DSG Outerwear, founded by Wendy Gavinski, has launched the Ridge & Vale collection featuring women's apparel with faded Realtree Original and Advantage Classic camo patterns. The collection includes vintage-inspired pieces like hoodies, overalls, sweatpants, tees, and muscle tanks designed to blend outdoor heritage with everyday style and comfort.
Team Mathews dominated the 2026 ASA Classic in Sparta, Wisconsin, winning five of six Pro classes and claiming nine podiums overall. Team Shooters Kyle Douglas, Brady Myers, Jack Wallace, and Randy Morocco each earned 2026 ASA Shooter of the Year honors, representing the highest level of consistency across the season.
The legends of the great outdoors are officially back! Stoney Wolf Outdoors has returned, throwing open the vault to stream over 600 legendary, classic outdoor videos! Stream Fred Bear, Roger Raglin, Dan Fitzgerald, Barry Wensel and dozens of other legends on one ad free channel! www.stoneywolfoutdoors.com
Darton Archery unveiled the Tritech 37 ST, a competition-driven target bow featuring a 37-inch platform and shoot-through riser design. The bow produces speeds up to 327 FPS and includes advanced tuning systems like the Perfect Tuning Pocket System and patent-pending Micro-Adjust Roller Guard for precision competition shooting.
Archers representing Darton Archery, Black Eagle Arrows, and Conquest Archery earned 41 podium finishes and 12 class victories at the ASA Classic in Cullman, Alabama, competing across professional, amateur, and youth divisions.
Dead Air Silencers' Nomad Ti OTB suppressor has been selected as a 2026 Petersen's Hunting Editor's Choice Award recipient. The over-the-barrel design, made from 3D-printed Grade 9 titanium, offers premium suppression in a compact package weighing only 10.5 ounces.
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department earned five awards from the Association for Conservation Information for communication efforts, including first place for the "Cody mule deer" social media campaign and multiple recognitions for Wyoming Wildlife magazine content.
Yamaha Marine's "Summer Sunset" sales event runs August 3 through September 9, 2026, offering customers extended Yamaha Extended Service (Y.E.S.) coverage or dealer credits on select new four-stroke outboards. Eligible purchases in the 30-350 horsepower range receive two additional years of Y.E.S. coverage, while 2.5-25 horsepower models qualify for up to $300 in dealer credit.
Pyramyd AIR announced the Pyramyd Cup is on track for record attendance with 240 competitors scheduled for August 5–8, 2026, at Cardinal Shooting Center in Marengo, Ohio. Hatsan USA serves as Platinum Sponsor for the premier airgun event featuring multiple disciplines including 100-Yard Benchrest, AAFTA-sanctioned Field Target, and Gunslynger speed competition.
The Umarex Airguns shooting team will compete at the Pyramyd Cup held August 5-8 in Margeno, Ohio, featuring top airgunners in Gunslynger, Field Target, and Benchrest disciplines. Justin Biddle, Umarex Vice President of Marketing and Product Development, emphasized the company's commitment to connecting with shooters and spectators across all experience levels.
The Safari Club International Foundation's African Leopard Research Project completed a comprehensive leopard survey in Botswana using over 1,000 camera-trap stations, identifying 427 individual leopards. The data informed Botswana's 10-year Leopard Management Plan and CITES quota submission. The project is now expanding into South Africa through a partnership with the PHASA Foundation.
Safari Club International and Tennessee Wildlife Federation filed an amicus curiae brief urging the Tennessee Court of Appeals to reverse a lower court decision upholding Sweetwater's firearm discharge ordinance as applied to lawful duck hunting on private property, arguing that wildlife management decisions belong with the state, not municipalities.
The 2026 Deer Hunting Conference and Expo, hosted by Oklahoma Hunters and Anglers and the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, takes place August 15 at Metro Tech Springlake Campus in Oklahoma City. The all-day event features 35 breakout sessions, industry experts, hunting TV hosts, and vendor booths, with registration at $50 including lunch and OHA membership.
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is calling on anglers to shift catch-and-release fishing to early morning hours due to elevated water temperatures exceeding 70 degrees. Fisheries Management Coordinator Mark Smith urges anglers to stop catch-and-release fishing after noon to protect trout populations during summer heat.
