Blocker Outdoors has released its Shield Silentec Jacket and Pant in the new Realtree AB1 pattern. The gear features S3® silver antimicrobial technology, 100% smooth polyester micro-fleece for silent movement, and hexagonal fleece liners for warmth without weight, priced at $119.99 each.
TUO has launched the Vista Pant, a lightweight technical hunting pant featuring an 85% nylon/15% polyester blend with two-way mechanical stretch. The pant incorporates Polygiene StayFresh™ and OdorCrunch™ odor-control technologies, articulated knees, inner thigh gussets, and eight pockets for enhanced functionality and comfort in the field.
TUO's Folcrum Hoodie is now live and shipping to hunters. The 249g grid-fleece hoodie features a built-in facemask, Polygiene StayFresh™ and OdorCrunch™ odor management, and flatlock seams, available in Deadfall and Ryse Camo patterns at $179.99.
Custom Bow Equipment announces the launch of the Tactic Hybrid 2V, a two-pin vertical archery sight featuring hybrid elevation adjustment, a 12" fiber-optic management system, and included rheostat sight light. The sight ships now at an MSRP of $139.99 and is available through authorized CBE retailers.
James "Jimmy" Lutz, a Carbon Express Pro-Staffer, earned a gold medal at the USA Archery Rebel Gear Buckeye Classic in Dublin, Ohio. Lutz used Carbon Express Nano Pro RZ 350 arrows and a TruFire Rivet release, securing his third podium finish at the USAT Series this year.
The National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP®) introduced its inaugural Grand Champion Award at the NASP® Championship in Daytona Beach, Florida, recognizing student archers demonstrating consistent excellence across four premier events. Isabella Caplinger and Callan Hignight earned the inaugural titles in the girls and boys divisions, respectively.
The National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP®) held its 2026 Coordinator Conference in Helena, Montana, bringing together representatives from 33 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. Hosted by the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks, the event focused on expanding student participation, supporting instructors, and sharing successful strategies to benefit approximately 1.3 million students.
SHIELD Sights celebrated Team SHIELD's strong performances at the European Handgun Championships 2026 in Crewkerne, England. Denny Rossetto successfully defended her Ladies Open European Championship title, while Miroslav Zapletal captured the Men's Senior Production Optics European Championship.
Team Mathews dominated the 2026 NFAA Outdoor National Field Championships in Yankton, South Dakota, with Bodie Turner winning the Men's Freestyle Professional title and setting a new NFAA record of 668. Kyle Douglas finished second and Chris Perkins secured third, with Turner also setting a new X-count record of 108 out of 112.
Over 940 archers competed in Lincoln, Nebraska for the record-setting WIAWIS JOAD Target Nationals and JOAD U.S. Open. Aarya Arun and Chloe Nelsen set pending world records in recurve U18 men and compound U18 women, respectively, while SW Archery Academy claimed club team champions honors.
The Archery Trade Association announces the S3DA Indoor Open's return as part of ATA Show Week, January 7-10, 2027, in Indianapolis. Open to archers ages 8-18, the event welcomes competitors of all experience levels and will feature divisions from Junior Eagle through Young Adult with multiple equipment categories.
Lauryl Akenhead of Team Ruger earned High Lady honors at the 2026 Sheepdog Showdown, a national PRS Pro Series point match held in New York's Catskill Mountains. Competing with her Ruger American Gen II rifle, Akenhead finished with a score of 151, demonstrating the rifle's reliability and accuracy in demanding competitive conditions.
Whitetails Unlimited awarded 2,312 grants totaling $4,059,605 for mission-related projects during their 2025-2026 fiscal year. The grants support four pillar programs including habitat enhancement, education, and preservation of hunting traditions for future generations.
Bowtech and Diamond Archery are relocating operations to Houston, Texas to enhance innovation and growth. The move includes expansion of operational capabilities, with Excalibur Crossbow transitioning to Savage Arms leadership, while Black Gold Premium Accessories continues production in Belgrade, Montana.
SLG2, Inc. will bring its Shoot Like A Girl experience to Bass Pro Shops at the Pyramid in Memphis, Tennessee, July 31-August 2, 2026. The free event features a mobile shooting range with FATS simulator, archery activities, and product demonstrations from leading outdoor brands including Black Rifle Coffee, celebrating Ducks Unlimited.
The Archery Trade Association opens registration Aug. 3 for ATA Show Week 2027, featuring the ATA Trade Show, Archery & Bowhunting Supershow, and competitions including the S3DA Indoor Open, World Archery Indoor World Series 500, and NFAA Rushmore Rumble in Indianapolis Jan. 7-10, 2027.
