Rydal-Meadowbrook Civic Association

Lions, Tigers, Leopards, Jaguars, and Cougars, Outdoor Life has tangled with them all. Check out our best covers of big cats here!

My Plano AW Gun Case went through a field test in the unlikeliest of places: the airport.

I watched as the case poked its nose out onto the baggage carousel, came down the conveyor line and immediately got hung up on the very tight corner. With 30 people between me and the case, I couldn’t get there before a suitcase gave it a bump — my gun case slid off the line, dropped a foot and a half and slammed hard onto the floor.

The results of the test, though, were not apparent until the next day, when I took my two rifles to the shooting range. They were fine and the scopes still dead on. In addition to that drop from the baggage conveyor belt, my guns were transported a lot lately. God knows how badly they've been bouncing around in the bellies of the three separate airplanes it took to get me from Wisconsin to East Texas for a hog hunt.

The Plano AW Gun Case, model 108190, is made to hold two scoped rifles or a pair of shotguns. It’s part of Plano’s All Weather series, which incorporates Plano’s continuous Dri-Loc® seal to keep the case watertight, airtight and dust-proof. Plano’s molded construction is rugged and durable, and the case is equipped with a pressure relief valve, too.

High-density foam in the lid and bottom afford padded protection for your firearms. There are six dual-stage, spring-loaded latches on the outer perimeter of the case. Not only do the latches secure the contents on the inside, they also pull the case tight against the seal to keep the elements on the outside. Two of the latches are lockable with keys.

Finally, the gun case has two wheels so you can pull it along. The wheels work fine on smooth, hard airport but—my only criticism of this otherwise fine gun case—they can catch and tug on surfaces like an uneven parking lot. I wonder if slightly larger diameter wheels might work better.

All in all, this is a great protector for your firearms! Measures 54.625” x 15.5” x 6” closed. It is surprisingly affordable, with a MSRP of $159.99.

Despite my extremely expensive college degree and 20 years of writing professionally, the only thing I could come up with after watching this video was: “Dude!”
   
Russian citizen Konstantine Myakush was walking in the park with his two young daughters on April 30 when he was suddenly struck through the neck by an arrow that was allegedly from a nearby sports complex. 

Despite the gruesome injury, 38-year-old Myakush was able to call his wife who in turn called for an ambulance. Video of Myakush’s visit to the hospital shows him sitting remarkably calm despite having a 20-inch long arrow running just under his jaw. Fortunately Myakush is expected to make a full recovery as the arrow failed to hit any major arteries. See the video here.

Tyler Freel is on 10-day brown bear hunt on the Alaskan peninsula. He's battling tough weather conditions and rugged terrain while trying to take a bear with his recurve bow. Freel will be calling in regularly on a satellite phone to give updates on his hunt. Here's his first report from day 1 in the bush.

Check back on Live Hunt for more satellite phone call ins. Here's a list of some of the bear blogs you can find on Live Hunt:

Why Hunt Brown Bears With a Traditional Recurve Bow?

Live Hunt Alaska: Bullets or Bear Spray?

Almost Ambushed By a Brown Bear

What's the Best Backup Gun For Brown Bears?

Gun Shots blogger Brian McCombie runs down 15 great guns for hog hunting. From classic lever actions, to magnum handguns to custom ARs, this gallery has it all.

#1 - Break a True Pair
Take the rear target first and continue your swing to get out in front of the lead clay. For going-away birds, take the clay that’s more of a straightaway and then swing on the target that’s angling away.

#2 - Get Steady Off-Hand
During dry-fire practice, pick a small target to focus on, and with the rifle held low, bring it up in a smooth motion. As soon as the target comes into view with the reticle centered on it, break the trigger.

#3 - Handle Surprise Flushes
Walk the perimeter of a skeet field with your shotgun in a low ready position. Have a partner pull birds at unexpected intervals. Good footwork is key. Step toward the target as you mount your gun.

#4 - Work a Bolt Gun Faster
Take a strong grip on the forend with the lead hand, pulling the stock back into the pocket of the shoulder. This lets you keep the gun in position and your eyes on the target as you run the bolt with your trigger hand.

