5.56 & 7.62: SHORT STOP® - Full Power, Short Range Training Ammo

Training with the 5.56 and 7.62 mm rounds can be an issue with respective possible maximum ranges of 2 to 3 miles. This creates a huge danger zone and requires a considerable area of land on which to safely conduct training. Up close, ricochet and splash back can also be an issue. Practicing with conventional ammunition in urban areas or on indoor ranges can be problematic as well. The use of blan...

.17 Mach 2: Small Game Hunter's Dream

When the now hugely popular .17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire was announced several years ago, most every gun manufacturer chambered for it right from the start in their rimfire rifles and even in some handguns. By the time the ammunition became available from Hornady, the demand for the hot new rimfire was tremendous. Just a few months after its release, there were over 12 million rounds of the ammuniti...

.17 Remington Fireball: Smallbore on Steroids

3,900 fps with almost non-existent recoil and very low report? 0.59” or less 5-shot groups at 100 yards with factory ammo? Bullet breakup to ensure quick results without damaging the valuable trophy? Can such performance exist for the hunter hoping to preserve the pelts of his furbearers? Enter the 17 Remington Fireball in the unique model 700 VTR- Varmint-Tactical Rifle.

When th...

.19 Calhoon: Better Use for the Hornet Case

Based on an improved Hornet case, the .19 Calhoon is a varmint cartridge that performs far out of proportion to its size. Burning less than 15 grains of powder, extended shooting with a 27 grain bullet at 3,600 fps, is more fun than you can imagine.

Varmint hunting is very popular with shooters for several reasons. A good big game season might see you get the chance to fire one or ...

.204 Ruger: Incredible Speed and Accuracy

Speed without accuracy is of little use to a varmint or predator hunter aiming at beer bottle-sized targets at 300+ yards. Not to worry. Factory .204 ammo averaged right around 0.64” at 100 yards. My best handloads were just a little slower at 4,184 fps, but averaged just 0.21” at the same distance. Fast and accurate? Ruger and Hornady have hit a home run for varmint hunters with the new .204 ...

.22 LR Steyr Zephyr: Classic Review

Manufactured from 1955 to 1971, I’d only occasionally heard of the little brother to the classic Mannlicher-Schoenauer, known as the Steyr Zephyr. When my good friend from Australia asked if he could have a custom Zephyr shipped to me in an equally custom hard presentation case, I said that would be OK…but could I shoot it? The plan was for me to bring it out on my next trip, with all the prop...

.223 Part 3: More Bullets:Low Barrel Heat, Low Recoil- for Prairie Dogs, Pests or Practice

In this third article of the series, I’ve paired the three successful handgun and shotgun powders- Herco, Power Pistol, and Tin Star- covered in Part 2, with six popular varminting bullets including three lead-free versions for those areas now prohibiting traditional lead cored bullets. Again, my new .223 Tikka T3 Lite sporter continued to amaze me with so many sub-half inch groups at 100 yards....

.223 – Part 1, Low Barrel Heat, Low Recoil Loads: for Prairie Dogs, Pests & Practice

A decade ago while working with the new .19 Calhoon cartridge (an improved .22 Hornet case necked down to .192”), I became aware of James Calhoon’s .223 Gopher Loads, using moderate charges of a faster burning flake powder. With moderate charges of Alliant Blue Dot, his 37 and 42 grain varmint bullets reach 3,200 or 3,000 fps respectively… and regularly shot around a ...

.223 – Part 2, Low Barrel Heat, Low Recoil Loads: for Prairie Dogs, Pests & Practice-Alternate Powders

In Part 1, I covered the successes of developing low barrel heat, low recoil loads for the .223, based on James Calhoon’s Gopher Loads(www.jamescalhoon.com ) using moderate charges of Blue Dot, for prairie dogs, pests or practice. With only 13 to 15 grains of Alliant Blue Dot, his Double Hollow Point 30, 37 and 42 grain varmint bullets reach 3,600, 3,200 ...

.223- 5.56 Ruger Gunsite Scout: 80 Round Handload & Factory Ammo Test

In the US, the Ruger Gunsite Scout in .308 Winchester has been hugely popular since its introduction four years ago. While the .308 is very popular in America, in ammunition sales the 5.56 mm cartridge far outsells the older round. Ruger finally stepped up and is now offering the Scout in the 5.56 mm cartridge, in both blued and stainless, with a black laminate stock, in both right and ...

.25-45 Sharps: New AR-15 Hunting Round

Every year, hundreds of thousands of AR-15s are sold in the US and are fast becoming the most popular general rifle, of which a majority of households has at least one. In Texas, where the wild pig population numbers over 2 million, they are considered pests, with open season year-round; so many shooters use their .223/5.56 ARs for feral hog hunting. Considered a pest where they exist, no states r...

.264- 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser: The Magic Metric Series- Reloading

With an almost identical birth date as the 7×57, the 6.5×55 cartridge must also have a lot going for it to still be around over 100 years later. Ken Kempa takes a look at a hunting cartridge popular in Europe, which also has a loyal following in America. Very low recoil and legendary penetration adds up to the 6.5×55 being a proven performer in the field.

About twenty years ago, I ran a...

.284- 7x57 Mauser: The Magic Metric Series- Reloading

Second in the Magic Metrics Series, the classic 7×57 Mauser was one of the first small bore cartridges to begin the smokeless powder revolution. Rifles would never be the same after then. Here is a comprehensive look at this great “all around” small bore, big game cartridge.

I have been aware of the 7×57 cartridge since my shooting career first began through early readings on shooting ...

.284- 7x64 Brenneke: The Magic Metric Series- Reloading

Here’s a look at a very popular hunting cartridge in Europe, the 7×64 Brenneke. Introduced in 1917, it seems destined to make it to its 100th birthday. Detailed testing reveals some very interesting facts about this time-honored cartridge, long known and used by serious European hunters.

In 1917, hunters most certainly maintained a very practical and conservative viewpoint when it came to...

.30-06 BLR Takedown: Browning Levergun

Do takedown rifles really work? Can they shoot as well as “normal” rifles? Did Browning go too far by modifying the classic BLR to offer a takedown version? The answer to these questions is both YES and NO. Read on to find out more on the new Browning BLR Takedown lever action rifle.

There is hardly a better rifle style for carrying in the hand than the Browning BLR. For me, gr...

.30-06: Reloading Lead-Free Hunting Loads

The over 100 year old American Classic- the 30-06- is the number one hunting round in the US, and is also very popular in Europe and Africa- for very good reason. There is not much game in the world, save for African dangerous game, that cannot cleanly be taken with a 30-06 and good bullets. The first in a new series- The American Classics- takes an in-depth look at the workhorse caliber of the wo...

.323- 8x57 Mauser: The Magic Metric Series- Reloading

The first in an exciting new series, Ken Kempa will be taking an up-to-date look at the popular metric cartridges. Using the newest bullets and powders from around the world, each article will be a definitive reference for shooters and hunters- who already have these cartridges- or for those who may be swayed into getting one.

I have long heard about the 8×57 cartridge, but in the US, most ...

.325 WSM: Powerful and Accurate Medium Bore

As a long-time fan of the .338s, I’ve worked with and hunted with most every cartridge in this versatile caliber. When I walked into Grice Gun Shop in Clearfield, PA, there was no specific item I was looking for in particular; I was just looking for a good deal on something I might not normally consider. In their used gun rack, something caught my eye right away- a like-new stainless Browning X-...

