river.nation for @fieldandstream. ...

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Remember when summer lasted long enough for one fish to ruin the whole thing? These pages are the supporting data for that phenomenon.

Before Will Brantley became an author and Field & Stream’s Hunting Editor, he was filling a fishing journal with the ones he caught, the ones he lost, and the ones that wouldn’t let him sleep.

In 1996, Brantley hooked a big largemouth in an old strip mine pit in western Kentucky and promptly lost her. Then she broke him off again. He called the bass “Lockjaw,” and for the better part of two summers, that fish owned him. He lay awake thinking about her, schemed over tackle, learned to throw an old Ambassadeur baitcaster, loaded it with 17 pound line, and kept going back. All the while, he scratched the wins, losses, and heartbreak into these pages.

On May 18, 1997, Lockjaw finally made one mistake: she ate a live bluegill. This time Brantley kept her out of the beaver dam and put 7 pounds, 3 ounces of largemouth on the board. He went on to write his first story for Field & Stream in 2006 and has served as Hunting Editor since 2015. Nearly 30 years later, he still has the Lockjaw haunt receipts: this journal and the mount.

@willbrantleyky told the full story of “Lockjaw” in the Spring 2025 Field & Stream Journal, Volume 130, Issue 1: The Game Fish Issue. If you want more stories like this: drop an “1871” comment and we’ll point you in the right direction for first access to new Field & Stream Journals, limited edition collectibles, exclusive gear, and more. ...

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“Denny, you’re a scoper, dude.” PSA: if you guys catch a 16lb mondo, call us first.

Denny Hamlin and Bassmaster Elite Series angler Chris Zaldain spent the day picking apart shoreline grass with Bass Mafia but it was Charlie Wend who closed it out with an 11.6LB buzzer beater. The full video feat. @dennyhamlin is on @chriszaldain’s YT channel. ...

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Hidden treasure. Imagine finding this rack antique hunting. Frederick Kyriss killed the Montgomery County giant in ‘62 but the antlers spent roughly 40 years tucked away in a barn, then another two decades collecting dust in the back of an antique shop. Tape to rack, almost 60 years later, it made history. Boone & Crocket found 204 6/8 inches making it No. 1 typical in PA and No. 4 all time.

Old School Sunday, presented by @yuenglingbeer

First image: Replica of Kyriss’ buck on display at Pennsylvania Game Commission headquarters in Harrisburg (@pagamecomm & @booneandcrockettclub) ...

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Taking any requests? 😂

@briansowellmusic found a way to multi-feed two passions. Acoustic custom guitar fishing rod 🫡 ...

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Year round, he’s watching food sources.

Four years ago, Scott Haugen started running non-cellular trail cams for ducks. And while it was helpful for understanding duck behavior and migration patterns, he says he was always one step behind the birds. Last season, he switched to using Moultrie Mobile cellular cameras, and everything changed. 

Drop an “edge” comment if you want Haugen’s 10 Trail Cam Tips for Hunting Ducks (@scotthaugenoutdoors) ...

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