#5 - Tune Up Your Deer Gun
During the off-season, gremlins will loosen the screws in your guns. I just had this happen on a Savage .22/250, which rattled like a jar full of marbles when I went to take it varmint shooting. So check all the fasteners and torque them down to the proper amount (65 inch-pounds for the guard screws and 22 inch-pounds for rings and bases).

#6 - Limit on Doves faster
Patience is the key to hitting more doves. Before you start to mount and swing your gun, make sure the dove is in range. Move too early and the bird will flare.

#7 - Make a 1,000-Yard Shot
Rock-solid fundamentals and accurate equipment are critical, but for first-round hits at a “grand,” you need a ballistic calculator that incorporates environmental data like wind speed, temperature, altitude, and relative humidity. The Kestrel 4500NV ($325) does all this.

#8 - Forget Your Misses
A Zen-like mindset will help improve your shotgunning. When you miss a target, don’t rant and rave. Tell yourself what went wrong and verbalize a simple, positive correction (e.g., “Mount the gun smoothly”).

#9 - Shoot 1-Inch Groups
When shooting off a bench with a hunting rifle, it doesn’t usually pay to let the gun recoil freely. Instead, take a firm hold on the forend and grip, and seat the rifle solidly against your shoulder. Do this and watch your groups shrink.

#10 - Drop a Charging Animal
When something big, nasty, and toothy is bearing down on you, get in a kneeling position, put the crosshairs on the beast's nose, and let fly.

A press release just popped into my e-mail that caught my attention: TRCP Donates $10K to Sportsmen's Access.

The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP) giving $10,000 to help bolster public hunting and fishing access is definitely something of interest. As I read through the release, I learned that TRCP had donated the cash to support the Wyoming Game & Fish Department’s Private Lands Public Wildlife Access Program, which provides hunters and anglers with access to private lands.

As you’ve likely figured out by now, I’m a big fan of such programs and kudos are in order to TRCP for providing that support. But what really caught my attention was a link to a fairly new effort by TRCP dubbed the Sportsmen Values Mapping Project.

Essentially, the project will map out areas of special interest to hunters and anglers. Launched in April of 2011, about 1,000 hunters and anglers from 20 communities across Wyoming (the project is focused on the Rocky Mountain West region to start) provided information, feedback and locations of areas they would like to see conserved, as well as areas of public access that should be maintained or improved.

“As the name indicates, the Sportsmen Values Mapping Project identifies the areas sportsmen value and that need to be considered as land use planning decisions are made,” said TRCP Western Outreach Director Neil Thagard. “The project and resulting data will help the Wyoming Game & Fish Department prioritize its negotiations with landowners regarding participation in the Private Lands Public Wildlife Access Program.”

TRCP will also use the data to illustrate to legislators and decision-makers just what areas are of most importance to sportsmen and women when issues arise concerning habitat degradation, land uses, and other important issues.

I can see where this type of input and the resulting map and database could be used hand-in-hand with the pending Sportsmen Heritage Act legislation that would require federal land management agencies to ensure hunting and fishing access is considered and maintained on our public lands.

I readily admit that this is the first I’ve heard of this program. But it certainly was one of those “Well, duh” moments. A database such as this could have real impacts on future land use decisions. While the efforts are currently focused on the West, I’m hoping this becomes a national effort.

I certainly have a few special places that I’d like to add to that list.

The fastest growing segment of the sporting-optics market is electronic illumination of a scope’s crosshairs. And it may be the most useless hunting-gear gimmick since the DeerView Mirror, a backward-looking reflector for your treestand. Check out the lineup of new scopes at your sporting-goods store. I’ll bet more than half have a bulbous illumination knob above the eyebox or opposite the windage and elevation knobs, distorting the otherwise lovely lines of the optic. But illumination modules also add weight, as well as a mechanism to fail and a battery to die.

Red is the most common illumination color, but a number of scopes also feature green and blue. And instead of illuminating a subtle aiming point, most of these battery-powered units light up the entire reticle like a Christmas tree on fire.

