Many women enjoy trying new recipes and cooking techniques, and many of those same women admit that the thought of

By now, you probably are aware of how successful the Becoming an Outdoors-Woman (BOW) program has been in the

The beginning of the year is typically the time companies roll out their new products, which is worthy news. However, this time it is a new company that has piqued our interest. Southern Crossbow is built on the idea of integrating age-old American resourcefulness and perseverance with modern equipment. These one-of-a-kind, tactical crossbows are different than the typical genre of the traditional crossbow market. With a matte black finish instead of a camouflage print, Southern Crossbows incorporate the style and customizable traits of a tactical weapon’s platform with an innovative crossbow structure.

Something happened to me a week ago that has only happened one time before in my life. I lost a deer. Not only that, but it was a really nice deer. I can feel good in the fact that the loss was not my fault, but rather the complete malfunction of a mechanical broadhead-tipped arrow shot from a crossbow.

This has been a year of firsts for me. In an earlier series, I wrote about my transformation from tactical neophyte to MSR owner and shooter. I shot my first coyote with an arrow. I was there when my daughter shot her first deer during Wisconsin’s youth deer hunt; my first time hunting a private, Mississippi River duck club, and I hunted Kansas for the first time.

Archery season is in full swing around the county. In my opinion, it is one of the most exciting ways to hunt whitetail. If you have not tried archery, I highly recommend it. There are many different bow manufactures and so many great models to choose from for every level of shooter.

Not every girl was lucky enough to grow up in the woods trailing behind her father picking up outdoor skills along the way. And many were not fortunate enough to be exposed to shooting, fishing or hunting as a kid.

Gail Martin — if you have ever shot a bow, it is likely that Gail Martin had a hand in its design. Perhaps directly, more likely at least an influence, but a hand in your equipment’s design nonetheless. Gail was a man who loved archery with such a passion, that he retained an active role in Martin Archery until very recently. Unfortunately, the archery industry lost an icon on July 21, 2013 when Gail passed at the age of 93.

If a game animal can see your arrow and identify the color of the fletching or whether or not it has camo, believe me when I tell you the game was over some time ago. That being said, I love camo arrows. Even if the camo is only for the hunter. At times I have matched the camo of the arrows to camo on the bow. Other times, I have used it to distinguish my arrows from other shooters’ arrows using the same target. Whatever the reason, camo matters!

I have the envious position of getting to play with a lot of equipment and calling it work. With bow season rapidly approaching—at least in my mind—I have been crawling through catalogs and samples looking for a new bow sight. One product that caught my eye enough to order for a review was the TRUGLO TSX Pro Series 5-pin.

I have been accused of a lot of things, but never of being kind to my equipment. Don’t get me wrong, I do not intentionally abuse it, but things just seem to happen. I slide down a hill on a hunt, the baggage monkeys at the airport toss it around, or it magically ends up on the bottom of a gear pile in the back of my truck. Maybe it’s just me, or perhaps I am just a victim of Murphy’s Law, but I have learned over the years to look for certain qualities in my equipment.

Have you ever wanted to buy a crossbow, but were scared off by the poundage rating? After all, 150 to 200 pounds can be rather daunting. Not to mention medical maladies such as back injuries, bending restrictions and the worries of a little more girth in the midsection than some of us would prefer.

Movies such as Hunger Games proved to not only be entertaining, it was a bold reminder we need to start thinking about our daily must-haves for survival such as food and water. Also, what we might have to go through if those items do become scarce.

I have been an archer for just a touch over 25 years now. I spent several years competing with hopes of Olympic glory and many more as an editor and writer for major archery magazines and websites. During that time, I have tested hundreds—possibly thousands of bows for fun, hunting, competition and articles.

In the past decade, 19 states have made crossbows legal in all or part of the state’s archery season. 2012 accounted for four of these additions and either added or extended crossbow hunting opportunities. Indiana expanded its crossbow season to coincide with the regular archery season. Kansas opened crossbow hunting to hunters over the age of 55 and under the age of 15 for the entire archery season. Crossbows are also legal in Kansas for all hunters during firearm seasons and legal for all hunters during the archery season in select counties (urban areas).

Crossbow hunting is one of the fastest growing sectors of the hunting sports. Whether you are a firearm hunter looking to expand your season or looking for a new challenge to rekindle an old passion; a bowhunter who cannot draw a vertical bow due to age or injury or simply enjoy shooting crossbows, the tide is on the rise and states are responding by opening or enhancing hunting opportunities for horizontal bows.

Hoyt continues its dominating presence in 2013 with the introduction of the Spyder line, which includes the Spyder 30, Spyder 34 and Spyder Turbo. The Spyder 30 is short, stout and deadly in the field. It is also the subject of Cheaper Than Dirt’s latest archery review.

Target panic is more than a problem it’s a disease. It can strike anytime, anywhere and anyone. If you haven’t been bit the target panic bug yet, your time is coming. Perhaps that last statement is a bit of an overstatement, but you get the idea of the seriousness. The good news is target panic is not only curable it’s preventable.