Michael R. Shea
- Vice President, Publishing, Black Rifle Coffee Company
Salt Lake City
Articles by Michael R. Shea
How Kayak Fishing Saved Lance Clinton's Life
“Tuna!” The rip of his drag sounds like a kicked hornets’ nest as I pedal my kayak toward him. The sun breaks over the cloud-ringed mountains and casts a sapphire light across the bay — an Instagram sunrise, for sure. And in the center of it all is Clinton, an American expat and recovering drug addict, on his dirty 12-foot kayak, rod bent in half, a boss yellowfin taking line. Lance Clinton is the happiest man alive.
Small Game Hunting
Articles may contain affiliate links that enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made. Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service.
Most Accurate .22 Rifles of 2023
The most accurate .22 rifles on the planet just seem to keep getting better and better. The wildly popular world of precision rimfire competition has knocked the proverbial dust off the old .22LR. Gun companies, ammo manufacturers, scope makers, and chassis builders have made huge strides in quality—and accuracy—in just the last few years. Today’s .22 rifles—and the new accessories that go with them—have never been better.
Gigging Frogs with the “Frog Kings” of Upstate New York
Gigging Frogs with the “Frog Kings” of Upstate New York Well past midnight, Tim Reed and Rodney Smith paddle down a skinny stretch of water in northern New York, to a spot where the high-cut riverbank …
Gigging Frogs with the “Frog Kings” of Upstate New York
Frog Kings upstate NY frog gigging river hunting bull frog night time Tim Reed Rodney Smith Two of a Kind: Tim Reed (left) and Rodney Smith pause their hunt for a photo. Well past midnight, Tim Reed and Rodney Smith paddle down a skinny stretch of water in northern New York, to a spot where the high-cut riverbank transitions to flood plain. As Smith makes one last quiet push, gliding the yard-sale canoe toward a tangle of lily pads and skunk cabbage, Reed leans over the bow.
F&S Classics: The Vanishing
To celebrate the 125th anniversary of Field & Stream, we’re going to share some of our favorite stories from the history of the magazine. Every day for the rest of the year, we’ll republish a new F&S Classic on the website. Today’s entry, “The Vanishing” by JR Sullivan, was published in November 2017. You can find the complete F&S Classics series here . Trevor Higgins was starting to panic. Even if his dad had shot a deer, he should have reached the trailhead by now.
The 10 Best Rimfire Scopes for Any Budget
_We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more › _ For the longest time, “rimfire” + “scope” just meant crappy. The glass was poor. The adjustments were spotty. Drop one or get it really wet, and the scope was toast. But that’s changing fast. Today, some shooters put optics on their rimfires that cost two or three times the price of the rifle.
Meet Upstate New York's Biggest Frogging Fan
WELL PAST MIDNIGHT, Tim Reed and Rodney Smith paddle down a skinny stretch of water in northern New York, to a spot where the high-cut riverbank transitions to flood plain. As Smith makes one last quiet push, gliding the yard-sale canoe toward a tangle of lily pads and skunk cabbage, Reed leans over the bow. The wide-set eyes of a big bullfrog glow in the beam of his headlamp, and just as the canoe reaches the jacklighted frog, Reed strikes. “Argh!” he yells through a splash of river water.
12 of the Best .22 LR Ammo Choices for Hunting and Competiti
We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more › Relegate that ancient case of .22 LR ammo you’ve been hoarding since childhood to plinking in the backyard. High-quality ammo for real work in the squirrel woods, or at a rimfire match, has never been more available. Here are 12 great rounds for hunting and competition that will make grandpa’s old rabbit gun, or your newfangled match rifle, shoot all the better.
One Hunter's Quest to Shoot Every Legal Waterfow
Fowled Out: One Hunter’s Quest to Shoot Every Legal Waterfowl Species in North America Towing sleds loaded heavy with decoys and guns, we humped a quarter mile through a jungle of phragmites and cattails, 10-foot-tall reeds bent under the weight of fresh snow. Sweating and stripped down to our base layers on a single-digit day, we punched out of the tangle and into a pool of open water on the south end of Great Salt Lake.