Illumination is a great asset on some scopes, like the low-magnification optics used on ARs for short-range work, such as clearing dark, dangerous houses. But here’s why they’re worse than useless on higher-magnifying big-game hunting optics:

- Legal light for most big-game hunting is a half hour before sunrise to a half hour after sunset. Outdoor Life’s annual optics test has revealed that all but the cheapest, darkest glass is bright enough to resolve antlers, vital areas, and aiming points even several minutes after legal light fades. Not only will most glass let you “see” into the dark, but most non-illuminated reticles are visible long after legal light has ended.

- Any illumination brighter than a barely perceptible point will ruin your night vision. Yet many of these reticles are calibrated for high intensity, not subtlety, forcing shooters to concentrate on the blazing crosshair instead of the dim target. And when a reticle is awash in light, the optic glows with so much internal reflection that precise shooting becomes increasingly difficult as ambiant light fades.

- Artificially illuminated aiming devices are illegal for big-game hunting in some states. Even if you never turn on the illumination, its presence on your rifle could be setting you up for an avoidable wildlife violation.

- Building a bright, clear optic is difficult and expensive. Instead of investing in optical technology, scope manufacturers that turn to high-intensity illumination are grabbing market share with the luminescent equivalent of bells and whistles. Savvy hunters would do well to spend their money on good glass, not electronic gimmickry.

I recently spent over a week hunting hogs in East Texas in conjunction with the Wild Hog Roundup sponsored by Wulf Outdoors Sports of Center, Texas. Arriving from chilly Wisconsin, the 80-plus degree temperatures were a welcome change. But it took a couple days of hunting to realize the daytime heat was driving the hogs into the vegetation-choked creek bottoms. Night hunting was in order if I was going to bag a wild porker.

So the good folks at Wulf offered to let me use a Nite Hunter Varmint rifle-mounted lighting system: Model NHV-001, a 160 lumens green LED light that mounts onto your optic or rifle.  Using two different AR-style rifles, I mounted the light on the Picatinny rail below the barrel.

I was surprised at how well the Nite Hunter Varmint worked. I had no problem picking up wildlife — from rabbits and armadillos to hogs — out to 125 yards or better. Hog eyes were reflected at a good 250 yards, too.

On the second night of using the Nite Hunter Varmint, I took a 200-pound boar I spotted while walking back to camp. The hog was feeding alongside the logging road when I caught the gleam of his eyes in the green light. Initially, he faced me, and then he headed down to forage some 70 yards ahead, unaffected by the green light shining in his eyes. I fired when he turned broadside, taking him down with a single shot from my ArmaLite AR-10(T) in .308 Winchester. 

This was my first time using a green light. The most important thing I learned is that the Nite Hunter Varmint light works best in conjunction with a top-quality scope. For example, I hunted with a red/green dot optic atop my rifle the first night. The optic performed fine during the day (as I proved on the shooting range) but something about the green night light created an opaque reflection in this optic that limited my vision to maybe 40 yards.

The next night, I equipped my rifle with a Leupold VX-R Hog 1.5-4x20mm scope. The difference was, well, night and day. Where my vision had been cloudy to non-existent with the red/green dot, I could now pick out individual bushes, the edges of trails, and the head and body of a nice-sized boar with the VX-R Hog scope.

I also realized that any vegetation within four or five feet of my light caused a reflection that greatly diminished my visual reach. I began each night’s hunt from a deer stand, and some pine boughs that stood well below the shooting window reflected back enough green light to cause a glare off my scope. I saw just fine once I cut back the boughs.

The Nite Hunter Varmint comes with an on/off clicker and a pressure switch, a rechargeable battery and charger, a 1" scope mount, a 30mm scope mount, a Picatinny rail mount and the necessary Allen wrenches to attach the mounts. The battery life is rated at seven-plus hours with a full charge. Because the light is an LED, it works well in cold weather, too.  

Okay, this isn’t a Navy Seal night vision scope capable of a 1,000-yard sniper shot on a pitch-black night. But the Nite Hunter Varmint is effective, doesn’t cost $10,000 and lets you use your existing scope. MSRP is $179.98, though Wulf offers it for $149.99.

