Hunting and Fishing News & Blog Articles

The Professional Outdoor Media Association is pleased to announce the sponsors of POMA’s 2024 Annual Meeting, to be held May 6-8 in Pinewood, South Carolina.

POMA’s Annual Meeting is the ultimate outdoor media extravaganza. It’s a must-attend event for top outdoor media, content creators, photographers and corporate wizards alike.

The Headlining Sponsor and Host of the event is the South Carolina Waterfowl Association (SCWA). SCWA has gone above and beyond with their support of the 2024 Annual Meeting, providing the location, on-site accommodations, a wild-game chef and a separate location for the welcome dinner, as well as assistance securing financial sponsorships.

“The South Carolina Waterfowl Association is proud to host the POMA conference at the SCWA Wildlife Education Center, the nation’s largest wildlife education center. The future of fish and wildlife conservation depends on recruiting the next generation of hunters, anglers, trappers and shooters, while also maintaining a strong outdoor media to help educate the general public and recruit future conservationists,” said SCWA Chief Executive Officer, David Wielicki.

The event’s Premier Sponsor is Palmetto State Armory (PSA). PSA has been an influential Corporate Partner and sponsor of the event, and will be bringing five of their brands for range day – PSA, DPMS Panther Arms, AAC Ammunition, Sabre and H&R Arms.

The Great American Outdoor Store’s newest Pennsylvania location in South Fayette Township will showcase vast assortment of quality gear at great prices

Bass Pro Shops announced plans today for a new destination retail super store location in South Fayette Township, Pa., in the southwest suburbs of Pittsburgh.

Bass Pro Shops’ newest store will be the company’s third in the great state of Pennsylvania, and the first in western Pennsylvania. The 100,000 square-foot two-level Outdoor World retail destination will expand its presence and build on its reputation of serving the passionate sportsmen and women of the region with the widest selection of quality products at the best prices around, while providing genuine, friendly expert service.

“It’s an honor to serve the sportsmen and women in the Pittsburgh area, with genuine friendly, expert service and to help outfit them for adventures as they enjoy Pennsylvania’s great outdoors,” said legendary angler, noted conservationist and Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris.

This new retail destination location will be part of Newbury Market, conveniently located to serve western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio, offering the widest selection of hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation gear in the industry, with an inventory specifically tailored to the region. This retail attraction is expected to open early 2026.

HeyDude shoes was founded way back in 2008 by Alessandro Rosano have been making a tremendous stir online, specifically on TikTok these days. The shoe company has been bought recently by Crocs for two billion dollars which is a tremendous sum for a shoe company. The HeyDude shoes are known for the comfort-focused design and the ‘open’ lace design unique to the brand. These shoes are easy slip-on and slip-off and the brand while focused on comfort-first isn’t afraid of stylish aesthetics and unique colorways. We liked many of the cool models focused on American stars-and-stripes to fish, denim but overall our favorite is the Mossy Oak Elements HeyDude.

The mainstay of HeyDude is without question the Wally. It features a fabric upper, foam insert and a flexible sole on the bottom of the shoe. These can be folded in half in your luggage and they will always spring back. You can machine-wash these shoes and they are super easy to take care of. Of course, with any shoe that has gone viral like the HeyDude’s, you are going to have folks divided on the internet. There are plenty of folks who praise the shoes for their comfort and showing off the collections they have built online. These folks are absolute raving fans. On the other side, critics question their appeal comparing them to Kleenex boxes because of the oversized look.

The brand seems to have found the right fan base among the country community seeing folks wearing these instead of cowboy boots at summer venues. HeyDude’s focus on affordability and comfort seem to appeal to those looking for practical footwear. Whether you like them or not, you cannot deny that these shoes are growing in popularity and they make a pretty great house shoe or camp shoe. With a 300% increase on TikTok over the last six months these shoes are going to continue to grow in popularity. After wearing them for the past 2 months around the house they are comfortable and easy to get on and off. They are not shoes that I personally will be wearing out on the town, I just need a little more ankle support when I step outside. Around the house though, they are super comfortable and at the price point, I can see why people are gravitating to the brand.

The HeyDude shoes may not be to everyone’s taste but they are affordable, comfortable and they are resonating with a growing number of folks old and young. If you are in the market for a comfortable, easy-to-wear shoe and don’t mind making a bit of a statement, the Mossy Oak Elements HeyDude might be worth a look.

The USA Shooting trap team earned four medals at the 2024 Shotgun Championship of the Americas (CAT) Games, medaling in four out of the five events they participated in.

Derrick Mein, 2022 World Champion, earned gold in Men’s Trap after besting Eduardo Lorenzo of the Dominican Republic. Mein earned himself a spot in the finals by shooting a qualification score of 120 out of 125.

Mein, a Tokyo Olympian, also saw international success in 2023. He earned a total of four medals at International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) competitions to include gold in Men’s Trap Team alongside Will Hinton, and Derek Haldeman at the 2023 World Championships.

