Whitewater launches the FINESSE Hybrid Jacket, a technical midlayer featuring 120g Sorona Aura insulation, baffled construction, and optimized stretch fabric designed for anglers. The jacket combines thermal regulation with athletic mobility, DWR protection, Polygiene StayFresh odor management, and UPF 50+ sun protection, available in Vintage Camo and Black for $179.99.
Whitewater introduces the upgraded TORQUE 7.4V Heated Vest, available fall 2026, featuring expanded core heating zones, Sorona® Aura insulation, and three adjustable heat settings for year-round water conditions. The redesigned vest combines active heating technology with premium wind-resistant materials and angler-focused ergonomic design.
Victory Archery introduces the VLR, a micro-diameter carbon shaft featuring proprietary MaxxKe™ carbon weave technology designed for bowhunters seeking extreme accuracy, minimal wind drift, and superior penetration in the field.
Jacob Slusarz won the third leg of the IBO National Triple Crown in Nelsonville, Ohio, securing his second consecutive overall Triple Crown Championship. Competing with Darton Archery, Black Eagle Arrows, and Conquest Archery equipment, Slusarz delivered one of his strongest 3D rounds against elite competition.
Cara Kelly of Team Mathews won the 2026 IBO Women's Triple Crown Championship with a dominant performance in Nelsonville, Ohio. Team Shooters Sharon Wallace, Emily McCarthy, and Kelly swept the Women's podium, while Levi Morgan and Dan McCarthy secured second and third place in the Men's division.
Outdoor Life selected TenPoint Crossbow Technologies' Titan X De-Cock as the 2026 Best Value Crossbow at $799, also achieving the most accurate performance with a 1.4-inch group average, outperforming the Ravin R10X Pro and Excalibur Rev X TD in testing.
The National Bowhunter Education Foundation presented Bob Barnette with its International Instructor of the Year award at the IHEA-USA Conference in Glendale, AZ. Mathews supplied Barnette with a signed 2026 ARC bow. Barnette, a Texas bowhunter and educator, has certified hundreds of students and serves as a field operations coordinator for the Texas Wildlife Association's Youth Hunting Program.
Jason Tabansky won gold at Stage #2 of the World Archery Para Series in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic, defeating Maurizio Panella 6-2 in the W1 division final on Independence Day. The 2024 Paralympic champion also earned silver in Stage #1 held in Bangkok, Thailand in April.
Five young archers—Silas Huang, Lois Monderen, Esmay Ramirez, Brody Sparks, and Russell Walberg—earned all three USA Archery Achievement Award pins in their respective divisions. Alexander Rawley and Rene Monderen also achieved gold and silver, and bronze awards respectively across various categories.
Olympic archers Justin Huish and Michele Frangilli set world records in recurve 50+ competition on the same day, nearly 30 years after their 1996 Atlanta Olympic quarterfinal matchup. Frangilli scored 680 at Italy's Freccia D'argento, while Huish shot 1354 at California's State Outdoor Championships, breaking the previous double 72-arrow record of 1324.
Gunwerks and the Worldwide Trophy Adventures Outdoor Guardian Fund committed $109,000 to fully fund the Wild Sheep Foundation's Coming Home project, which will translocate approximately 100 California bighorn sheep from Oregon to British Columbia over two years, completing a significant North American conservation effort.
The Boone and Crockett Club reached a $5 million endowment milestone for its wildlife conservation program at Clemson University, renamed the John P. Evans '75 Boone and Crockett Wildlife Conservation Program in recognition of Johnny Evans' leadership. The program supports science-based wildlife management research across the Southeast, including studies on black bears, invasive species, and predator-prey dynamics.
SLG2, Inc. brings its Shoot Like A Girl experience to Bass Pro Shops in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on July 18-19, 2026. The free event features a mobile range with firearm and archery experiences, product demonstrations from leading outdoor brands, and hands-on safety education for women, families, and outdoor enthusiasts of all experience levels.
Millennium Outdoors appointed Scott Ware as Director of Sales and Marketing. With nearly three decades of industry experience and 26 years at Outtech representing Millennium brands, Ware brings deep dealer relationships and product knowledge to strengthen the company's market presence and dealer partnerships.
Kinsey Brands is hiring a Procurement & Supply Chain Analyst to support its Consumer Brands Division. The role involves managing manufacturing procurement, supply chain planning, logistics coordination, and inventory management across Kinsey's portfolio of outdoor and hunting brands.
Kinsey Brands is hiring a Director of Brands to oversee its consumer brand portfolio, manage multi-channel sales strategies, guide product development, and lead supply chain operations. The role requires strong analytical skills and experience managing relationships with mass merchants, distributors, and international accounts.
