Page 4 - Outdoor

Step up your camping game with these bomb tacos. To make these great tacos you need a camp stove. One we suggest is the Camp Chef Rainier Campers Combo Camp Stove. This stove is the your next best camping investment. Featuring everything you'd look for in a stove like two burners, non-stick grill, and coated aluminum griddle - this compact stove is both convenient and portable. Check it out below as we make camp tacos. Read more

Boasting a proprietary adjustable one size fits all technology, these Ice Cleats from Korkers provide the ultimate customized fit whether you use a trail shoe or boot. Watch the video below to learn more about this versatile addition to your winter hiking gear. Hi. I'm Bryan Chaney. I'm here at the Mid-State Show with North 40 Outfitters and wanted to talk about some of our new products. This is called the ice commuter. It's gonna be new for fall 2018. It's heel traction and it's powered by the Boa system. So, what we like about this cleat is it's great 'cause it stashes into a pocket really easily. And another thing that's really great about it is it transitions from outdoors to indoors. That's a lot of times a problem for people. With the ice commuter it's very easy. So, basically you lift the boa dial and that releases the tension ... Read more

A bat house provides crevices for the bats to rest and roost. As dusk settles on a warm summer evening and bats take to the sky for their nightly meals, my family loves to sit on the porch to see how many we can spot. Dipping and dodging, we can’t glimpse the insects in their sites, but we know they fill an important niche in the ecosystem, keeping insect populations in check. Bats are renowned for their insect eating proclivities and that is not lost on Dan Bachen, senior zoologist at the Montana Natural History Program. “Primarily up here they eat insects, which is why they are absolutely important,” Bachen said. In terms of agriculture, bats save farmers billions of dollars in pest control. In addition, many bat species hold imperative roles in pollination. For those reasons, and others, it’s not a pretty pi... Read more

Few things can inspire, relax, rejuvenate and humble more than the classic American campsite. In the wild, one's true nature, in all its flaws, is brought to the surface and enveloped in the infinite stillness of the woods. We open ourselves and share our pains, face our fears, and shed the troubles of modern life in a silent exchange between the winds, the trees and, for a lucky few, the big open sky. Here is our wild game processing tools and accessories catalog if you need game gear. Who Uses Wild Game Seasonings? I find myself settled in and relaxing at a campsite in Beaver Creek Park just outside Havre, Montana cooking some Wild Game sausage and enjoying a delightful cup of Twisp, Washington's Blue Star coffee. Prior to living in Montana, I lived in a homestead style house nestled deep in the woods of Okanogan County. My family and ... Read more

When I was first introduced to Savage Gear, we were fishing a local lake here in North Idaho. To say the least, I was more than impressed. Unlike my normal fishing schedule of waking up at 4:00 and being on the water at 4:15, this day we got out at 3:00- p.m. Not what I would consider "early bird getting the worm." Order these three swim baits right here. Savage Ridicule Becomes Disbelief- Becomes a Double Bass Bonanza While casting my normal presentations of swimbaits, spinners, and twitch baits, my partner pulls out this insanely offensive colored swim bait... As I start ridiculing him about the colors of this "beacon for the space shuttle," he casts toward the main lake, and after about 3 seconds, snap! I thought it was his line that broke, but no, it was the tip of his rod- after that I stopped laughing. Is this bait right for you? ... Read more

During the months of September to the middle of October we have a very awesome fishery down at the Hanford Reach area. This stretch of the Columbia has the highest return of Chinook salmon in the entire Columbia River system. Last year we almost hit a million Chinook returning to their spawning grounds on the Columbia. This a 50+mile of natural free flowing stretch of the Columbia River, with heavy fast moving currents. This can make an experienced fisherman new to this area, look very intimidating to fish. This stretch of free flowing water and fast current speeds means it's time to do some back trolling! Here are a few techniques to help you put more fish in your boat... There are a couple ways you can back troll down at the Reach. One of the most popular techniques are running cured eggs behind a size 50 Jumbo Jet Diver. Running eggs ... Read more