.327 Federal Magnum: Great Self-Defense Cartridge

For self defense, a revolver has a lot going for it. But the classic .357 Magnum is not a good choice if you want to carry a short barreled revolver. Its older brother, the .38 Special, is not so special when it comes to velocity and consistent good terminal performance. It would be great if there was a revolver cartridge that could perform like the .357, but be kinder to shoot like the .38

...

.338 Federal: Short Action Workhorse

Launched at SHOT Show in early 2006, the author takes a look at the new .338 Federal cartridge. Filling the ballistic void between the classics- the 308 Winchester/ 30-06- and the workhorse .35 Whelen, it has the potential to give the serious hunter more raw power in the field, without punishing your shoulder.

For the seekers of medium to heavy game, most all taken in the field are withi...

.338 Marlin Express: Best Lever Ever, A new Demension in lever action versatility

If we’re honest with ourselves, the good old .30-30 Winchester will handle most shots most of us make on deer—and it’s proven itself on elk and bear all too often to question its efficiency. But we American hunters crave velocity and power. We probably don’t need as much as we crave, but in open country, life is simpler with cartridges that shoot flatter, and for game larger than deer, mor...

.35 Whelen: Feeding a Semi-Auto 750 Remingtion

I’m fortunate to have participated in several driven hunts for game and been on dozens of wild hog hunts. While a bolt action may be the preferred weapon for most types of hunting situations, I began to feel that a semi-automatic rifle may be the best choice for fast shooting conditions. Let’s take a look at what may be the best rifle and caliber for hunting wild boar.

I love a good-look...

.366- 9.3x62 in Sauer 101: The Magic Metric Series- Reloading

I have used the 110 year old 9.3x62 to take more game than any other cartridge. The first group ever fired from a 9.3x62 was with my own handloads at an Austrian rifle range- three shots into one-half inch at 100 yards- had my interest! The next day, I took eleven Russian boars with thirteen shots, and I’d found a new best shooting friend. For those reasons, I eagerly began this sixth article in...

.416 Revolution: Obscurity to popularity…with lots of choices

Resurrected by Ruger and Federal in 1988, it’s an article of faith today that the .416 Rigby was one of the most popular of the British big bores. Historical records do not bear this out. Introduced in about 1911, the .416 Rigby was long held as a proprietary cartridge by the British firm of John Rigby. This means that they had a monopoly on both rifles and ammunition. The rifles were, more or l...

.416 Ruger/ African-Alaskan: Beats the .375

From the moment I first held the .375 Ruger rifle and cartridge, I could not stop thinking about the same case opened up to .416. Prior experience with big bore rifles told him that bigger, not faster, was the way to tackle really large and dangerous game. If you can shoot a 30-06, you can even handle many of the special North American hunting loads developed by the author.

Two yea...

.416 Steyr: Sensible, Moderate Big Bore

The author set out to design a “sensible” big bore cartridge which would duplicate the performance of the classic .404 Jeffery or the .400 Nitros… but with modest powder charges. Key to shooter success and acceptance would be a special “EXPRESS” load that would duplicate the recoil of the .30-06 but offer a much bigger bullet. This load would be great for hogs, elk black bear, moose, or ...

.44 Magnum: Ruger Redhawk-Kodiak Backpacker

In 2014, TALO Distributors commissioned what may be the best .44 Magnum carry gun of modest size. Called the Redhawk Kodiak Backpacker, it sports a 2-3/4” barrel with excellent adjustable sights, including an easily changeable ramp front sight. Uniquely, it’s the first round butt grip style ever offered on a Redhawk, again increasing its carry ability even more. Factory supplied laminated wood...

.460 Rowland: the .45 ACP on STEROIDS

In the late 1990s, a gentleman named Johnny Rowland developed a slightly lengthened .45 ACP cartridge called the .460 Rowland. He wanted to create a more powerful .45 semi-auto handgun for self-defense and use against big game, which could still function in a slightly modified 1911. It could function through a 1911 because only the case was slightly longer- about 0.56”- but the overall length of...

.460 S&W Magnum: Reloading the Big .45

In 2003, the industry was rocked with the introduction of the most powerful handgun ever- the 500 S&W XVR revolver and cartridge! Two years later, they followed up with the introduction of the fastest production revolver- 2,300 fps with a .45 caliber 200 grain bullet- enter the .460 S&W Magnum.

The initial factory loads for the 460 S&W will get your attention in a hurry! Offering u...

.480 Ruger Reintroduction: Alaskan and Super Redhawk Shootout

First introduced in 2003 as a six shot Super Redhawk, initially there were some rumblings of case extraction sometimes being an issue. Reloaders being what they are, that may or may not have been due to loads being created and shot hotter than they should. So in 2007, the caliber was dropped and later introduced as a 5-shot version. A few years later, and again the cartridge was dropped from their...

.50 Alaskan Levergun: Reloading and Hunting

With a pending trip to Africa, a Marlin .45-70 was sent to Wild West Guns in Alaska to rebore and chamber to the .50 Alaskan. I wanted to be able to fire larger, heavier flat point cast and jacketed bullets at very large and heavy game. It worked quite well…

I have always loved big bore rifles. When you can look into a rifle case, and easily see the flash hole at the bottom, you ...

.50 G.I.:Sensible BIG BORE Glock

Much discussion goes back and forth when it comes to sensible or minimum calibers for personal defense. It could be a case of “bad guy” vs. you… or “bad boar” vs. your tender flesh. I think it all boils down to a few simple facts. In either case, I want a whole lot more than a 25 ACP, 32, 9mm, or even a 40 caliber. Bigger is better, at least in my mind.

Secondly, if the g...

.50-95 Uberti Model 1876

Stepping back into the past, we take a look at a modern reproduction of a lever gun that served back in the Old West. Uberti is currently offering the Winchester Model 1876 in three calibers: .45-60, .45-75, and the .50-95. One of the smoothest guns this author has ever handled, I look at loading the biggest of the three..

I am a modern shooter and hunter, hooked for certain on sco...

.500 Nitro Double: Blaser S2 Safari

A visit to the Blaser factory in Germany resulted in being the first writer to review the then-new S2 double rifle, in the African classic .500 Nitro cartridge!

Forty years ago, I had the good fortune of finding the most incredible book I have ever read on African hunting. Hunter was written by John A. Hunter in the 1940’s. He began his hunting career in the early 1900’s, when ...

.500 S&W: Reloading Reduced Recoil, Moderate Loads

Just as a Ferrari does not have to be driven with your pedal to the floor, the awesome 500 Smith & Wesson need not be pushed to the max to be useful and fun. The author has developed many moderate, effective loads which can comfortably be handled by any shooter who can manage the 44 Magnum.

I was certain that I was finished testing big bore revolvers when I last wrote about my resu...

1,000 round, 9 cartridge, Hornady Factory Ammo Test

Just how good can factory ammo really shoot? The author gathered up some good rifles in nine cartridges and 53 boxes of Hornady Custom RifleAmmunition.

Being a passionate reloader for over 30 years, I was firmly convinced that handloads were the only way to go to achieve the accuracy levels I desired from my rifles. In fact, I am currently working on a big project that will prove to be very ...

32 Year Old Deer

The deer obviously was not aged to be 32 years old… that’s how old I was when I finally took my first deer. I grew up in the Chicago suburbs where you did not talk about owning any guns much less ever admit to hunting. None of my friends, my father or any immediate relatives, were into guns and shooting. Now, over twenty years later, I‘m very fortunate to have hunted in many states including...

5mm Sheridan Pellet Rifle Review: A BLAST from the Past

I remember in my early teens feeling pretty “cool” with my Remington pump action styled Daisy BB gun. It was about the nicest one on the block until one day I saw “IT.” Now about forty years later, I realize a basic fundamental rule of life. And that is, no matter what you have, some kid down the block has a nicer, bigger, faster, and better one. One day when I stepped into my neighbor’s...