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department has imposed an open fire ban on most Commission-owned and administered lands statewide due to extreme drought conditions and heightened fire danger. The ban applies to 45 Wildlife Habitat Management Areas and 199 Public Access Areas, prohibiting campfires, charcoal grills, and fireworks while allowing gas grills with proper fire suppression equipment.
Hook & Barrel Magazine is partnering with Beretta to give away a Beretta M9A4 Overlanding 9mm pistol in Clay finish. The sweepstakes runs through September 3, 2026, with readers able to enter via the Hook & Barrel website.
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks announced updated reservation dates for 2026 at six Type 2 Block Management Areas in south-central Montana: Griffith-Shawmut BMA 169, Miller/Jackstone BMA 163, Robuck Ranch BMA 220, Schulz Ranch BMA 214, Basin Ranch BMA 226, and Diamond X Farms BMA 63. Reservations open in August at the Region 5 office in Billings.
The Indiana Natural Resources Commission opened its second public comment period for proposed bobcat season rule changes, including adding hunting to trapping and increasing the season quota to 400 bobcats. Comments are due by August 27, with a public hearing scheduled for that date at the Fort Harrison Inn in Indianapolis.
The Arizona Game and Fish Department's Copper State Draw closes today, August 4 at 5 p.m. AZ time. New this year is a dual-tag hunt offering one application fee for chances to hunt mule deer and elk in Game Management Units 22 and 23, plus opportunities for white-tailed deer, elk, and Gould's turkey across multiple units.
Traditions Performance Firearms appointed Jason Evans as Vice President of Sales. Evans brings extensive leadership experience from executive positions at Benelli, Weatherby, and Blaser, and will oversee all sales operations and manage the company's nationwide network of independent sales representatives.
Land and Wildlife Legacy Properties, a Northwest recreational and agricultural land brokerage, announced expansion into multiple states across the country. The company, which partnered with Cabela's Trophy Properties and built a strong Pacific Northwest reputation, will establish new offices and partner with select agents and brokerages that share its values and commitment to client service.
Leupold & Stevens, Inc. announced the addition of Hornady's 4DOF ballistic calculator and Precision Cut Archery software to its RX-5000 rangefinder. These industry-leading ballistic solvers are available as free downloads through the Leupold Control App via firmware update, bringing advanced trajectory solutions to rifle hunters, bowhunters, and competitive archers worldwide.
The Mule Deer Foundation is partnering with Eagle Ranch HOA, the Bureau of Land Management, and Colorado Parks and Wildlife to restore habitat and reduce fuels near Eagle, Colorado. The Eagle Ranch HOA is providing $111,000 to remove pinyon-juniper woodland and restore sagebrush habitat for the Brush Creek Mule Deer Herd while mitigating wildfire risk.
Turkeys for Tomorrow announced a partnership with The Outdoor Outpost, operated by Outdoor Specialty Media Group under CEO Bill Brod, to generate revenue for wild turkey conservation. Customers using promo code "TFT26" will have 10% of sales donated to TFT, supporting the organization's mission led by CEO Jason Lupardus.
The HeadHunters NW Podcast features Jeff Stawiarski, co-president of ZEV Technologies, discussing a critical Director of Operations role at the company's new Riverton, Utah facility. ZEV Technologies, known for performance handguns and AR-style rifles, recently relocated from Washington and is rebuilding its operations team.
The Houston Safari Club Foundation's Hunting Matters podcast features wildlife biologist Joe Richards, who discusses wildlife science, conservation storytelling, and outdoor heritage. Richards, an Outreach Specialist with Playa Lakes Joint Venture, shares his journey from Texas A&M and Texas Tech graduate to conservation professional working across diverse ecosystems.
Derya Arms announced the official U.S. launch of the Derya MAX, a new proprietary magazine-fed 12-gauge semi-automatic shotgun manufactured at its Jacksonville, Florida facility. The shotgun, developed with competitive shooters and engineers, features advanced gas-operated systems and proprietary magazines designed for USPSA, IPSC, and 3-Gun competitions, with availability beginning in September.
