On December 5th, 771, Charlemagne became the sole King of the Franks after the death of his brother Carloman. Geneticists have estimated that the majority of modern Europeans and Americans of European descent are distantly related to Charlemagne, who fathered 18 children. — And on December 5th, 1964, the first Medal of Honor awarded to a serviceman for action in Vietnam was presented to Captain Roger Donlon of Saugerties, New York. Captain Donlon and his Special Forces team were manning Camp Nam Dong, a mountain outpost near the borders of Laos and North Vietnam. — Today’s feature piece is a…

This story begins in the wild, unforgiving mountains of Montana.In September of 2014, 38-year-old Aaron Hedges set out with friends for a weeklong elk hunt in the Crazy Mountains. But when he left camp to retrieve supplies from a nearby cache, those friends never saw him again.But instead of searching for him, they went home–right as a snowstorm hit. Search and rescue teams were unable to locate the missing hunter. All they found were a few pieces of gear, including his boots, but no trace of Aaron Hedges.His remains were eventually found miles from where he was supposed to be,…

Several years ago, I sat down to dinner at a high-end restaurant in Indianapolis while attending the Archery Trade Association Show. Seated next to me was a fellow who has made a name for himself as a hardcore, backcountry western hunter. He has earned his reputation, and then some, so I thought it would be an interesting conversation.It was, until we got on the topic of whitetails. Almost as soon as our chat drifted from the mountains to middle America, he said that he didn’t think we needed anyone filming whitetail hunts because they were all the same, and they…

The National Shooting Sport Foundation (NSSF) estimates the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) completed 530,156 background checks related to firearms for the week leading up to and including Black Friday—one of the busiest shopping days of the year. That figure is down from 2024’s total of 613,380 for the same period. The numbers reflect a 13.6 percent decrease from the 2024 figure. FBI’s NICS system processed 165,183 names—including those who underwent background checks for other purposes related to firearms, such as approvals for concealed carry permits—on Black Friday alone. The figure pales in comparison to the top…

Guns aren’t always a great financial investment (though they can be), but this is one firearm purchase you can definitely feel good about.Lot 1 at the Rock Island Auction on December 5th is a one-of-a-kind set of five Purdey & Sons side-by-side shotguns. Valued at a whopping $800,000, the proceeds from the sale will benefit five conservation organizations: Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, Ducks Unlimited, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, National Wild Turkey Federation, and Pheasants/Quail Forever.The guns are currently owned by legendary hunter and turkey caller, Will Primos. As he explained to Steve and the crew on a recent episode of The…

Since I began my dedicated exploration of the American handgun marketplace years ago, things have changed. What was once a much more diverse selection of action types, sizes, frame materials and calibers seems to have been washed away by a tidal wave of compact, striker-fired, polymer-framed semi-automatics chambered in 9 mm. These are certainly useful defensive pistols with dozens of configurations from a variety of manufacturers. But it seems like what was true for Ford’s Model T back in 1914 is now the case for modern handgun fans. You can have any color you want, just as long as it’s…

00:00:00 Speaker 1: You just ride around with some binoculars. You catch these and some of these bulls, I mean big, like imagine a bucking bull like as bigger, not bigger, if not bigger than that bison out there sharp porn’s never seen a human. You ride in, catch it and it’s trying to kill you, and these guys will rope it, tie it down like it’s a calf. 00:00:20 Speaker 2: At a rodeo. 00:00:22 Speaker 3: What’s the process for that? 00:00:24 Speaker 1: I mean, you find it. You get on top of a hill, you scan…

00:00:01 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Wired to Hunt podcast, your guide to the white Tail Woods presented by first Light, creating proven versatile hunting apparel for the stand, saddle or blind. First Light, Go Farther, Stay Longer, and now your host, Mark Kenyon, Welcome to the. 00:00:20 Speaker 2: Wired to Hunt podcast. 00:00:22 Speaker 3: This week on the show, I’m joined by Eric Clark and Derek Melcorp of the Okayist Hunter podcast to discuss ten simple steps to follow to become a happier and more satisfied deer hunter. All right, welcome back to the Wired Hunt podcast,…

00:00:00 Speaker 1: The plan was simple a week of elk hunting in Montana’s backcountry, but somewhere between the trailhead into the Crazy Mountains and the first snowfall, Aaron Hedges vanished. His friend said he’d gone off on his own, and searchers later found his boots neatly placed beside a firing. What happened next would baffle investigators and fuel a decade of theories about how and why Aaron died within a quarter mile of being rescued. That’s next on Blood Trails. There are many strange things about the disappearance of Aaron Hedges, but one of the strangest is why he…

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