A Pronghorn Hunt with Outdoor Buddies

This article first appeared in the Outdoor Buddies Newsletter www.outdoorbuddies.org. It is printed with the permission of Outdoor Buddies.

For many years, I have been honored to participate in shooting events with Outdoor Buddies members and supporters. Hunting for pronghorn with them in early October in northern Colorado was a new experience. Outdoor Buddies is a volunteer organizatio...

A Really Big Mule Deer

By the 1930s, virtually all big game species were at a low ebb in the United States, along-term decline accelerated by meat hunting during the Depression, and thedisastrous drought of the Dust Bowl. During summers from school in the late Thirties,my Dad wrangled horses in the Frazier Park area west of Denver, great elk and mule deer country today, and he doesn’t recall ever seeing a deer or elk ...

Accurate, Easy Hunting Loads

There’s no greater thrill than taking a fine trophy with ammunition you’ve carefully loaded yourself. But I’ve seen far too many hunters at the range spend hours burning pounds of powder and launching boxes of bullets downrange all in the hopeful search of that one, perfect load. My goal now is to make the entire load development reloading process far easier than you ever thought possible. ...

Adventures in Hunting Spots and Stripes in Africa

“Couch?”

“Yeah,” I responded, eager to assuage the look of confusion and disbelief canvassed on my professional hunter’s face. “A couch. And maybe some luggage or a purse for my wife.”

Eric ran his hands over his thick black goatee in thought.

“Well, I’ve never heard of that but I suppose what you do with your trophies is ...

Africa's Toughest: Lord Derby's Giant Eland: Heat, Sweat, and Sometimes Tears

At the peak of the mid-afternoon heat, we took a break in the shade and drank some water. About six that morning, we’d picked up the tracks where we left them the night before. By now, I’d lost track of how many times we’d hit the herd, failed to get a shot, and had watched them break into their ground eating trot, vanishing in a cloud of dust. We were in northern Cameroon, and these were Ce...

Africa: Lion- Ghost of the Kalahari, an adventure by J.C. Bell

In late May, I was staying as a guest at the northeastern Michigan Muy Grande Ranch- one of the Signature Series Resorts of Perry and Paulette Heleski. Another guest, the noted hunting and outdoor writer Craig Boddington, received an urgent e-mail from the southwestern African country of Namibia. It seemed a large lion had moved into a region where both Botswana and South Africa all meet on the Na...

Africa: .308 Scout on Safari, Zimbabwe- Part 1

In 1996, when my mining company sent me to Zimbabwe for four months, I immediately befriended a wonderful man who soon became my best friend. Having lived and hunted in Montana, he was just as interested in the hunting I did there as I was of all the hunting he had done throughout his lifetime growing up near Harare. We went together like salt and pepper; like hot fudge and ice cream. Through Step...

Africa: .376 Steyr Medium Bore, Zimbabwe- Part 2

At a large shooting trade show in 2000, I was able to see and handle the new .376 Steyr ProHunter rifle, for the very first time. Sporting a handy 20” barrel, and great adjustable sights, the ergonomics of the rifle appealed to me right away. The synthetic stock had a palm swell in the pistol grip, and a natural channel in the forend, for the fingers of your left hand. The bolt had a full-dia...

Africa: .50 Alaskan Levergun, Zimbabwe- Part 3

So far, my choices for a light and medium rifle- a .308 Steyr Scout and a .376 Steyr ProHunter- have proved to be excellent for the game I harvested. Truth be told, the .376 could have very easily handled everything, being adequate for even eland, while not too much with the lighter factory loads, for impala or warthog. But when my Zimbabwean friend Stephan called me, and asked me to come huntin...

Africa: A Tough Assignment – Zimbabwe!

I was working for one of the largest mining companies in the world for almost six months at a coal mine in New Mexico. Prior to that, I’d spent six years as the supply manager at a gold and silver mine in Montana. It was May 1996, and I was on a short vacation back in Montana when I got a call late Tuesday night from my wife. She told me my boss had just called, and it was very important I call ...

Africa: Big Buff, First Kudu

Work at the mine kept me from visiting any of the three gun stores in Harare, Zimbabwe for the first two weeks, but by the third week, I’d laid out my plans to hit them all early Saturday morning. The first one was a higher-end, fancier store in downtown, offering more than just basic rifles, while also having a gunsmith on site. Just as I’d found when visiting Australia, generally, prices acr...

Africa: Elusive Eland, Barking Baboon, Poacher’s Dog

My friend, Stephan, kept inviting me out for many weekends to hunt problem animals that farmers would report when they came to his hunting store in Harare. That was all free hunting, which was great, but before I left Zimbabwe, there were some species I wanted to take for sure. In talking with Stephan, he said he was sure he could get me “local” rates at a smaller hunting camp about 3 hours aw...

Africa: Feed a Village

The almost three months I was able to hunt on and off in Zimbabwe were some of the best and hardest times I ever experienced while hunting. My emotions ran the full range, from ecstatic to deeply sad. At times, the tough choice was determining which animal in the herd I wanted to take. While on other occasions, after days of hard hunting, I would’ve been happy to just see one shootable animal. Read More

Africa: Kudus In the Cotton

It’s hard to believe, but my Zimbabwean friend, Stephan, regularly had farmers with problem animals come in to the hunting store where he worked. They would BEG him to come out and shoot African plains game because as they were wreaking havoc on their crops! Normally, he would go out and hunt Saturday and Sunday during the day. But this time, a small herd of kudu had moved in and were only feedi...

Africa: Midnight Hyenas

A few weeks before I arrived in Zimbabwe, my new friend, Stephan, had been asked to come out to a farm and assist with a pack of spotted hyenas that had moved in. Each night, they were killing and only partially eating a fresh head of cattle. The farmer could not sustain such a repeated loss, so when he walked into BIG BUFF hunting store and spoke with Stephan, my friend agreed to come out and see...

Africa’s Most Dangerous Antelope?

Roualeyn Gordon Cummings reached the bank of the Ngotwani River shortly before dawn. The early morning chill blanketed him and his horse and filled his trailing dogs with frenzy. The rising sun brought into view a river walled by limestone cliffs and deep thickets of thorn-covered brush. As the sun crested the horizon the darkness of the thickets gave way to shadows that turned to tangled form...

Africa’s Whitetail, The Bushbuck: Lots of class, plenty of challenge!

Okay, so I didn’t really know what a “bushbuck” was the first time I went to Africa. Most hunters probably don’t. Obviously it’s some kind of buck that lives in thick bush, right? The bushbuck, Tragelaphus scriptus, is actually the smallest member of the group of spiral-horned antelope, and is very possibly the most widespread of all of Africa’s antelope. You’ll find bushbuck somew...

African Game Profile: Nile Crocodile

“Nile crocodile” makes a nice rhyme, but is actually a misnomer. Well, not exactly. There are Nile crocodiles in the Nile River, but there are also Nile crocodiles in the many hundreds of rivers, swamps, lakes and mudholes between Egypt and South Africa. Off to the west, there is another, much smaller crocodile, but throughout most of Africa, the big, green lizard is the Nile crocodile. And ye...

African Game Profile: The Greater Kudu Why the “Grey Ghost” is Africa’s most-sought trophy

The greater kudu is probably the second-most recognized of the hundred-plus African antelope. Thanks to Chevrolet, the much more common impala is probably the most recognizable, but there’s a big difference. If you’re hunting in an area where impala inhabit, you will probably take one, and he’ll give you a nice trophy—but the impala will be taken along the way, perhaps for camp meat,and ma...

