Ironically, Hyder is a small Alaskan town that you can drive to in a single day… albeit a long one. My family and I left Seattle, WA, and crossed the Alaskan border in about 20 hours — not a leisurely drive, yet we were in Alaska. How cool! During several days there we caught salmon and Dolly Varden trout, saw both kinds of bears, and heard tons of great stories from locals — like the fellow who discovered a huge gold vein that fell from the ceiling of an abandoned mine.  The neat part was how he legally mined it without the European owners knowing he’d discovered pay-dirt. 

If you plan on driving to Alaska from the lower 48, you may want to visit Alaska before you “visit Alaska.” You can go from Hyder up the Cassiar or Alaska-Yukon Highway, a gravel road that winds its way through British Columbia and parallels the Pacific coast. You don’t have to worry about making wrong turns because there aren’t any — just keep heading north. Your best information source is the Internet, where tourists have posted pictures and information. Here’s a peek at the trip on an available map:

In development since 2008, this patent-pending rifle takes features from the popular Vortek series but incorporates a StrikerFire system which has no external hammer. The system is easy to use — slide the striker button forward until it locks and then shoot. By eliminating an external hammer, this allows for faster lock time, the ability to mount your scope closer to the bore, and also a crisp breaking trigger. Additionally, this system allows the gun to operate with less weight, keeping it light at 6.25 lbs.  De-cocking the firearm is simple. The recessed de-cocking button allows for quick and quiet de-cocking of the firearm. Also, when you break open the gun an automatic de-cocking occurs. This rifle is equipped with 2 safeties — a trigger block safety and a striker block safety, making it one of the safest guns on the market.

This rifle has a 28” tapered, fluted Magnum Chromoly barrel, which is one of the best barrel materials for strength and accuracy. It is also equipped with a 1-piece stainless steel Accelerator Breech Plug, which allows you to fire both loose and palletized powder without changing the breech plug. The Speed Load System in the barrel enables easier loading and more consistent groups. The crisp, clean breaking trigger is set at 3 lbs. and is a 2 stage trigger. A new feature on this gun is the Removable Butt Pad which removes with the touch of a button to allow for convenient storage.

Solomon Manjoro and companion Noluck Tafuruka entered Zimbabwe’s Charara National Park armed with rifles late last month, in what officials suspect was a poaching trip. Their target was the African elephant, which has always provided a lucrative trade for poachers trafficking in ivory. African elephants are under some degree of protection in every country where they are found, but wildlife officials are struggling to defend their large ranges from opportunistic poachers.

According to The Telegraph, the pair managed to approach a male elephant inside the game reserve section of the park, where Manjoro fired off a shot. Due to bad aim, the shot only caused the large mammal to take notice of the two men and it proceeded to chase them down…

Bear Spray plays an important part in reducing attacks during human encounters with bears. It is an effective deterrent of North American bears, but it can be adversely affected by wind, rain, temperature, and even how close the bear is when it charges.

When purchasing bear spray it is important to remember that pepper sprays (personal defense sprays) are not the same as bear spray. Although both types of sprays are made from oleoresin capsicum, it is the capsaicin and related capsaicinoids that are the active ingredients in bear spray. Therefore, if you see claims on a large can that state 10%, 20%, or 30% oleoresin capsicum, it is pepper spray (personal defense spray), not bear spray.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates bear sprays pursuant to an Act of Congress. Look for the EPA registration and establishment numbers, usually found at the bottom of the front label; only bear sprays will have this information. Also, bear spray labels will clearly refer to bears, and state it is a bear deterrent, bear repellent, or for stopping charging or attacking bears.

“DEC figures showed New York’s first ever youth deer hunt, held over the three-day Columbus Day weekend for 14- and 15-year-olds, resulted in a total kill of 1,411 deer, including 744 bucks… About 7,800 youths – 61 percent of eligible junior hunters – took part in the hunt, which DEC Commissioner Joe Martens labeled a success.”

Young hunters weren’t the only ones finding success in the field. Overall, hunters harvested 242,957 whitetails — the highest since 2003 when 253,088 were taken — and the buck kill was the best since 2002, when 128,292 were harvested.

