Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2019 i Petersen's Hunting

LIKE MOST solid, hard-working, middle-class Americans, my family rarely showed their emotions. And we certainly didn’t talk about them. Ever. That makes writing this column all the more difficult. But, as a hunter, I certainly go through a wide range of emotions when I kill an animal. I bet you are the same. In milliseconds after the trigger is pulled, my meter swings from relief to happiness to sadness (but never remorse) to elation. And, of course, every situation is unique, and so are the emotions that accompany it. A good example is the mule deer I killed last fall while filming an episode of Petersen’s Hunting Adventures (which I wrote about in last month’s issue). The video camera did a good job of capturing my relief after I realized…

There is no data to confirm this, but sales of champagne—or maybe top-shelf bourbon—spiked in western states in September 2015 as conservationists toasted a historic agreement that imposed widespread restrictions on activities across sage grouse habitat from Mount Rushmore to the Grand Coulee Dam. There was good reason to cheer. The agreement was the result of an unprecedented collaboration between conservationists, energy companies, state biologists, and federal land managers. It established baseline acreage for sagebrush habitat, curtailed surface activity in core sage grouse areas, and allowed a certain amount of activity in exchange for mitigating impacts elsewhere. Traditional adversaries don’t usually negotiate settlements like this without a motivating threat. In this instance, the threat was the 2010 decision by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) to nominate the sage…

If American hunters could be defined by a single bullet diameter, it would be the .30 caliber. The .300 Savage, .30-30, .30-06, and others have filled countless tags over the past century and more. The .30-06 is probably still the king of the hill in terms of overall popularity, but for decades, hunters, particularly those who hunt the western half of the country, have relied on the faster .30-caliber magnum cartridges. Smaller cartridges such as the 6.5 Creedmoor have received the bulk of the media coverage, but that doesn’t mean the larger cartridges have lost merit. Now with the introduction of new cartridges such as the .300 PRC from Hornady, the .300 magnums are enjoying a well-deserved revival. These .300 magnum cartridges certainly aren’t new. The Holland and Holland Magnum,…

Imagine you’re bowhunting caribou in Alaska. It’s early morning and you’re just finishing your morning constitutional behind the designated tree when a commotion and some unfriendly bear-like noises erupt from camp. Hitching your suspenders, you grab your sidearm from the nearby stump and bunny hop frantically toward camp as very human-like screams erupt. A massive bear with frosted fur is lying across the wriggling body of your hunting partner, and you hear the chilling scrape of Ursus arctos horribilis canines on human skull. A sound that is half prehistoric battle roar, half paralyzed shriek of terror involuntarily erupts from your throat as you raise your handgun. Faster than thought, the bear whips around, fishhooks into the wind and charges. Well, almost faster. You have time to realize that screaming was…

Ever met a guy from your area who has multiple huge deer on his wall? A local legend of sorts who consistently kills giants each season? Maybe you don’t actually know him, but you keep seeing his face—and his big deer—at the taxidermist and on social media. Yeah, yeah, muse other hunters as they try to pad their egos. He probably pays $10,000 for guided hunts on some high-fence ranch in Kansas. But then they learn that all his 160-, 170- and 180-inch bucks came from right around their area. Low fence. Eh, he’s just lucky. Lucky? To think these guys are perennially lucky is like saying Tiger Woods just happened to hit some decent golf shots. And because nobody controls what fish do, Kevin Van Dam, with his 25…

IMAGINE THIS: You’ve drawn a Wyoming antelope tag. Congratulations! You want to make this a DIY adventure to remember and camp with your buddies in the Cowboy State—and you’re also trying to save a few Benjamins. Here’s our estimated budget breakdown of what it will run you to participate in a five-day pronghorn camp this fall. Starting location: St. Louis, Missouri Ending location: Gillette, Wyoming Total Mileage: 2,188 miles Vehicle: Ford F150 4WD Gas: $ 318 Lodging: Hotel stays during travel (2): $150 Camping: Free Food: $200 Miscellaneous Supplies: $100 License/Tag: $326 Trespass Fee: $300 TOTAL: $1,394…

PRONGHORN can be tricky to judge because often times they’re at long distances or because you have to do it quickly. (They aren’t the fastest land animal in North America for nothing.) What you’re looking for is length, mass, cutters, and curves. LENGTH The lucky number for a trophy buck starts with 16-inch horns. To help you judge length, remember that the ears of an antelope are generally around six inches long. Watch for where the end of the ear hits on the horn and count up from there. MASS Just like with any other species, mass makes for a mature animal. If the bases of the buck are visibly bigger than his eye and he carries that mass up the horn, he’s a shooter. CUTTERS Also known as a…

When dangerous game, particularly thick-skinned animals such as buffalo and elephant, is on the menu, you want as much power as you can handle. The .375 H&H is a great cartridge that punches above its weight with recoil that’s mild enough for most shooters, but there’s no denying that .400 class cartridges, which include the various .416s as well as the .404 and the .458s, hit harder. The .416 Rigby and .416 Remington, which have very similar muzzle velocities, are about perfect for buffalo and wouldn’t be overkill on the world’s biggest bears. Many hunters who seek dangerous game prefer to use double rifles because of the availability of a lightning-fast second shot and the mechanical redundancy of what is essentially two rifles in one. John Rigby & Co. has…