Alaska Part 1: Eaten by a Brown Bear… Almost!

About twenty years ago, I was the fortunate winner at an auction for an unguided caribou hunt in Alaska. A big game outfitter donated this hunt to be auctioned during a fund-raising dinner. I’d wanted to hunt in Alaska for decades, and this fairly reasonable hunt seemed like a great way to get my start. Taking place in mid-September, I actually would be hunting on my birthday, a pretty neat idea...

Alaska Part 2: Second Chance Caribou

The pilot fired up his De Havilland Beaver, 7-seat float plane, a giant in comparison to the Super Cub. As we made the short flight east to the Illiamna airport, he asked about what exactly had happened to me out there. Relaying my brown bear encounter, he said I was very lucky to still be alive. My guide was radioed about what had happened, and was told I could be picked up at the airport in a sh...

Alaska: Hook, Line, and Sinker

“Then I swallowed it.”

“You swallowed a hook?!”

“Yep. Sure did,” my guide Lewis Lincecum clarifying his accidental ingestion of a Tiemco size 12 hook while holding it in his mouth during some on the spot fly repair. “Swallowed it whole.”

“What’d you do?” I asked, thinking of the logistics involved in removing someone with a...

America's Earliest Deer Season

As I write these lines, it’s a blistering August across the U.S. That’s not all bad. Winter and spring are behind us, summer is on the wane, and autumn is coming soon. For those among us who are deer hunters, that means our season is right around the corner…but that depends a whole lot on where you live. Along California’s Central Coast the “early” archery season is over, and rifle dee...

America's Favorite Cartridge in Africa: The great old .30-06 is perfect for plains game

Despite all the brave new magnums, the cartridge we know as the .30-06, properly “caliber .30, model of 1906,” remains America’s favorite hunting cartridge. In America, we may not think of the .30-06 as ideal for sheep, and probably not perfect for big bears. But, it will do these things and a whole lot more. It’s a great cartridge for most deer and elk hunting. It is fine for black bear, ...

America’s Tough One: Desert Sheep, It’s All in Getting the Tag

The two rams were feeding along a distant ridge when first spotted. They were two or more miles away, and I have no idea how our Mexican guides picked them up withquestionable optics. I certainly couldn’t see them! We moved down our own ridge, gaining a bit of ground, and I finally saw them through outfitter Kirk Kelso’s big spotting scope. One was insignificant, but the other had just the hin...

Anatolian Red Stag in Turkey

Turkey has always been one of those mysterious places to me. I had never been to the Middle East, nor had I been to a predominantly Muslim country. I have to admit I was a little nervous. I was going to be hunting with my dad’s good friend, Kaan Karakaya, owner of Shikar Safaris. At least knowing whom I was going to be hunting with gave me some sense of comfort. I was arriving into Turkey a we...

Archery: Beginner Mistakes, One Yard Elk., Rifle: Elk Group Hunt, Mulie Mistakes

Knowing almost nothing about bow hunting, except how to shoot my bow pretty well, I was out hunting by myself off the south side of the Missouri River in Montana. The area was the Charles M. Russell Wildlife Refuge, which is known for big elk. It is a draw only for rifle, but bow hunters could buy an over the counter tag for it back then. I had driven down in the early afternoon and parked my truc...

Arzaga Texas Sporting Journal

I hunted Arzaga twice, first in the fall of 2009 with Steve Lamboy, director of Zoli USA, and Paolo Zoli and his father, Giuseppe. Last fall, I hunted Arzaga with the Zolis, my daughter, Alexandra and with Roberto, its owner. This article details my second visit.

The hunting club Arzaga Drugolo was named after the 12th century estate that included the Drugolo Castle, presently ...

Australia: Hunting Down Under - Billabong Boars and Scrub Bulls

Having finally met Miles, my e-mail and phone only friend from Australia, during a Russian boar hunt in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, he afterwards invited me out for a very unusual hunt in the north east part of his country. I was told we’d see over 100 wild pigs each and every day for a week, and there might be the opportunity for a scrub bull or two. Scrub bulls are feral cattle that do no...

Australia: Russian Boars Connection

You never know in life, what opening a new door may lead to. Several years ago my brother sold some Steyr rifle magazines to a man in Australia, named Miles. A few months later, he asked my brother if he knew of a good source for older Steyr rifle parts. He told him that I’d visited the Steyr Mannlicher factory in Austria several times, and knew a lot of people there. An e-mail from Miles to...

Austria: Alpine Marmot

Hunting in Europe is a lot different than in the US. Many years ago, while visiting in Germany, my friend took me to the Munich Hunting and Fishing Museum. Besides such interesting things such as an ancient full skeleton of an Irish elk- seven feet tall at the shoulders with an antler spread of nearly twelve feet- I noticed something unusual about the old rifles on display. Every gun was extremely...

Austria: Driven Russian Boar Hunt

While driven hunts sometimes occur in the US, in Europe, they are frequently used to control animal numbers in a forested region. The basic concept is that a line of drivers spaced out perhaps 50 yards apart will purposefully walk, making noise, and driving game towards a line of stationary shooters positioned at the far end of an area. Hopefully, all game within the driven zone will run by at lea...

Austria: Tyrolean Alps Chamois Hunt

North America, we have the very distinctive Rocky Mountain goat that has long white hair and black horns that curve back slightly. While in Europe, a close relative is called the chamois (pronounced: shammy), a somewhat smaller goat that is a rich brown color in the summer turning to a light grey in winter. It has contrasting black and white portions on its face, a white rump, and a black...

Awesome Ammo

I learned to handload centerfire at the same time I learned to shoot. The deal was that if I wanted to shoot, I also needed to reload. Since then, I’ve spent lots of time at the reloading bench. I always enjoyed it, but I don’t do it much anymore. Back then, if you wanted accurate ammo, you pretty much had to load it yourself. Back then, if you wanted particular bullets, anything beyond the �...

Barrels: Hammer Forging- How is it done?

Admittedly the most important component of a rifle, the barrel delivers the projectile to where you are aiming. A really good one does it with extreme precision and consistently repeats the process again and again. Hammer forging is a process which can produce extremely accurate barrels..

Barrels- we expect a lot from them but often give little thought to the manufacturing pr...

Bear Country

There was scat along the trails and long-clawed tracks in just about every wet spot. We were in bear country. More specifically, we were in grizzly country. At least one of the bears had marked a tree close by camp with deep scratch marks. Although I didn’t particularly want a bear to drop by for dinner, this wasn’t especially frightening. We were in the wilderness of western Canada, and there...

BEYOND THE HUNT: Five Tips for Talking About Ethical Hunting

To shoot or not to shoot—that was the question. I was hunting pheasant at the Kiowa Creek shooting club east of Denver, using a new Zoli 28 gauge over/under shotgun. My dog charged a thicket of corn husks. A pheasant flew out like a missile. I shouldered the gun and established the lead, but as the bird gained distance, I concluded an ethical shot was not possible. I returned the gun to a safe p...

Bird Hunting - Part 1: Golden Retriever Buddy

Decades ago, I obtained my first ever puppy to bring some happiness to my home and hopefully become my best hunting buddy. I lived in the southwest suburbs of Chicago, and one spring made an hour’s drive to a home that had a fresh batch of Golden Retriever puppies, only 5 weeks old. Still too young to leave their mom, I went early to pick out my future furry friend, before another might lay clai...

Bird Hunting - Part 2: A Hunting We Will Go!