Ruger 10/22 Upgrades for Accuracy
_We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more › _ Dust off that old Ruger 10/22 and break out the torque wrench. Whether you’re a squirrel hunter , plinker, or competitive shooter , some key aftermarket parts plus elbow grease can take your rimfire rifle from minute-of-soda-can to sub-minute-of-angle.
Best Left Handed Compound Bows of 2024
We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more Left handed compound bows are much easier to find today than they were 15 years ago. Many brands—like Hoyt, Mathews, and Bowtech—have started building lefty models of every new bow introduced, which is a great thing, and long overdue. It allows everyone to enjoy the insane speeds, accuracy, and reduced noise modern compounds have to offer.
Fish Recipe: Pickled Pike
Pickled pike is a classic North Country treat, but it also boasts a practical aspect: the acid in the vinegar dissolves the dread “Y-bones” that make filleting pike such a chore. (For boneless trout or walleye fillets, you can skip the soaking in step one.) Pickled pike is fantastic served on toasted rye bread, with a dab of butter, but it’s equally good on some Ritz crackers accompanied by an ice-cold can of Old Milwaukee.
The 10 Best Break-Action Waterfowl Shotguns
We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more › Break-action shotguns were once the only waterfowl guns a sportsman would consider. When pumps and semiautos first appeared in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, they were seen as the guns of market hunters and game hogs. “I would rather catch trout with a net [than shoot a pump],” wrote one gentleman sportsman of the day. The practicality of repeaters ultimately won hunters over.
Eastern Hunter's Guide to Opening Day
A big bruin moves through timber. Eastern seasons start as early as late August. (Photo/Lon Lauber) The Hard-Earned Bear Hunt big-timber bears without bait or hounds Something had changed. After 40 minutes of still-hunting through silent timber, the woods erupted in chatter. As I neared a creekside oak flat, chipmunks barked alarms. Blue jays and crows screeched. A heavy branch snapped ahead, and I could see the top of an old oak swaying. But there wasn’t a breath of wind.
The Best Backpacking Chairs of 2024, Tested and Reviewed
_We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more › _ Best Overall Nemo Moonlite SEE IT Best Lightweight Helinox Chair Zero SEE IT Best Budget Kelty Camp Chair SEE IT For most hikers, backpacking chairs are not a necessity but a luxury. We each have our preferences and personal items that help elevate camp comfort, and a camp chair might be one of them.
11 Kinds of Animal Poop Hunters Should Know
A lot of things will lie to you in your life, but not poop. Close examination of animal scat will help you identify not only the species but how recently the animal was there, its sex, what it ate, even where it might be going. There are a lot of hunters who don’t know scat about animal poop. Don’t be one of them. Below is everything you should know (and possibly more than you want to know) about how to identify animal poop from 11 different species, and what each do-do can tell you.
The Frog Kings: Meet Upstate New York's Biggest Frogging Fanatics
WELL PAST MIDNIGHT, Tim Reed and Rodney Smith paddle down a skinny stretch of water in northern New York, to a spot where the high-cut riverbank transitions to flood plain. As Smith makes one last quiet push, gliding the yard-sale canoe toward a tangle of lily pads and skunk cabbage, Reed leans over the bow. The wide-set eyes of a big bullfrog glow in the beam of his headlamp, and just as the canoe reaches the jacklighted frog, Reed strikes. “Argh!” he yells through a splash of river water.
Why Trump's Pardoning Two Ranchers Is an Affront to Public Lands
This week President Donald Trump pardoned a pair of Oregon ranchers, Dwight Hammond Jr. and his son Steven Hammond, whose prison re-sentencing sparked the much-publicized 2016 occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and thrust the Bundy Family -staunch supporters of privatizing federally managed land, a position opposed by most outdoorsmen-into the national spotlight.
Veteran Hunting and Fishing Organizations Making a Difference
Veteran mental health statistics in the U.S. are sobering. The rate of major depression is five times higher than it is among civilians, and the suicide rate is 57% greater. Many face more difficult battles than the ones they fought when they served. Transitioning from highly structured, mission-focused military life to the civilian world can be tough even for the resilient, and some struggle for years after their discharge.
