Yaak River Outfitters

05/13/2026

(Please sing it)… This is the day the grizzly bears have their picnic.

05/11/2026

This was his first big game animal. We’d practiced positional shooting extensively, talked a lot about shot placement and strategies to remain calm when the time came.

We’d spotted the boar after hours of sitting and glassing the hillside, then climbed 2100’ in 2 miles to come in above it with the wind at our back. We slowly slipped down, glassing every opening until we spotted the boar only 60 yards away.

My buddy chambered a round as I set up my trekking poles with the Quick-stix. He settled in, waited for the bear to turn and made a great shot.

This was classic spring bear hunting and a great way to become a big game hunter.

*my buddy is now one of many who’ve seen their positional shooting massively improve by switching to a Rokstok. It’s as close as I’ve found to a perfect stock.

05/04/2026

Some changes for on cow elk for folks hunting in Region 1.

04/25/2026

A leucistic whitetail is a white-tailed deer with a rare genetic condition causing partial pigment loss, resulting in all-white or pale fur, but unlike albinos, they possess normal brown eyes, dark noses, and normal hooves. While they lack the poor eyesight of albinos, their white coats make them vulnerable to predators and less common in the wild.

We’ve had 2 of them visiting Overdale every evening for the last month. One has of them only has a small white patch above her tail.

04/03/2026

If our dogs point a grouse in the timber we want a few things to happen:
1. We want the dog to hold that point. If the dog flushes the birds before we can get clients positioned, then clients don’t get a shot.
2. If we’re running more than 1 dog, we want the second dog to stop moving as soon as it sees the other dog on point. This is called “backing” and we want that behavior for the same reason as #1.
3. We want the dogs to hold point while we position clients and instruct clients on a safe zone of fire.
4. When we flush the birds, and clients start shooting, we want the dogs to remain “steady”- not moving - until they are given a a physical release (usually a gentle tap on the back of the head). This is for the safety of the dogs as it ensures that they do t run into a clients zone of fire.

All of this takes a lot of work and reinforcement. In the video, you can see that Two (dog on the left) backs Arlo and doesn’t take a step. Arlo breaks a bit in the flush and on the shot (it’s a blank gun but we still point it in a safe direction). Arlo responded to Josiah’s “whoah” and didn’t take off, but at the end of the video, you see Josiah start to pick Arlo up so that he can move him back to where he first went on point, and make him “whoah” right there.

The work continues but it’s work that we love - and Gabe loves to help!

03/24/2026

My dogs usually ride in a kennel in the truck bed … but after a little trauma followed by a little wrestling and a little more trauma, a ride up front helped provide a little comfort and reestablish trust.

Another underrated benefit of a front bench seat.

03/05/2026

Training for a match.

02/26/2026

The 15 years and DNA that separates them is irrelevant.

01/06/2026

01/02/2026