The Anchorage Daily News reported over the weekend that Ted Nugent signed a plea agreement in which he admitted to illegally shooting and transporting a black bear in Southeast Alaska in 2009.  

The agreement states that Nugent, 63, will pay a $10,000 fine, face two years’ probation, create a public service announcement about responsible hunting to run on his show "Ted Nugent Spirit of the Wild" every other week, and will be banned from hunting or fishing anywhere in Alaska and on any U.S. Forest Service land nationwide for one year.

All of this stems from a black bear hunt Nugent took in the Tongass National Forest in May 2009. During the bowhunt, Nugent either grazed (Nugent’s and his lawyer’s interpretation) or wounded (Alaskan authorities interpretation) a black bear. The bear was never recovered. Four days later, Nugent shot and killed a different bear. This series of events appeared on his television show. Federal authorities argue that the filmed incident clearly shows that Nugent exceeded his bag limit for Game Management Unit 2 by killing the second bear. When Nugented transported the bear off federal land in a boat, he violated the Lacey Act, which prohibits the sale and transport of illegally harvested wildlife and plants.

Despite signing the agreement, it’s clear Nugent and his lawyer, Wayne Anthony Ross, have issues with the area’s hunting regulations.  

"They've got apparently some crazy law in Southeast that says if you even touch an animal with an arrow, it becomes your animal," Ross told the Anchorage Daily News. "He looked to see if he had hit it and didn't believe that he'd hit it fatally."  

Ross further added that Nugent was unaware of the five-year-old law change and that he and his friends made every effort to find the bear after finding a spot of blood where the bear was hit.

"There wasn't any blood trail that they could find," Ross told the newspaper. "There was a little blood apparently at the spot, but nothing that indicated the bear was hard hit. The bear didn't die. He only took one bear."

This is the second time Nugent’s television show has gotten him in trouble. In 2010 Nugent pleaded “no contest” in California to charges of baiting deer and having an improperly signed hunting tag.

African safaris have recently been put in the spotlight, thanks to news about Donald Trump’s sons taking Cape buffalo and leopard in Zimbabwe and Spain’s King Juan Carlos breaking his hip during an unsuccessful elephant hunt in Botswana. But not all attention is flattering.

Although both adventures are perfectly legal in the host countries, and the trophies taken can be imported to the U.S. under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), some argue that the men’s actions were barbaric and/or immoral.

Conservationists and hunters counter by saying that safari hunting creates jobs, pumps money into local economies, and ultimately protects the species by giving animals a monetary value and a means for protection from poachers and habitat loss.

A recent Reuters article by Ed Stoddard notes that a safari hunt is similar to a guided climb on Mt. Everest — both can push more than $100,000 into the economy of a developing country. This same article also points out the absurdity of the claim that elephants are somehow endangered in Botswana or that killing one will lead to the species demise:

"According to a 2007 estimate by the African Elephant Specialist Group for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) … Botswana was home to at least 133,000 elephants but around 150,000 was given as the 'probable' figure.”  

How would killing one out of 150,000 put the species in jeopardy? How would killing 400 — Botswana’s annual quota — of 150,000 elephants harm the species as a whole?

Jason Bell, the elephant program director for the International Fund for Animal Welfare didn’t argue with the numbers in Stoddard’s article. He said hunting is “cruel” and that elephants are so intelligent that hunting effects them “not only at the level of the individual animal, but at the societal level too.”

So hunting elephants hurts their feelings? That’s his argument?

I think the argument that hunting protects the species as a whole, while helping humans economically is a far better one. Do you agree? Or did I hurt your feelings? Comment below!

In case you missed it, Giant George, the world’s tallest dog as declared by the Guinness Book of World Records in 2010, has a new book out. The Great Dane’s owners wrote a book about life with the oversized dog, who weighs more than 250 pounds, stands about 4 feet tall at the shoulder and is around 7 feet long from head to tail. You’ve got to see the video and pictures of the pooch to truly get an idea of his size.

While Great Danes are now companion pets, they were originally used as big-game hunting dogs.

