Travis Hall
- Writer, Freelance
- Associate News Editor, Recurrent Ventures
- Associate News Editor, Field & Stream
Montana, Stevensville
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Associate Editor — @fieldandstream
Articles by Travis Hall
Angler’s State-Record Catfish Could Net Him a $20,000 Prize
FIELD & STREAM NEWSLETTERS ALL F&S NEWSLETTERS Tyler Harmon was fishing the Ohio River last month when hooked a once-in-a-lifetime catfish. Harmon landed the fish after a 20-minute fight, and it was certified as the new state record the following day. Now, he’s waiting to see if he’ll win a $20,000 grand prize from the tackle company that made the rod he was using when he caught it.
Mining Road Would Bring Widespread Hunting Closures to Alaska’s Brooks Range
FIELD & STREAM NEWSLETTERS ALL F&S NEWSLETTERS Back in late July, the Alaska Board of Game considered a full hunting and trapping closure for a two-mile wide corridor that runs for 211 miles through the southern foothills of the Brooks Range. Known as the Ambler Road, the proposed industrial mine road has been a major source of controversy in the state since 2015.
Forest Service Revisions Could Open Long-Protected Elk Habitat to Off-Road Vehicles
FIELD & STREAM NEWSLETTERS ALL F&S NEWSLETTERS The United States Forest Service is eyeing revisions to longstanding rules that govern off-road vehicle use on the 380,000 miles of roads under the agency’s management. If implemented, the proposal will fundamentally change motorized vehicle policies in National Forests, opening areas that have been closed to vehicles for over two decades. The policy shift would also open the door for e-bike use on non-motorized trails in National Forests.
Trump Administration Announces Complete Repeal of Roadless Rule Protections
FIELD & STREAM NEWSLETTERS ALL F&S NEWSLETTERS In statement issued this morning, Secretary of Agriculture Brook Rollins announced the details of her long-expected plan to erase Roadless Rule protections on roughly 44.7 million acres of public land managed by the US Forest Service. Rollins’ proposed changes would fully repeal the Roadless Rule in 36 states across the country. The move comes just two months after Utah Sen.
Ep. 42: Favorite Films About the West
Subscribe Since the 1903 showing of The Great Train Robbery, film has steadily become our primary way to tell the stories of the American West to the larger world. More than a century’s worth of movies and television shows later, in this episode of The American West Dan, Randall, and guest Dr. Sara Dant reveal their favorite films about the West. Subscribe now wherever you listen to podcasts. YouTube, Spotify, Apple, iHeart, Pandora, Amazon.
Feds Cave to Hunter Backlash After Considering Conservation Rollbacks in Prairie Potholes
FIELD & STREAM NEWSLETTERS ALL F&S NEWSLETTERS In late July, the US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced plans for a potential rule change that, according to critics, could have drained large portions of North America’s most critical waterfowl breeding grounds. The change would have allowed the installation of drain tiles (large underground drainage pipes) near protected wetlands in the Prairie Potholes Region (PPR) of Montana, the Dakotas, Minnesota, and Iowa.
Texans Protest as Border Wall Construction Begins Inside Big Bend National Park
FIELD & STREAM NEWSLETTERS ALL F&S NEWSLETTERS For the first time in U.S. history, the federal government is waving scores of bedrock environmental laws for a large-scale construction project inside a National Park. Bulldozing for the Big Bend border wall project began in earnest on August 4, despite strong bi-partisan opposition from locals.
Trump Administration Green Lights First-Ever Public Land Data Center in Nevada
FIELD & STREAM NEWSLETTERS ALL F&S NEWSLETTERS Back in June, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) quietly approved plans to construct a warehouse-sized data center on public lands in Nevada. Originally slated for a solar panel project, the BLM parcel is in Clark County, Nevada, within the city limits of Boulder City in the Eldorado Valley. The approval marks the first time that an AI data center has ever been approved on federally managed public lands in the United States.
Trump Administration Green Lights First-Ever Public Land Data Center in Nevada
FIELD & STREAM NEWSLETTERS ALL F&S NEWSLETTERS Back in June, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) quietly approved plans to construct a warehouse-sized data center on public lands in Nevada. Originally slated for a solar panel project, the BLM parcel is in Clark County, Nevada, within the city limits of Boulder City in the Eldorado Valley. It marks the first time that an AI data center has ever been approved on federally managed public lands in the United States.
