Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2018 i Petersen's Hunting

“BEST OF ALL HE LOVED THE FALL … the fall with the tawny and grey, the leaves yellow on the cottonwoods, leaves floating on the trout streams and above the hills the high blue windless skies. He loved to shoot, he loved to ride and he loved to fish.” Those famous words from Ernest Hemingway ring no truer than in the month of September. From the first day of the month, which happens to be the traditional dove opener in many states, all the way through to the 30th , September holds so much promise for sportsmen and women. The problem is, it’s almost too much. With so many things to do, there’s never enough time in those 30 days to pack everything in. Let’s count the opportunities September offers:…

After 43 years and tens of millions of dollars, the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) population of grizzly bears is off the Endangered Species List (ESL). Conservationists, including state and federal biologists who have dedicated their lives to recovery efforts, hailed the delisting. “It isn’t just another success story of the Endangered Species Act, I would say it is one of the greatest success stories,” said Dr. Chris Servheen, PhD, retired U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service grizzly bear recovery coordinator. Just 136 bears roamed the GYE when they were placed on the ESL in 1975. Now at least 700 call the Yellowstone area home. Their range has expanded exponentially as well. As recently as 2002, they occupied about 8.1 million acres in the GYE. Today, they roam nearly twice that area.…

The MORAKNIV GARBERG full-tang knife serves double-duty in the field, providing a sturdy fixed blade and a fire-starter all in one. The blade is crafted from thick, black carbon steel for the toughest of duties. A special Scandi-grind holds a sharp edge even after hours of chopping or slicing. The spine of the Swedish-made knife is ground to be used with a fire-starter or flint to spark kindling for a quick, warm fire at camp or in a survival situation. $110; industrialrev.com Practice makes perfect, but it doesn’t have to break the bank. SIG SAUER’S ELITE MATCH GRADE ammunition is manufactured to exacting standards all while coming in at an affordable price. Each caliber is made with SIG FMJ copper-jacketed bullets that deliver the same point of impact, recoil, and…

To be clear, the 6.5 cartridge craze is nothing new in the world of sporting arms. The 6.5x55 Swedish has been around since the late 19th century, and that cartridge has long been a favorite round of Scandinavian moose hunters. Likewise, the 6.5x54 Mannlicher-Schönauer has seen service all over the world, most notably with W.D.M. “Karamoja” Bell, who carried one of these rifles on his ivory hunting expeditions in Africa during the early 1900s. But there’s no denying that American hunters are now jumping on the 6.5 bandwagon, albeit a century later than their counterparts across the Atlantic. And that’s thanks, at least in part, to Hornady’s 6.5 Creedmoor. Much of that cartridge’s appeal is that it fits in short-action rifles and produces minimal recoil, yet it shoots long, heavy-for-caliber…

1. Purchase a .223 rifle similar to your big-game gun and use it to hone your skills. Ammo is cheap, recoil is mild, and your expertise will improve quickly. 2 Don’t battle a heavy and/or rough trigger. Have it professionally tuned or install a quality match-grade aftermarket trigger, such as those by Timney Triggers. 3 Many hunters can’t get their scope on target quickly. Practice shouldering your rifle and quickly finding an object in the crosshairs until it naturally points where you look. 4 Refine your sight-in. Don’t be satisfied with “it’s on the target.” Zero precisely at 200 yards and know point of impact from 25 to 450 yards. 5 Practice loading without looking so if need be you can reload while keeping focused on a wounded animal attempting…

How cool would it be if your child shared your passion for chasing whitetails? Instead of driving to track meets at 5 a.m. on Saturdays, you could drive your protégé to the woods, discuss tactics, have a great time, and maybe kill a big one that you’d talk about for the rest of your lives. If your child could experience the same exhilaration that you feel in the woods, you’d have it made. Reality is, no two kids are the same. Nature and nurture form kids into the people they become, and school, sports, and friends exert an awfully strong pull. So there’s no blueprint for forging a hunter out of your son or daughter. Some may never be. I believe there are some things you can do—and some you…

CWD A THREAT TO HUMANS? I was surprised to hear that CWD is not transmissible to humans, according to Kip Adams of QDMA. Perhaps he should share his information with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and with numerous CWD researchers. I would agree that there is probably a low risk of humans getting CWD, but it is not no risk. For most states with CWD, in regard to containment or eradication, that ship has already sailed. States would best spend their money on research and to provide timely low-cost or no-cost tests for hunters. I’m 100 percent in agreement with Adams’s statement, “Hunters should have the tools to know if their deer is infected without going through a complicated process. We should not eat infected animals.” MAJ. FRED…

