The best turkey hunting shotguns shoot consistently tight patterns with the right choke and ammo. Aside from that, there are other details that make them more desirable in the turkey woods. For instance, lightweight, shorter guns make it easy to maneuver when you’re run-and-gunning or need to pivot when that gobbler makes an unexpected loop. Red dots allow you to see more of your target as it bobs and weaves through the timber. And camo? Cool but not necessary.This isn’t a comprehensive list. Your favorite one might not be part of the test I conducted, but that doesn’t mean it’s…

00:00:02 Speaker 1: Welcome to this special bonus drop of Backwoods University. We put out these bonus episodes on occasion when something on the extraordinary scale comes to our attention, and this is very well one of those times. If you remember, back in the fall, we published an episode called Pogy Boats where we dove into a long standing conflict between the commercial menhaden fishing industry and recreational fishermen, charter fishermen, and kind of the conservation community in that area. We talked about by catch concerns, which bycatch is non target fish or other aquatic wildlife that wind up…

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On May 4, 1415, reformers John Wycliffe and Jan Hus were condemned as heretics at the Council of Constance. Pictured is Jan Hus at the Council of Constance, in an 1883 painting by Václav Brožík. Hus had traveled to Constance with the promise of safe passage by both Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund and the Pope. But after he arrived the Pope and the cardinals soon ordered him to be thrown into prison. On July 6, 1415, after a ghastly stay fettered in prison and two trials, he was offered either recanting or death, and he chose a martyr’s death. He…

Slingshots are fun, but they can also be a legitimate backup defensive tool—in 2023, a 13-year-old Michigan boy saved his 8-year-old sister from being kidnapped by using a $3 slingshot to fire a marble and a rock at the assailant, striking him in the chest and head. Read the full article here

Like any hobby or pastime that is in any way even vaguely related to machines or technology, firearms attract a (possibly) disproportionate number of “right-brained,” STEM-oriented personalities who like numbers. Some percentage of those really, really like numbers.  Like, a lot. If you’re manning the counter at the local gun store, you don’t even have to worry about trying to pick them out of the crowd, because they will always make themselves known in short order. You don’t even need to be working at the local gun store to identify the breed, though. If you’ve spent any amount of time…

Ruger brought the micro-compact .380 ACP semi-automtic pistol into the mainstream with its original LCP. Over the years, the company has enhanced the LCP with the introduction of the LCP II and LCP Max. New for 2026, Ruger is offering a new version of the LCP Max with the addition of a Magpul Enhanced Handgun Grip (EHG). New for 2026, Ruger is updating the LCP Max with a Magpul Enhanced Handgun Grip (EHG). Shown with the new 13-round magazine with Magpul extension. Ruger’s collaboration with Magpul on handguns goes back to the RXM, a modular 9 mm pistol that uses…

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Editor’s Introductory Note: The recent spike in fuel prices prompted me to re-post this very practical 2018 article from the SurvivalBlog archives. – JWR It has been said that necessity is the mother of invention. Needing fuel for their war machine lead Germany to invent and perfect the diesel engine. It was designed to run efficiently on vegetable oil, and they do to this day. Circumstances forced me to make a move from my East Texas home to the deep Southwest. It was a slow, long process of gradually moving my stuff and my wife to a new homestead. I…