Ep. 40: Becoming Natives of Place in the American West
Subscribe Two ideas about living in the modern West, bioregionalism and rewilding, emerged in the 1970s and early 2000s, and while neither has gone mainstream they have influenced how residents who prioritize nature have made decisions about a new western lifestyle. Subscribe now wherever you listen to podcasts. YouTube, Spotify, Apple, iHeart, Pandora, Amazon.
Ep. 1057: AI and the Future of Trail Cameras with Darrin Durham
Subscribe This week on the show Mark's joined by Darrin Durham, an avid deer hunter and program manager for Moultrie Mobile, to explore the fast evolving integration of AI into trailcams and how hunters can best take advantage of this technology.
America’s Duck Factory Could Soon Lose Key Habitat Protections
FIELD & STREAM NEWSLETTERS ALL F&S NEWSLETTERS A proposed rule change within the US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) could open the door for development that could drain critical wetlands inside the Prairie Potholes region. USFWS opened a public comment period about the changes on July 24 with a short window to comment ending on August 7.
Feds to Open Ohio’s Only National Forest to Fracking
FIELD & STREAM NEWSLETTERS ALL F&S NEWSLETTERS Nearly 3,000 acres of National Forest land in Ohio could soon open to oil and gas extraction via a controversial drilling method known as hydraulic fracturing or fracking. According to local news affiliate NBC 4, bidding on drilling projects inside the Wayne National Forest—popular for whitetail deer and wild turkey hunting—is set to begin this fall.
Feds to Hand States More Control of Grizzly Bear Management
FIELD & STREAM NEWSLETTERS ALL F&S NEWSLETTERS During a publicized ceremony in Big Sky, Montana last week, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum stood beside the governors of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming to declare a fundamental shift in the way grizzly bear populations are managed in the Lower 48. “Like me, President Trump believes that the people that are closest to the land, closest to the wildlife they’re protecting, should be the closest to providing solutions,” Burgum said from the podium.
Ep. 37: The Wolf Returns to the West
Subscribe One of the stories that will long define the American West in the modern era is the return of the wolf after a century of wholesale attempts to obliterate it. From New Mexico to Montana and west to the Pacific Coast, a five-million year-old native is on its way home again. Subscribe now wherever you listen to podcasts. YouTube, Spotify, Apple, iHeart, Pandora, Amazon.
White House Order Cuts Millions of Acres from National Monuments in Utah
FIELD & STREAM NEWSLETTERS ALL F&S NEWSLETTERS During an Oval Office ceremony on July 13, President Trump signed an Executive Order that could nearly eliminate two National Monuments in southern Utah. The monuments, Grand Staircase Escalante and Bears Ears, protect roughly 3.2 million acres of federally managed public land in the Beehive State from mining, drilling, and commercial-scale timber harvest.
Georgia Angler Breaks Longstanding Idaho Brown Trout Record
FIELD & STREAM NEWSLETTERS ALL F&S NEWSLETTERS Earlier this week, the Idaho Department of Fish & Game (IDFG) confirmed a new catch-and-release record for brown trout. The enormous brown, caught by Caroline Langdale of Valdosta, Georgia, measured more than 30 inches in length, just edging out the previous record for the species caught in 2016. Langdale was fly fishing the South Fork of the Snake River, a legendary Idaho tailwater that flows from the Palisades Dam to the equally famous Henry’s Fork.
UPDATE: Proposed Mine Still a Major Concern for Bitterroot River
FIELD & STREAM NEWSLETTERS ALL F&S NEWSLETTERS A proposed rare-earth mine spanning 11.3 square miles at the headwaters of Montana's West Fork Bitterroot River threatens one of the country's premier trout fisheries. Community opposition is growing, and the mine would require daily heavy truck traffic along the West Fork Road—a corridor critical to the river's salmon fly hatch, cutthroat trout habitat, and outfitter access.
River Runs Through It Act Would Protect Key Big Game Habitat in Western Montana
FIELD & STREAM NEWSLETTERS ALL F&S NEWSLETTERS As Field & Stream has previously reported, the world-famous Blackfoot River is facing major conservation challenges at the moment. Threats range a propsed gravel pit on the river, a fast-moving gold mining plan in the headwaters, and a data center near its confluence with the Clark Fork.
Public Land Transfer in Alaska Raises Questions for Hunters and Anglers
FIELD & STREAM NEWSLETTERS ALL F&S NEWSLETTERS Last February, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum signed an order that enabled a massive transfer of public lands to the state of Alaska. The land—1.4 million acres previously administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)—was officially conveyed to the state in May.