BULLET BASICS An all-around hunting bullet designed for use on deer- to elk-size game, the InterLock BTSP features a lead-alloy core in a tapered, boat-tailed jacket. A crimping groove is swedged into the jacket and mechanically locks the core in place. The generous exposed-lead tip initiates immediate, dramatic expansion on impact, and the tapered jacket and InterLock ring control expansion to create a good mushroom shape. It’s not as cutting-edge as its newer polymer-tipped cousins, but it’s a solid, reliable bullet that’s been bringing home the deer for decades. TESTING GROUND This bullet was used to take a cow elk. Fired from a .30-06 at an estimated 2,700 fps from a distance of 125 yards, it impacted the elk with a remaining velocity of about 2,500 fps. FIELD PERFORMANCE Driving…

A CHUCKLE SOUNDS from the undergrowth as wings beat through the tall grass. A white underbelly flashes across the morning sky. A shot is fired, feathers erupt, and a sharptail is delivered to hand from the mouth of a loyal retriever. The dog doesn’t wait long before returning to work, quickly disappearing into the tall grass. Crisp mornings like these are best paired with a shotgun that looks and feels as beautiful as it performs. Specifically, one made for female hunters —by female hunters—who have too long settled for ill-fitted firearms. Syren recognized that sportswomen who trudge behind working dogs deserve their own refined elegance in a perfectly balanced over/under. The Tempio Light is made for long days spent afield. It weighs just over five pounds, and a 28-inch barrel…

Cartridge: Precision Hunter 143-grain ELD-X Ballistic Coefficient: .625 (G1), .315 (G7) Sectional Density: .293 Muzzle Velocity: 2,960 fps Muzzle Energy: 2,782 ft.-lbs. Velocity @ 300 Yards: 2,519 fps Trajectory @ 300 Yards: -6.4 in. Energy @ 300 Yards: 2,014 ft.-lbs. Velocity @ 400 Yards: 2,381 fps Trajectory @ 400 Yards: -18.2 in. Energy @ 400 Yards: 1,800 ft.-lbs. Velocity @ 500 Yards: 2,248 fps Trajectory @ 500 Yards: -36.2 in. Energy @ 500 Yards: 1,604 ft.-lbs.…

Damascus steel is the stuff of legend. Using a technique first mastered in the ancient city, swords made from Damascus steel were known to slice gun barrels in half and separate single strands of hair in two, even if the hair simply floated down onto the blade. Now, you can be a part of the legend. The 7 ½" August Knife features a blade of modern Damascus steel, inspired by the production techniques and legends of history. Damascus steel blade knives can cost thousands. So, at $59, the price itself is also legendary. Once a lost art, we sought out a knifemaker who has resurrected the craftsmanship of Damascus steel to create the August Knife. The elusive, ancient production technique mixes different steel alloys to form a super steel–– the…

Big-game seasons throughout the West will start opening up in the coming weeks. Elk, antelope, and deer hunters will be hitting the woods, even as warm temperatures still hang on in September and October. With those temps comes the threat of losing your hard-earned meat to rot and bone sour. Bacteria thrives above 40 degrees, so it’s imperative for early-season hunters to get their game animals cooled fast. That is difficult to do anytime during the season, but it is downright impossible when temperatures soar. Still, there are a few things you can do to mitigate meat loss. KICK-START THE COOLING The instant an animal drops, the timer starts ticking. The key is to kick-start the cooling process. Get the hide off as soon as possible. On elk, skinning comes…

Spending a day afield setting trailcams together is a great activity for you and your kids. It’s interactive and will hold their attention. Checking the images together allows them to feel a part of the hunt. But running a half-dozen or more cams requires work—and money—if you’ve opted for the cell-phone service route. Cuddeback offers its CuddeLink system that combines its trailcams with a “Home” unit that automatically links to form a wireless network that doesn’t require cell service. Up to 15 CuddeLink cams (per Home unit) can be placed across your property to form a wireless daisy chain. Cameras range from a quarter mile to one mile per link, depending on the terrain, so you can cover several miles with multiple cams. The images captured are automatically sent to…

I WAS about 15 when I saw the photo, tattered and faded, of my father and his cousin surrounded by snow-capped granite peaks and scree-strewn moraines. “That was back in ’62,” my father said, the photo transporting him through the decades. “Tony and I both drew mountain goat tags that season. We were young and dumb, but stronger then, and that was easily the hardest day’s work I have ever done. All on foot, way back of beyond in the northern Cascade Mountains. You have to remember—the gear wasn’t like it is today. Wool and canvas clothes, wood-stocked rifles, no such thing as ‘ultralight’ gear. Hell, the lightest thing we could think to cook out of were coffee cans of different sizes nestled together.” THREE DECADES LATER... I THOUGHT about…