Photo by: Mikayla Sears

A bill that would expand the popular and widely acclaimed Mentored Youth Hunting program in Pennsylvania to allow adult participation recently passed the legislature and is awaiting approval of Governor Tom Corbett.  The bill, Senate Bill 623 introduced by Senator’s Jake Corman (R-Bellefonte) and Wayne Fontana (D-Pittsburgh), allows those ages 12 and older to try hunting under the watchful eye of an experienced mentor prior to completing hunter education. Also known as “apprentice hunting,” this try-before-you-buy philosophy is the hallmark of the Families Afield campaign.

Pennsylvania was the first state to pass Families Afield when it established the Mentored Youth Hunting program in 2006. Since then, a total of 34 states have enacted Families Afield changes resulting in more than 1,000,000 apprentice or mentored hunting licenses being sold.  “Mentored hunting has been demonstrated to be a safe and successful way to…

TrackingPoint, Inc. is stirring up quite the buzz over its “Precision Guided Firearm” (PGF) systems, especially with a recent announcement of a partnership with venerable gun maker Remington in the “Venture X” project. In a nutshell, PGF optics will allow shooters to tag a target, track it, and make first-round hits with the technology adjusting for factors such as bullet drop, wind, and other environmental variables that could affect a shooter’s aim.

“You don’t have to be an experienced shooter,” says TrackingPoint President Jason Strauble. “You don’t have to be someone who’s put thousands of rounds downrange. You can come and pick this up and within minutes master the tag, track, and exact technology that allow you to get on target.”

Like military aircraft, the PGF system provides shooters with a shooting solution for the intended target, and when the depressing the guided trigger, the firearm will fire when it is optimally aligned with the tagged item. This “lock-and-launch” technology is ruffling some feathers among more traditional shooters, but others are optimistic that the system will allow for more ethical, well-placed shots…

Across the country, hikers, bikers, paddlers, and even mountaineers are grabbing their gear to help boost their favorite charities and non-profits.  Here are eight great dates in the coming months to get involved while being challenged and having fun:

1. Raft for the Cure, Moab, Utah, June 29. Utah’s Moab Adventure Center spearheads the event for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Salt Lake City affiliate. Spend a day on the Colorado River outside Arches and Canyonlands National Parks paddling down mild whitewater alongside the stunning rock tower landscape. The evening features a live concert in shaded Swanny Park. Some 250 people from Utah and Colorado participated last year, raising $17,500 for cancer research.
2. Seek the Peak, North Conway, New Hampshire, July 19-20. The highest peak in the Northeast stands at 6,288 feet and contains the non-profit Mount Washington Observatory, monitoring one of the most extreme and popular places on the planet. Hike the rock pile to support the observatory which also fosters the advancement of science and nature. There’s an after-party and dinner at the base of Mount Washington in Pinkham Notch to rest those weary legs.
3. Leukemia Cup Regatta, Portland, Oregon, July 27. Boats and crews race along the scenic Columbia River. The regatta is part of a series of sailing events…

“Persistent hunter education courses and safety-related regulatory changes are largely responsible for influencing hunting culture and decreasing the number of shooting accidents in Pennsylvania, the state with the second highest hunting license sales after Texas. The Game Commission has good reason to crow.”

Photo by: Chris Steves

Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) introduced S. 792 late last month, otherwise known as the Explosive Materials Background Check Act. The bill is a response to the Boston Marathon bombing, during which three bystanders lost their lives and dozens more were injured.

“It defies common-sense that anyone, even a terrorist, can walk into a store in America and buy explosive powders without a background check or any questions asked,” Lautenberg said in a statement. “Requiring a background check for an explosives permit is a small price to pay to ensure the safety of our communities.”

The bill would:

•Require a background check to purchase black powder, black powder substitute, or smokeless powder, in any quantity;

•Provide the Attorney General with the authority to stop the sale of explosives when a background check reveals that the applicant is a known or suspected terrorist and the Attorney General reasonably believes that the person may use the explosives in connection with terrorism;

•Make it illegal to manufacture homemade explosives without a permit; and

•Direct ATF to conduct a study on the tagging of explosives, particularly black powder, black powder substitute, and smokeless powder, which could enable law enforcement to detect, identify, and trace explosives used in crimes.

Under the current law customers can purchase up to 50 pounds of explosive black powder without a background check, and an unlimited amount of smokeless powder or black powder substitute. If passed…