Galco unveils the Combat Master 2.0, a modernized pancake holster for Beretta M9A4 pistols with or without carry optics. The professional-grade belt holster features hand-molded construction, optic cutaway capability, raised sweat guard, and premium steerhide with double-stitched seams for durability and concealment.
Sticky Holsters released a limited-edition Blue Holster in August, with proceeds supporting Concerns of Police Survivors, an organization aiding families of fallen law enforcement officers. The holster features Sticky Holsters' signature clip-less concealed carry technology.
Q is offering complimentary Porq Chop or Short Chop suppressors with purchases of new 8.6 BLK firearms from August 6-10. The promotion rewards the community that supported the 8.6 BLK cartridge's development, including The Fix and Boombox rifle variants.
Guns.com and Off Grid Suppressors launched an exclusive partnership offering gun owners a $100 instant rebate on suppressors through August 9. The promotion automatically applies at checkout, helping offset NFA transfer fees, with all suppressors shipping free on Guns.com's platform.
The National Rifle Association of America will host its 2026 Range Development & Operations Conference on September 24-25 in Fairfax, Virginia. The conference educates range owners and operators on business planning, EPA lead standards, construction, sound abatement, insurance, ventilation, and funding. Registration is $525 with space limited to 70 attendees.
Chiappa USA will participate in the Bill Hicks E-Show from August 7-21, 2026, showcasing new Chiappa Firearms and Charles Daly products including Rhino revolvers, LA322 and Little Badger configurations, and tactical firearms. The exclusive online event offers dealers special pricing and merchandising programs for the fall and holiday season.
Sabudawn Safaris will continue as a Whitetails Unlimited national sponsor, according to WTU President Jeff Schinkten. The full-service safari operator specializes in coordinating African hunting trips and travel logistics for individuals and groups in Southern Africa.
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is seeking public comment on multiple proposals including a private fish pond license for Irving Weissman in Hamilton and agenda items for the August 19 Fish and Wildlife Commission meeting. Comment deadlines range from August 7 to August 14.
The Arizona Game and Fish Commission will hold a public meeting on Friday, August 7, at 8 a.m. at the Grand Canyon Railway & Hotel in Williams, Arizona. A complete agenda and information on viewing or speaking to the commission is available at www.azgfd.com/commagenda.
Pursuit Channel announced new seasons of flagship programs including Dean Partridge's Canadian Whitetail, Red Arrow with Kip Campbell, Game On with Blaine Anthony, The High Road with Keith Warren, and Ted Nugent Spirit of the Wild. Episodes will air on Pursuit Channel and stream via Pursuit UP across multiple platforms.
Sportsman Channel launches "Full Draw Friday" programming block featuring bowhunting shows including Tim Wells' Relentless Pursuit, Stompin' Groundz TV, Haymaker Hunting with King Pedford, HARDCORE Pursuit with Mike Pelletier, Ranch America, Jay Gregory's The Wild Outdoors, and Steven Rinella's MeatEater, airing Fridays 8:00-11:30 p.m. ET.
Ralph, Vicki, RJ, and Aubrey Cianciarulo's 26th season of The Choice premieres Monday, August 3rd at 11:30PM EST on Pursuit Channel. The family heads south to the Kempfer's with Traditions Nitro Bolts for a competition between the OG's and young-in's.
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks bear conflict specialist Justine Vallieres urges Northwest Montana residents to secure attractants like garbage, bird feeders, and fruit trees as below-average huckleberry crops force bears to lower elevations. Early reporting of bear concerns allows FWP to respond quickly and provide guidance.
The U.S. Geological Survey and Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks will conduct grizzly bear captures August 8-28 on the Custer Gallatin National Forest for research under the Endangered Species Act. The Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team will use baited culvert traps and foot snares, with warning signs marking all capture sites.
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Region 7 will host a Bear Aware talk on August 3 in Miles City, covering bear populations, behavior, conflict prevention, and bear spray training. The free event features demonstrations and information on deterrents to help residents coexist safely with black bears in the region.
