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...
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 pro...
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...
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 ...
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 ...
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 a...
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...
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 woodlot...
Leupold has a “Pigman” riflescope. Winchester has their new “Razorback” ammunition, and I suspect this is just the tip of the iceberg. The wil...
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 va...
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 Depress...
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 ...
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 ...
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 elaph...
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 tur...
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 veloci...
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...
“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 als...
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...
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 possi...
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 ...
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...
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 an...
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....
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 o...
The greater kudu is probably the second-most recognized of the hundred-plus African antelope. Thanks to Chevrolet, the much more common impala is prob...
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 cartr...
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 mat...
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...
Among American hunters, open sights are almost obsolete. As I’ve written before, I genuinely believe they have their purposes, but they are very lim...
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 c...
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 ....
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 co...
Despite all the brave new magnums, the cartridge we know as the .30-06, properly “caliber .30, model of 1906,” remains America’s favorite huntin...
The 6.5mm, caliber .264, although never popular in the United States, has remained a European standby since the first military cartridges in that bull...
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...
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’...
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 “mag...
Introduced in 1963, the .300 Winchester Magnum was the last of Winchester’s family of standard-length belted magnums following the .458 Winchester M...
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 ...
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 everyt...
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. H...
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 sh...
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...
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 y...
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 ,bigho...
The year was probably 1272 when Venetian traveler Marco Polo first encountered the wild sheep with the fantastically curling horns that more than 700 ...
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 whi...
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 wo...
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 ...
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 ...
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, ...
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 semiautom...
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 twen...
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 lo...
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...
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…...
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...
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...
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 ...
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 takedow...
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...
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 ...
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 a...
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...
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 ...
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 w...
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 ...
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 f...
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, the...
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...
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 wit...
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 powder...
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 3...
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. Rifl...
When the now hugely popular .17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire was announced several years ago, most every gun manufacturer chambered for it right from the st...
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 ...
During my first season of prairie dog hunting, one constant presence out on the rolling hills of north central Montana, were the curious pronghorn ant...
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 birth...
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. ...
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...
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...
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 us...
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...
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...
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 Mu...
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 ...
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...
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, name...
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 l...
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...
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 ...
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 ...
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 h...
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 pr...
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 Ha...
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. Th...
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 l...
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 emotion...
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...
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. ...
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...
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 ...
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 ...
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 Illiam...
In a self-defense situation, what are the chances most people defending themselves or their families, could accurately place each shot to center of ma...
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...
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 ...
Manufactured from 1955 to 1971, I’d only occasionally heard of the little brother to the classic Mannlicher-Schoenauer, known as the Steyr Zephyr. W...
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...
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 sto...
In the earlier story Kudus In The Cotton, I related the event where my friend Stephan actually found a full expanded Barnes 270 grain...
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…...
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...
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’...
In Part 1, I covered the successes of developing low barrel heat, low recoil loads for the .223, based on James Calhoon’s
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 Par...
The first small caliber centerfire rifle I ever bought was a Winchester, heavy-barreled varmint model, chambered in .222 Remington. Back over forty ye...
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 a...
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 a...
In 2006, Hornady created a serious upgrade to longer range, lever gun performance, through the introduction of the LEVERevolution line of ammo. Tradit...
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 m...
First introduced in 2003 as a six shot Super Redhawk, initially there were some rumblings of case extraction sometimes being an issue. Reloaders being...
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 reason...
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 su...
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...
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 ...
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 p...
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...
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 ye...
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 ...
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 an...
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… coun...
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 unt...
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-...
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 we...
This article first appeared in the Outdoor Buddies Newsletter www.outdoorbuddies.org. It is printed with the permission of Outdoor Buddies.
In his beautiful and eloquent book, Spring Creeks, Mike Lawson begins Chapter Eleven: Responsibilities, with this statement: “For whatever reason m...
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 ov...
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...
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...
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...
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 J...
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 a...
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...
Terrorism, death threats, and illogical reasoning have become the campaign tool of today’s anti-hunting community. To date, the hunter-conservation...
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 offe...