Page 132 - North 40 Outfitters

At some point or another, you may have to place something in the back for your truck that, unfortunately, is longer that your truck bed. Usually, you try to strap it down and pray it doesn't fall off. While this can work, the person driving behind you might not be so confident in your tie down skills. Thankfully, there's a way to extend your truck bed for those awkward length items. And better yet, you can do it yourself. Make your Truck an Extended Bed w/ Erickson Big Bed Extender First off- my automotive skills are glaringly lacking, so when this project came down the pipeline, I said, "WHAAAAAAAAAATT. Vehicles?" Let's say if my life was a video game- my car skills are Level Zero. Here's a Father's Day project you might fight interesting... the Ranchero Rebuild. But that's doesn't even matter when it comes to the Erickson Big Bed Exten...

Having a brand goes beyond the name. A brand reflexes the values, the passions, the integrity, and more importantly, the people involved with the brand, from the owner to the consumer. A brand should be synonymous with what it stands for as much if not more so than the product or service that they provide. We ourselves went through a change of name, from Big R to North 40 Outfitters, and try our best to maintain and improve our brand. However, this article isn't about us; it's about at brand that we are proud to be associated with, even if we are only a small part of a bigger whole. Mountain Hardwear is more than what their name suggests, though they live up to that name pretty darn well. With a line of products that is designed to endure the craziest of adventures, that really isn't that surprising. But that is the point right there, I ...

While animal health companies are riddled with hundreds of stats about how much healthier, heavier, and better your cattle herds will be using their product... so we asked Zoetis to prove it, and to our surprise they took us up on it. Next step was to bring on Vic Anderson and get him to go all Zoetis in 2016 on his cattle ranch on the Smith River in Montana. No real science here... this is just a real life, cattle rancher's experiment doing what Zoetis recommends for cattle health and productivity. And so begins North 40 Outfitter's Anderson Experiment... Money Talks Trying to get a rancher to spend more money can be, well, difficult at times. You combine that with the fact that if a rancher has had success in the past using his current methods and you are in for an uphill battle come time to try and get him to try something new. "...

This is a N40 Original production featuring the winners from our N40 Coops competition. We had many amazing entries last year, and this film brings you the top two coops from Montana, Washington and Idaho--we aren't saying you should be envious, but some of these coops were out of this world... and for the chicken farmer, no matter the scale, we hope this video can inspire you to be creative, be unique and try something new.     When it comes to raising chickens, we know its not just the brood lights and chick starter kits that you bring your new chicks home to--it's about the attention to detail, the love and the foundation you lay for your chickens that will set them up for a full life in your flock. Whether or not you are a veteran chicken farmers, or someone just thinking about getting into the lifestyle, please feel free ...

Background on the New Sage Pulse Sage built the new Pulse series fly rods with their proven Graphite IIIe Technology. The Graphite IIIe is touted to be strong, light and to deliver a connected feel though the casting stroke. The Pulse series was designed as an all-round "workhorse" lineup. Previously, the Sage XP family was a popular premium series built upon graphite IIIe. Back when the XP came out, I thought it was the best. Later, when the Z Axis replaced it with Generation 5 graphite, I thought it was even better. More recently, when the One arrived with Konnetic technology, I was stoked. As you can probably tell, I’m a Sage fan. That said, I am always willing to try any rod. I cast and fish every rod I can get my hands on. This past season, the Winston Nexus became our number one selling rod at a similar price point to the new Pul...

When you have a question about fly fishing, it’s a good idea to ask someone who’s tried it. When this question came in, we had the go to guy: Dillon out of Ponderay’s Fly Shop. He’s got a kayak in his truck 24/7, and we knew this was the perfect question for him. Dillon fishes still water and rivers from his kayak, and has extensive experience throwing all kinds of line, but when it comes to sink tips, and whether or not you should try 'em out of a kayak, his answer was an emphatic: "Yes." You can see in the video above why you should do it, but we called him up in Ponderay to get a little bit more inside information for this write up. AskNorth40: "What else can you tell us about fishing from a kayak?" Dillon: "Wearing a vest is a must. I mean, I haven’t fallen out of my kayak yet, but I feel that day is coming. When you are...