One of the ancient breeds, according to the AKC, Great Danes have appeared in writings since 1121 B.C. in China and perhaps even as far back as 3000 B.C. in drawings on Egyptian monuments. The modern iteration of the dog was developed in Germany by crossing, presumably, Irish wolfhounds with English mastiffs. The Germans used these big, powerful animals to hunt wild boars, which we all know are tough SOBs.

As the need for the hunting aspect of the dog dwindled, they became companion animals and many were used as guard dogs on large estates. While they are now primarily “just pets,” their massive size would give any intruder pause.

Though George is quite the specimen and is entitled to his throne as the world’s tallest/largest/humungous dog, Great Danes as a breed, however, usually defer to the Irish wolfhound when it comes to consistent tall height measurements.

Generally recognized as the tallest dog breed, wolfhounds have a long and storied history. Given as gifts to royalty, wolfhounds were fierce hunters, guardians and warriors, but also gentle beasts that were often brought into the master’s home at night. This breed’s dual personality — that of hunter of wolves and stag/Roman-warrior fighting companion juxtaposed with family dog and dignitary — is striking and a testament to the breed.

Alexander Pope, the 18th-century English poet, kept a good many Irish wolfhounds in his house that slept at his feet as he composed verse. He wrote several lines about dogs, the following summing up the differences between dogs and people perfectly:

"If it be the chief point of friendship to comply with a friend's notions and inclinations, he possesses this to an eminent degree; he lies down when I sit and walks when I walk, which is more than many good friends can pretend to do."

Each year more and more trophy bulls are tagged east of the Rockies. We put the top 20 bulls in the East up against the 20 biggest bulls in the West. See the photos!

Just weeks after the Trump brothers were grilled by anti hunters and the media for an African safari, Spain's King Juan Carlos is facing criticism for an African elephant hunt he took last week.

While the Donald Jr. and Eric Trump were accused of not following ethical hunting standards, King Juan Carlos is being criticized for going on an extravagant trip while his country's economy is facing collapse.

This from Reuters…

"Spain's King Juan Carlos I came under intense media fire on Sunday for hunting elephants in Botswana when his country was being sucked back into the euro zone's financial crisis and one young Spaniard out of two was unemployed.

Last week he cancelled his regular weekly meeting with Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy because he had already left for Botswana, several newspapers said."

Stealth Cam and Jim Shockey teamed up to develop the new Shadow trail camera. The Shadow is a compact camera that incorporates video, still imagery and time lapse, and features TRIAD technology.

The video setting is capable of recording 5 - 240 second video clips with audio. There are three photo resolution settings: 8MP, 3MP or 1.3MP. To top it off, the camera features Time Lapse, which allows hunters to take pictures at regular intervals to monitor open fields and food plots. The 54 black infrared emitters give this camera a 50-foot range, and make the Shadow a camera that won’t spook game or let other hunters know you’re scouting the area.

One of this camera’s most unique features is its ability to switch between 50 and 36 emitters to adjust the light output for specific scouting scenarios. This is extremely helpful for getting clear nighttime pictures and avoiding washed out images.

The Shadow’s burst mode allows you to capture between one to nine images at each triggering. For added versatility, the delay between images can be set in one-second intervals between 1 to 59 seconds or one-minute intervals between 1 to 59 minutes.

An external LCD status display lets the user quickly identify and select the modes of operation. The time/date/moon phase and temperature stamp helps identify the exact wildlife habits for the hunter. The Shadow has a 2x or 4x digital zoom setting and incorporates an SD card slot that accepts up to a 16GB memory card.

To aid in the setup of the camera, there’s a test mode to let you know if the camera will pick up game at the intended crossing point. The camera runs on eight AA batteries, or you can use an external 12V battery box. It has a low battery indicator light to let you know when it’s time to replace the batteries.

With an MSRP of $199.99, Stealth Cam packed a lot of features into the Shadow.

Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed two bills Monday targeting the state’s ever growing feral hog problem.

