Innholdsfortegnelse for June/July 2020 i Petersen's Hunting

BULLET BASICS Of lead-free construction, the LRX (Long Range X) bullet is arguably the best extended-range all-copper hunting bullet available. A polymer tip and boattail profile maximize aerodynamics, enabling the LRX to buck the wind well and maintain maximum speed at long range. Grooves milled around its shank provide an area for copper material displaced by the rifling to flow into, resulting in reduced pressure and increased accuracy. Unlike many monometal designs, the LRX opens rapidly and aggressively on impact, even at relatively slow speeds. At close range, some or all of the petals of the X-shaped mushroom often shear off and serve as auxiliary projectiles. TESTING GROUND I used the bullet shown on a mature 6x6 Colorado bull elk hunted in thick timber with my Ruger M77 Hawkeye Long…

Sometimes you only get one shot, so why trust it to off-the-shelf ammo? The FEDERAL CUSTOM SHOP offers discerning hunters handloaded cartridges crafted one at a time by the company’s experienced ballisticians. Each round is built from premium components of the shooter’s choosing, including bullets from Barnes, Hornady, Nosler, Sierra, and, of course, Federal, and hand-checked through every step of the loading process. $100; federalpremium.com Quality protective eyewear is a must on the range (and in the field), but it needn’t make you look like a Fudd. Leupold knows quality optics, and now that expertise extends to glasses as well with the Performance Eyewear line. One of several styles, the LEUPOLD PACKOUT features ANSI Z87.1+ ballistic-rated lenses that are treated with scratch-resistant and hydrophobic coatings for comfort and protection in…

Mudzingwa, the old tracker, shot me a death look. I’d grown tired of staring at the PH’s back in our single-file line. I stepped to the side and snuck a peek ahead, and he’d caught me. Mudzingwa didn’t miss much. Finally, we were among them, hulking black shapes in the thick brush. I couldn’t see a whole buffalo, but rather pieces of buffalo. Some black hair here, a hoof there, the glossy boss of horn reflecting the afternoon sun. They set up the sticks, and it was time. After years of dreaming the dreams, saving the money, and practicing on the range, the moment of truth had arrived. I was 35 yards from one of the deadliest game animals on the planet and the species that had drawn me to…

A Dutch oven over an open fire is the perfect way to cook this hearty bean dish. You can serve it on the side, but with smoked sausage and ground venison, it makes a pretty good meal on its own. Put them on at lunch, and they will be ready when everyone comes rolling back into camp ready for dinner that evening. INGREDIENTS 1 lb. ground venison 1 lb. smoked sausage, sliced 1/2 lb. bacon, diced 1 yellow onion, diced 2 16-oz. cans Great Northern beans 1 16-oz. can pinto beans 2 16-oz. cans red beans 1 21-oz. can apple pie filling 1 cup barbecue sauce 1/2 cup ketchup 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup sorghum 2 tbs. Worcestershire sauce 1 tbs. salt 1 tsp. ground mustard powder 1 tsp.…

I just read “On Carrying A Classic,” the first “Traditions” column by Mike Evans. Perfection! I subscribe to too many firearms/outdoor magazines and increasingly long for the stories that reignite my passion for the outdoors. I have (too) many firearms in my vaults, the favorites of which share common attributes: blued metal, wood furniture, and a well-earned pedigree. Thank you! SCOTT GODFREY Via email Just a note to say thanks for your great magazine. I like it. Clean, usable info. The March issue was fantastic with two articles on old calibers and wood stock classics. Mike Evans’s “On Carrying A Classic” and Craig Boddington’s “My Favorite Rifle” were great. NATHAN WEAVER Carlisle, Pennsylvania I was excited to read the first new “Traditions” column titled “On Carrying a Classic” in the…

HISTORY Introduced in 1997, this efficient little cartridge is the result of simply necking down .308 brass to hold 6.5mm projectiles. Like many cartridges, it was first spawned as a wildcat and then eventually legitimized by Remington. Jim Carmichel and other notable writers and shooters championed it, and for a brief time it was quite popular among the 6.5mm crowd. Eventually, it was shouldered aside by the ballistically similar 6.5 Creedmoor. Marketing played a part, but mostly it was the combined effect of timing, superior chamber throat design, and tighter SAAMI-specified dimensions on the part of the 6.5 Creedmoor. While the .260 Remington can be superbly accurate, it’s notoriously finicky. The “Creed” is exactly the opposite, and its fast rifling twist rate is optimized for the long, aerodynamic 6.5mm projectiles…

YOU’VE LIKELY heard of Helle knives, the stout Norwegian workhorses that are the favorite fixed-blades of bushcrafters around the globe. The Helle Kletten offers that same traditional performance and design, but in a more diminutive size that easily slips into the pocket. At just over three inches folded, it’s the perfect EDC accessory when you don’t want to carry an awkward, oversized knife on your belt. The two-inch blade is just big enough for daily jobs, yet stout enough for light baton work. The stainless edge features the classic Helle Scandinavian flat grind that comes out of the box razor sharp and hones easily should it get dull after repeated use. It’s matching curly birch scales are sculpted for a man’s hand. The Kletten could be a called a gentleman’s…