Wyoming Game and Fish Department urges motorists to reduce speed as drought conditions drive big game animals to cluster along highways seeking food and water. Wildlife biologist Kylie Sinclair notes increased highway usage, while Wyoming Department of Transportation reports over 1,630 vehicle collisions with big game in 2025.
The federal government has once again fired up its most reliable engine of public policy: if it ain't broke, form a working group to figure out whether it can be broken more equitably.
This time it's the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which has opened a remarkably short public-comment window to revisit how it calculates drain-tile setbacks near federally protected wetland easements in the Prairie Pothole Region.
To be fair, the agency hasn't actually proposed changing anything yet. It's only asking whether a rule finalized in 2024 — built on roughly six decades of settled policy — is "working as intended." Comments close August 7, a full 14 days after the notice went up, because nothing screams thoughtful stewardship of a continentally important ecosystem quite like running it as a weekend flash sale.
The Prairie Pothole Region runs through Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota before spilling into Canada. Duck hunters call it the Duck Factory, and in a good year it produces more than half of North America's breeding ducks.
Even that undersells the place. It's a flood-control system, a groundwater recharge network, a water-filtration plant, a wildlife nursery, a soil bank and a carbon-storage facility, all running without a single strategic-planning retreat. The potholes store runoff, filter out pollutants, retain nutrients, recharge aquifers, and lock carbon in the soil. About the only service they don't provide is a campaign contribution — which might explain why their legal protections are suddenly up for discussion.
Here's the part that keeps getting lost: these easements weren't handed down by decree. Landowners sold them, on purpose, for money. The government paid for specific, defined property rights; the deals were recorded at the county courthouse; and the sellers agreed that the mapped wetlands wouldn't be drained, filled, leveled, or burned.
The easements run with the land forever, the same way a mortgage or a mineral reservation or a utility right-of-way does — which is to say, exactly the way property law is supposed to work when two parties actually mean it. Owners keep the land, keep it on the tax rolls, and can crop, hay, or graze the wetland whenever it dries out on its own. The only thing they gave up was the right to deliberately drain it.
Some current landowners are unhappy because Grandpa signed the deal decades ago. Understandable — a lot of us have inherited things from grandparents we'd love to renegotiate, including farms, furniture, and a genuinely alarming number of ceramic ducks. But Grandpa had options. He could've sold outright, subdivided, donated the ground, or left the place to a different grandkid entirely. Instead, he took the check and kept the land working. That transaction doesn't become a federal taking just because it's rained since closing.
The complaint usually surfaces in wet years, when a pothole spreads out and eats into tillable acres. Interestingly, nobody objects in dry years, when the same wetland shrinks, and the exposed dirt goes right back into production. So nature's fluctuations belong to the landowner when they're profitable and become a federal outrage when they're inconvenient — a legal theory we might call Heads I Win, Tails the Duck Stamp Buyer Loses.
Drain tile complicates all of this because pipe laid outside the mapped wetland boundary can still redirect the water feeding it. That's exactly why the Service calculates individualized setbacks using soil type, slope, tile depth and pipe diameter, and why the 2024 rule includes a safe harbor: follow the approved plan and you're generally protected from legal action even if the wetland is affected anyway, so long as you don't later modify the system. It's a rule with both science and common sense baked in — which, on Washington's endangered-species list, makes it nearly extinct.
Cramer's Long Campaign
None of this is new territory for North Dakota Senator Kevin Cramer, who has spent the better part of a decade treating FWS wetland enforcement as public enemy number one — even though every acre in question was sold to the government voluntarily. Back in 2019, Cramer told trade press that the Service "doesn't just take [wetlands]; they restrict farming around it and close to it," adding that his office had fielded "hundreds of complaints."
He and Senator John Hoeven pushed the Interior Department into a series of director's orders — mapping fixes, an appeals process, a "good neighbor" pledge — following a 2019 roundtable near Hope, North Dakota, and a follow-up in Devils Lake in 2020. When Cramer felt the changes weren't sticking, he took his complaints straight to the nominee overseeing the program, then in 2022 introduced the Landowner Easement Rights Act with Senators Mike Rounds and John Hoeven — legislation that would have barred FWS from writing any new conservation easement longer than 50 years and let existing easement holders renegotiate, renew or simply buy their way out.
