Sign up for the Outdoor Life Newsletter Get the hottest outdoor news—plus a free month of onX Hunt Elite. The first African lion I ever shot was a man-eater. The year was 1993. It was a lioness. I actually shot two of them. I had been working with government officials in South Africa, and one night we killed four problem lions that had been wreaking havoc on villages for weeks. I skinned out those two lions and one is now mounted life-size in my office, while the other was crafted into a rug. But those weren’t the only mementos from…

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadPeople often look at preparedness through a basic lens of supplies, checklists, and storage rooms. And, yes, it feels great as our mountain if prepping supplies grows—I love it. That mindset covers the basics. It’s the logical starting point and does a lot of good for getting prepared. But people who go deeper into their preparedness—just like you are doing now, know that preparedness is a thinking game. You know that what works today might not tomorrow, and that rigid plans, like an egg, are easy to crack. If you’re reading this, odds are…

Israel is refusing to leave Lebanon in peace, not wanting to remove its troops and cease the occupation. It is also considering instigating a new conflict with Syria, even though a condition of the war with Iran ending was Israel’s cessation of its occupation. Israel continues to claim that it is going after Hezbollah, a terrorist organization. But its refusal to withdraw could lead to long-lasting consequences for the US, in a war it already all but surrendered to. Israel has already launched an artillery strike on the village of Abidin in the western part of Syria’s Daraa Governorate, and,…

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadLet’s be blunt—your mind is under attack. Not just by algorithms or platforms, but with encouragement from state actors, media networks, and other interests with something to gain by using us. Code. Curated chaos. The attention economy and psyop campaigns thrive on outrage, fear, and distraction, and you’re the product. Every angry scroll, every anxious click, every late-night doom-dive, every bit of influence gained over you? That’s more money and control in someone else’s pocket. And the cost to you? Clarity. Sanity. The ability to focus on what matters most. That feeling of overwhelm,…

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadDisaster strikes. The grid goes dark. Infrastructure stops. Your kid goes from eating waffles on the couch to hauling buckets of water up the stairs. Your spouse is trying to cook dinner on a camp stove while rationing batteries. And you’re looking around, trying to figure out how to keep everyone moving forward when the world just hit the pause button. That’s the kind of shift families face in any serious disaster — whether it’s a hurricane grinding the coast or a blackout with no end in sight. And it doesn’t just test your…

Sign up for the Outdoor Life Newsletter Get the hottest outdoor news—plus a free month of onX Hunt Elite. A cold wind hit us as we broke out of timber from our camp near the mouth of Ormond Creek. We kicked the horses out to the gravel bars of the Slana River, which drains out of the great Alaska Range of mountains. It was late September, 1964, and we were heading for a day of hunting for moose, caribou, and grizzly bear. Just as we reached the river bar, my foreman and assistant guide, R. L. Ford, said, “Don, what’s…

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadThe past five years have been a wake-up call. And things don’t appear to be settling down anytime soon. From disrupted supply chains during COVID and civil unrest to assassinations, ongoing economic instability, and global tensions verging on World War III, we’ve all had a front-row seat to just how fragile our world and the systems we rely on really are. That illusion of stability? Currently, it feels thinner than it has at any point in my life. What happens if things grind to a halt—not just for a few hours or days, but…

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadTalking about civil war preparedness isn’t something I enjoy. However, with tensions as high as they are—and nearly half the country believing it’s likely—it’s something we need to consider. A 2024 Marist poll found that 47% of Americans believe a second civil war could happen in their lifetime. When you consider the political anger, the cultural divide, and the daily signs of growing hostility, it’s not hard to see why. Add to that the foreign governments and domestic agitators who benefit from keeping us angry and divided. Then factor in how fast information—true or…

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadImagine this: The power’s out. Shelves are empty. The internet is down. And suddenly, the things you quietly set aside—food, fuel, gear, cash—start looking like solutions to everyone else’s problems. Those solutions? They’re exactly what others will notice—and try to grab first. They’re the first target in any crisis. In a true crisis, what you have can make you a target—by anyone. Legal authority already exists to seize what you have or redirect what you need. And if the government doesn’t come for it, desperate people will. Every online order, every debit card swipe—those…

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadThis episode and article were inspired by a great listener question from E. Hunter, who asked: “As an 18-year-old living with my parents, how would I go about getting my parents onboard with prepping?” That question’s probably not one a lot of you are wondering—especially because, let’s face it, most preppers are old enough to be the parents or grandparents in this situation. That’s what makes this topic so interesting — it flips the usual dynamic. So, Hunter, you’re ready to take preparedness seriously, but your parents? Not so much. Maybe they brush it…

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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIf you spend much time on social media, particularly in prepping or survival circles, you’ve no doubt run across the suggestion that wasp spray makes for a dandy self-defense weapon. As the story goes, wasp spray has a range of 20 feet or more and it is severely debilitating to the attacker. On the scale of stupid ideas, this ranks somewhere north of peeing on a fence to see if it’s electric or not. Listen, before we go any further, let’s get this out of the way. The ideal defense weapon in most altercations…

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Watch full video on YouTube

Watch full video on YouTube

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadWhen people talk about preparedness, ammo tends to get tossed around like it’s candy at a parade. Some folks stockpile thousands of rounds for every caliber under the sun. Others think two boxes of 9mm ammunition in the nightstand drawer should suffice. So… how much is actually enough? Let’s cut through the social media firestorm that can arise when discussing this issue and get to the real numbers—for pistols, rifles, and shotguns—with a focus on personal and family defense. I want to caveat this by stating that this is about having enough ammunition on…

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Watch full video on YouTube

When a deadly virus lands in a California town and starts ravaging the population, most people don’t have a clue what’s happening until it’s too late. There’s no warning. No broadcast telling you to get out now. Just armed guards, lockdown orders, and people in hazmat suits who aren’t there to help. Outbreak (1995) keeps it simple. A virus spreads. People aren’t ready. And when the government shows up, you’re already out of options. It’s a reminder that when decisions get made behind closed doors, the rest of us live with the fallout. The movie shows a scenario that feels…

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Watch full video on YouTube

Watch full video on YouTube

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadPicture this: It’s New Year’s Eve. An Uber driver parks his car at a remote trailhead in L.A.’s Santa Monica Mountains. His phone pings a nearby cell tower. His Uber app logs his route, and he films a small fire he’s just started. Five months earlier, he asked an AI to create a dystopian image of a burning forest. Fast forward to October 2025, and that driver, Jonathan Rinderknecht, is arrested for starting the Palisades Fire—one of Los Angeles’ worst wildfires, killing 12 people and causing $150 billion in damages. How did authorities catch…

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