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This week, Tony explains how struggle and discomfort mold us into better deer hunters, but only if we embrace then when we don't want to.

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For the first 50 years of the 20th century a new federal agency did everything in its power to disappear all wolves from the West and America. What saved the wolf was its own intelligence in the face of eradication, and the emergence of the new science of ecology, whose practitioners revealed the real animal within the legend.

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Whether you’re a hunter, angler, or outdoor recreator, you might find it tricky to navigate all your pursuits while balancing family time. There’s no better way to remedy this dilemma than by mixing the two.

Some of my earliest memories in the outdoors involve me tagging along with my dad and grandfather on rabbit hunts or deer dog drives. I did little more than play with sticks or search for arrowheads in the dry or shallow creekbeds. Other times, my dad dragged my brothers and me camping at our family property to freeze or sweat through our sleeping bags. It was a lot of work for him, but it’s a huge reason my brothers and I have remained so involved outdoors.

Now that I have a family of my own, I understand what my dad was doing. I also realize the effort and time that it takes to make the outdoors a priority with your family. It can be extremely fun and extremely tiring, but it’s always worth it. If you want to introduce your family to hunting or just lose cell reception for a weekend, here are a few ways to consider getting outdoors with the rest of your crew.

Your kids or significant other probably doesn't share the same enthusiasm for hunting or outdoor rec like you do (at least not yet). With that in mind, you have to lower your expectations. If you’re taking your child hunting, don’t expect to kill anything. In fact, don’t expect to see any living animal within earshot of your child. The best thing you can do is not to take yourself or your hunt seriously.

The same goes for camping or hiking. You might regularly log more than 10 miles on your hikes, but trying to do even half of that distance with tired, hungry kids or a spouse can turn a good time into a nightmare. If you think your kids or spouse just needs to tough it out like you had to learn, you just might instill some outdoors PTSD in them. There are a lot of right ways to get your family outdoors, but there’s also a wrong way to do it, too.

For my oldest daughter’s third birthday, my wife and I decided to take her tent camping in the Smoky Mountains National Park. We weren’t sure how it would go, but it went better than we could have imagined. Other than a few typical toddler meltdowns, my daughter had a blast, and it was enjoyable for the whole family. We got to spend four days outdoors at a relatively low cost, eat camp food, and my then three-year-old daughter handled a few day hikes better than most grown men.

Again, if this is your first family camping trip, start small. Rent a campsite at some nearby grounds and see how they do with a night. Bring plenty of snacks, good sleeping pads, and warm sleeping bags. Remember, the goal is to show your family a good time, not give them a crash course on survival. That can come later.

If you don’t own a ton of hunting land or public lands aren’t your thing, hunting clubs or camps can be a great way to involve your family in hunting. Sure, you’ll have to pay yearly dues, but if you’re doing it anyway, you might as well use it as an opportunity to take your kids or spouse hunting. Besides, most clubs/camps allow you to bring your kids or a guest for free.

My dad and grandfather would load me into their pickups during rabbit season when their camp ran dogs. Most of the time, I just tagged along or sat in the truck, but it introduced me to hunting at an early age and got me outside.

My grandfather’s camp also held cookouts or fish fries during the summer. The adults would hang out and cook while the kids played outside the camphouse. Families brought casseroles, desserts, and gallons of sweet tea. Those gatherings made the camp feel more like a community, rather than a revolving door where hunters signed the logbook and kept hunting secrets to themselves. Both the hunting and the family gatherings benefited from one another.

Not everyone wants (or has the means) to invest in a camper. Then again, not everyone wants to sleep in a tent or on the ground. Of course, there are plenty of campers for a variety of budgets. Think anything from teardrops to the Ritz on wheels. Regardless, campers can streamline the whole hunting/camping process by organizing all your gear in one place and eliminating the time it takes to set up traditional campsites, especially if you’re taking the family along. But don’t just take my word for it. MeatEater’s own Steven Rinella has spent plenty of nights in a tent in some of the world’s most remote places. Yet, he’s a huge fan of his Keystone Camper.

“When I was younger and single, I didn’t really think about getting a camper,” Steve said, “but I started viewing it as imperative, because there’s so much headache with packing. With my family, I need five sleeping bags, five sleeping pads, cups and bowls for five people, and it becomes daunting.”