Dispatch From Syria: Democratic Forces Prepare for Turkish Invasion Original
MANBIJ, Syria — Soldiers with the Syrian Democratic Forces spilled out of a house on the edge of an abandoned village northeast of the city center. One of them, speaking into his walkie-talkie, held up his hand to stop our car. The driver, an SDF escort, put it in park and rolled down his window. “He says it’s not safe,” the driver told us. “Turkish drones.
Inside Black Rifle Coffee’s Veteran Adaptive Athlete Archery Shoot
Standing on the backside of the bass pond at the Black Rifle Coffee Company Ranch near San Antonio, Texas, the 7-foot foam Sasquatch target was laser-ranged at 106 yards. We were halfway through the 15-target Veteran Adaptive Athlete Shoot, or VAAS, an annual event to bring together military service members physically modified by war.
Hunter, Frogman, Sniper, Spy: Retired SEAL Terry Houin is Just Getting Started
Standing on the ramp of a C-130 in the dead of night, at 5,000 feet, in thick clouds over the Indian Ocean 12 miles east of the Horn of Africa, Terry Houin and his five teammates, all part of a secretive intelligence unit within the US Navy SEALs, strained to see the warships floating in the chop below.
Hunter, Frogman, Sniper, Spy: Retired SEAL Terry Houin Is Just Getting Started
Read the original article on Coffee or Die Magazine. Follow Coffee or Die on Instagram. Standing on the ramp of a C-130 in the dead of night, at 5,000 feet, in thick clouds over the Indian Ocean 12 miles east of the Horn of Africa, Terry Houin and his five teammates, all part of a secretive intelligence unit within the U.S. Navy SEALs, strained to see the warships floating in the chop below.
Hunter, Frogman, Sniper, Spy: Retired SEAL Terry Houin Is Just Getting Started
Read the original article on Coffee or Die Magazine. Follow Coffee or Die on Instagram. Standing on the ramp of a C-130 in the dead of night, at 5,000 feet, in thick clouds over the Indian Ocean 12 miles east of the Horn of Africa, Terry Houin and his five teammates, all part of a secretive intelligence unit within the U.S. Navy SEALs, strained to see the warships floating in the chop below.
Hunter, Frogman, Sniper, Spy: Retired SEAL Terry Houin Is Just Getting Started
Standing on the ramp of a C-130 in the dead of night, at 5,000 feet, in thick clouds over the Indian Ocean 12 miles east of the Horn of Africa, Terry Houin and his five teammates, all part of a secretive intelligence unit within the US Navy SEALs, strained to see the warships floating in the chop below.
Vermont May Issue More Moose Tags to Combat Winter Tick Menace
Winter tick numbers are exploding in the Green Mountain State, and Vermont moose are carrying the weight of the load — literally and figuratively. This isn’t just a nuisance thing. Winter ticks, aka moose ticks (Dermacentor albipictus), are a major killer of moose and deer across New England. Moose populations in Wildlife Management Unit E, located in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, are suffering from severe health issues due to being feasted upon by hoards of ticks.
Howl for Wildlife Is the Platform Hunters Need Right Now
Like so many good ideas, Howl for Wildlife was born out of frustration. It was January 2021, and state Sen. Scott Wiener of California had introduced a bill to ban bear hunting in his state. Army veteran Charles Whitwam, a Bay Area entrepreneur, outfitter, and hunting guide, was more than frustrated. He was pissed off. Whitwam got online and started a change.org petition.
Enter the Grizz: Grizzly Forge’s Lucas O’Hara on Business and Life
After seven and a half years in the US Army, including a tour as a sniper with the 3rd Infantry Division and a post in the color guard at Arlington National Cemetery, Lucas O’Hara, now of Grizzly Forge, transitioned out of the military into what he calls “the same old sob story.” In other words, the transition did not go well.