SEVR is offering instant rebates of up to $40 on select mechanical broadhead models during its Summer Sale at SEVRBroadheads.com. The promotion features SEVR's patented Field Point Accuracy technology designed to deliver exceptional accuracy, large wound channels, and reliable penetration for bowhunters.
Hardcore Waterfowl launches Rugged Series Blue-Winged and Green-Winged Teal Decoys featuring FowlFlex Technology one-piece construction and WhaleTail Keel for natural movement. Marketing Director Steve Allie emphasizes the decoys' realistic design to fool fast-flying teal with sharp eyesight during early season hunts.
Pretty Hunter, founded by Tricia Auten, has renewed its national sponsorship with Whitetails Unlimited. The company creates handcrafted jewelry from once-fired brass, celebrating the outdoor and hunting lifestyle while supporting WTU's conservation mission and hunting tradition preservation.
Ape Canyon Outfitters and Kryptek Outdoor Group announced a collaboration to offer premium hunting saddles in Kryptek's Obskura Transitional and Obskura Skyfall camouflage patterns. The partnership combines Ape Canyon's USA-manufactured saddles with Kryptek's veteran-founded camouflage technology for the 2026 archery season.
Moultrie introduced three heavy-duty metal feeders—350LB Sled, 300LB Broadcast, and 600LB Broadcast—exclusively at Bass Pro Shops. The feeders feature critter-proof steel construction and full Moultrie Connect compatibility with EDGE 3 and 4 Series cellular trail cameras through the Moultrie app.
Stealth Cam launches its upgraded 3.0 Series cellular trail cameras featuring AI-powered false image detection, PIR zone selection, and Rack Alert technology. The Deceptor MAX 3.0, Revolver PRO 3.0, Spectre 4K Pro, and Fusion MAX 3.0 models offer dual-core technology for simultaneous image and video capture with free 4K downloads via the Command app.
Texas Trophy Hunters Association (TTHA) announced tickets are now on sale for the 50th Annual Hunters Extravaganza, making stops in Houston, San Antonio, and Fort Worth throughout August 2026. The premier hunting and outdoor expo will feature hundreds of exhibitors, educational seminars, live demonstrations, and special anniversary celebrations honoring five decades of Texas hunting heritage.
Blue Ridge Knives, a wholesale distributor of knives and outdoor gear, will continue its partnership with Whitetails Unlimited as a national sponsor. The online wholesaler offers over 800 brands and maintains a 2,000-page catalog of outdoor, survival, and tactical products.
Outdoor Action TV highlights its expansive library of premium outdoor programming available on VOD platforms, the OATV App, and FAST Channel. Standout series include Hard Truths of Conservation with Dan Cabela, World of Saltwater Fishing, Uncharted Waters with Peter Miller, and Sportsman's Adventures with Captain Rick Murphy, all available free to viewers.
Ralph and Vicki Cianciarulo head to Round Valley Outfitters in Utah for a management mule deer hunt in the 26th season of The Choice on Pursuit Channel, airing July 27th with guides Brett and Blake.
First things first: the failure of Oregon’s anti-hunting ballot initiative deserves to be celebrated.
Hunters, anglers, ranchers, conservationists, and countless citizens came together to stop one of the most aggressive anti-hunting proposals our nation has seen in recent memory. The defeat of the PEACE Act was a victory for science-based wildlife management, rural communities, and the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. It was proof that when the outdoor community stands together with a unified voice, it can still shape the outcome of issues that matter.
But celebration should never become complacency.
Victories have a way of making us comfortable. They can leave us believing the threat has passed when, in reality, it has only paused. Oregon should absolutely be celebrated, but it should also serve as a warning. The organizations behind this initiative aren’t likely to disappear because they failed to gather enough signatures. They’ll regroup, refine their messaging, study what resonated with voters, and return with another proposal because they understand they’re playing the long game.
The hunting community must do the same.
If that sounds like an overreaction, consider what happened in my home state of Virginia. For years, proposals to ban so-called assault weapons were introduced in Richmond. Many gun owners dismissed them as political theater because the bills repeatedly failed, stalled in committee, or faced a governor’s veto. It became easy to believe they would never become law. Then the political landscape changed. After years of persistent advocacy, Virginia enacted restrictions on the future sale, transfer, manufacture, and importation of many semiautomatic firearms in 2026.