WINCHESTER MODEL 70 SUPER GRADE MAPLE Maple has been a traditional material for American rifles since the flintlock days, and for 2020, the top-of-the-line “Rifleman’s Rifle” is available with a AAA maple stock. $1,669; winchesterguns.com CZ 557 AMERICAN CZ’s classic American sporting rifle, stocked in Turkish walnut, is available in seven useful cartridges ranging from 6.5x55 to .30-06, making it suitable for most species on earth. $871; cz-usa.com BERGARA B-14 TIMBER Bergara produces some fantastic sporting rifles, and their traditionally styled and walnut-stocked Timber is no exception. $945; bergara.online /us REMINGTON 700 CDL Remington 700s have been one of the mainstays of the hunting rifle market for decades, and with the CDL, the company is keeping the wood-stock tradition alive. $1,029; remington.com MOSSBERG PATRIOT REVERE Mossberg proves that a rifle…

It’s Day Nine of a 10-day backcountry elk hunt, and you’ve just spotted a big 6x6. He’s a healthy climb up the canyonside, and dusk is threatening. But you’ve got to try. Pushing, you scramble across a creek rimmed with ice and drive yourself up the canyon wall. Brush-busting through the scrub oak and falling several times in the shin-deep snow, you manage to get within range before legal shooting light abandons you. Heaving for breath, you hunker behind the snarled roots of an up-torn pine and tear the scope caps off. The lenses are clean and clear, but a bright aluminum-silver scar through the black anodizing on the tube sets off warning bells in your head. When did that happen? And how? Must have gotten slammed against the granite…

Just this morning, during a COVID-19 press briefing, President Trump spoke of a group of Americans in Peru and another in Morocco, all stuck because of cancelled flights and border closures. Hopefully, by the time you’re reading this, the current pandemic will long have abated and all our fellow Americans are back home. Almost anyone who was traveling early this year or had travel plans had to make changes, and an unprecedented number of folks worldwide were caught short, if not exactly stuck. I’ve never seen anything quite like this, but stuff happens. In order to travel anywhere some risk (and inevitable inconvenience and frustration) must be understood and accepted. We aren’t yet to the point where we can say, “Scotty, beam me to the Serengeti!” Flights (and travel plans)…

Gone are the days of women hunters having to hit the field with inadequately sized rifles. The growing number of women in hunting —11 percent of 11.5 million hunters, to be exact — has led to a demand for firearms made specifically to fit the female anatomy. Weatherby hasn’t ignored this growing demand, and its Mark V Camilla is leading the way in women’s firearms. The Mark V Camilla Subalpine is packed with features, starting with the hand-laminated composite stock dipped in Gore Optifade Subalpine Camo. A raised Monte Carlo comb was made to fit the slim neckline and raised cheekbones of women. A smaller grip angle on the stock is paired with a short, skinny forearm, which allows women with smaller hands a tight hold on the rifle, while…

WHETHER YOU are getting into the woods for a hunt or riding off-road on an adventure with friends and family, model year 2020 offers up many solid choices in the world of all-terrain and utility vehicles. While side-by-side UTVs are still popular, hunters often find the nimble quad a better choice in the woods. In our 2020 off-road round-up we take a closer look at what’s new in ATVs to offer sportsmen and women the most bang for their buck. POLARIS SPORTSMAN XP1000 S Polaris is an innovator of technology, and some segments of the off-road power-sports owe their very existence to the company. In model year 2020, Polaris brings a new breed of Sport Utility 4×4s with the release of the new Sportsman XP 1000 S. The Sportsman boasts…

Devon Richards wasn’t sure he wanted to open his Kansas farm to unfamiliar hunters. A hardcore deer and quail hunter, Richards didn’t think his family’s place had enough room or quality bucks. But after enrolling in the state’s Walk-In Hunting Access program, funded largely by the 2018 federal Farm Bill, he shot a great buck and the access payments helped keep his family on their farm. The Richards family is one of nearly 700 landowners around the country who opened their farms or ranches to some amount of public hunting over the past two years. They didn’t do it for charity or for the warm feeling they get by seeing folks enjoy their land. They’re doing it, at least in part, for the payment they receive. The funds come from…

One good hat can do a lot of good. Protection from sun, wind, rain, and snow, sure. But a good hat can also do a lot of good for you, changing the way you feel about yourself and your place in the world. A good hat can be a trademark, an identity, a brand. One good hat can define you. And by “hat” I don’t mean “cap.” I mean hat. Think comfortable, wide-brimmed, constant companion. Think cowboy hat. “A good hat changes the way you feel about yourself,” said Ritch Rand, a tall, hat-and-vest-wearing Montana cowboy with a Hollywood-worthy mustache, who has been making custom hats in Billings, Montana, for 45 years. “Good hats are not a trend,” he said. “They’re a living lifestyle.” Rand has written books on hats…

Early American pioneers had some important decisions to make for their journey into the mostly unknown territories of the West. Everything their family would need to survive had to be packed into a wagon that was roughly 18 feet long by 4 feet wide. And it had to be light enough that a team of oxen, horses, or mules could pull it across plains, through creeks and rivers, and over mountain passes. Tools, firearms, clothing, and gear would vary from family to family, but the one constant for every wagon heading out was the Dutch oven. There isn’t a more versatile cooking vessel on the planet. From baking to frying to slow-cooked soups and stews, the same holds true today. Large pots constructed of brass were popular in the 17th…

If you’ve been hunting whitetails for years, I’ll bet you’ve had a number of times where you did everything right but let a big animal slip away because you blew the shot. It happens. Get over it. And if you are relatively new to hunting, don’t laugh, because, brother, if you continue hunting, it’s going to happen to you, too. There are things you can do to minimize your misses. The best remedy is experience. The next best thing is practicing under duress. Anyone can make a shot while sitting on a benchrest in the shade. Unfortunately, giant bucks don’t often prance around the 100-yard berm in full daylight. Your objective is to make your practice conditions even more difficult than the real thing and then, most importantly, to place…