At the time, I lived in the extreme western-most suburb of Chicago. In fact, it was the very last town. Beyond me, only farmland existed and corn grew for as far as you could see. About five miles west of my home was a hunting club with natural and stocked pheasants. My poor brother, living much further south, had to drive a hour southwest to go bird hunting, so I considered myself blessed to pay ...

Bird Hunting - Part 3: Frozen Lake Pheasant

Fozzie, my young Golden Retriever, was really coming along as a hunter once he realized that he could find pheasants with his nose, and not just wait until he or I kicked one up by accident. From the moment I dropped the tailgate on my truck, his nose was to the ground as he kept within 15 yards or so out in front of me. He always kept up his part in the hunt by kicking up any birds he winded, and...

Bird Hunting - Part 4: Irrigation Ditch Pheasants

Many years later, especially in dog years, we moved from the western suburbs of Chicago to north central Montana, near Malta. At the time, my three year old daughter, Lauren, who was actually born in the Big Sky state, was fascinated by all animals. In fact, during a trip with her when she was only one was the first time she ever spoke. And it came as no surprise that her first word was the name o...

Bird Hunting: Dodging Doves!

I remember walking into our local Kmart shortly after I turned of age in Illinois in the early ‘70s to purchase my first shotgun. On sale for the price of only $39.99, the H&R single shot, break open 20 gauge shotgun was my very first firearm purchase on my own. Making only $1.75 an hour part-time, it was in those days still a considerable purchase, one not taken lightly. Getting home, I realiz...

Black Rhinos and Strong Horses

Terrorism, death threats, and illogical reasoning have become the campaign tool of today’s anti-hunting community. To date, the hunter-conservationist community has not adequately prepared a counter strategy. The time is now! The black rhino-Dallas Safari Club (DSC) saga chronicled nicely in the winter issue of Fair Chase serves as the perfect case in point.

I attended that ...

Canada: Frozen Caribou

When I worked for one of the largest mining companies in the world, it had been the very first one to open a diamond mine in the Northwest Territories province of north central Canada. The mine was actually about 175 miles north of Yellowknife (as the crow flies). Most equipment and consumables were brought up during the winter when the thousands of lakes froze over hard, and winter ice roads coul...

Canada: Long Lake Pike

When I worked for one of the largest mining companies in the world, we were the very first ones to open a diamond mine in the Northwest Territories province of north central Canada. The mine was actually about 175 miles north of Yellowknife (as the crow flies). Most equipment and consumables were brought up during the winter when the thousands of lakes froze over hard, and winter ice roads could b...

Cast Bullet Hog: .44 Mag & .45-70

My first big bore rifle was a Ruger #1 in .45-70, I purchased in 1974 for the incredible full retail price of $265. The first year I had it, over 40 lbs. of hand cast bullets were sent down its barrel. With just a 1-4 power Leupold scope on it, I considered it pretty good to keep three shots under two inches with the 405 grain lead bullets I cast on top of my mom’s gas cooking range. I used two ...

Chamois: The Smallest Goat: Don't Underestimate this one!

I’ve written before that all mountain hunting is somewhat similar, a matter of climbing, glassing, and figuring out how to get close enough for a shot. The difficulty always depends on local game density, the characteristics of a given mountain range, and ofcourse, your luck. I’ve also written that most of the world’s wild goats are more difficult quarry than most of the world’s wild sheep...

Classic Cartridge: .264 Winchester Magnum: Once a star, now almost forgotten—but still pretty cool

The .264 Winchester Magnum was introduced in 1958 and was Winchester’s second “belted magnum” cartridge based on the .375 H&H case cut down to .30-06 length. The first, the .458 Winchester Magnum, preceded it by two years. The second, the .338 Winchester Magnum, was introduced the same year. The fourth and last of the family, the .300 Winchester Magnum, came along in 1963. Of the four, the ....

Classic Cartridge: .270 Winchester, Jack O'Connor had it right!

Among middle-aged shooters like myself the .270 Winchester is best known as Jack O’Connor’s cartridge. Truly a man of letters, as a young man O’Connor wrote three pretty good novels, and he was a professor of English at the University of Arizona. But in our world he was the longtime Shooting Editor ofOutdoor Life magazine, and after his retirement he finished his career writing for Petersen�...

Classic Cartridge: .280 Remington

As standard cartridges go, the .280 Remington has one of the oddest histories. Based on the .30-06 case necked down to take a 7mm, or .284-inch bullet, the cartridge was introduced in 1957. It has never had enough sales to support an extensive variety of factory loads, yet those who use it generally swear by it. As a result, it is almost a cult cartridge, supported by a relatively small group who ...

Classic Cartridge: .300 H&H Magnum: No longer popular, but a long way from obsolete

I have been a fan of the fast .30-calibers for many years. There are few tools more versatile, or equally well suited to a wide variety of game and conditions. Of what we think of as “magnum .30s” I suppose I have used the .300 Weatherby Magnum the most, but I’ve used the .300 Winchester Magnum quite a bit, and I’ve at least dabbled with the full range of new .30-caliber magnums, includi...

Classic Cartridge: .300 Winchester Magnum, The cartridge for all seasons

Introduced in 1963, the .300 Winchester Magnum was the last of Winchester’s family of standard-length belted magnums following the .458 Winchester Magnum (1956) and the .264 and .338 Winchester Magnums (1958). All were based on the .375 H&H case, shortened to (more or less) .30-06 length and necked to caliber. The .300 Winchester Magnum would become the most popular of all. In fact, it is the wo...

Classic Cartridge: .35 Whelen, Gain without Pain

It was 25 years ago, the fall of 1986, that I first used the .35 Whelen cartridge. Although it was just being added to Remington’s line as a factory cartridge, it was hardly new. As a wildcat it dates clear back to 1922. James Howe, of the New York custom firm of Griffin & Howe, has generally been credited with designing the cartridge and naming it after Colonel Townsend Whelen, the top gunwrite...

Classic Cartridge: .375 H&H, The ultimate jack-of-all trades

The concept of the "all around rifle" is both seductive and elusive. Seductive: Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have just one rifle that would do everything? Elusive: Can one rifle and cartridge really be suitable for the entire world’s big game? To the former, an emphatic “Yes!” To the latter, a guarded “Maybe.” Usable sure, but the spectrum is too wide for any one cartridge to be ideal f...

Classic Cartridge: 7mm Remington Magnum

Roy Weatherby was a savvy gun guy. He was also a marketing genius and a true zealot who believed in his theories about high velocity and his own cartridges that produced them. In the postwar era, the belted cartridges that bore his name beganmaking serious inroads into the staid American firearms industry. He made the majors nervous, and they responded with their own cartridges bearing the suddenl...

Classic Cartridge: The .300 Weatherby Magnum

When I was new shooter in the 1960s, we were in a serious magnum craze, when all the new cartridges bore a “magnum” suffix, and we believed velocity was king. That seemed to die down a bit, but in recent years, we’ve seen a resurgence of magnum mania with a whole spate of long, short, super short, and “ultra” magnums promising new levels of performance.

The new cartridges all p...

Classic Cartridge: The 7mm Mauser- Mild, Effective, and going Strong since 1892

The buck was standing on the edge of the treeline, just his head and antlers visible. He wasn’t a monster, but from his head shape and antler mass, I knew he was an older buck—and my season was running out fast. I picked up the rifle, and through the scope I could see a small spot of shoulder through dry leaves. The rifle made its flat little crack and the buck lurched forward, running across ...