Whether you supported those laws or opposed them isn’t my point. The lesson is that ideas once considered politically impossible can become legislative reality when advocates are willing to spend years changing public opinion instead of simply winning the next vote. Culture moves first. Policy almost always follows. Anti-hunting organizations understand this reality. Like the anti-gun movement, they’re playing chess, not checkers, and hunters need to begin thinking with the same long-term mindset.
That lesson should resonate with every hunter because, unlike the right to keep and bear arms, hunting is not explicitly protected by the United States Constitution. While many states, including Virginia, have constitutional amendments recognizing the right to hunt and fish, those protections exist only at the state level. Their future ultimately depends upon whether citizens continue to value hunting enough to preserve them.
In other words, the future of hunting has always depended on more than hunters.
It depends on the millions of Americans who don’t hunt but vote. It depends on parents deciding whether to introduce their children to the outdoors. It depends on suburban families whose only exposure to hunting comes from a headline, a social media post, or a conversation with someone they trust. If they understand what hunting truly represents, they’ll be far more likely to support it. If they don’t, someone else will define us for them.
Perhaps that’s where we’ve fallen short.
We’re exceptionally good at talking to people who already agree with us. We write for hunters. We produce television for hunters. We market products to hunters. We attend the same conventions, support the same organizations, and celebrate the same successes. There’s nothing wrong with that, but the future of hunting won’t be decided by hunters alone. It will be decided by millions of Americans who may never purchase a hunting license but who will ultimately shape the political and cultural environment in which hunting either thrives or struggles.
Those are the people we need to reach.
For too long, we’ve become experts at defending hunting instead of explaining it. We mobilize when legislation is introduced. We rally when a ballot initiative appears. We fight passionately when our traditions are attacked. Meanwhile, those seeking to eliminate hunting never stop telling their story because they understand that changing laws begins by changing minds.
Our response cannot simply be louder opposition. It has to be better leadership—leadership that is inclusive, community-minded, and outward focused. We should continue telling the story of what hunting has done for wildlife through the Pittman-Robertson Act, license dollars, habitat restoration, and science-based wildlife management. Those facts matter because they’re true.
But I believe there’s another story we’ve overlooked.
We need to tell people what hunters do for people who cant, don't, or won't hunt too.
We need to tell the story of the hunting club that raises money for a child battling cancer. The sportsmen who rebuild wheelchair ramps for disabled veterans. The volunteers who donate venison to local food pantries. The conservation organization that restores streams and habitat because healthier land benefits the entire community. The hunters who mentor young people, sponsor scholarships, coach youth shooting sports, support first responders, and quietly show up whenever their neighbors need them.
Those stories matter because they reveal something deeper than whether someone hunts.
They reveal who hunters are.
One of the greatest challenges facing our community is that many Americans who don’t hunt have never actually met a hunter, or at least they don’t realize they have. Their understanding of hunting is often shaped by headlines, social media, or organizations whose objective isn’t simply to end hunting but to redefine hunters themselves. Before someone can convince the public to oppose hunting, they first have to convince them that hunters are somehow different, less compassionate, less ethical, less worthy of being heard.
Every act of service, every conservation project, every scholarship, every veteran we help, every child we mentor, every meal we donate, and every neighbor we serve reminds the public that hunters are exactly what we’ve always been, ordinary Americans who care deeply about wildlife, our communities, and leaving both better than we found them. The future of hunting may depend less on convincing people to become hunters than it does on convincing them that hunters make their communities stronger.
That’s the story we should be telling every day.
Because hunting has never simply been about harvesting an animal. It’s about stewardship. It’s about responsibility. It’s about family, food, faith, conservation, and service. Those are values that resonate whether someone hunts or not.
Oregon bought us something incredibly valuable: time. The question isn’t whether another challenge is coming, because it is. The question is whether we’ll use the time we’ve been given to mentor new hunters, welcome non-hunters into our camps, serve our communities, and tell our story so well that when the next challenge arrives, the public already understands why hunting matters.
The people behind Oregon’s initiative aren’t taking a break because they lost, and neither should we.
Victories deserve to be celebrated. But legacies are built by what we do after the celebration ends.
Oregon wasn’t the end of the story. It was a reminder that stories shape culture, culture shapes policy, and policy shapes the future. If we want hunting to endure, then our greatest responsibility isn’t simply to defend it. It’s to live it in such a way that our neighbors, whether they hunt or not, are grateful hunters are part of their community.
That’s how we preserve hunting, and build a legacy that will outlast every ballot initiative still to come.
After all, the best way to win any war is by never having to fight it in the first place.
If we can win the hearts and minds of all of the Americans who don't hunt, we may do just that.