Ep. 34: Big Bend and the Deserts of the West
Subscribe In the eyes of the world, the West’s several deserts have become defining landscapes for the modern region. But one of them, the Chihuahuan Desert, has produced the only large public lands found anywhere in Texas. Therein lies a story that shapes a state. Subscribe now wherever you listen to podcasts. YouTube, Spotify, Apple, iHeart, Pandora, Amazon.
Groups Push for Constitutional Right to Hunt and Fish in Colorado
FIELD & STREAM NEWSLETTERS ALL F&S NEWSLETTERS Pro-hunting groups in Colorado are advocating for a ballot initiative that would codify hunting and fishing as constitutionally protected rights. The effort comes after a 2024 ballot measure that would have banned all big-cat hunting in Colorado failed to pass. There’s also a current ballot push to criminalize hunting and fishing altogether in the state of Oregon.
South Carolina Man Shatters State Catfish Record
FIELD & STREAM NEWSLETTERS ALL F&S NEWSLETTERS South Carolina Patrol Sergeant Joseph Driggers landed a 113.7-pound flathead catfish on the Pee Dee River, shattering the previous state record by nearly 30 pounds. He caught it on a Santee-Cooper rig fished in a 40-foot back eddy he had driven past for over a decade without ever stopping to fish. The Santee-Cooper rig suspends bait 5-to-6 inches off bottom, keeping it in the strike zone for big flatheads.
Mike Lee is Targeting a National Monument in Utah
FIELD & STREAM NEWSLETTERS ALL F&S NEWSLETTERS Utah’s Mike Lee has teamed up with Utah House Rep. Celeste Malloy in an attempt to dismantle protections for the 1.9 million-acre Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument (GSENM) in the southern part of the Beehive State. This BLM-managed property is popular with hunters and anglers because it prioritizes conservation and recreational use over commercial extraction activities like coal mining.
Mike Lee Amendment Would Erase Roadless Rule Protections Nationwide
FIELD & STREAM NEWSLETTERS ALL F&S NEWSLETTERS Senator Mike Lee's amendment would eliminate Roadless Rule protections on approximately 45 million acres of national forest lands across 37 states, opening pristine hunting and fishing areas to new road development. The amendment excludes Idaho and Colorado, which have state-level roadless protections.
Trump Orders More Off-Road Vehicle Use on America’s Public Lands
FIELD & STREAM NEWSLETTERS ALL F&S NEWSLETTERS Late on the evening of Friday, May 29, President Trump issued an executive order that could reshape 50 years of off-highway vehicle (OHV) limitations on federally managed public lands. Trump’s latest order rescinds two previous EO’s that limited motorized use in certain public areas. President Richard Nixon issued the first in 1972, and President Jimmy Carter issued the other in 1977.
Trump Orders More Off-Road Vehicle Use on America’s Public Lands
FIELD & STREAM NEWSLETTERS ALL F&S NEWSLETTERS Late on the evening of Friday, May 29, President Trump issued an executive order that could reshape 50 years of off-highway vehicle (OHV) limitations on federally managed public lands. Trump’s latest order rescinds two previous EO’s that limited motorized use in certain public land areas. President Richard Nixon issued the first in 1972, and President Jimmy Carter issued the other in 1977.
Ep. 43: Jeff Helm - Four Bulls in One Year
Subscribe This week on In Pursuit, Rich and Angelo sit down with Jeff Helm, a Michigan native turned Texas hunter, guide, entrepreneur, and all-around outdoorsman. Jeff shares how a kid shooting birds out of the backyard bird feeder became a bowhunter who has now taken more than 30 bulls, including four elk in a single season. From DIY backcountry elk hunts to guiding free-range Axis deer in Texas, Jeff breaks down the lessons learned from decades of chasing animals across the country.
Angler Boats Giant State-Record Lake Trout in Minnesota
FIELD & STREAM NEWSLETTERS ALL F&S NEWSLETTERS Joe Bouta of Benson, Minnesota was fishing with the Lake Superior Jigging Guide Service on May 9 when he hooked a gigantic lake trout that edged out the catch-and-release record for the state of Minnesota. Bouta’s guide, Ethan Waytashek, knew it was a new state record almost immediately because he’d just helped another client net the standing record the previous month.