Craftsmen Fly Rod Engraving

I was somewhat educated on fine gun engraving when I sauntered into the M. W. Reynolds shop in Englewood, Colorado, a few years ago. I had visited and interviewed several engravers in Italy. I’d attended two Grand Master Engraving Programs in Emporia, Kansas, and met engravers Ken Hunt, Winston Churchill, Alain Lovenberg, Philippe Grifnée and Giacomo Fausti, a founder of the prestigious Creat...

Cutting Edge Defense: PHD- Person Home Defense™ handgun ammunition

In a self-defense situation, what are the chances most people defending themselves or their families, could accurately place each shot to center of mass? What are the chances that vitals will be hit by a single expanding projectile, if it does even expand? Imagine instead, the impact a single round could have, if after 1 to 2 inches of penetration, the nose was engineered to break off as four shar...

Ever heard of Macedonia for hunting?

Macedonia is not only famous for being home to Alexander the Great, but it is also a fabulous place to hunt! I have to admit when I first heard of an opportunity to hunt in Macedonia, I immediately pulled up a map on my phone because I had no clue where that was. It is a small country with a population of only around 2 million, but they have their own language and very rich history. Macedonia ...

Feeding Barrett’s .338 Lapua, 98 Bravos

When Barrett, long since famous for their .50 BMG semi-auto rifle- the M82A1, announced a new from the ground-up, long range sniping rifle, tailored around the .338 Lapua Magnum cartridge, I knew I had to get one for testing. It took a while to arrive, but a bonus was that besides the standard 27” fluted barreled rifle, they also sent me one of the newly developed 20” heavy barreled versions, ...

First Elk, First Bison, Montana: Elk- Four Hour Drag

It all began with an extremely unusual rifle. On the way home from work one day, I chanced to stop in a local gun store, curious to look over their used rifles, as you never know what may have just been taken in on trade. In a display case, I happened to see one of those “old single shot rifles,” a real Shiloh Sharps buffalo rifle with a half octagon, half round barrel that looked to be almost...

Fishing The Amazon With Captain Peacock

“No, it’s true,” Jack assures me, his eyes brimming with honesty and true belief.

“The dolphin will steal your woman.”

I turn my gaze from the long neck of a beer bottle sized rod gripped in my hands to the cadaver gray colored porpoises breaching the burnt colored waters of the Rio Negros around me to repeat my Brazilian guide’s promis...

Fishing, Africa: Zimbabwe Tigerfish & 100 lb. Vundu

Retuning to my friend’s house in Harare after a week of successful hunting, Stephan asked if I’d like to go along with him to a fishing tackle store. He needed some supplies. As I had not yet been to one in Zimbabwe, I was eager to go to see what a tackle shop might look like in Africa. Arriving at the store, he went about picking up the few supplies he needed while I browsed around. The first...

Fishing: First Cast

1966 was an incredible year for two very significant reasons. My Uncle Eddie, in his late-thirties, purchased a new Poppy Red Mustang Fastback, 2+2… and at the tender age of 9 years old, he asked me to go on my first ever fishing trip to Minnesota in that very special car. In early March, we pulled up on a cool sunny day, and there in his driveway sat his new pride and joy. He greeted us when we...

Five Tips to Help Instructors be More Persuasive-Part 1

I was honored to speak at the 2015 IHEA annual conference in Des Moines. My presentation offered five tips to help hunter education instructors more effectively communicate the critical themes and data in the instruction materials. Also, I tried to present my material in such a way that it could be easily communicated by agency administrators to instructors that did not attend my presentation. I...

Getting Your Goat: Not the same as getting sheepish!

The Rocky Mountain goat ranks as one of North America’s most under-rated game animals. The wild sheep with which he shares much of his domain ,bighorns in the south, Dall and Stone sheep in the north, get most of the glory. I suppose this is because North America’s wild goat got cheated in the horn department, carrying short, thick, beautifully curved daggers rarely approaching a foot in lengt...

Great Game Animals: The Hump-Backed Bear

The bald eagle is America’s icon is without question a regal bird. Benjamin Franklin’s preference was the wild turkey, a choice that today’s turkey hunters would no doubt approve. Legend, or at least Hollywood, has it that Theodore Roosevelt thought the grizzly bear was a better choice. True or not, I vote with Teddy! To me, the grizzly bear is the ultimate symbol of the American wilderness ...

Hippo in the Caprivi

I have always been afraid of hippos. This year, I got the chance to hunt the massive beast in the Caprivi Strip of Namibia. The only catch was that I had to hunt it on land. Hunting a hippo on land is one of the most dangerous things a hunter can do. Hippos are ferocious and territorial and are responsible for more deaths annually in Africa than the buffalo and elephant combined. This was goi...

Hog Nation: American hunters have gotten piggish, ain’t it great?

Leupold has a “Pigman” riflescope. Winchester has their new “Razorback” ammunition, and I suspect this is just the tip of the iceberg. The wild hog is coming on fast as one of American hunters’ favorite pursuits.

The wild hog is not native to North America and is certainly not new. Some populations were established by 17th Century seafarers (if not sooner) so passing ships migh...

Hunting Brant in The Bay of 11,000 Virgins

“There’s thousands of birds. So many we usually limit out by noon.”

“I can’t stand cold weather,” I countered. “You know that.”

“It’s warm. Lows in the fifties. Afternoon it’s up to the mid seventies. Sometimes eighties.”

I paused for a moment, then remembered that Mark had lied to me before. Read More

Hunting Loads for the 222 Remington

The first small caliber centerfire rifle I ever bought was a Winchester, heavy-barreled varmint model, chambered in .222 Remington. Back over forty years ago, it cost just over $ 200 at full retail! I had to go in with my brother for the purchase, as including a Leupold 12-power scope, we had over $350 into the entire package. In the olden days, we were thrilled to shoot a 1”, 3-shot group at 10...

Ibex: The poor man's mountain hunt

Nearly 90 years ago Theodore Roosevelt’s son, Kermit, journeyed to the Tien Shan Mountains of western China. His book, East of the Sun, West of the Moon, is a legacy of adventure only slightly less rich than the great literary legacy left by his slightly more famous father. From a hunting standpoint, that Roosevelt expedition is fascinating because the primary and most prized quarry was the ibex...

Let’s go Pig Hunting

My 15-year-old cheerleader daughter, Caroline, has been going to the range with me for several years, and she did her hunter safety course quite a while back…but she hasn’t really expressed much interest in actually going hunting. So I was pretty surprised when, just the other day, she announced that she’d like to give it a try. It was spring break, so we made a couple of trips to the range ...

Low Recoil- Moderate, Effective Loads (MELs) : For Young Shooters & Hunters

Last fall, I was at the rifle range working on a very large shooting project. It was a beautiful cool morning, just weeks before hunting season opened. As I looked down the firing line, I noticed a young shooter being quite rigorously worked over while sighting in a rifle. When I then saw his much smaller brother have his turn at it, I shuddered at the thought of these young shooters getting off t...

Marco Polo's Argali: King of the Wild Sheep

The year was probably 1272 when Venetian traveler Marco Polo first encountered the wild sheep with the fantastically curling horns that more than 700 years later still bears his name. This meeting almost certainly took place in the Pamir Mountains of Central Asia, a range of high valleys and rocky ridges that lead from present-day Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan into western China. For Mar...

Montana: Prairie Dogs 101

At the age of thirty-three, I moved from the suburbs of Chicago to a small rural town in north central Montana. Though an avid shooter for almost twenty years, my hunting experience had been extremely limited; all that was about to change. While I had been hunting pheasants with my Golden Retriever for the past 3 or 4 years, I had only just taken my first ever deer the prior fall; I was pretty muc...

Montana: 4WD STUCK!!!