Packing for one can be a chore, much less a family of five. If your kids or spouse loves the outdoors but doesn’t love sleeping in the outdoors, you should probably consider a camper if you want to share those experiences with them. Even if you don’t mind sleeping in a tent, like Steve, a camper can improve the logistics of your travel hunts with or without the family and make it easier to spend extended time outdoors.

Steve even said he had a couple of phenomenal hunts last year with the whole family in tow. And noted that traveling with the camper added to the overall experience by eliminating any headaches that come with family travel.

“My family just spends more time outdoors when our stuff is ready to roll,” he said. If you think a camper can get you outdoors more, it might be time to consider one.

Remember, the goal is to enjoy the outdoors with the family. Even if that’s just a local day hike or grilling and eating in the backyard, any time outdoors is well spent. Start with low expectations, let your family set the pace, and the rest will come naturally.

This week, Cal covers two concerning proposals in Colorado and Oklahoma, a new coyote management season in Michigan, and the best way to ruin taxidermy.

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Steven Rinella talks with Karl Malcolm of the Ruffed Grouse and American Woodcock Society and Brody Henderson.

Topics discussed: Forest health issues; less and less access to good ruffed grouse and woodcock hunting; the story of population decline due to habitat; scaling up conservation work into outcomes; financial woes; technology and glowing woodcock; definitions of birders; and more.                           

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There are lots of reasons you might want a new handguard on your AR-15.

A longer guard can be fitted with more accessories and offers more real estate to grip the rifle. Some handguards feature alternative attachment systems (M-LOK, Picatinny, etc.), and some reduce the amount of heat transferred from the barrel. Others are designed to be as lightweight as possible, while still others are designed to be practically bulletproof. Or, you might want to change your handguard just because you want a cooler-looking long gun.

Whatever your reason, it’s worth doing the job yourself. Like working on cars or home appliances, there’s something satisfying about modifying your own rifle, and the process is relatively painless with a few simple tools.

There are hundreds of handguards on the market, so choosing the right one for you requires a clear understanding of your priorities.

One of the first considerations should be the length. There was a time when handguards were divided by carbine, mid-length, and rifle-length varieties. Some manufacturers still use those terms, but many offer handguards in one- or two-inch increments. That way, you can get a guard exactly the length you need for your rifle.

I prefer a handguard to be just a little shorter than where the threads begin on the muzzle (usually about 1.5 inches less than the length of the barrel). That lets me grip the rifle as far forward as I can without worrying about touching a screaming hot barrel. But it also ensures I can attach a suppressor or other muzzle device without the handguard interfering.

However, some prefer a shorter handguard to save weight, while others install a handguard that extends beyond the muzzle. This setup allows a suppressor to be installed under the handguard as long as the guard is wider than the gun muffler. I get why people do this (it looks pretty slick), but it also strikes me as a bit impractical (what if you want to shoot the gun without a suppressor?).

You can reduce the gun’s overall weight by opting for a slim, lightweight handguard, or you can increase your attachment options by going with a quad rail or something with M-LOK slots at 3, 6, and 9 o’clock.

Even more important than how a handguard looks on the outside is how it mounts to the rifle. There are basically two mounting systems: drop-in and free float. You can still buy drop-in handguards that work with A2-style front sights and replace the cheap plastic guard that comes with bargain-bin AR-15s. These units are usually polymer, and they’re cheap and easy to install.

These days, however, free-float handguards are far more common. These guards don’t touch the barrel, which increases the accuracy of the rifle. Aluminum guards are also more durable and allow accessories to be attached more securely.

But they’re also more expensive and difficult to install. While you might spend as little as $30 on a drop-in handguard, you’ll likely spend over $100 on an aluminum free-float. The Midwest Industries T-Series quad rail I used for this how-to was $195, which I admit is a pretty penny for a bit of aluminum.

If you go with a free-float, be sure the barrel nut doesn’t require tuning or allow slippage. The barrel nut is, as you may have guessed, the nut that threads onto the front of the receiver and secures the barrel. Each handguard comes with its own (usually proprietary) barrel nut. Some require tuning with shims to allow the gas tube to fit through one of the holes and into the receiver. This is the kind of nut that was on the AR-15 I used in this article. Stay away from those. They’re generally a pain in the butt, and there are better options out there.