Utah’s Massive Data Center Could Be the Final Death Knell for a Struggling Waterfowl Refuge
FIELD & STREAM NEWSLETTERS ALL F&S NEWSLETTERS Utahans are up in arms over a proposal to construct a 40,000-acre data center complex on undeveloped land north of the Great Salt Lake. Despite fierce opposition, the Box Elder County data center—which is being financed and championed by corporate magnate Kevin O’Leary—is advancing at a rapid pace.
Ep. 882: Cyanide Bombs, New CWD Research, and F%ck Data Centers
Subscribe Steven Rinella and the MeatEater crew discuss: New research about CWD that you really need to hear; bear spray vs. pistols; are cyanide bombs really bombs?; wolves in the Greater Yellowstone Area; how the Alaskan Arctic might be getting a data center, plus the rapid spread of data centers across the country; and more. Thanks to our partner: Mountain Dew.
Ballot Initiative Would Criminalize Hunting and Fishing in Oregon
An extreme initiative in Oregon that would ban hunting and fishing is one step closer to making the November ballot. Oregon Initiative Petition 28—which would categorize hunting, fishing, trapping, and farming as forms of animal cruelty—has now garnered more than 117,000 signatures, making it eligible for ballot consideration by the Secretary of State.
Feds Order Bison Off Public Lands in Montana
FIELD & STREAM NEWSLETTERS ALL F&S NEWSLETTERS A conservation-based land trust in north-central Montana may have to remove more than 900 head of bison from public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management after the Department of Interior targeted their long-standing grazing permits. If it goes through, the lease revocation could eliminate a rare public-land hunting opportunity for free-ranging bison in the Treasure State.
Ep. 879: Arizona Jaguars, CWD Elk, and a New One-Buck Limit for Michigan Hunters
Subscribe Steven Rinella and the MeatEater crew discuss: Steve's new baby mouse; Corner Crossing updates; the endangered jaguar hanging out in Arizona; live sonar for billfish and the end of integrity in fishing; Louisiana's National Forest land transfer; the first ever detection of CWD in Wyoming's largest elk herd; South Dakota sets an unprecedented elk hunting management plan; Michigan's major buck hunting rule changes; and more.
Congress Targets The Roadless Rule
On Thursday, May 21, the US House of Representatives will consider a resolution that would officially eliminate the Roadless Rule. Established in 2001, the Roadless Rule protects some 58 million acres of the cleanest water—and the best hunting and fishing habitat—in the National Forest system. It does so by blocking new road development that would facilitate commercial-scale timber harvest and other industrial activities.
Bill Would Transfer 140,000 Acres of National Forest Land in Louisiana
FIELD & STREAM NEWSLETTERS ALL F&S NEWSLETTERS A proposed bill in Louisiana aims to transfer a large swath of federally managed public land—roughly 24 percent of the Kisatchie National Forest—to Louisiana’s Grant Parish. According to the Louisiana Wildlife Federation (LWF), the potential transfer has longterm implications for conservation, access, and the future of public land hunting and fishing in Louisiana.
Florida Angler Lands Giant, State-Record Catfish
FIELD & STREAM NEWSLETTERS ALL F&S NEWSLETTERS Last week, the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission announced a new state record for blue catfish. Caught by Justin Hodge earlier this year, the fish tipped scales at an impressive 73.6 pounds. It beat the previous state record by more than 4 pounds. The massive blue cat measured 48.5 inches long with a 38.75-inch girth, Hodge tells Field & Stream. He caught it on a live, hand-sized bream.
Montana Governor’s Office Says Corner Crossing is Trespassing
In 2025, a federal court declared corner crossing (the act of moving from one checker-boarded piece of public land to another at the corner where they meet) legal in six states. Public land advocates in the hunting community and beyond celebrated the ruling. But it also raised questions about how the corner crossing debate will shake out in other western states with checker-boarded public land—like Montana.
Montana Governor’s Office Says Corner Crossing is Trespassing
FIELD & STREAM NEWSLETTERS ALL F&S NEWSLETTERS In 2025, a federal appeals court declared corner crossing—the act of moving from one checker-boarded piece of public land to another at the corner where they meet—legal in six states. Public land advocates in the hunting community and beyond celebrated the ruling.