While living in the suburbs of Chicago, I landed a job as the Supply Manger at a gold and silver mine in north central Montana. I felt like I’d died and gone to heaven! At the time, I had a mini pickup which was fine for going out for groceries in suburbia, but I knew that it would not cut it in Big Sky country. So while still in Illinois, I went to my local Ford dealer to order a loaded crew ca...

Montana: Big Sky Country

I had been dreaming of moving to Montana all of my life. When I suddenly landed a position in north central Montana, I felt as if I had hit the job lottery. Coming from the suburbs of Chicago, it was going to be a huge lifestyle change for my family. We lived on the very fringe of the suburbs; in fact we lived in the very western-most city. The next town was five miles west, and there was nothing ...

Montana: Ghost Antelope

During my first season of prairie dog hunting, one constant presence out on the rolling hills of north central Montana, were the curious pronghorn antelope. Seen in herds from a few dozen to groups of perhaps a hundred or more, often the lone buck would appear as I crested a hill. At times, they were obviously interested in what I might be doing, sometimes approaching to within two hundred yards o...

Montana: Perfect Guide, Distant Mulie, Wheatfield Whitetail

Perfect Guide

Montana: Prairie Dog Bowl

In the late 1980’s, I’d moved from the suburbs of Chicago to just north of the Missouri Breaks in north-central Montana. I felt like I’d died and gone to heaven. While a few of my friends back east had hunted in Big Sky country for several years, now I lived there. Right away, I got into prairie dog hunting as according to a BLM map (which stands for – Bureau of Land Management); I lived w...

Montana: Prairie Dog Convention

My second year living in north central Montana, having moved from the Chicago suburbs, I heard wind of a PRAIRIE DOG CONVENTION coming to town… count me in! Checking at the local sporting goods store, I quickly had a local contact, calling him right away. Yes, they could use some help, and would I be willing to guide a famous writer, driving him around dog towns for two days in my personal truck...

Montana: The Water Czar

Moving from the Chicago suburbs to rural north central Montana was a culture shock of the pleasant kind. People in my small town of only around 150 were generally very pleasant and openly friendly. In general, there was a great sense of community, unlike back in Illinois, where I only knew one of my neighbors by name. In no time at all, not only did I know everybody, but even their kids’ names. ...

More Whitetail Lessons

Some time back I used this space to discuss off-season scouting and some of the other preparations intended to make deer season as successful as possible. In Kansas, our rifle deer season is just 12 days, so it may seem like putting the cart before the horse to invest lots of time in food plots, stand preparation, and all the rest for such a short season. On the other hand, when the season is that...

My Favorite (NEW) Magnum: Of them all, the .270 WSM is the one I like best

I grew up in what we used to call the magnum craze, the late 1950s and on through the 60s when every new cartridge wore a belt and was called a “magnum.” Some were flops, but this era produced some of our most popular cartridges, including the 7mm Remington Magnum and .300 Winchester Magnum. Starting in about 1998, I think we went into a second magnum craze. In a brief period, we have seen fou...

New Mexico: White Sands Oryx

A fairly large huntable population of the African oryx antelope (also known as a gemsbok) lives in and around the New Mexico White Sands Missile Range in the south-central part of the state. Frank C. Hibben, chairman of the NM Game Commission from 1961 ~ 1971, paid for and helped to trap 18 oryx, which after quarantine, were shipped from Africa to the Albuquerque Zoo. As Federal regulations prohib...

No Longer a Short-Range Affair- The .338 Marlin Express

In 2006, Hornady created a serious upgrade to longer range, lever gun performance, through the introduction of the LEVERevolution line of ammo. Traditionally, lever action cartridges have been loaded with flat point or round nose bullets. Spire points can cause multiple round detonations in the magazine tube when fired because the pointy nose rests on the primer of the cartridge in front of it. Ho...

Notes on Choosing Scopes: One size doesn’t fit all, so choose wisely.

I started hunting in the 1960s. At that time, the telescopic sight was more than a century old, but only fairly recently had come into widespread use. The variable-power scopes we take for granted today were still a bit finicky, so fixed-power scopes were almost universal. The most popular was the fixed 4X, and that was the scope I used clear through the mid-1970s. By then, the variable-power scop...

Optical Sight Options: When is a scope not a scope?

Among American hunters, open sights are almost obsolete. As I’ve written before, I genuinely believe they have their purposes, but they are very limited. It’s axiomatic that you can’t hit something if you can’t see it, and telescopic sights, rifle scopes, enable you to see better. Telescopic rifle sights have been in common use since the 1950s, and almost universal during my entire hunting...

Prairie Mule Deer:

My native state of Kansas pretty much defines prairie, especially if you aren’t from there! When I was a kid growing up in the hedgerows and woodlots of eastern Kansas, mule deer country was a long ways away. It still is, but back then it was an article of faith that in order to hunt mule deer, you needed to headed west to the tall Rockies, and probably cross the Continental Divide.

I ...

Red Stag: A Universal Deer?

The red deer native to Europe isn’t just a close cousin to our American elk. They are actually different subspecies of the same animal, Cervus elaphus, a round-antlered deer with multi-tined animals that, in many races, naturally circles the globe in the Northern Hemisphere. If you start in western Europe and work your way eastward across Asia, these deer gradually become larger in the body and ...

Rocky Mountain Goat in British Colombia

Hunting the Rocky Mountain goat has been a dream of mine for many years. I first saw a mount of the animal at a hunting convention and thought it was the closest looking thing to a polar bear that I would ever be able to hunt. The opportunity to go to British Columbia with my dad came up unexpectedly, and I jumped at the chance. We would be hunting in northern British Columbia outside Smithers wit...

Romancing the Spiral Horns of South Africa

“Gayne, I hope we can talk romance while you’re here. You know…feelings. A sense of closeness. Candles n’ all that.”

What the…

I stared with uncomfortable suspicion at the huge six-foot-two, rock solid South African across the table from me. What was Hannes talking about? I didn’t have long to ponder before Melcom joined in on my Twilight Zone ...

Scope Reticles

Okay, the word is actually “reticule.” You won’t get the word “reticle” to come up on your spell-check. But over the years, in our little world, we’ve shortened it to “reticle.” Whatever you call it, it is the arrangement of aiming point or points that you see when you look through your riflescope.

Perhaps the most common is some form of “crosshair.” That word actuall...

Scopes or Iron Sights? Scopes are usually better…but Iron Sights Aren’t Dead

Ken Elliott and I had an argument regarding iron sights that ran for years. Ken, my long-time boss, believed strongly that a centerfire hunting rifle should wear iron sights in addition to a scope, preferably with detachable mounts. I never agreed. Only once in my hunting career have I removed a scope in favor of iron sights, but more about that later.

We see not just better, but also f...

Serbia’s Migrating Quail by Peter Lewis Horn II

Even now, when it seems that everything has been discovered, and every place worth shooting has been shot, or closed to shooting, the world still offers hunters new territories to explore. Consider Serbia. The country is likely to call to mind some of the 20th century’s most disquieting conflicts, but Serbia is teeming with game, the likes of which many sportsmen have never seen, much less expe...

Shooting Beretta's Best Dover Furnace

I want the Beretta Shooting Grounds at Dover Furnace to be the Augusta Nationals of all clay shooting venues,” said Jeff Maiorino as we sat with Jeanne Muncey in front of a fire crackling in the lodge’s fireplace. Entrepreneurial and dedicated to preserving a shooting / hunting lifestyle and heritage, owners Jeanne and Jim Muncey have developed two elegant properties. Ten Mile River Preserve...