Also, be sure that the handguard attaches securely to the barrel nut. Sometimes, a free-float handguard can slowly work its way off the nut over the course of thousands of rounds. You can avoid this annoyance by purchasing a handguard that uses a no-slip system, so do your research before pulling the trigger.

Once you’ve selected your new handguard, I recommend also purchasing a vise block for the upper receiver. I’ve done this job without one, but the vise block makes it exponentially easier and reduces the odds of bending or scratching the upper receiver.

Step 1: Remove the Old Handguard

I can’t offer much advice here, since I don’t know what kind of handguard is currently installed on your rifle. But mine required removing eight Torx head screws and sliding the guard off the barrel nut. If you purchased a complete rifle, the guard might require some convincing; just be sure you’ve removed all the fasteners first.

Step 2: Remove the Muzzle Device (If You Have One)

As annoying as it is, you’ll need to remove a few more things before you’ll be able to unscrew the old barrel nut. The first is the muzzle device. Hopefully, the device on your rifle wasn’t installed with a compound that requires a special procedure to remove. I previously installed this one with Rocksett, which just needs to be soaked in hot water for about 15 minutes. If you’re wrenching on the muzzle device and it’s not budging, it might be worth getting in touch with the manufacturer.

Step 3: Remove the Gas Block and Tube

Once the muzzle device is removed, you can slide off the gas block and tube. Your gas block might be affixed with a different system than mine was, but it will likely be some combination of pins and set screws. Use a hammer and punch to remove any pins, unscrew the set screws, and slide the block and tube off the muzzle end of the rifle.

Note: You don’t have to remove the gas tube from the gas block unless you want to inspect and clean it.

Step 4: Unscrew the Old Barrel Nut

This is where things might get tricky. Every barrel nut is different, and some require a special tool to remove. Most can be removed with an AR-15 armorer’s wrench or a regular crescent wrench. If neither of those do the trick, you might have to get creative or contact the manufacturer. Fortunately, I was able to remove mine with an armorer’s wrench without too much trouble.

Step 5: Install the New Barrel Nut

Your new handguard will come with a barrel nut and, if necessary, a wrench. Follow the manufacturer’s installation instructions here. Some require the nut to be torqued to a certain weight, while others allow for a range. Also, don’t skip the anti-seize grease. That’ll make removing the barrel nut much easier if you decide to remove it again.

In my case, Midwest Industries included a wrench head that can be affixed to a torque wrench, and they recommend torquing the barrel nut to 40 foot-pounds.

Step 6: Reinstall Gas Block and Muzzle Device

Reverse the procedure to reinstall the gas block and tube first, then the muzzle device. Be sure the gas block is aligned before tightening the set screws.

Step 7: Install the New Handguard

Midwest Industries has developed an ingenious system that allows the handguard to be aligned and secured using a torque plate. This torque plate fits into the bottom of the handguard, and a tab slides into a groove on the barrel nut. This ensures that the handguard doesn’t slide forward, and it keeps the guard secure and aligned with the upper receiver. It also allows the guard to use a barrel nut that doesn’t require tuning, which makes the entire process so much easier.

To install, just insert the plate and torque the two screws to 40 inch-pounds.

Put the rifle back together, confirm it’s unloaded, and do a function check. Inspect your work for anything that looks strange or misaligned, and make sure the handguard doesn’t move or wiggle. If it doesn’t, you should be good to go.

As I noted in a previous AR-15 Workbench, swapping out a handguard isn’t as easy as changing a pistol grip or stock. But with the right tools, a little know-how, and a free afternoon, it’s not difficult. Plus, you can use this exact same procedure to swap out a barrel, so I think it’s definitely worth learning.

On Wednesday, after a day of impassioned public comment and sometimes baffling deliberations, the Colorado Parks & Wildlife Commission voted 6-4 to advance a citizen’s petition to prohibit the lawful sale, barter, and trade of wildlife fur. This vote is a win for animal rights groups, but it’s far from an immediate ban on fur sales. Above all, it’s a confusing mess, so let’s dig in, find out what’s going on, and figure out where we go from here.