What should you do when you want to get rid of bees (wasps) for good? Let's look at this question a little closer "how do you get rid of bees?" This could be a loaded question for anyone not really into bees- like we obviously are at North 40 Outfitters. If you are INTO bees (then you need to check out our beekeeping supplies online), you know there are many honeybees you'd never want to get rid of because they are amazing gold producing, garden enhancing little pieces of sunlight- but if you are NOT into bees, they can all appear to be the same kind of buzzing, stinger wielding pests. The Bee Break Down If the "bees" you are seeing around your house/property are of the glossy variety- that means you are now proudly cohabitate with a wasp species. That's not good. Wasps are predators and eat other insects. That means they like meat. The ...

The first part of this blog is from episode 8 of Ask North 40- then, like in all of our subsequent write ups, we went a little further than the question- and in this case- we went a lot further. This is a blue print for getting the most eggs out of your new layers this year. Follow it, and prosper. To some people this could be a loaded question- when it comes to chickens, like politics, there are camps that are righteously defended. The Black Australorp, while being the "true" reigning queen of laying (clocking in at 1 egg a day for a year) however, she may not lay as many eggs as some prized Rhode Island Reds or Black/Red Stars. If your Rhode Island Red is fed, grazed and raised right, with correct light, water and supplements (and, of course, a whole lotta these chickens treats) chances are she will lay more often and in higher qualit...

With the weather feeling like the onset of Spring, I knew it would be a great day to hit the river, and do some fly fishing. The temperature was in the mid 40s, the skies were partly cloudy, and the water was crystal clear. Not bad for the last day of February. Flows were around 20,000 cfs and midges were in the air. This has been the best midge hatch I have seen yet this year. Although conditions were awesome, fishing was tough. I tried everything from swinging woolly buggers to nymphing #18 red and grey midge patterns. At the end of the day, I had landed one 15" cutthroat and lost one other. This just goes to show that even the perfect conditions sometimes don't produce fish. I would expect BWO's to start popping sometime over the next few weeks, and that is always a great sign for some awesome dry fly action!

The deep freeze is over and our area steelhead are becoming more active. This year’s season got started with a bang. We saw an increase of anglers on the Methow River. From what I was able to piece together, it comes down to two reasons as to why this had occurred. The first was the closure of some of the Puget Sound River. This brought a higher influx of anglers from the west side of the state than we normally see. The other reason was that the Wenatchee River did not open. From what I was told, this was because they did not have enough fish to warrant an opening. So, those factors sent a little more pressure to the Methow. Opening day for me was great. I had plans of staying out all day, but following the rules, once I caught two hatchery marked fish, I had to end my day. From talking to other anglers on the river, they were having s...

Every March, the Yakima River calls cabin-fevered fly fisherman to its banks to fish its most revered hatch: the Skwalla Stonefly. This blue-ribbon Valhalla for fly fishing has one of the strongest early spring fisheries in the northwest. Hungry trout in these warming waters (look for 42-45 degrees) come unglued as this little (size 10) olive-bodied stonefly makes for shore. A simple Pat's Stone under an indicator is all you need to get it done. Trailing a lil' tungsten beaded nymph or a smaller dark stonefly wet can double your pleasure. Of course, who doesn't freak when you're throwing dry flies in March? And the Skwalla stones don't disappoint all you fish freaks. An Olive Chubby Chuck #10 or X-Stimulator gets 'er done, but as this hatch progresses and those 'stoner' trout sober up, you may have to whip out the 'trick flies'. I like t...

Lewiston, ID: Approximately 12 hours from my archery elk camp in Montana. It's the grand opening of our store in Lewiston, ID. Everyone is excited, customers are buzzing about our giant store and the expanded selection of Farm, Ranch and what seems like everything else you could ever need, including a Salted Nut Roll... I had no idea I was about to discover the Darn Tough Hiker sock. The sock Drew is wearing in the photo is the first sock in this extensive list...see what kind of socks you can discover here. At, the time I was excited for the opening of our Lewiston store... but not just for the new store. It's mid-September and my phone is blowing up with texts and pictures from my buddies in the field. My mantra for the weekend, "Stay focused on Lewiston, your week of hunting will be better if you leave here knowing you didn't daydrea...