Kinsey's Inc., a leading outdoor sporting goods distributor headquartered in Mount Joy, Pennsylvania, is hiring a Distribution Account Manager to manage 100-130 dealer accounts. The role combines sales, account management, and customer service with an emphasis on building dealer relationships and driving profitable growth.
The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) is hiring a Regional Director for western Montana to oversee volunteer chapters, organize fundraising events, and manage grant programs. The position requires a bachelor's degree, five years of professional experience, and frequent travel throughout the region.
Millennium Marine introduced the BD-100 Big Daddy Boat Seat, featuring a 24-inch-wide seating platform with four additional inches over the original B-100. The new seat maintains proven design elements including ComfortMAX fabric, lumbar support, and all-metal construction while offering enhanced comfort for boaters and anglers.
Whitetails Unlimited announced its 2026-2027 Program Service Initiatives including the Deer Poster & Target initiative, Clean Optics Hunt Safely initiative, Donate a Deer Initiative, and Kids on Target shooting team program. Members attending WTU events will receive educational materials, lens cleaning cloths, and resources supporting hunting safety, conservation, and youth shooting sports engagement.
ALPS Mountaineering has released the Micro Air portable air pump, a compact device powered by external power banks that inflates and deflates sleeping pads and other inflatables. Weighing just 1 ounce with multiple nozzle options and a carry bag, the pump will launch in summer 2026.
Moultrie introduced the EDGE 4 series, a cellular trail camera line featuring Buck Shot AI technology that recognizes target bucks and sends cropped images to phones. The waterproof cameras offer enhanced night clarity, GPS location pinning, and multiple power options including a new solar attachment, with pricing starting at $129.99.
Bass Pro Shops will celebrate its new 130,000-square-foot Loveland, Colorado location with an Evening for Conservation on July 22, featuring legendary anglers Roland Martin, Jimmy Houston, Edwin Evers, Kevin VanDam, Jim and Eva Shockey, and Nate Zelinsky. The company will donate 15% of sales to local conservation organizations, with festivities including live entertainment, a ribbon-cutting ceremony, and a 12,000-gallon aquarium.
Game Cuffs has joined Whitetails Unlimited as a national sponsor. The company's patented wrist wrap and steel cable system offers hunters an efficient alternative to traditional deer drag ropes, reducing hand fatigue while providing better control and durability.
FOXPRO will continue its partnership with Whitetails Unlimited as a national sponsor. Founded in 1993 by John Dillon, FOXPRO manufactures electronic game calls and hunting products sold worldwide. The company, now a 70-person operation based in Lewistown, Pennsylvania, remains committed to supporting Whitetails Unlimited's conservation mission.
The Cianciarulo family's 26th season of The Choice premieres on Pursuit Channel, featuring Ralph, Vicki, RJ, and Aubrey hunting boars at Cree River Lodge in Saskatchewan while enjoying fishing opportunities in this action-packed episode.
The Cianciarulo family continues their 26th season of The Choice on Pursuit Channel from Cree River Lodge in Saskatchewan. Aubrey tagged her biggest black bear to date while Vicki pursues a large boar, with the episode airing Monday, July 13th at 11:30 PM EST.
Pursuit Media announced a renewed 5-year distribution agreement with DIRECTV, extending their 18-year partnership. The enhanced deal makes Pursuit Channel content available in full HD across DIRECTV Satellite, DIRECTV Stream, U-Verse, and MyFree by DIRECTV, reaching millions of subscribers.
MyOutdoorTV launches a new Bowhunting Channel throughout July featuring shows like American Archer, Bow Madness, Bowhunter TV, and Bowhunting Whitetails with Bill Winke to help viewers prepare for upcoming hunting seasons with commercial-free, 24/7 streaming content.
GAME & FISH TV launches "Big Game Wednesday" programming blocks featuring shows like Everything Eichler, Addicted to the Outdoors, Driven with Pat & Nicole, Crush with Lee & Tiffany, Beyond the Hunt, and The Lindsey Way. The free streaming channel, powered by Outdoor Sportsman Group, airs hunting and fishing content every Wednesday in July across multiple platforms including Roku, Prime Video, and Samsung TV Plus.
I love Virginia. I love its mountains, its farms, its small towns and the hunting traditions that have been passed from one generation to the next.
I also happen to be a gun owner.
Those two things are not contradictory. In my experience, they go hand in hand because both reflect a culture that values personal responsibility, self-reliance, and individual liberty.
The author, and his wife, Wendy, vigorously enjoy their Second Amendment rights in their home state of Virginia.
When Virginia’s lawmakers debated new restrictions on lawful firearm ownership, supporters believed they were taking meaningful steps to reduce gun violence.
Many of us who own firearms believed something else would happen:
We believed thousands of otherwise hesitant Virginians would decide it was time to exercise a constitutional right before it became more difficult to do so.