Offal Isn’t Awful!” I’d like to see that phrase printed on a T-shirt and handed out at deer camps all across the country. Every fall hunters in the United States kill roughly 6 million deer. That’s a lot of backstrap, hindquarters, front shoulders, and neck roasts. But too much exceptionally good venison is left behind in the woods. I’m not talking edible only if you were very hungry. I mean some tasty parts that rival even the vaunted backstrap as table fare. The heart, liver, kidneys, and the less familiar parts—collectively known as wobbly bits, jiggly bits, offal, or giblets, the stuff left in the gut pile or on the processing room floor—can be some of the best venison you will ever eat. Want to expand your wild game menu?…

HISTORY Introduced in 1877 as the .45-90 Sharps, this fine cartridge eventually became better known as a coveted chambering in Winchester’s legendary Model 1886 rifles. Its parent case is the same as the .45-70, but it’s almost a quarter-inch longer. It also fires the same projectiles as the .45-70, but courtesy of the greater internal capacity, it safely pushes them about 200 fps faster. Winchester is currently offering modern iterations of the Model 1886—replete with crescent steel buttplate and 24-inch barrel—chambered in .45-90. Retail is $1,340—and these rifles tend to shoot very well. (I have one.) Brass is available in any quantity from Starline, and reloading dies are available from Lyman. Plus, in a pinch, .45-70 jacketed-bullet ammo is perfectly safe to fire in a .45-90 chamber. APPLICATION Anything that…

TO KICK OFF turkey season, our deer hunting buddies gather in early spring, while there’s still a nip in the air, to make brats, sausage, and meat sticks, while drinking Busch Light from a can. Everyone has their job: The Butcher, The Stuffer, The Smoker—all with half-ass competency. Thankfully, we no longer have to use our father’s hand-crank grinders to process the pile of venison—there are kick-ass electric grinders to simplify the process. Only problem is they are too fast, so we barely make it through a six-pack anymore. WESTON PRO SERIES #12 A grinder that chews up meat as fast as you can feed it, the Pro Series #12 took care of 30 pounds of venison in minutes with the 7mm blade. It was the quietest of all the…

American naturalist James L. Clark (1883–1969), in his book The Great Arc of the Wild Sheep, described the global habitat of wild sheep as a giant arc or rainbow. One base of genus Ovis, the true wild sheep, is anchored in northwestern Mexico, and the other is on the Mediterranean. (There are no native wild sheep in Africa, South America, or the entire South Pacific region.) There are two species in North America, bighorns and “thin-horned” Dall and Stone sheep, and just one in Europe, the mouflon. Between Alaska’s Dall sheep and Europe’s mouflon, the giant land mass of Asia holds the real treasure trove of wild sheep. Although hunters and biologists aren’t always in perfect agreement on races, subspecies, and natural hybrids, it’s generally accepted that there are three…

TO HUNT ANTELOPE , you’ll have to apply for a tag. Over-the-counter tags are available in some states, but they are mostly for archery permits or leftover rifle tags that sell out quickly. Here’s a list of states you should apply in, how much it will set you back, and the deadlines for your applications. ARIZONA  azgfd.com DEADLINE TO APPLY: January (mail), February (online) PRICE: License: $160, Tag: $565 Arizona is the top state for hunting trophy-quality pronghorn. Because of the trophy potential, many people put in for the lottery, so don’t plan on drawing any time soon—but the wait will be worth it. Archery permits are easier to draw than muzzleloader or rifle tags. The good news is that a lot of the units available to hunt are mainly…

1. Pronghorn are naturally very wary and are known for their uncanny ability to spot danger at long distances. This makes hunting them tough. Look for terrain that isn’t flat and wide open. Instead, hunt areas with rolling hills and ridges. This will give you much needed cover for an ambush. When you spot a buck you want to go after, pay particularly close attention to terrain such as coulees, river beds, and bowls that can get you within shooting range undetected. 2. Choose a set of high-quality binoculars and a good spotting scope because you’re going to spend a lot of time behind glass. The white rumps are easy to spot against the sagebrush, but pronghorn aren’t stupid and will be eating and sleeping in wide-open spots where they…

RECENTLY, I called a locker facility in Cody to ask about the status of my freezer box rent. The facility also processes domestic livestock and wild game. A young woman answered the phone and said, “You’ll have to ask the boss about your rent. She’s not here right now. She’s out back killin’ a cow.” I was momentarily taken aback by her candid remark. Not in a negative way, but because of its simple honesty. So transparent, so unfiltered. She could have said, “She’s putting a cow down.” Or not mentioned the cow at all. But she told it like it was: real and certainly not politically correct in today’s society. As hunters, the word “kill” is integral to our conversation. Hunting is a blood sport. When an animal dies,…