ScentLok introduces the new Ridge Bib, featuring Carbon Alloy® and Silver Alloy™ technologies for odor control and bacteria inhibition. The bib combines stretchy micro-tricot polyester with berber fleece lining, articulated knees, gusseted crotch, and eight pockets for maximum comfort and storage, available summer 2026 at $219.99.
TenPoint Crossbow Technologies earned two prestigious honors at the 2026 Kinsey's Dealer Show: Best in Crossbows for the fourth consecutive year and Best Innovator in Archery for the Turbo X. The awards were voted on by dealers who recognize TenPoint's reliability, innovation, and dealer support.
Lee R. Anderson received the Beretta & Safari Club International Foundation Conservation Leadership Award at the 11th Annual Award Gala during the Safari Club International Convention in Nashville, Tennessee. The prestigious award, sponsored by Beretta, recognizes Anderson's exemplary leadership and lifetime commitment to wildlife conservation, outdoor education, and humanitarian service.
Avian-X won the Bowhunting World Readers' Choice 2026 Gold Award for Wild Turkey Decoys, marking the brand's second consecutive victory. The award recognizes the realism and durability of Avian-X's HDR line, including the HDR Strutter, HDR Jake, and HDR Feeding Hen decoys.
ZEISS and Palero signed an agreement to spin off the Hunting & Nature business into an independent company with palero as sole owner. ZEISS will license its brand to the new company, with completion planned for the second half of 2026. The new entity will continue developing analog optics, trail cameras, and digital solutions under the ZEISS brand.
Over 1,900 students from fourth grade to high school will compete at the 18th annual Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Archery in the Schools State Championship at Hot Springs Convention Center and Bank OZK Arena March 6-7. Top teams and individual scorers above 280 points qualify, with winners receiving medals, Mathews Genesis bows, and college scholarships provided by the AGFC.
The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation awarded $400,000 to the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies to fund three state-led projects in Nevada, Washington, and Wyoming aimed at conserving big game seasonal habitat and migration corridors. Projects include sagebrush habitat enhancement, shrubsteppe restoration, and moose movement corridor mapping.
The Council to Advance Hunting and Shooting Sports is offering $5,000 student scholarship sponsorships to the National R3 Symposium, covering travel, lodging, registration, and meals. The program connects industry, agency, and conservation partners with emerging Recruitment, Retention, and Reactivation professionals while providing sponsors with visibility and access to student research and talent pipelines.
Whitetails Unlimited granted $128,868 to mission-related projects in Minnesota through its 30 state chapters. The majority of grants support the Staying on Target program, which advances shooting sports through partnerships with NASP, SCTP, S3DA, and USA Clay Target League.
The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation awarded $400,000 to the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies to fund three state-led projects in Nevada, Washington, and Wyoming aimed at conserving big game seasonal habitat and migration corridors. Projects include sagebrush habitat enhancement, shrubsteppe restoration, and moose GPS collar tracking along the Green River.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is expanding its eHarvest digital tagging system beginning with the 2026 license year to include deer, turkey, bear, bobcat, otter, fisher, and marten through the Michigan DNR Hunt Fish mobile app. Digital tags offer convenience, immediate validation, and cost-effectiveness while maintaining enforcement standards, with traditional paper tags remaining available as an optional alternative.
Dennis Highby, former Cabela's CEO who joined the company in 1976 and led it to become a $4 billion outdoor retailer, passed away February 26 at age 76. Highby was instrumental in Cabela's growth, IPO in 2004, and was credited by industry leaders like Gary Loomis and Tim Leatherman for launching their success.
Mission First Tactical unveiled the MFT Pocket Holster, a backup pistol and everyday carry solution featuring a cell phone profile design and CURV® Thermoplastic Composite hook for secure pocket carry. The holster offers comfort, concealment, and safety with a frictionless draw at an MSRP of $34.99.
CCI Ammunition has begun shipping its new High Bar Air Gun Slugs, designed for enhanced accuracy and terminal performance in modern air rifles and pistols. The initial product line includes 22-caliber Segmented Hollow Point and hollow-point designs in 35-grain and 30-grain options, now available at retailers nationwide.
Beretta introduces the Sako 90 Grizzly rifle, featuring high-grade walnut stock, fluted stainless-steel barrel with Graphite Black Cerakote finish, and machined integral Picatinny rail. Available in four calibers with an MSRP of $2,999, the rifle debuts at the Western Hunt Expo in Salt Lake City.