That is exactly what happened.
Gun stores filled up. Background checks surged. First-time buyers became gun owners, and longtime shooters decided not to wait any longer. FBI background check data, widely used as the best available indicator of firearm purchasing activity, showed just how dramatic the response was. Virginia’s background checks climbed roughly 70 percent in March compared with the previous year, nearly 80 percent in April, more than doubled in May and exceeded three times the previous June’s total as the July 1 deadline approached. While background checks are not the same as firearm sales, the trend is unmistakable. Thousands of Virginians decided they would rather lawfully exercise a constitutional right today than wonder tomorrow whether they still could.
Whether someone supported the legislation or opposed it, the outcome should give all of us something to think about. An effort intended to discourage lawful firearm ownership encouraged many Virginians to become lawful firearm owners instead. Often many times over.
I don't think that was the metric anti gunners were aiming for (pun intended).
When government signals that it may restrict a constitutional right, people often become more determined to exercise it. Virginia became the latest example, and to be clear I'm damned proud to be a Virginian because of it. "Sic semper tyrannic" indeed .
Thousands of law-abiding citizens completed the paperwork, passed the background checks and legally purchased firearms. They followed every law the Commonwealth required.
That distinction matters because we were not criminals exploiting loopholes. We were citizens willingly participating in the legal process. Too often, our public debate blurs the line between violent criminals and responsible gun owners even though they have very little in common.
The Virginia gun owners I know are veterans, law enforcement officers, teachers, nurses, mechanics, farmers, pastors, small-business owners and parents. We hunt because we love the outdoors. We shoot competitively because we enjoy mastering a skill. Some carry a firearm because they believe protecting their family is one of life’s most important responsibilities. What we share is not fear or anger. We share a commitment to doing things the right way.
As a Virginian and a gun owner, I do not celebrate increased firearm sales because I believe more guns automatically make us safer. I see something different. I see thousands of citizens choosing to exercise a constitutional right through the legal process. More importantly, I see no reason to believe law-abiding Virginians suddenly became the source of the violent crime that concerns us all. We exercised our rights legally, just as the Constitution intended. Rights remain meaningful only when responsible people are willing to exercise them.
That also means accepting the responsibility that comes with those rights.
If we ask our fellow Virginians to trust us with our freedoms, we should earn that trust every day. We should pursue quality training, practice safe storage, mentor new shooters, hunt ethically, and conduct ourselves in a way that reflects well on every responsible gun owner in the Commonwealth.
I also want to extend an olive branch to Virginians who support stricter gun laws.
I do not believe most of you dislike gun owners, nor do I believe you wake up looking for ways to take away anyone’s freedoms. I believe many of you are responding to the same heartbreaking tragedies that affect all of us. When children are murdered, when families lose loved ones, or when violence tears apart a community, my heart breaks just as yours does. We may disagree about the solutions, but I do not believe we disagree about the value of human life.
If your goal is to reduce violent crime, then it is my goal, too.
Let us work together where we can. Let us improve access to mental health care. Let us support law enforcement as they target violent repeat offenders. Let us invest in mentoring young people before gangs and violence recruit them. Let us encourage every gun owner to seek training, practice safe handling, and store firearms responsibly.
At the same time, I ask that those who advocate for additional restrictions recognize something Virginia has demonstrated. Law-abiding citizens value this constitutional right deeply. When many believed that right might become more difficult to exercise, they exercised it through the legal process. They did exactly what responsible citizens are supposed to do.
The overwhelming majority of those new gun owners are not the source of the violence that concerns us all. They are your neighbors, your coworkers, your fellow church members, and the parents sitting beside you at Friday night football games. They are not the people terrorizing neighborhoods or preying on innocent victims. They are ordinary Virginians exercising a constitutional freedom responsibly.
To my fellow Virginia gun owners, I have a simple challenge.
Do not let this moment end with the purchase of a firearm. Let it begin there. Invite a curious neighbor to the range. Teach a first-time shooter with patience and humility. Be the safest person on the firing line and the most ethical hunter in the woods. Listen before you argue. Answer honest questions with respect instead of frustration.
The Second Amendment does not simply need defenders. It needs ambassadors.
If we truly believe this right matters, then let us become the kind of people who make that case without raising our voices. Let our character speak louder than our politics. Let our conduct make it impossible to confuse responsible gun owners with violent criminals.
Virginia’s recent experience should teach us more than a lesson about firearm sales. It should remind us that constitutional rights matter to millions of ordinary citizens. It should also remind us that every right carries a responsibility to strengthen the community around us.
The best argument for the Second Amendment will never be made in Richmond or Washington. It will be made every day by responsible Virginians who live with humility, integrity and respect for both their neighbors and the Constitution they cherish.
