Sign up for the Outdoor Life Newsletter Get the hottest outdoor news from Outdoor Life. A CRUDE SHELTER in a vast winter landscape, the conspicuous lump on the tundra resembles a misshapen, man-made boulder. Its bright blue shell luffs like a loose sail and shudders in the wind. One end of the tarp is fastened to a broken-down snowmobile. The other ends are pulled to the ground and anchored by the snow and rime that have accumulated over the last few days. Inside the makeshift dwelling, two frozen fists clench the tarp. Curled in the fetal position, the man cannot…

The U.S. Air Force is on track to graduate 1,500 new pilots in fiscal 2026 after a year of modernizing the service’s flight-training model.The Air Force began a new initiative in 2025 called the Future of Undergraduate Pilot Training, shifting flight training from traditional military pilot training to civilian flight schools. The ability to add 1,500 pilots this fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, confirms the validity of the FUPT to bridge the gap of the service’s 2,407-pilot shortfall, according to a recent release.“Reaching 1,500 pilots is a milestone, but it is not the finish line,” Lt. Gen. Clark J.…

Sign up for the Outdoor Life Newsletter Get the hottest outdoor news from Outdoor Life. “Remember the buffalo!” These words might well be added to America’s Conservation Pledge. And if American sportsmen ever have to demonstrate, especially for youngsters, the necessity of wise laws and decent self-restraint, let them tell the story of the American bison (to give the buffalo his true name), and how he was virtually exterminated by a horde of greedy, wasteful men. Just the bare statistics are shocking. Wildlife authorities estimate that before the coming of the white man, not less than seventy-five million buffaloes probably…

Air Force Maj. Jason Watson asserted that “discomfort is not contempt” in an unsworn statement at his Uniform Code of Military Justice Article 32 hearing, as his defense argued for the case to be referred to a special court-martial.In his first statement since being charged with 10 specifications under three UCMJ articles, Watson shared that his oath to the Constitution made him act, saying that it was nonpartisan and he would’ve protested any office that violated the law.Chris Mutimer, Watson’s civilian attorney, said in the Friday preliminary hearing at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, Washington, D.C., that the case at hand is…

After overseeing a purge of Pentagon advisory committees last year, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is adding a new one to the list, focused on homeland security and defense.Announced in the Federal Register Sept. 11, the Homeland Defense Board aims to fill a gap Hegseth sees in providing military guidance to homeland security missions.“The specific, integrated advice required by the SecWar regarding the military’s mission of defense of the Homeland and Homeland security cooperation is not available from any other Federal advisory committee, government agency, or alternative source,” establishing documents state.“Department of war” and “secretary of war” are the Trump administration’s…

Sign up for the Quick Strike Newsletter The hottest fishing news, tips, and tactics The Davis family has spent summer vacations in Wisconsin for years and Dillon Davis grew up fishing the Eagle River area from the family cottage. And that’s a tradition he was able to share with his 12-year-old daughter Madilyn — in record-breaking fashion. Dillon, his wife Audrey and Madilyn were enjoying fishing the Northwoods of Wisconsin over the Fourth of July. Madilyn was determined to catch a big muskie, with her dad as her guide, and she hoped it might be big enough for an International…

The Army is throwing its weight behind new and emerging construction methods to cut building costs by 30%, according to a recent memo obtained by Army Times. But it’s also halving building lifespans, with a plan that calls for new builds to last just 25 years instead of the traditional 50.The memo, published July 31 and signed by W. Jordan Gillis, assistant secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment, directs “the adoption of installation resilience through Industrialized Construction” through use of construction methods like 3D printing, rapidly deployed tent-like tension fabric structures, parts kits, and pre-engineered steel structures.“The…

Twenty-six days after the Pentagon’s deadline for defense companies to propose faster weapons production, the Defense Department has not publicly disclosed how many companies responded or what production timelines they offered.Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg gave industry leaders until Aug. 26 to submit plans for “significantly faster, more aggressive delivery schedules and/or increased production for critical capabilities,” according to his Aug. 5 memo.Feinberg directed companies to identify ways to accelerate production and delivery, propose capital investments and facility expansions and explain how the Pentagon could enable higher production. The memo identified 16 critical programs under consideration for accelerated production or…

Sign up for the Deer Camp Newsletter Get everything from whitetail news and opinion pieces, to advanced hunting tactics and cutting-edge gear reviews. Retired couple Susanne and Darrel Steffy knew from trail camera photos that some good bucks were feeding in soybean fields where they hunt in northeast Maryland. The bowhunting pair had placed ladder stands along wood lines in two different bean fields about 400 yards from each other. About mid-afternoon of September 11 they each got into their stands. They used TenPoint crossbows with scopes and Rage two-blade expandable broadheads.  “I didn’t see much except some does until…

The United States is watching China’s presence in its Arctic zone “very closely” amid concerns regarding the security of the U.S. homeland, a senior U.S. Arctic military official said.So far in 2026, four Chinese research vessels have conducted work offshore in the U.S. Arctic, compared to a total of five in 2025, Rear Adm. Bob Little, commander of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Arctic District, told Reuters.The Chinese ships sailed in the maritime zones off the U.S. state of Alaska, including the Aleutian Islands, into the Bering Strait and as far north as the North Pole, he said during a visit…

Sign up for the Deer Camp Newsletter Get everything from whitetail news and opinion pieces, to advanced hunting tactics and cutting-edge gear reviews. JEFF JOHNSTON ADMITS he’s a walking paradox. A lifelong whitetail hunter who manages his farm in eastern Oklahoma for record-class bucks, Johnston has written widely about his obsession with outsize deer. He’s even developed an algorithm-based antler-scoring system, called Trophy Scan, that can estimate a score based on a good-quality photograph of a deer’s rack. But for all his devotion to identifying, hunting, and killing what he calls “big-ass” bucks, Johnston has never put a tape measure to…

Three positions, and the reasons to pick each.

The fundamental everybody claims to have down already.

Plates, carrier, straps. Set up wrong does nothing.

Flat on your belly. Harder than it sounds.

A pistol, a dot, and real distance.

Two Geissele rifles, and what you’re paying for.

Something hit Moscow. Details still coming in.

Part four, still zeroing the AK. He’s thorough.

Fifty dollars against two hundred. He ran them both.

Utah, a protestor, and a question mark.

A new Benelli. He’s not sold on it.

Aircraft into Iran, tanks to the border. Developing.

A SEAL attached to Green Berets. He names the job.