Animal rights groups knew that Colorado Governor Jared Polis appointed several Parks & Wildlife Commissioners who are sympathetic to their cause, and so, in June of last year, these groups submitted a petition to the commission to amend Colorado’s regulations to outlaw trade in fur, with some exceptions.

But Polis’s pick for Colorado Parks and Wildlife Director, Laura Clellan, responded with a detailed letter highlighting the many problems with the petition: it couldn’t demonstrate any relationship between sales of fur and declining animal numbers, it didn’t acknowledge the existing strict regulations on take of furbearers, it cited misleading research that had nothing to do with Colorado, it conflicts with state statute, it would lead to the waste of pelts from animals trapped for nuisance control or crop protection, and its exceptions are badly defined and would create unenforceable rules.

For example, one of the carve-outs allowing fur sales would be for felted hats that are “crafted using heritage techniques like wet felting that promote sustainability and cultural craftsmanship.” Who will judge what a “heritage technique” is? What exactly is “cultural craftsmanship”?

In short, the petition is a complete mess. Director Clellan recommended that the commission vote no.

CPW knew that the hearing on the issue was going to be contentious–they switched venues to a large DoubleTree Hotel conference room and brought in extra security. During the almost four hours of public comment, both sides spoke passionately for their side. Hunters, anglers, and trappers were well represented, and opponents of the petition made up the majority of the comments. “I strongly oppose the fur ban petition,” Retired CPW biologist Jerry Apker said. “No matter how it’s dressed up, this is ideology and not science.”

The anti-trapping commenters repeated the arguments of the petition, but one line of reasoning stuck out in particular. Melinda Marquis, president and co-founder of Science for Colorado Wildlife, pointed out that, “The North American Model [of Wildlife Conservation] notes: fish and wildlife are ‘for the non-commercial use of citizens.’”

It’s worth taking a little time on this one, because Marquis seems to have a point: if the North American Model calls for the elimination of markets for game, then how can you justify selling furs, hides, taxidermy, antlers, and other inedible byproducts that come from wild animals?

The answer comes down to scale: well into the 20th Century, markets for wild game meat to feed growing city populations contributed to the extirpation and extinction of species. But markets of the time for fur were nowhere near as big or as threatening to overall populations, and bag limits and other regulations were extremely effective in restoring furbearer species without outright bans on commercial sale.

The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies explains, “[Trapping] regulations ensure that harvests are consistent with sustainable-use principles, help manage conflicts between furbearers and humans, and foster support for habitat conservation.”

In the present day, trapping is so closely studied and tightly regulated that it doesn’t come close to threatening animals at the population level, and fees from licenses and permits pay into the system that protects the habitat of these animals, ensuring their future survival.

Nevertheless, the commission still voted to advance the petition, directing CPW to begin drafting rules to put a ban on fur sales in place. But, ironically, the incoherence of the petition works in our favor: those rules will be just as vague, contradictory, impossible to enforce, and incoherent as the petition itself. They also won’t be able to overrule state law, so it’s possible that they won’t take effect any time soon.

“The bottom line is that the real decisions were kicked down the road. We’re just not clear on what kind of regulation would actually come out of this vote,” said BHA’s Colorado Chapter Leader Bryan Gwinn.

Governor Polis is also term-limited, and insiders believe that no matter who the next governor is, that person’s appointees to the Parks & Wildlife Commission will be more qualified, and so rulemaking on fur sales will hopefully be turned back. Cooler heads may prevail eventually, and fur trapping and fur sales are far from dead in Colorado.

Still, we can’t forget the ultimate objective of these animal rights groups. Although this was just a petition on the sale of fur, not on trapping itself, Melinda Marquis of Science for Colorado Wildlife ended her public comment by saying, “Please institute a five-year moratorium on all trapping.”

Ultimately, these groups want to end hunting and trapping outright, and we can’t let that happen. That’s why we have to keep fighting, both for the sake of the activities we love, and also for the agencies that work on our behalf. Thanks to all of you who turned out to the hearing and made your voices heard: win or lose, that’s critical.

For what it's worth, it was worth all the while.

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This week, Brent's talking about serving others and how the inspiration to do so can come at an early age. It can also come after a lifetime of taking when the realization to give back occurs. A listener story describes how a community served one another in the aftermath of severe weather. This is a good one and hopefully inspirational as well.

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