4 Terrain Tricks for Hunting Spring Turkeys

Still scratching your head about why a blabbermouth gobbler didn't make it to your ambush site? Maybe it wasn't your calling after all. Maybe it was a landscape problem. Turkeys follow the path of least resistance and use landscape features to escape predators-including you. Study the terrain in your turkey country to use these features to your advantage and increase your odds of a head-shot morning.

1. Edges
No terrain feature defines a path of least resistance better than borders. Obvious edges include those of fields and woodlots, but don't overlook subtle ones created by woodland trails, utility-line clearings, and dry creek beds. Turkeys follow and loaf along these edges daily. Hide just inside the cover, and use a decoy to pull a gobbler farther along an edge to the very spot where you will end his day.

2. Hill Country
Regardless of the pitch-from mountain slope to rolling hill-try to get on the same level as the gobbler. Calling turkeys up or down steep grades is possible, but your odds increase if the bird can walk straight to you on a side hill or bench. If you have to call him up, make sure you have a shooting opportunity when the turkey hits the crest. If he peeks over the top and doesn't see a hen, you may lose your short-lived chance.

3. Riparian Zones
Turkeys encounter water daily, but if they don't have to cross large bodies of water, they won't. A good rule of thumb is that if you can jump it, so can a turkey. No matter how good a caller you are, marshes, raging rapids, and wide rivers are show-stoppers if the turkey is on the far side. To avoid a water-based standoff, scout carefully and set up on the side of the waterway where you expect turkey action.

4. Hidden Terrain Traps
Unknown or unseen barriers can stymie a gobbler's approach. One of the most frequent tom-stoppers is woven or tightly wired fence, but includes thick tangles of brush. Turkeys will pace along these barriers, looking for an opening, but if they don't find one, they'll lose interest in your calling. And low spots can often swallow a strutting gobbler when he decides to display there instead of coming in to your setup.

6 Tips for Surviving If You Get Caught in a Wildfire

For millennia, wildfires have been a part of ecosystems around the globe. But as more and more humans live close to (or in the midst of) fire prone areas-and continue to stop most fires before they spread-the deadfall wood and flammable undergrowth can build to dangerous levels. Finally, when a brush fire coincides with the right wind pattern and dry weather (like the drought conditions this year), all hell breaks loose. For the past few weeks, throughout the North American continent, fire fighters have been battling blazes both huge and small. Most recently, the Fort McMurray fire in Alberta, Canada, has caused the evacuation of nearly 100,000 people. Although fire fighters have been helped by cooler and wetter weather, the fire may still reach Saskatchewan before it is contained.

Should you find yourself in the path of a wildfire, rely on these lifesaving tips:

1. Avoid canyons and other natural chimneys, as their natural wind flow patterns could draw in a fire and trap you. 

2. Get into a river, lake or other body of water, if possible. Lie back and use a wet piece of clothing over your face, as both a heat shield and a smoke filter. 

3. Make your way to breaks in the trees, which could mean breaks in the fuel and therefore the fire. 

4. If you're near a road, lie face down along the road in a ditch or depression. Get under the road if you can squeeze into a culvert or drain pipe. 

5. Cover up with anything that provides a shield against the heat.

6. Remember that the most dangerous places to be are uphill from the fire and downwind from the flames. Let the wind point you in the safest direction of travel to get away. If it's blowing toward the fire from your position, then run into the wind. But if the wind is behind the fire, blowing toward you – run on a course that puts you perpendicular to the wind, and move fast! That fire will be coming at you quickly.

Have you ever been caught near or in a wildfire? Tell us your story by leaving a comment. 

Shooting Tips: How to Transition Properly Between Rifle Targets

Typically, when engaging a target with a scoped rifle, we make sure to keep our head on the stock, with our eye focused on the target and reticle before, during, and after the shot. This way we can reengage with follow up shots more quickly. If we have good shooting form, the rifle will recoil straight back and we'll never loose sight of the target. If the rifle is jumping to the right or left, the shooter's form needs correction. It can also be helpful to dial the magnification on the scope to a lower power, giving the shooter a wider field of view. 

There is, however, an exception to this rule and that's when we are shooting at multiple targets separated by enough distance that we can't see them all in the scope at the same time. 

In this case, attempting to traverse the rifle to a new target, even with the scope at a lower level of magnification, can be difficult and slow.

Under these circumstances, when the shooter is done with the first target, he or she should come off the scope just enough to be able to see the next target over the elevation turret and move the rifle so that it is pointed at the target, and then get back down on the scope.

The trick to doing this so that the rifle lines up correctly is to center the target in the middle of the elevation turret. This makeshift “sight” works surprisingly well and allows for fast, accurate transitions between distant targets. 

Bear teases Season 3 of Running Wild

In a recent post by our good buddy, Bear, he uploaded a short video captioned, “Back on the ground for Running Wild with Bear Grylls…” I do believe he is a tease and I do believe we have a third season of Running Wild with Bear Grylls to look forward to! I cannot wait to […]

Bear Grylls smashes onto ITV

Bear Grylls smashes onto ITV

Airbnb partners with Disney and Bear Grylls on private island and treehouse listings

The company is leveraging Disney's remake of "The Jungle Book" and Grylls' survivalist TV series

Airbnb is running a campaign spotlighting its more unusual listings, like private islands and treehouses, to encourage people to base their bookings on passions as much as destinations.

Capitalizing on Disney's remake of "The Jungle Book" and Bear Grylls' 'Man vs Wild' television series, Airbnb will be offering discounts on treehouse and private island listings.

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Airbnb partners with Disney and Bear Grylls on private island and treehouse listings

The company is leveraging Disney\'s remake of "The Jungle Book" and Grylls\' survivalist TV series Airbnb is running a campaign spotlighting its more unusual listings, like private islands and treehouses, to encourage people to base their bookings on passions as much as destinations. Capitalizing on Disney\'s remake of "The Jungle Book" and Bear Grylls\' \'Man [...]