The first, widely known as the “Judas pig tracking system,” allows individuals to outfit trapped feral hogs with a radio tracking collar before releasing it back into the wild. The idea behind this is that the collared animal would return to its herd, whereupon the collar would give away his position to hunters who could then swarm in and take out the herd, or part of it at least.

The second bill prohibits the importation of live feral swine into the state unless they are being delivered to a processing plant via a sealed trailer.

These two measures are just the latest example in the US’s growing war on this invasive species that costs the country billions of dollars each year in agricultural and ecological losses. Other measures recently passed include allowing hog hunting at night, from helicopters, and with the aid of suppressors.

While I wish Oklahoma the best in their pig battle I’m not sure that these added measures will have much of an impact. My home state of Texas has been at war with feral swine for more than three centuries and the latest estimates put the number of ferals in the Lone Star State at around 2 million. Still, you can’t win if you don’t try.

Here piggy, piggy.

Will these measures put a sizeable dent in the population? Comment below!

Here is another reason why you should always be aware of your surroundings. Otherwise you might end up like this California man, and almost walk straight into a bear while texting on the street.

Now in its fifth year, our annual “Best Towns for Sportsmen” feature is an OL institution. Readers love to argue the merits of their burgs based on our rankings; local newspapers crow about the inclusion of their town; and realtors call to ask for extra copies of the issue.

This year we’re forgetting all the socio-economic data and focusing on what matters most: hunting and fishing. In the next few pages, you’ll find the 35 towns in the U.S. where we would live right now, based solely on the outdoor opportunities there. Some boast bass and deer, others elk and trout or ducks and redfish. Regardless, each of these towns is an outdoors mecca in its own right, and from sea to shining sea, they offer the best hunting and fishing in America.

#1 - Appleton, WI
More than 170 years ago, trappers and fur traders chased the promise of lucrative beaver pelts up the Fox River and settled the town of Appleton. Today, enormous whitetail deer draw outdoorsmen and -women to the Fox River Valley. The Boone and Crockett Club recently anointed Wisconsin the number-one trophy whitetail state in the country, with Cheesehead hunters logging 383 B&C entries in the last five years. In the last three seasons, three different bucks killed within 50 miles of downtown Appleton have either broken or threatened Badger State records. But there’s a lot more to do in Appleton than sit in a treestand.

Nearby Lake Winnebago and the Fox River, which runs through town, are premier walleye fisheries. Green Bay, 30 minutes to the north, offers some of the best smallmouth bass and muskie fishing in the country. Horicon Marsh State Wildlife Area sits 70 miles to the south and is the largest freshwater cattail marsh in the country. Hundreds of thousands of geese migrate through the region each fall. Sixty miles to the north, the 661,000-acre Nicolet National Forest, home to deer, bears, and grouse, is one of the last true wild places in the northwoods.

#2 - Salmon, ID

This town’s name should be your first clue as to why it attracts sportsmen the way a spawning run draws bears. Located right on the Salmon River—and bordering millions of acres of public hunting ground, including the largest wilderness area in the Lower 48 (the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness)—Salmon has, well, everything.

The Salmon and its tributaries offer world-class fishing for trout, steelhead, and other species year-round. On the crags and benches above the Salmon and other nearby rivers, wingshooters chase chukar and huns, while at higher elevations blue and spruce grouse predominate.

The big-game scene has changed in Salmon with the resurgence of wolves. But trophy elk, mule deer, and whitetails are still accessible, and the hunting for bears and mountain lions is second to none.

#3 - Venice, LA

If you like your saltwater rimmed by white sand beaches, palm trees, and tiki bars, this is not the place for you. However, if you live to hunt and fish, and yearn to do it 24/7/365, then this tiny community at the mouth of the Mississippi River beckons.

Despite its infamy as the epicenter of both Hurricane Katrina and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Venice remains arguably the greatest place in North America to fish and hunt waterfowl.

In 2011, Bassmaster Classic competitors ran down the Mississippi from New Orleans to Venice—more than two hours by boat—to fill their livewells with largemouths. However, it’s world-class redfish and speckled trout fishing that draw the recreational fishermen. You will catch fish here every day that you hit the water, and you can’t say that about very many other places in the country.