Mein added a second medal to his 2024 CAT Games count when he helped the Men’s Trap Team take home a bronze medal. Mein, Ramsey Bodeen, and Matthew Killeen shot a combined score of 206 out of 225 to land them in the bronze medal match. The trio earned their medal by defeating the Peruvian team.

Killeen made his international competition debut while both he and Bodeen earned their first international medals.

The Affordable and Adaptable RA-9 9mm Handgun Packs Serious Value with an Accurate Punch

Dickinson Arms, a world-renowned leader in high-quality firearms, enters the polymer pistol market with the adaptable and affordable RA-9. This 9mm striker-fired handgun brings accuracy, attention to detail, and a comfortable feel, with a price tag that is on target to lead the category.

Every company has a striker-fired, polymer-framed pistol these days. What sets the Dickinson Arms RA-9 apart from the pack is a high level of attention to detail and a seriously low price point. These imported handguns will impress you with accuracy and quality – two things Dickinson Arms is known for.

The RA-9 is a striker-fired, single-action, semi-auto pistol chambered in 9×19 parabellum. It has a 4.15-inch steel barrel and a trigger-actuated safety. The overall length is 7.57 inches. The RA9 has a 17+1 capacity with a polymer frame with two interchangeable backstraps to help give you the perfect fit and finger groves molded into the grip for an added feel. This is a comfortable pistol that you’ll enjoy shooting.

The RA9 slide has a QPQ non-glare finish and comes in matte black, OD Green, FDE, and camo. There is also an aluminum-framed competition version coming that has a longer 7.92-inch threaded barrel, optic-ready slide, and an aluminum competition magwell for faster reloads. The RA-9 series from Dickinson Arms is on target to be the handgun you need. Learn more at the Dickinson Arm’s website.

This week “Hunting Matters” welcomes Jon LaCorte, Co-Founder of TRACT Optics. 

Jon LaCorte grew up in Queens, New York, an area not known for having large numbers of hunters. So you might say it takes some folks by surprise when they find out Jon’s been doing it his entire life. Luckily, taking to the outdoors in pursuit of wild game is a long-standing tradition in the LaCorte family and it’s no surprise that after spending a few years following his father, grandfather and uncle through the woods as a boy, Jon found one of his true loves and never looked back. 

Now, many hunts and many miles traveled, Jon has never forgotten his roots or what guides his life – the love and support of his wife and children, an unwavering faith in God and a passion for the outdoors – all of which have served to make TRACT Optics a reality. Having spent more than 15 years working in product development and marketing for the hunting optics division of Nikon, he learned a great deal about every aspect of the outdoor industry, from sales and logistics to press relations and customer service. Jon worked to develop patented reticle systems as well as expand the product offerings from just a few SKU’s to a plethora of options in riflescopes, binoculars, rangefinders and spotting scopes.

While it was a great experience helping build Nikon into a major player in the optics category, Jon had the opportunity to go to work for Flint Holdings, a family-owned group that controls Montana Decoy and WASP Archery Products. Being a die-hard bowhunter, he jumped at the chance to work more closely within the archery product category and take on the challenge of helping grow these companies from a product and marketing standpoint.

It became apparent to Jon that the consumer market has evolved in a new way. Instant gratification, meaning people with less time are looking for easier methods of purchasing products. As many large corporations are more concerned with satisfying investors and increasing their top and bottom lines, the focus on what is really important, the customer, has diminished. This spurred the idea to start an optics company with a vision of providing you, the customer, not only a great product and a great value, but a truly awesome experience.

Columbia, MO – MidwayUSA Foundation is proud to announce cash grants have been paid to nearly 1,000 youth shooting sports programs.  Combined, the latest grants are paying over $5.4 million to assist with expenses youth shooting teams and organizations incur regularly.  Doug Lindner, Warroad Warriors Trap Club Board President in Warroad, Minnesota, spoke about the importance of their annual MidwayUSA Foundation grant. “This grant opportunity has helped us lower fees for our shooters, add summer camps, purchase shooting vests, as well as safety and training equipment.  We also hold an annual pheasant hunt for our athletes.” Warroad Warriors is a MidwayUSA Foundation rockstar team that added $56,107 to its team endowment in 2023 through fundraising and continued community support.    

As a program’s endowment grows, the annual cash grant grows.  Each shooting program’s grant is 5% of their MidwayUSA Foundation endowment balance and thanks to the endowment model this is funding that is available in perpetuity.  The Foundation offers various resources to help shooting teams increase their endowment. Every youth shooting program can receive donations directly to their endowment through the MidwayUSA Foundation website. Those tax-deductible donations are also matched, thanks to Larry and Brenda Potterfield, owners of MidwayUSA, who fund the Foundation’s Matching Program.  To date, MidwayUSA Foundation’s has paid over $54.5 million in cash grants to support youth shooting sports.   

