Brian Ross: portrait of an antler collector

www.boone-crockett.org, January 2023

Ice Fishing. Seriously, what’s the point?

Union Sportsmen’s Alliance, January 2022

Why do a few die-hard ice fishermen spend the better part of winter over a few holes on the ice? For one, nothing beats catching walleye from a couch.

Grinnell’s Glacier National Park

www.boone-crockett.org, January 2022

George Bird Grinnell, co-founder of the Boone and Crockett Club, worked for decades to protect a chunk of northwest Montana we now call Glacier National Park

What is Your Fair Chase?

www.boone-crockett.org, December 2022

Sure, it’s legal, but is it right? 

Yes, You Can Hunt Elk On Your Own

Hook & Barrel, August 2021
You and your buddies have talked about it for years. Well, no more excuses. Pack up your rig, point it west and hunt elk. Here’s how.

Is Point Creep Killing Western Big-Game Hunting?

Outdoor Life, November 2021

Western draw systems have become increasingly complex, competitive, and expensive. Even as many hunters grow skeptical of ever drawing their tag, they can’t stop putting in for that golden ticket

Is Trapping in America on the Brink of Extinction, or at the Beginning of a Comeback?

Outdoor Life, November 2021

Low fur prices, anti-trapping laws, and an increase in participation? We take a deep dive into the state of trapping in the U.S.

SOLD!

Montana Outdoors, July-August 2021

Big dollars for Montana’s special auction tags produce major gains for big game management and habitat.

COMPROMISE

Bugle magazine, Jan-Feb 2021

Everyone has, or at least should have, a special hunting spot. Mine happens to be littered with yard waste, beer cans and bodies.

ICEMAN OF THE TATSHENSHINI: THE JOURNEY HOME

Bugle magazine, May-June 2020

Canadian sheep hunters stumble onto the mummified remains of a fellow traveler. Little did they know the next four years would be a journey for the ages.

A CENTURY OF SAVING BIRDS

Montana Outdoors, July-August 2018

   Since 1918, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act has protected winged wildlife from wanton destruction. A new legal opinion could weaken it. 

FORGED BY FIRE

Bugle magazine, J-A 2018

While bowhunting elk, a freak accident sent 2,400 volts of electricity through his body. After an agonizing journey of recovery and self-reflection, he survived to hunt again.

GOOD SPECIES BAD SPECIES

Montana Quarterly, Spring 2018

Montana has a history of removing species and replacing them with something else, both intentionally and accidentally.  

BLADE CITY

Outdoor Life, August 2017

Forget the hipsters: the true soul of Portland can be found in the knife makers who practice their craft in this rainy city 

THE BIG SKY'S BIGGEST BULL...AND NEW ARCHERY WORLD RECORD

Bugle magazine, July-August 2017

Steve Felix was alone on public land when the biggest bull he’d ever seen started walking toward him. Little did he know it would be a new archery world record, and the biggest elk ever killed in Montana

EMBRACE THE EDARK SIDE

Bugle magazine, Jan-Feb 2017

 Rather than let that technology push kids away from us, why not use it to draw them closer to you and to the outdoors?  

MONTANA'S MOUNTAIN MEN (AND WOMEN)

Montana Outdoors, Nov-Dec 2016

To survive took grit, determination and skill. Many who came West were buried not long after leaving the cobbled streets of the East. But those who survived became the stuff of legend.

RESTORATION IN THE TENDOYS 

Sitka Insight, Fall 2016

On its surface, the plan defies logic. To save a herd of bighorn sheep in southwest Montana’s Tendoy Mountains, managers have employed hunters to kill as many as they can. Dig a little deeper though, and it all makes perfect sense. 

BACK FROM THE BRINK

 Big Sky Journal, Fall 2016

Montana produces some of the biggest bighorn rams in the world. hunters will pay six-figures for the chance to hunt them. Just 50 years ago, you’d be lucky to see one. 

AN ELK HUNTER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY

Bugle magazine, Nov-Dec 2016

In November, when I leave my home in Missoula during the predawn to hunt elk, two things I know: the constellation of Orion will twinkle in the crisp cold overhead and a respectable whitetail buck will be bedded in my front yard watching me. What follows is a guide that mostly orbits the former, a hunter himself with quite a colorful past.

BUTCHER BETTER

Outdoor Life, Dec-Jan 2016

Ever wonder what happens to your game after you drop it off at the processor? What we learned working the floor of a family butcher shop during the busiest weekend of the season will make you a more efficient and effective processor. 

Backstory: When I was 22, my AmeriCorps job ended in September, and I had a few months to kill before classes at Montana State began. A friend worked at her dad's meat processor, and I spent an entire fall cutting up other people's meat. That experience built a solid foundation for this feature 15 years later.

RE-BALANCING ACT

 Bugle magazine, Nov-Dec 2015

In the past decade, mule deer populations have declined drastically across much of elk country, leaving wildlife managers and hunters searching for answers and working toward solutions.

HEADWATERS OF THE JOHN DAY

Bugle magazine, Nov-Dec 2014

Snuggled between two wilderness areas in the icy-cold headwaters of the John Day River, 13,000 acres of once privately held timberlands, some of it off-limits to the public, is now open for all to hunt, hike, fish and explore.

A LITTLE CABIN IN THE WOODS

 Montana Magazine, Jan-Feb 2013

As a writer, sometimes you feel a little sheepish writing about fun times in places far off the grid. This is one of those stories. Tucked just south of the Canadian border, there sits a Forest Service cabin only used in the winter. It's (supposedly)only used for administrative purposes in the summer because it sits in core grizzly habitat. Access is less than ideal, but the scenery is worth it. Check out some old slide film here. Four of us strapped on skis and packs to check it out. Two of us almost didn't make it. 

KING BUCK FALLS

Outdoor Life, Dec-Jan 2013

When Johnny King killed a massive whitetail buck on his family's Wisconsin dairy farm back in  2006, he had no idea the controversy that would follow. More than five years after the deer hit the dirt, anybody with a backtag and an opinion was still arguing about whether the "King Buck" should be scored as a typical or non-typical 6x6. 

GETTING TO #1

Montana Outdoors, Sept-Oct 2012

To find and kill a record-book animal, a hunter needs a combination of skill, luck and most of all persistence. That's certainly the case with hunters who have taken Montana's highest scoring trophies.

WALKING A FINE LINE

 Montana Magazine, May-June 2012

To the east sits the Mission Mountain Tribal Wilderness area---the first of its kind. Adjacent and to the west, sits the Mission Mountain Wilderness Area, managed by the United States Forest Service. Along the Mission Mountain Divide, opposing management philosophies straddle the craggy peaks. Only time will tell if this one-of-a-kind wilderness experiment will stand the test of time. 

PLAYING GOD IN THE BOB

 Forest Magazine, Spring 2006

Outboard motors. Poison. Helicopters. Fish kill. All in the name of science in the middle of one of the biggest wilderness areas in the lower 48. It seems improbable, but the Forest Service and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks insist it's a necessarily action to ensure the genetic purity of westslope cutthroat trout. Others say it's simply a way to spend mitigation money. Few have any idea it's even going on. 

WORKING SLAUGHTER

Camas Magazine, Spring 2004