He later voted against confirming FWS Director Martha Williams, citing the agency's refusal to bend on the issue.
It's worth sitting with that bill for a second. A "landowner rights" measure whose actual effect is to tell a private citizen he isn't allowed to sell his own land under a permanent restriction is a curious way to defend property rights — a bit like passing a law that protects your right to sign a 30-year mortgage, so long as it's actually only good for 29.
Who Actually Cashes In on the Duck Factory
If the argument is that wetland easements are some kind of drag on North Dakota's economy, the numbers tell a different story about who's really cashing checks out there. Hunting and fishing generate roughly $1.48 billion a year for the state, according to the most recent NDSU expenditure survey — real spending on gear, gas, guides, motel rooms and diner breakfasts, much of it in small towns that don't have a lot else going on in November.
Waterfowl hunting alone supports hundreds of jobs and tens of millions in wages and tax revenue, built almost entirely on habitat nobody would still have if the government hadn't bought and locked it up decades ago.
To be clear-eyed about it: agriculture is still the far bigger machine, contributing something like $41.3 billion to North Dakota's economy in the most recent comprehensive assessment — a quarter of the entire state's output. Nobody sane is arguing ducks outweigh wheat. But it's worth noticing which side of this fight is actually flush with federal cash at the moment.
Direct government payments to North Dakota farmers are projected to hit roughly $3 billion in 2025, up from about $627 million the year before — a jump driven almost entirely by Washington stepping in to prop up commodity prices. So the same interests grumbling that a permanent, voluntarily sold wetland restriction is an intolerable federal intrusion are, in the very same fiscal year, collecting a multibillion-dollar increase in direct federal support. If overreach is the concern, it seems to be running in a very specific direction.
Meanwhile, the money that built and supports the Duck Factory in the first place has never been secret. Since 1934, Federal Duck Stamp sales have raised more than $1.3 billion and helped conserve over six million acres, with roughly 98 percent of every dollar required by law to go toward habitat acquisition.
Ducks Unlimited alone just closed a seven-year, $4.06 billion continental fundraising campaign, with North Dakota's prairie pothole country ranked among its top conservation priorities anywhere on the map — real corporate money, including a Tractor Supply-funded project covering 30,000 private acres in the state, is flowing in specifically because the habitat is still intact. Delta Waterfowl, headquartered just down the road in Bismarck, runs its own suite of production and hunter-access programs across the same landscape. None of that money shows up if the wetlands get drained out from under it.
A Question Worth Asking
Once Washington accepts the principle that a permanent conservation easement can be functionally unwound because a later owner finds it inconvenient, where does that logic stop? Does a grandson get his mineral rights back because oil prices went up? Does a developer erase a recorded sidewalk easement because he's tired of pedestrians? These aren't predictions — they're exactly the questions a serious government ought to work through before it starts treating "permanent" as a suggestion.
The current rule isn't perfect, because nothing touching hydrology, farming, and federal paperwork ever is. But it protects wetlands Americans already paid for, respects the landowners who chose to sell them, and keeps a functioning safe harbor in place for everyone who plays by it. The Fish and Wildlife Service itself called the 2024 rule a source of "consistency, clarity plus openness." Two years on, apparently consistency needs a second look, clarity needs reconsidering, and openness means a two-week comment window dropped in the middle of summer.
There's a simple answer to the question the Service is asking: yes, it works. It protects habitat people already bought and paid for. It respects the deal Grandpa made. It keeps the ducks coming, the water clean, and the hunters spending money in small-town North Dakota every fall. Mostly, it preserves the idea that when a citizen signs a contract with his government — and hands over real money in reliance on it — the government doesn't get to come back later and reinterpret the bargain because a persistent few have decided permanence is inconvenient.
Keep the rule. Honor the easements. Protect the Duck Factory. And maybe, just this once, let the federal government experience the rare and unfamiliar sensation of finding something that works — and leaving it alone.
– Chris Dorsey
Chris Dorsey is a 30-year media veteran and conservation thought leader who is the founding partner of Dorsey Pictures, a Global 100 Production Studio, and Mission Partners Entertainment Group, a leading IMAX/giant screen natural history producer.