Savage Arms introduces its 110 Pro Series rifles, featuring the 110 Core Hunter Pro and 110 Ultralite Pro models with AccuFit V2 systems, customizable stocks, and advanced optics rails. Senior Product Manager RJ Contorno highlights the series' combination of cutting-edge features, reliability, and performance for serious hunters and shooters.
ScentLok introduces the Ridge Bib, a new midseason whitetail hunting apparel featuring Carbon Alloy® and Silver Alloy™ technologies, quiet micro-tricot fabric, and berber fleece lining. Available in five camouflage patterns including the new Realtree XT-3™, the bib offers eight pockets and articulated design for comfort and mobility.
C&H Precision announced the launch of the STRYKR, a mission-ready enclosed-emitter red-dot optic designed for duty, defensive, and competition use. The optic features a 1913 Picatinny mounting interface, 50,000-hour battery life, and is backed by C&H Precision's lifetime guarantee.
Swhacker Broadheads introduces the #316 Universal 100GR Practice Points, engineered to replicate mechanical broadhead flight for accurate sight-in and practice. The USA-made points provide true-to-flight performance without damaging hunting heads, ideal for preseason tuning and regular archery practice sessions.
Hornady announced the Precision Lab Scale, featuring lab-quality load cell technology with .01-grain readout and 3,000-grain capacity. The scale offers high and low sensitivity modes, Compare/Percent/Count functions, and print-to-spreadsheet capability for precision reloading.
Hornady Security unveils their 2026 Mobilis Safe Series, featuring three modular safe variations with digital locks, mechanical key backups, and 2300°F fire protection. The customizable safes include Square-Lok interiors and 120V power strips for convenient firearm and accessory storage.
SnapSafe, owned by Hornady® Manufacturing, introduces the Super Titan modular gun safe featuring a UL-listed digital lock, 24+ long gun capacity, and tool-free assembly. The safe delivers full security with convenient piece-by-piece portability and includes a lifetime warranty.
Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. announces the release of the M&P9 M2.0 Metal featuring a direct-mount Aimpoint ACRO slide cut. The 9mm striker-fired pistol includes a 7075-T6 aluminum frame, ClearSight Cut optics design, optic-height night sights, and four interchangeable palmswell grip inserts.
Celerant Technology announced the launch of Cumulus Analytics, a cost-effective analytics module for Cumulus Retail users. The tool provides essential dashboards and reports for small and mid-sized retailers, with beta customer Hobby Works praising its intuitive interface and actionable business insights.
Ranew's Outdoor Equipment, maker of the Firminator food plot implement, continues its sponsorship of Whitetails Unlimited. The USA-manufactured tool, produced in Milner, Georgia, helps deer hunters establish and plant food plots efficiently behind ATVs, UTVs, and tractors.
The Easton Sports Development Foundation donated $1.4 million to the USA Archery Foundation to support archery programs nationwide. The gift honors Jim Easton's legacy and will fund instructor training, youth programs, training centers, and high-performance initiatives across the United States.
Carbon Express® announced four hunting arrow lines at ATA 2026 in Indianapolis: the PHOTON™ Series for lightweight performance, the refreshed MAXIMA RED™ Series with new 4mm options, the MACH 5™ as the lightest 5mm arrow, and the PREDATOR AIR™ Series for durability and broadhead-ready performance, available Spring/Summer 2026.
Chestnut Hill Outdoors announced a significant 2026 expansion of online offerings including larger inventories, new bulk palletized purchasing options, and expanded Peach and Plum selections. The company introduced market-focused categories and a Southern Fruit landing page to help customers find trees suited for their specific goals.
Barnett introduces the Hyper Raptor GTX™ crossbow, launching 20" HyperFlite™ arrows at 425 FPS with advanced features including the Halo System, TriggerTech™ Frictionless Release Technology, and Rope Hold™ Roller Ball technology. Each package includes premium optics options, arrows, and accessories for immediate field readiness.
B&P USA announced the launch of its redesigned website at baschieri-pellagriusa.com, marking the manufacturer's return to direct online engagement. The new platform allows shooters to browse B&P's ammunition lineup, access product specifications, and purchase securely while continuing to support retail partners.
The Armory Life print magazine releases its Spring 2026 issue commemorating five years of publication since 2021. The issue features a cover story on the Echelon 4.0FC 9mm, interviews with Black Hills Ammunition's Jeff and Kristi Hoffman, and articles by editor-in-chief Mike Humphries and Capt. Dale Dye.
Zone Protects has become a national sponsor of Whitetails Unlimited, offering insect repellents, pest control, and hunting-specific products. Founded by Brian Baer in 1998, the faith-based company evolved from Zone No Holes! to address insect-borne diseases and now operates under the Zone Protects brand.
