Years in This Expertise: 8 yrs in outdoor media, 4 years as GearJunkie’s Hunt Fish Editor (2018-2022)
Number Of Products & Number Of Hours Expert Has Tested: 500+ products, 8,300+ hours testing
Education & Certifications
Education: Bachelor’s of Sociology, Colorado State University
Years of Writing: 14+
Club or Association Memberships: Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, Board Director of Orion the Hunters Institute
Previous Publications: USA Today, MeatEater, Modern Huntsman, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, Backcountry Journal, Mens Journal, Outside Bozeman, TripThirty
A Word from Nicole
When I started writing for GearJunkie in 2018, it opened up a whole new universe of curiosities. A thrifty minimalist, gear was a means to an end rather than an obsession. To be frank, I was more of a gear skeptic than a gear junkie.
But as the site’s Hunt Fish Editor, testing brand after brand and item after item forced me to pare down to the gear that made the cut. And that’s really what I love to write about. When it comes to a review, a suggestion, a collection of gear, or simply the experience of using gear to get the job done, it better be damned useful and worth its weight in financial commitment.
I value gear differently than I did when I first began writing about it. Us gearheads get so wrapped in the idea of stuff, but it can also weigh us down.
Ultimately, I’m still a thrifty minimalist, but the gear I write about and the brands I talk about have a place in my gear closet because of that these days, rather than in spite of it. And I hope you hear that theme echo across this collection of many years of writing.
Brands like Orvis, Patagonia, and Benchmade Knife Co. offer free or inexpensive gear repair programs that keep your favorite gear going for years to come.
Wildlife biologist Pat Rodgers runs the 92-mile mule deer migration for a lot of reasons. This fabulous film is personal, educational, and awe-inspiring.
GearJunkie’s Hunt & Fish Editor Nicole Qualtieri had four knee surgeries in 13 months. Here’s where she’s at a year into total knee replacement recovery.
Hunters Andrew Whitney and Zack Boughton take on a massive archery elk hunt in this full-length film from Stone Glacier, Mathews Archery, and OnX Hunt.
Governor Greg Gianforte’s 2021 wolf harvest circumvented Montana’s regulations due to a missing educational course necessary for trapping the wild canines.