Physics & Firearms: Ryan McMillan’s Improbable Path
Ryan McMillan was born into a firearms dynasty. His grandfather, Gale, started McMillan Fiberglass Stocks — the preeminent stock builder for the benchrest, long-range, and special operations communities for decades. Yet simply taking over a family business didn’t appeal to Ryan. He was drawn toward split interests: physics and becoming a Navy SEAL. Twenty years later, he can check both boxes off his life list, while tackling a new challenge — bringing affordable fiberglass stocks to the people.
Apache Pilot Turned Kryptek Founder on Evolving Air Attack Tactics in the Global War on Terror
There’s a painting on the wall at Lockheed Martin that shows two AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopters high above the broken landscape of Tal Afar in northern Iraq. From the gunships scream the defense contractor’s laser-guided AGM-114 Hellfire missiles.
What to Watch Out For When Modifying a Duck Gun
Arkansas’s mad scientist of shotgun ballistics, Rob Roberts started tinkering with 12-gauges in a small machine shop and is now a renowned custom duck gun builder. But not every tweak you can make to a gun is going to help you in a goose pit or duck blind. Here’s Roberts’s list of what to consider before spending cash at the gunsmith. Back in the day of cardboard shells, forcing cones helped form shot patterns immediately following ignition. Most manufacturers still make barrels this way.
Perfecting the Pour Over: Coffee + Water. Easy, Right? Well …
Raul Rodas is a world barista champion, a four-time Guatemala national champion, a buyer and quality consultant for some of the world’s largest coffee companies, and a business owner and roaster with his beloved Guatemala City shop, Paradigma Coffee Roasters. By the high standards of international coffee competition, he has literally made the best cup of coffee in the world.
Breaking the Curse: A Decade-Long Elk Hunt
The first year I hunted elk, I drove from New York to Colorado in my beat-up Tacoma and camped high on a forest service road. I wanted to kill my first one solo and with my bow. I hiked in by myself on the second day of the season. A few miles deep, the inReach dinged with a message: “Call home.” My grandfather, a World War II vet whose combat story I made my Master’s thesis, had died. My mom said I didn’t need to come home. My family knew I’d planned this hunt for a year.
How to Install a Fish Finder
_We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more › _ Modern fish finders offer a lot of features in a user-friendly interface to help increase angler’s success. In fact, the hardest part of using the latest fish finders is installation. Advanced side-scan and liveview sonar using larger transducers require special consideration.
Freeman Outdoor Gear Produces Hard Use Knives for Hard Operators
Jeff Freeman had an epiphany. After 15 years at Gerber Legendary Blades, including 11 years as the lead designer, he was ready to leave the city. The job was great, but the rat race of urban living—the traffic, the commute, the noise, all the people—had piled up. He and his wife Kathleen bought a 6.5-acre tract 100 miles south of Portland, made the move, and soon Freeman, an engineer by training, was looking for a new line of work.
Are BB Guns Good for Hunting?
_We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more › _ BB guns have been woven into the fabric of American culture since the days of spaghetti Westerns and Saturday morning cartoons. They have served as a tool to introduce youngsters to firearm safety, been responsible for countless hours of backyard fun, and even given many competitive shooters their start.
How Rimfire Ammuntion Works
This story is an excerpt from Rimfire Revolution: A Complete Guide to Modern .22 Rifles by F&S contributor Michael R. Shea. Throughout the 1800s, firearm development was cartridge development. Engineers, inventors, gunsmiths, and crackpots tried various ways to speed reloads by integrating fulminate primer, powder, and bullet into a single package—then they built guns around their idea.
How Rimfire Ammuntion Works
Gun History: Everything You Need to Know About How Rimfire Ammo Works is in the Story of the .22 Short _We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more › _ This story is an excerpt from Rimfire Revolution: A Complete Guide to Modern .22 Rifles by F&S contributor Michael R. Shea. Throughout the 1800s, firearm development was cartridge development.
How Rimfire Ammuntion Works
This story is an excerpt from Rimfire Revolution: A Complete Guide to Modern .22 Rifles by F&S contributor Michael R. Shea. Throughout the 1800s, firearm development was cartridge development. Engineers, inventors, gunsmiths, and crackpots tried various ways to speed reloads by integrating fulminate primer, powder, and bullet into a single package—then they built guns around their idea.