I have learned a few little tips and tricks to help you become successful on the Columbia River for your chinook salmon. To begin, let's talk Brad's Super Baits. A True Believer in Brad's Super Baits Brad's Super Baits are one of the top lures used on the entire Columbia River system for catching spring, summer, and fall chinook. I started fishing with Brad's Super Baits about 4 or 5 years ago and my catch rate went way up. I started catching a lot more fish with a lot more takedowns. The first time I used Brad's Super Baits was above Priest Rapids Dam for fall run chinook, within the first 30 seconds it was in the water, I had a nice chinook on. For the rest of the day we couldn't keep them off. My father and I landed six huge adult chinook and lost a handful. In the end, we did go home with a cooler full! My father and I have never... Read more

You'll know it's time to wash your sleeping bag a couple ways, the first of those (and the most wholesome) being the loft test. Loft Test: If you notice a loss of loft in your bag since you purchased it this could indicate that your bag is in need of a full wash (and tennis ball beating). The second method to recognize when it's time to clean your bag- the scent test. Scent Test: This one isn't scientific. If you've been falling into your bed in the same clothes you hiked/climbed/fished/rode in, chances are you've packed in bacteria and debris that will cause that camp smell. Those are both easy ways to know when it's time for a full service washing. But how do you wash a down sleeping bag without ruining one of the most important pieces of the camping puzzle? What you'll need If you use the wrong kind of detergent, you could ruin your e... Read more

In episode 19 of #AskNorth40, Zach playfully makes a joke about the sizes of firearms. The joke plays out like that line from the 1986 Crocodile Dundee movie. A man pulls out a small knife, or in this case Zach pulls out a small firearm and is asked, "Is this a gun?" Zach then sets the small firearm on the counter and pulls out a much, much larger firearm from behind his back. He shakes his head and responds, "no, no buddy this is a gun." Read more about guns and ammunition here. Joking aside, when we spoke with Zach regarding this, he suggested that there are three things women need to consider when looking to buy a firearm. The first of which is size, (insert Crocodile Dundee joke here). Concealed Handguns for Women: Size Matters Number One. Zach states that smaller firearms are actually more difficult to operate. Smaller firearms ... Read more

In episode #14 #AskNorth40, Blake with NuCanoe, jokingly refers to hearing complaints about how two seater canoes and tandem kayaks are called "divorce boats"... because they don't work very well. He is quick to clearly point out that it doesn't have to be that way. Blake is an owner at NuCanoe. NuCanoe, an excellent company based out of Bellingham, Washington, that manufactures kayaks and kayak accessories. On their website NuCanoe explains, "Fishing in a kayak with your spouse, child, or friend is an awesome experience... if you have the right tandem fishing kayak!" The Most Important Issue when Looking at 2 Person Kayaks So, when you are shopping around for a two seater kayak what is the most important thing you need to make sure you have? Blake states, that with two people fishing out of a kayak, the main and most important issue to... Read more

As a fisherman, there are few things in this world that can be labeled as truth. Bad weather is just over the horizon, the size of the fish is about half what the beer says it was, and a bad day on the water is better for the soul than a good day at work. Life and fishing are difficult enough, creating another obstacle seems outlandish. But in THAT lies the challenge! Great Minds Think Alike March is a special month in a fishing shop. It is a transition period between hard water and open water. Ice houses, augers, and coveralls are stored away for the year and out come the spinning rods, tackle boxes, and bait coolers. It is also the time that new gear starts showing up on the shelves. The "brand new thing" for us here at North 40 are the Kinchou Shads and Minnows from Matzuo. While we were putting the finishing touches on the display, D... Read more

Nucanoe was founded on a simple phrase: "Get a billion butts in boats." We know simplicity works, and this is true for Nucanoe as well. The product does what you would expect it too it is a hybrid between a kayak and a canoe and offers exceptional versatility and customization options. I talked to Blake, the CEO, and he told me no two Nucanoes are alike some people use them to fly fish and strip them down to drift, some people motor them up to get more mobility out of it. A story that really stuck out to me was that of an older customer 75 years and had been kayak fishing for decades. He wrote into Blake and told him until he found Nucanoe, he thought his kayak days were over- getting into and out of a traditional kayak had become too much for him to do, but with the open Nucanoe design, which makes it much easier to use alone, this gent... Read more