If you get bored in the marshes, big-game fishing opportunities—from marlin to tuna, sailfish to swords—are plentiful around the offshore gas and oil rigs.
September marks the beginning of teal season in this waterfowler’s paradise, with more than 14 percent of the country’s wetlands located in this region of southern Louisiana.

#4 - Rapid City, SD

This gateway to the ruggedly beautiful Black Hills region of western South Dakota offers its 67,000 residents a wide variety of hunting and fishing opportunities. Mountain lakes and coldwater streams to the west of town are home to brook, brown, and rainbow trout. In the surrounding prairie, a constellation of reservoirs and stock dams hold largemouths, pike, and panfish.

Hunting opportunities are available nearly year-round. Whitetails, mule deer, elk, and Merriam’s turkeys prowl the mountains. A short drive will put you into pheasants, sharptails, and prairie chickens. Pronghorns, coyotes, and prairie dogs are plentiful in the grasslands.

#5 - Centerville, IA

They got the name right. Centerville is in the middle of a sportsman’s paradise. Epic whitetails get the headlines (the 307-inch Lovstuen Buck was killed just north of here), but south-central Iowa has plenty of four-season opportunity: abundant turkeys and waterfowl, plus great crappies, walleyes, and channel cats on Rathbun Lake north of town.

But it’s the human dimension of this place—the classic Midwestern courthouse square, the easy friendliness of its residents—that makes this a great town to call home. Plus, Centerville has some bona fide hunting pedigree: It’s the original home of groundbreaking Knight muzzleloading rifles.

#6 - Grand Junction, CO
Magnificent mesas and endless elk—Grand Junction’s breathtaking scenery makes the perfect backdrop for chasing public-land bulls. Numerous alpine trout lakes keep local anglers busy.

#7 - Georgetown, SC
Several rivers converge at the Intercoastal Waterway in this city in the Carolina Lowcountry. Famed lakes Moultrie and Marion are a short drive to the west.

The Francis Marion National Forest provides more than a quarter million acres of public-land hunting for deer, turkeys, quail, and small game.

#8 - Bend, OR
Drive less than an hour from Bend and you can be fishing a stream in a desert canyon, a high alpine lake, or a spring creek.

#9 - Bismarck, ND
If you’ve got your eye on walleyes, set your sights on Bismarck, on the banks of the Missouri River. Grouse, pheasants, ducks, and geese abound in fall and winter.

#10 - Saratoga, WY
With the North Platte River running through downtown Saratoga, your next trout is never more than a cast away. Elk, deer, and pronghorns roam the mountains and prairies around town.

#11 - Traverse City, MI
Glacial inland lakes hold perch and smallies, and Traverse Bay offers big-water angling opportunities. But the area’s four blue-ribbon trout streams get top billing. The Boardman, which winds through downtown, is the birthplace of the Parachute Adams fly.

#12 - Lake Placid, NY
Fish for brown trout on the famed West Branch of the Ausable River, and catch lake and rainbow trout on Lake Placid. Whitetail deer and black bears roam the quarter-million acres of state lands surrounding this quaint Adirondack mountain town.

#13 - Cody, WY
Cody is heaven on earth for big-game backcountry mountain hunters. Mild weather means more opportunities to chase bighorns, elk, mule deer, and pronghorns.

#14 - Islamorada, FL
Watch the sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean, where offshore fishing for everything from grouper and snapper to dolphin and swords abounds. Cast to tarpon, permit, and bonefish on the flats as the sun sets over the waters of the Gulf of Mexico to the west of town.

#15 - Ely, MN
Just miles from  the million-acre Boundary Waters Canoe Area, Ely is a pike and walleye fisherman’s paradise in the summer, and a whitetail mecca come fall.

#16 - Thompson Falls, MT
This secluded town west of the Rockies is surrounded by massive swaths of national forest. The two most accessible, the Kootenai and Lolo, hold elk, whitetails, ruffed grouse, and turkeys.

#17 - Show Low, AZ
You’ll find pronghorns to the north of town, and elk, deer, and lions to the south and east. The nearby White Mountains are the only place in the world to fish for Apache trout.