The Marine Corps’ New (Old) Quick-Detach Suppressor
With a renewed focus on close combat formations within the Corps, infantry Marines are going suppressed. “We’ve been investing a lot into future capabilities to ensure that we can overmatch potential adversaries throughout the world, and suppressors are key to that,” Chief Warrant Officer 5 Keith Marine, infantry weapons officer, 1st Marine Division, told Coffee or Die Magazine.
11 Questions & A Cup of Coffee: Brazilian Mixed Martial Artist Royce Gracie
Royce Gracie is The GOAT. Sure, Anderson Silva, Jon Jones, and Georges St-Pierre may be factored into that discussion — among other Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Hall of Famers — but Gracie did several things the others did not. Gracie won the UFC 1 at McNichols Sports Arena in Denver back in 1993 — a time when the trim, 6-foot, 180-pounder fought dudes much bigger than he was, as the sport was not yet divided by weight classes.
How a Marine, a Texan, and Spanish Investors Shook Up the Gun Industry
In the last 10 years, rifles have gotten more accurate. Production rifles and factory rifles, hunting rifles and precision rifles, civilian rifles and military rifles, big bores and rimfires, expensive guns and cheap ones — a .30-06 any of the big players made last year will generally shoot better than one made 30 years ago.
The Bear: Hunting Ursa Major in the Idaho Wilderness
We saw him the first night. Kurtis sat with his bow. The bear stood motionless in the alders. Quarters like tree stumps anchored him to this steep side of the mountain. His rough coat cut a saw-blade silhouette in the dying light. He had no neck and stubs where ears should be. He looked up the mountain, then down at us. We froze in our camp chairs, hidden, we hoped, behind a brush pile stacked by Rocky and Old Man Romans.
Naked and Not Afraid: A Profile of Laura Zerra
Laura Zerra is focused. The 35-year-old reality television star and social media influencer sits in an ice shack on a frozen river in South Dakota, her gloved hand tapping an 8-foot steel spear. A rectangle the size of a 60-inch flat-screen has been cut through the 13-inch-thick ice. We jig grubs without hooks and rattle traps in hopes of attracting a walleye or pike, and then, the spears will fly — or so we’ve been told. Laura Zerra is a survivalist — a doer of outdoor things.
Michael R. Shea Archives
A seasoned leader and content executive with two decades of experience as an award-winning writer, editor, and video producer at some of the nation’s largest media companies, telling news, wilderness, adventure, conservation, military, and gear stories. Hunter. Gatherer. Husband. Dad. Aspiring small farmer. Journalist. Frequent world traveler. SEO and affiliate nerd. Highlights Shea is the author of Rimfire Revolution. Experience Shea has daily newspaper experience in California and South Carolina.
Sea Duck School: How to Set a Decoy Spread for Divers
The basics for a setting a decoy spread in the salt By Michael R. Shea | Published Mar 25, 2016 11:34 PM SHARE For sea ducking off Long Island, Avery pro staffer Kevin Addy typically uses seven dozen decoys rigged on longlines: three lines of scoters, two lines of long-tails, a line of bluebills, a mixed line of buffleheads and assorted divers, plus some single decoys and a floating wing-spinner decoy (like a Mojo Bluebill).
Mouth Call Master: Champion Turkey Calling Tips from Hunter Wallis
Hunter Wallis, Teenage Champion Turkey Caller by FieldandStream Hunter Wallis knows a little something about turkey calling. At only 18 years old, he’s a six-time National Wild Turkey Federation Grand National champion, the highest honor in competitive turkey calling. For the last 10 years, he’s been cleaning up on the circuit and in the turkey woods.
Take the Family Bowfishing
This video is part of our series Best Summer Ever. Date night in the Brantley house usually starts around 10 a.m., when they trailer the johnboat to Kentucky Lake. There’s very little sweet-talk on these outings. Mostly, it’s smack talk, like when Michelle had a rare miss on a recent trip. “Get that one?” Will said, with an ear-to-ear grin.
Michael R. Shea and Will Brantley Archives
Do Not Sell My Personal Information When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Michael R.
Contact Michael R., search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack