I asked him, "how many antlers are there in here?" "No clue," he shrugged, but after a chuckle, he specified, "16,304, but I add some every year."

The lookouts played a critical part in maintaining and monitoring wildfires in the area while keeping visitors safe. Most of the lookouts in Montana are unmanned today, and many can be reached by hiking to them.

Gut leaders were made from silkworms by making a small incision just behind the head to reveal the silk glands, then submerging the poor silkworm in a solution of salt and vinegar. The silk was slowly drawn from the silk glands, and as it was extracted the material hardened into threads.

I have always been a hunter. Like many Montana boys my age, my father, like his father before him, schooled us in the teachings of the wild. Some kids spent their weekends playing sports, but my family were always sitting beside a lake, camping or adventuring the dirt roads with a small-caliber arms and a packed lunch in the back seat.

Abandoned lines have been having a bit of a renaissance—not as thoroughfares for trains, but as multi-use trails for pedestrians, cyclists, equestrians, and cross-country skiers. 

Montana is home to some of the most beautiful and pristine mountain ranges in the Rockies and with beautiful mountains comes spectacular skiing. Montana is known to have some of the best and most exciting skiing in the world with Whitefish Mountain regularly rating in the top 5 ski resorts in North America.

A sturdy footbridge across the South Fork a quarter mile from the trailhead provides good views up- and downstream. Afterward, be sure to stop at nearby Lone Mountain Ranch for an après-snowshoe drink in the saloon.

When the temperature begins to dip and the forecast calls for snow flurries and sunsets before work is over, the last thought for many is," where is my fly rod?” However, some still keep their rods and reels in the car for those days in winter that boast great fishing and solitude on the river. For those that want to give it a try, here are our top 5 tips for successful winter fly fishing. 

Forming the westernmost buttress of the broad swatch of peaks that comprises the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex, the Swans lie within an hour’s drive of Missoula but well off the beaten path of the skiing masses.

Thanks to the creation of the Montana State Parks system in 1939, residents and visitors alike have been able to hike up, swim through, camp within, and just bask in the grandeur that is Montana for 81 years now. Today, there are 55 state parks, each worthy of admiration and exploration. Here is a snapshot of five of them. 

Climbing, whether on rock, ice, or in the mountains, may seem like a death-defying activity only for those who wish to live life on the edge–when in reality, the sport can be enjoyed by anyone in a very safe and satisfactory manner!

Montana's rivers hit all-time highs with heavy rainfall and consistent runoff this spring, pushing rafting season back for casual rafters.

Check out these jaw-droppingly beautiful day hikes in Glacier National Park!

The simplest approach to packing consists of 
a pack saddle and a pair of panniers (bags, boxes, or baskets that contain cargo). This French word, often corrupted to “panyard” in the West, has been around since Shakespeare, who used it in one of his plays.

A spring blizzard and a prime subject - elk foraging on the grass – were at my disposal. My 500mm lens, resting on the beanbag on the car window, gradually filled with snow inside the lens hood. My view through the camera became obliterated.

I feed the river otters lunch and sanitize the otter building. I do a quick free-contact (no barrier between the animal and me) training session with our badger, Uki, asking her to go in her crate, put her paw on a few spread out wooden marks, and touch her nose to a tennis ball on a stick.