The magazine currently publishes six print issues per year as well as a digital edition, with an editorial focus on worldwide big-game hunting and conservation.

In addition to publishing the magazine, Sports Afield licenses its name to branded products including safes, clothing, outdoor equipment, a TV show, and real-estate marketing.

Upon its founding, Sports Afield was subtitled “A Journal for Gentlemen” and promised, in Claude King's words, “To be devoted to hunting, fishing, rifle and trap shooting, the breeding of thorough-bred dogs, cycling, and kindred sports…”[2] The subscription price was $1.50 per year, with single copies selling for 15 cents.

A few years later, King expounded on his philosophy: “Sports Afield has an ambition above that of simply entertaining and amusing the public; it wants to help propagate the true spirit of gentle sportsmanship, to encourage indulgence in outdoor recreations, and to assist in the dissemination of knowledge regarding natural history, photography, firearms, and kindred subjects.” By 1890, Sports Afield had expanded and moved its operations to Chicago.

A string of editors worked the helm of Sports Afield, which struggled during the Great Depression years to stay afloat.

Its credo was: “We believe in sane conservation, we oppose pollution, and we stand for the enforcement of our game laws.” In the 1930s, Gordon MacQuarrie and Archibald Rutledge joined as writers, and the circulation rose to 250,000.

In 1945, Ted Kesting, an associate editor of Country Gentleman magazine, was hired as editorial director and brought from Philadelphia to Minneapolis.

Colorful as a hatband full of flies, it was filled with picture stories and crackling adventure stuff…” In 1953, Hearst magazines tendered an offer to Walter Taylor, the publisher, providing Kesting and his staff came along.

Under Underwood's guidance, Gene Hill, Nick Lyons, Vance Bourjaily, and John Madson all appeared in the periodical's pages.

Grits Gresham, Thomas McIntyre, and Anthony Acerrano all wrote for the magazine, which continued to publish not only adventure stories mixed with how-to-do-it pieces but also to comment on conservation issues as well.

Hearst executives shifted the magazine's focus from hunting and fishing to camping, hiking, mountain biking, and other “non-consumptive” outdoor sports.

After the sale to Field Sports Publishing in 2002, management of the brand was taken in-house, and new licensing contracts were entered into for an expanded range of products.