“Our fees are approximately half of what they were when we started. With the added costs of shooting sports, I can only imagine what fees would be today without the Foundation,” added Warroad’s Doug Lindner.  The Warroad, Minnesota Trap Club is a grant recipient in the most recent grant cycle. A full list of youth shooting teams receiving a cash grant in March 2024 can be found here:  https://www.midwayusafoundation.org/teamgrants/ Cash grants are paid twice per year.  The next grant cycle does open April 15.  

The MidwayUSA Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public charity working to sustain and grow youth shooting sports by providing long-term funding to youth shooting teams. Every donation made is tax-deductible and allows the Foundation to assist in expanding and enhancing the leadership skills, confidence, and discipline of today’s youth through shooting sports activities. The Foundation supports all shooting disciplines. MidwayUSA Foundation Auctions and some incentives are void in California. For more information about how the MidwayUSA Foundation is changing the future of youth shooting sports, please visit MidwayUSAFoundation.org or call 1-877-375-4570.

Having the right Every Day Carry (EDC) is an important topic to focus on in your life. Choosing the right products that fit in to your every day life, style and needs allows you to have the right tools in your pocket and kit when you need it. The things that are currently in my every day kit include a knife, multitool, keys, phone, headphones and a flashlight. A good number of folks I know skip both the multitool and flashlight and while I sometimes skip a multitool, I never skip the flashlight. I am currently bouncing back and forth between two – three different flashlights depending on where I am and where I might be going on any given day.

Half of Every Day is Dark or You are in a Dark Location

Just in the last week, I have had 3-4 opportunities to pull out my flashlight. Working in my garage in a dark corner looking for pots to get our garden started, I was able to pull out a flashlight and see exactly what I needed to grab to get started. Working in the car to check wiring in broad daylight, I could get down on the floorboard and pull out a light and see what I needed. Light is incredibly important and while hunting I always have a flashlight with me as well as a headlight. A headlight is great but it doesn’t always light up what I need. Having an actual flashlight that can help me find gear, find trails, light up something specific and actually utilize the flashlight for blood tracking. My current favorite flashlight for hunting is the Olight Arkfield Pro. It is flat and comes with a UV setting allowing you to track blood quickly and easily.

Flashlights Allow You to Get Away From Danger

High quality flashlights keep you away from danger and allow you to get farther away from danger quickly. Tactical flashlights today are getting better and better and whether that flashlight is in your pocket or attached to your daily carry weapon. Having a quality flashlight can allow you see danger, blind the eyes of dangerous people and allow you to make the moves to either get away or neutralize the situation.

Flashlights Keep you Safe

Having a quality flashlight with you allows you to stay safer in dangerous situations like being on the side of the road working on your car, being in the mountains and/or being lost. Lighting up your body, lighting up the trail and turning on the light can let others know you are there and aware of them. I had one night coming off the mountain in a wildlife management area alongside the Shenandoah. We got followed off the mountain by a black bear. It was past hunting light and we were coming off the mountain with an old weak headlamp and it was just not enough. Having a flashlight in our pack that we could quickly pull out and flash at the eyes of the young curious bear kept us out of harms way.

Choosing the Best Flashlight for your needs.

How do you choose what is best for you. In some circumstances having a small compact flashlight is all you need. I am currently carrying the KL20R from Coast. This flashlight can be charged by USB-C and it has a mode that hits 380 lumens. It is small enough on my key ring that I don’t have to worry about it being with me because it always there. I am currently carrying the Olight Arkfield Pro with UV on a daily basis as well as the Coast as a secondary backup to a more powerful light. I chose the Arkfield Pro because it is flat and fits well within my pocket and does not roll around. It also has the UV functionality that can truly make a difference while tracking wounded game in the field.

The annual JROTC Three-Position Service Championship sporter and precision air rifle competition, facilitated by the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP), stands as one of the most celebrated youth competitions of the air rifle season. Through the weekends of Feb. 8-10 and Feb. 15-17 at three separate locations (Utah, Alabama and Ohio), leading scorers emerged from the field of over 860 cadets who participated in the 2024 event.

The JROTC Air Rifle Service Championship is a 3×20 air rifle competition, where competitors fire 20 record shots from three positions: prone, standing and kneeling. Both individual and team awards were presented.

Finding the top spot in the Navy precision competition for the second consecutive year was Danjela “Jordan” DeJesus, 18, of Camden County High School in Georgia with a score of 1285-94X. She was also the second highest scoring competitor overall in the precision class, bested only by Army athlete Piper Wentland, 18, of Concordia Lutheran High School in Indiana, who reached a score of 1287-86X.

Leading the Navy sporter match was Raymond Tevlin, 18, of Cienega High School in Arizona, with a score of 1188-37X, while Nathan Krokstrom, 18, of Mariner High School in Florida, reached a score of 1213-42X to lead the Army sporter event (and the sporter competition overall).

In the Marine Corps match, Kameron Wells, 18, of Granbury High School in Texas found the top spot in the precision category with a score of 1278-87X. Nanchaya Bailey, 17, of Daniel Boone High School in Tennessee, claimed the overall place in the Marine Corps sporter results, with a score of 1198-45X.