KIMBER MOUNTAIN ASCENT Unlike my dad’s eight-pound deer rifle in .308 Winchester topped with a Weaver 4X scope that was pressed into service for mountain goats, today a dedicated rifle, perfectly suited for the job at hand, can be had. However, what you will find is if a “mountain goat rifle,” is done correctly, it makes a pretty damn fine “western everything rifle,” including deer, elk, and bears. I chose a Kimber Mountain Ascent. Thanks to the skeletonized bolt, fluted barrel, and space-age synthetic stock, it tips the scales just a touch over five pounds. This kind of weight was traditionally only obtained from a custom maker specializing in ultralight rifles. Today it is standard in a Kimber. —kimberamerica.com LEUPOLD VX3i I like large, powerful optics, but they often come…

THE FIRST ELK I ever laid eyes on was in Yellowstone Park in 1962. I was traveling with classmates on a bus from Utah State University, where I studied forestry and wildlife. We were on a field trip to view firsthand the wildlife issues in Yellowstone. Someone spotted a small herd of elk, and the bus lurched violently because everyone jumped out of their seats and rushed across the aisle for a look at these creatures that most of us had never seen before. Spotting one was akin to seeing Sasquatch. I was born and raised in the East. My experience with elk was limited to what I read in outdoor magazines. My first several years of hunting elk were dismal failures. If I saw a fresh track, I’d lie…

READING ABOUT CRAIG BODDINGTON BEING THE 2017 WINNER OF THE WEATHERBY AWARD (JUNE/ JULY) BROUGHT ME BACK TO WHEN I WAS A PLUMBER IN ALBANY, OREGON. I WAS MAKING SMALL TALK WITH THE HOME OWNER AND MENTIONED THAT I SAW SOME CAMOUFLAGE IN HIS GARAGE AND ASKED IF HE WAS GOING HUNTING THIS WEEKEND. HE SAID NO THEN STARTED TALKING ABOUT SOME OF HIS HUNTS AND THE PEOPLE HE HAS HUNTED WITH AND THAT HE ALWAYS HUNTED WITH WEATHERBY FIREARMS AND HAD TWO IDENTICAL RIFLES BUILT WHEN HE ORDERED A NEW RIFLE. AT FIRST, I THOUGHT HE WAS FULL OF IT. HE WALKED ME TO HIS DINING ROOM WHERE I SAW A TROPHY ABOUT FOUR FEET TALL. MY FIRST THOUGHT WAS THAT HE HAD WON A SHOOTING EVENT. I BENT…

HISTORY Intended to be the ultimate flat-shooting cartridge for western big game, the 7mm RUM is a true magnum-length cartridge. Introduced in 2002, its based on the .404 Jeffery case and is extremely overbored and excessively inefficient and suffers from short barrel life. Since it burns extraordinary quantities of gunpowder to generate best-in-class speed, it kicks like a startled mule. On the plus side, it pushes high-BC projectiles at really impressive velocities. For those desiring ultimate long-range 7mm capability, it’s a good choice. APPLICATION If you don’t mind the recoil and muzzle blast, the 7mm RUM is spectacular as an open-country deer, antelope, and elk cartridge, and with correct bullet choice, it’s good for moose. It is marginally adequate for bison and grizzly bear, but there are much better options.…

Ask North American hunters to describe an “elk” and you’ll probably receive a consistent answer: A very large member of the deer family with a yellowish-tan body; pale rump; dark legs and neck; and tall, heavy antlers that usually reach six points per side at full maturity. Ask hunters elsewhere and the answer could be different. Our word “elk” comes from the Scandinavian “elg,” still a common European name for moose, a larger and quite different deer. Increasingly, we call this big deer “wapiti” from the Shawnee and Cree meaning “white rump” or “white deer.” But the confusion doesn’t end there. For many years we believed our wapiti and the European red deer were conspecific (different races of the same species). In my career, I can’t estimate how many times…

When hunters fresh to the West go home empty-handed, it’s usually for one of two reasons. They can’t get to the game, or for those who can, they fail to get in position and make the shot before the opportunity walks away. Nine years of professional guiding in Montana and Utah taught me that. And every guide I’ve discussed the matter with agrees. While these issues are all-too-common, you don’t have to be that hunter who goes home with nothing but wistful tales of the one that got away. Here’s how to anticipate, prepare, and perform when the time comes. GET IN THE GAME The physical aspect of hunting the West’s Rocky Mountains is vastly different from hunting, anywhere else in the Lower 48. Yawning canyons, knife-edged ridges, and windswept…