Outdoor Channel airs a "Cast Iron Cowboy" Season 1 Marathon Saturday, Feb. 28, from 7:00-11:00 p.m. ET, featuring Kent and Shannon Rollins cooking regionally inspired meals at historic working ranches including the JA Ranch, Stuart Ranch, Circle L Ranch, and others across America.
Streamlight's Lock & Load Thursdays programming block launches on Sportsman Channel, featuring shows like The Adventures of Chapo Gringo with Robert Beall, Guns & Gear TV with Ryan Gresham and Chris Cerino, Guns & Ammo hosted by Eric Poole, Gun Stories with Joe Mantegna, and Made for the Outdoors with Bill Sherck, airing Thursday nights 8-11 p.m. ET.
Outdoor Channel launches "Night At The Range," a Wednesday shooting sports block featuring Guns & Ammo, Handguns, Gun Stories with Joe Mantegna, American Rifleman, Shooting USA, and Airgunner Challenge. The lineup offers firearms training, product reviews, and competitive shooting content from industry experts including Eric Poole, J. Scott Rupp, and John Scoutten.
Interested people are interesting. It’s cliché, but true: enthusiasm is infectious. Spend time talking to wildlife and fisheries professionals and you will find that their occupation is not just a job.
So it is with Deanna Pfeffer, a wildlife biologist with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, whose enthusiasm for conservation is readily apparent. She is stationed at Kerr Wildlife Management Area in southwest Texas, some 150 miles west of the capital city of Austin. The WMA is in the fabled Hill Country, rich in natural beauty, and wildlife that occupies mixed-oak savanna—expansive grasslands with thin canopies of trees and shrubs.
Pfeffer led the research on the use of thermal imaging video cameras mounted on unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly called drones, to census white-tailed deer. The intent was to discover the usefulness of drones and heat-sensing cameras in counting whitetails and potentially other wildlife species in Texas and beyond.
A census is a complete enumeration. Pfeffer had the ability to census a known population white-tailed deer on the 6,500-acre WMA. Pfeffer and colleagues parsed off and fenced 288 acres of woodlands and oak-meadow openings with a known number of deer.
The leading-edge conservation work was an intersection science, technology, know-how, and reliable Pittman-Robertson funding—the federal excise taxes paid by the manufacturers of firearms, ammunition, and archery gear. The funding pays Pfeffer and her colleague’s salaries and for the high-tech gear used in the research, not to mention the daily management activities conducted on the WMA for a whole host of wild mammals and birds.
Pfeffer’s deer research using drones built off other Pittman-Robertson-funded drone work on waterfowl and whitetails by wildlife biologists with the Wisconsin and Minnesota departments of natural resources.
Pfeffer designed the drone flights to cover the entire 288 acres. Flights and video recording occurred once near dawn and again near dusk over three days in December, gathering hours of video. The results show great promise and utility in wildlife management. Three independent observers reviewed video and counted deer seen as a black objects on the screen. That is, warm deer were revealed as dark objects. In the end, the observers slightly undercounted the true, known number of white-tailed deer. But that was no great detriment.
“We’re happy with the outcome,” said Pfeffer. “The study returned really good results. We’ll take what we learned and expand into other seasons and times of day and are considering using artificial intelligence to potentially better locate the heat signature of deer on video, and perhaps with greater resolution to identify ages and sexes.”
White-tailed deer is a primary species managed on the WMA, along with Rio Grande turkey, bobwhite quail, and rare golden-cheeked warbler, a handsome yellow and black and white songbird with an affinity for the Hill Country.
“Pittman-Robertson funds are absolutely imperative not only for our research, but everyday management,” said Pfeffer. “We adhere to Aldo Leopold’s maxim of the tools of wildlife management, axe, cow, plow, fire, and gun.” Pfeffer and colleagues use prescribed burns, grazing allotments, and regulated hunts to sustain the public benefit of acquiring local free range food on the public land, not to mention the sheer joy of watching wildlife in wild places.
Pfeffer and her TPWD colleagues Justin Foster and John Kinsey published the findings of the thermal imaging research in the Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management where other professionals can learn about, replicate, and expand upon their endeavors.
“Drones have the potential to give big game managers an effective and relatively inexpensive tool to monitor and manage wildlife,” said Pfeffer. “Drones can go where people can’t; it’s safer and far less expensive than fixed-wing aircraft.”
The State of Texas purchased the land that became Kerr WMA in 1950 with Pittman-Robertson funds.
— Craig Springer, for the USFWS - Office of Conservation Investment