Shotgun Sports Can Be A Superior Way to Teach Ethics

A few years ago, I experienced a moment that is now seared into my memory. The moment began inconspicuously. I and some of my Rocky Mountain Vintagers pals (www.rockymountainvintagers.org) were ambling from station to station at Jerry William’s superb Quail Run Sporting Clays Clubin Kiowa, Colorado (w...

South African Plains Game Hunt with Crusader Safaris

In August 2012, I had the opportunity to do a hunt in South Africa with Andrew Pringle of Crusader Safaris. The hunt was intended to be filmed for promotional purposes, but as the time grew closer, it seemed that the show I was working on was not going to be able to film this hunt. So, I called my dad and asked if he would be interested in using the hunt for his show. To my surprise, my dad jumped...

Swamp Buffalo

There are really just two ways to hunt Africa’s Cape buffalo. Most common throughout my hunting career has been tracking. This is because most of my buffalo hunting has been done in relatively thick thornbush or open forest where, absent blind luck, there isn’t much choice but to find tracks and follow them. Tracking buffalo is a great and classic African hunt. You get to see the African track...

Texas Shika

A fine nilghai cow was espied looking in very truth a “blue bull.” She was about 200 yards away and, after standing and gazing at us with that peculiar deflection of the neck which one so often sees in mounted specimens of nilghai heads in museums, trotted off down the line at a good pace.”
----Bernard C. Ellison, India 1925

I was hunting the tall grass plain...

The .300 & .338 Ruger Compact Magnums

You’d not find BMW putting Saab engines in its cars. Nor would you be likely to find a Mercedes engine in a Mini Cooper. In part, this is the reasoning behind Ruger’s introduction of two new .308 Winchester length cartridges… in part. The mutually beneficial relationship between Hornady and Ruger has brought us the .480 Ruger, the hugely popular .204 Ruger, and then the .375 Ruger. A certain...

The .358 Hawk

There are 11 Hawk wildcat improved cartridges in calibers: 6mm, .257, 6.5mm, .270, 7mm, .308, 8mm, .338, .358, .375, and even the .411- all based on an improved .30-06 case. Here is a look at a personal one I had built in the .358 caliber.

Many of the latest “magnum-magnums” rely on large doses of powder to squirt out tiny bullets at very high speeds. While that may be fine...

The African Lion

I am scared to death of lions. I’m cautious around buffalo, but I’m not afraid of them. Elephants have my undying respect, and anyone who isn’t scared half to death in the middle of a herd of cow elephants isan idiot. I’m not the least bit afraid of a leopard when he comes onto a bait, or on the few occasions when I’ve seen one slipping through the bush. Nor is there any reason to be afr...

The End of The Three Amigos?

Just 30 years ago, the white, or scimitar-horned oryx, roamed the desert of northern Chad in the thousands. His two buddies, the twist-horned addax and the large-bodied, short-horned dama gazelle were nowhere near as prolific, but they still occurred in very good numbers. When Libya invaded Chad, the Libyans machine-gunned the herds and trucked the meat back to Tripoli- very efficient. This was pr...

The Eyes Have It

The brain ‘sees’, not the eyes, yet the eyes train the brain to become the repository of skill. Where performance excellence is the goal, the eyes are used in seemingly contradictory ways – as conduits to the brain to analyze sensory input and as transmitters of inputs that shutdown that analysis. Each function of the eyes can be enhanced through dedicated practice to instruct the brain on ...

The Girl in the Swamp

Gnats swarmed my face in a thunderstorm of activity, their aggravating presence dwarfed only by the mosquitoes buzzing my head in a crown-like pattern. To my left an insect the size of a Sacagawea dollar coin crept closer and closer, its pinchers ready and seemingly waiting to pierce and cut my flesh. Faced with such hardship I couldn’t help but voice the first complaint of the hunt.

...

The Magnum .30 Caliber: Versatility Champions

America adopted her first .30-caliber military rifle, the Norwegian Krag in .30-40, in 1892. Our long-beloved .30-30 Winchester came out a couple of years later. After the turn of the century, we changed military horses, first to the original .30-03 and then to the matchless .30-06. Arthur Savage had his .303 Savage and later, his .300 Savage. Remington had, you guessed it, the .30 Remington. You ...

The Modern Sporting Rifle

Honestly, I’m not crazy about the term “modern sporting rifle.” On the other hand, it’s like fingernails on a blackboard when I hear semiautomatic sporting rifles described as “assault rifles.” Unless one has a Class III license for a fully automatic firearm, there is no such thing as a legal civilian-owned assault rifle. So while I deplore and abhor the misuse of any firearm, and like...

The Power of the Curl: So, just what is this thing about sheep hunting?

Many years ago, I invited my then boss to join me in one of my secret public land hot spots for wild hogs. I’ll never forget how he looked down his nose at me and sneered, “No thanks; I’m not much of pig hunter,” as if that was the lowest life form on Earth. This fellow was a widely experienced hunter whom I admired greatly…at least until that moment. You see, by his own description, he ...

The Ruger Compact Magnums: Packaging Plus Performance

The .375 Ruger is a very good cartridge and in several different ways. It performs a bit better than the great old .375 H&H, but it uses a shorter .30-06-length (2.5 inches) case, enabling it to be housed in shorter, more compact, and often less expensive actions. One could perhaps argue that we didn’t need more competition in the power/performance niche occupied by the .375 H&H.

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Theres something about the 6.5mm

The 6.5mm, caliber .264, although never popular in the United States, has remained a European standby since the first military cartridges in that bullet diameter made their appearance in the early 1890s. I’m not generally reactionary by nature, but I’ve long had a soft spot for the 6.5mm. This is not altogether rational. As a kid in the 1960s, when magnums were in, I had a .264 Winchester Magn...

Three Principles for Behaving when Confronted With Unethical Behavior

In his beautiful and eloquent book, Spring Creeks, Mike Lawson begins Chapter Eleven: Responsibilities, with this statement: “For whatever reason men fish, they are rewarded simply by the things they see. All the mechanisms of life are visible to those who look for them, from the nature of the very smallest creatures to the natures of men. A man’s behavior on the stream is likely to tell much...

Turkey Season

I am not a serious turkey hunter, but you wouldn’t know it by the way I’ve spent the past few days in head to toe camouflage, and making a wide variety of strange noises with some odd-looking devices. I thought I was going to pull it off, too. Yesterday morning (not the end of the season, but the last day I could hunt), Mike Hagen and I set up overlooking a perfect little meadow on the edge of...

When the Rut Shuts Down

Our American deer rut at different times in different places. Perhaps the earliest rut I know is on California’s Central Coast, where I’ve hunted much of my adult life. The very weird deer season there opens in August, when it’s hot as blazes, and runs into the third week of September (which isn’t much cooler). Despite the heat and long daylight, most seasons catch serious rutting activity...

You Have To Apply: Our tag drawings work…if you stick with them!

In the late afternoon we picked up fresh tracks along a snow-covered ridge, big ski-like tracks of a full-grown moose…but not big enough to be a mature bull. It could have been a youngster, but more likely a big cow. If so that was just fine. The rut was on, and she might lead us to a bull. A mile down the trail she did exactly that, and after a half-hour of playing cat and mouse in the thic...

Zimbabwe: Round 2-Bad Day Zebra

In the earlier story Kudus In The Cotton, I related the event where my friend Stephan actually found a full expanded Barnes 270 grain X-Bullet, lying on the ground, having fully penetrated a kudu bull. It literally had just enough energy to exit the hide on the far side, having first coursed through considerable muscle and bone. He found it right in front of my departing kudu bull...