#18 - Russell, KS
Pheasants, quail, doves, turkeys, waterfowl, and deer provide hunters in the heart of the Smoky Hills a dizzying array of opportunities.

#19 - Toccoa, GA
Tucked into the southeastern corner of the Chattahoochee National Forest, Toccoa is 15 minutes from the Lake Russell Wildlife Management Area, home to deer, turkeys, bears, squirrels, rabbits, and wild hogs. Lake Russell  is stocked with trout, and nearby Lake Hartwell has hybrid stripers, brown trout, and crappies.

#20 - Craig, CO
Craig offers access to a million acres of public land just 7 miles from town, and boasts two of the largest elk herds in North America.

#21 - Cadiz, KY
In less than 30 minutes, you’ll be into bass, crappies, and catfish on  Kentucky Lake or Lake Barkley. Deer and duck hunting are vital threads in the local sporting fabric.

#22 - Logan, UT
Located in the Cache Valley, Logan is surrounded by marshland for waterfowl hunting and myriad blue-ribbon trout streams.

#23 - Homer, AK
Halibut, ling cod, salmon, and rockfish are plentiful in Kachemak Bay, while local rivers host spawning salmon runs, plus Dolly Vardens, grayling, and monster rainbows.

#24 - Wellsboro, PA
Nearby Pine Creek, which runs through Pine Creek Gorge—aka the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon—is a prime flyfishing destination. Surrounding that oasis is state land set aside for whitetails, black bears, rabbits, squirrels, and pheasants.

#25 - Rogers, AR
In the heart of the Ozark Mountains, Rogers is a short drive from 31,700-acre Beaver Lake and its epic striped and largemouth bass fisheries.

#26 - Montauk, NY
The Atlantic Ocean and the Long Island Sound meet at this home of world-class saltwater fishing. Hook up with bluefish and stripers faster than you can count them during the spring and fall blitzes.

#27 - Goldendale, WA
Salmon, steelhead, bass, walleyes, perch, crappies, and catfish live in nearby waters. Duck, goose, and deer hunting starts at the edge of town.

#28 - Los Alamos, NM
Stay close to home for walleyes, catfish, bass, and trout, in waters like Abiqui Lake, Rio Chama, and Rio Grande. The nearby Valles Caldera National Preserve runs a lottery program for monster elk.

#29 - Sebago, ME
Sebago hugs the northwestern shore of Maine’s deepest lake (and the town’s namesake). Locals troll for landlocked salmon around rocky points and shoals.

#30 - Arnold, NE
With only 500 residents, tiny Arnold is home to more whitetails and mule deer than people. That game-rich environment has fostered a hunter-friendly culture in this north-central Nebraska town.

#31 - Mammoth Lakes, CA
Surrounded by dozens of fishable lakes and streams, this central California fishing hotbed is ringed by the stunning Sierra Nevada mountains.

#32 - Woodward, OK
Kansas’ big-buck cup runneth over the border into Woodward, in northwestern Oklahoma, where a number of 150- to 200-class bucks are tagged every fall.

#33 - Beckley, WV
The New River is a prime destination for smallmouths, walleyes, and muskies, and many of its tributaries teem with wild trout.

#34 - Harrisburg, IL
Though the nearby Shawnee National Forest is best known for its whitetail hunting, the area is also home to turkeys, waterfowl, upland birds, and small game.

#35 - Uvalde, TX
This beating heart of south-Texas deer country is also home to some of the best dove hunting in the nation. Lake Amistad sits on the Mexican border 70 miles to the west of town and offers excellent bass and catfish opportunities.

Worst Town - Camden, NJ

Little-known fact: The upper Delaware River’s fabled American shad run is caused in large part by the fish trying to get the hell away from downriver Camden as quickly as possible.

Who could blame them? Camden, a perennial favorite on any “Most Dangerous Cities” list, laid off half of its police force in January. Take a cue from the shad and stay far away from Camden.

Do you have any suggestions for other fishing and hunting towns not mentioned on this list? We'd love to hear from you, so enter your favorite town in the comments section below or click here to upload photos.