“field positions”

Whether getting started or renewing your vows, it’s time to get back to the handgun hunting basics.

For 95 years Mossberg has supplied hardworking Americans with hardworking and affordable firearms, but only recently has the company become a serious player in the centerfire rifle market. This year at SHOT Show Mossberg will introduce what might be considered the pinnacle of its sporting rifle efforts, the Patriot.

There were two bird seasons when I was a young teenager: grouse in the fall and starlings in the spring. The starlings would invade as soon as the weather started to turn, congregating in noisy flocks near the corncribs on my grandparents’ farm.

Some folks revel in the idea of summertime; the picnics, barbecues and time spent at the beach are simply the best experiences of the year. For us hunters, it can represent a lull in the action.

Most of us who think we are serious shooters have a dirty little secret: We do not shoot enough. We talk about it and make a lot of grandiose plans but maybe spend a few hours on the bench all summer. We need a better reason to get out there and shoot, something that will get us off that bench and away from the air conditioning. Deer hunters, I present to you the lowly groundhog.

Let's all be honest, here: misses happen. There's no shortage of variables at play when a hunter is taking a shot at game, and sometimes the odds are stacked against you. Here are the five most likely reasons you missed that last shot.

The M40 stands as one of this nation’s most iconic rifles. To honor the service of the M40 and the men who carried them, the design is being replicated as the M40-66 and made available to consumers in limited quantities.

There are lots of reasons to put a new stock on your old rifle, but cost, time and skill required to do the job prevent most of us from getting around to it. Magpul leaves us with no more excuses now that the company has introduced its Hunter 700 stock. It’s tough, adjustable, easy to install and has a built-in aluminum bedding block—all for about $250.