The Biggest Mule Deer Bucks of All Time, According to Boone & Crockett Records
The Boone & Crockett Club has been keeping meticulous records of the continent’s most impressive big game animals for more than a century. In that time, thousands of mulie bucks have made the books, but the top five spots for either the typical or non-typical category are rarely touched. One of the oldest entries dates to the turn of the century, for example, and the most recent top-five record book buck is still three decades old.
Massive Lake Sturgeon Smashes Minnesota Record
FIELD & STREAM NEWSLETTERS ALL F&S NEWSLETTERS Back in April, a North Dakota angler traveled to Minnesota and broke the state’s catch-and-release record for lake sturgeon. Travis Keating’s giant sturgeon measured 6.6-feet long (longer than the angler himself) with a girth of 38 inches. According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MDNR), the fish weighed more than 160 pounds.
Feds Transfer More than 1 Million Acres of Public Lands to Alaska
Back in the March, Field & Stream reported on a Public Land Order that removed protections from Alaska’s famed Dalton Highway—a vast swath of federally managed public land known for caribou hunting and prime access to wilderness fishing. In addition to clearing a path for increased development, the PLO declared the lands—approximately 1.4 million acres of BLM-managed property—eligible for state transfer.
Ep. 467: Cocaine Salmon, Legislative Scorecard, and Oh My God It's Dry in the West
Subscribe This week, Cal breaks down recent research on the effects of hard drugs on Atlantic Salmon, western drought, and the wins-and-losses of all our legislative calls to action so far this year. Connect with Cal and MeatEater To learn more and get involved with any Cal to Action, click here. Cal on Instagram and Twitter MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Youtube Clips 00:00:10 Speaker 1: From Meat Eaters World News headquarters in Bozeman, Montana.
Controversial BLM Director Pick Nears Senate Confirmation
Back in November 2025, the Trump Administration tapped former New Mexico Congressman Steve Pearce to run the nation’s largest public land management agency—the Bureau of Land Management. The pick drew skepticism and opposition from conservation groups who point to Pearce’s track record of support for public land sell-offs during his days as a legislator.
Kayak Angler Sets Historic Mississippi Snook Record
Mississippi isn’t know for snook, but the prized sportfish are beginning to show up in Magnolia State waters. On April 21, Kayak angler Matthew Mitchell set a new record for the species, shattering a previous record from 2025. Mitchell was fishing in the Gulf somewhere near Biloxi when he hooked the snook on conventional tackle. According to the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, snook are expanding their range into the Pascagoula Estuary, east of Biloxi Harbor, due to warming waters.
What’s Next for the Boundary Waters?
On Thursday, April 16, the US Senate voted 50 to 49 to kill key protections for a public land watershed that flows directly into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota. The news sent shockwaves through conservation communities because it paves the way for a high-risk Chilean copper mine that’s likely to pollute the area’s pristine hunting and fishing grounds with toxic acid runoff.
Ep. 26: Where the Primeval West Abides
Subscribe In the summer of 2019 a small group of us does a 12-day river descent from Alaska’s Brooks Range through the heart of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, experiencing a preserved slice of primeval western America that seems in perpetual danger of being destroyed by humanity’s relentless addiction to oil. Subscribe now wherever you listen to podcasts. YouTube, Spotify, Apple, iHeart, Pandora, Amazon.
Senate Votes for Mining Upstream of Boundary Waters
In a partly-line vote with widespread ramifications for public lands across the country, the United States Senate just overturned a 20-year mining ban for the Rainy River Watershed in northern Minnesota. As Field & Stream has previously reported, hunting and fishing groups have fought relentlessly to protect the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA) for over decade. And opposition hit a fever pitch when the current bill (HJ Res 140) passed the House back in January.
Sweeping Forest Service Overhaul Puts Public Lands at Risk, Critics Warn
The US Forest Service manages 193 million acres of public land across the country, including some of the best hunting and fishing destinations in the world. The work requires a robust network of employees, offices, and administrative sites. But in late March, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced plans to eliminate all of the agency’s nine regional hubs. The move will also shutter 57 ecological research stations in 33 states.
Angler Sets Two Bull Trout World Records in One Week in the Canadian Rockies
A 16-year-old fisherman netted two giant bull trout last fall, breaking two separate length world records kept by the International Gamefish Association (IGFA) in the process. According to recently released IGFA records, Ryder Humphries landed the “junior all-tackle length world record” on November 2, 2025 and the conventional “all-tackle length world record” a few days later on November 7. Both of the fish measured roughly 27.5 inches or 70 centimeters in length.
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