Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2023 i Petersen's Hunting

WHEN 2023 draws to a close, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) and its partners are expected to complete a northeast Oregon project that conserves and opens public access to 15,573 acres of prime habitat for bighorn sheep, mountain goats, mule and whitetail deer, Shiras moose and, of course, Rocky Mountain elk. RMEF, Manulife Investment Management’s timberland business and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), with support from other groups and individuals including the U.S. Forest Service, closed on phase-one of the Minam River Acquisition in late 2021. Combined with phase two, the project protects elk winter range plus 114 miles of perennial and intermittent streams, including the Minam River, that supply spawning, rearing and migration habitat for Chinook salmon, Snake River Basin steelhead, Grande Ronde bull trout,…

Designed to get you closer when hunting varied, demanding terrain, Lacrosse’s Ursa MS boots feature TecTuff polyurethane-infused leather uppers and quick-drying, breathable SuperFabric quarter panels and gussets. Hexguard rubber rands shrug off abrasion, and Gore-Tex liners provide breathable waterproofing. Vibram MONT outsoles deliver traction, support and reliability, especially when packing loads or navigating unforgiving terrain. LaCrosse will put them against the most stable, elite, lace-up leather boots out there. Gunmetal/orange or brown/gold. $300; lacrossefootwear.com Swarovski’s new ATC/STC compact spotting scope is a backpack hunter’s best friend with an overall weight of only 35 ounces and a total length of less than 12 inches. Available in both angled and straight configurations, both of which feature 17-40X magnification and a 56mm objective. Swarovski’s renowned Swarovision technology lies at its core, producing crystal…

I get it, a lot of good hunters are anti-guide and take pride in doing it themselves. It’s admirable, honorable and there’s nothing more satisfying than making a plan and executing it all by yourself. Problem is, there are lots of places you just can’t go on your own, and great game animals you can’t hunt without a properly licensed local guide—western Canada and much Alaskan game included. There are very few areas left in Africa where DIY is legal, let alone practical. Not interested in those places? Fine, but let’s also accept that, sooner or later, many of us are fortunate to reach an age where stubbornly doing things the hard way (that we consider the right way) isn’t quite as practical anymore. Some of us hire guides not…

It’s amazing to think how such a small creature can mean so much to hunters. The dove’s outsized influence surely makes it the most popular game bird in the country, particularly on September 1—the traditional opening day of dove season in most states. The dove opener marks the start of hunting season and offers a chance for friends and family to gather together before hunters get serious about bigger game in the months to come. Part hunt, part picnic, a good dove shoot combines some of the most challenging wingshooting in the world with, once the sun goes down, a raucous party, complete with cold drinks and hot coals. Most of the time, the doves bagged on opening day don’t even make it to the freezer. They go straight from…

BULLET BASICS This fine bullet performs outside the box. Fundamentally, it’s Barnes’s Tipped Triple-Shock, which features a moderate boat tail, a polymer tip—that boosts aerodynamics and initiates immediate, reliable expansion—and grooves around the shank that reduce bearing surface and keep pressures low. However, it’s a light-for-caliber version. Unlike light lead-core bullets, which tend to fragment to pieces or pancake on impact and penetrate poorly, this monometal bullet maintains all its weight on impact and penetrates well. Plus, since it’s so light, it can be driven fast—which provides a terminal-performance benefit for any monometal design. TESTING GROUND I recovered the bullet pictured from a big kudu bull I shot in Namibia, using a .338 Weatherby RPM with a 20-inch barrel. Muzzle velocity was 3,005 fps, and muzzle energy about 3,700 ft/lbs.…

I can’t put a finger on exactly when the lightweight hunting rifle craze began, but I know it was during the 1980s and 90s when folks really began putting a priority on cutting weight. With the lightest versions of factory bolt-actions still tipping the scales at close to seven pounds, a number of custom gunmakers took over. Synthetic stocks, skeletonized actions and pencil-thin barrels helped a few niche makers meet the weight goals their customers required. It didn’t take long for factory rifles to join the fray and Kimber was one of the first to really do it well with the Montana series of synthetic-stocked ultralight rifles. These rifles were as light as any custom gun and available at a fraction of the price. With the new sub-five-pound Mountain Ascent…

We hear a lot about conservative bow-hunting tactics for big deer. Today’s expert advice is to stay completely undetected until the time, dictated by trail cameras, is right to strike on a buck. While you wait, you wouldn’t dream of shooting a doe and stomping through a bedding area to find her. Would you? It’s true that getting a shot at a big deer is easier when he doesn’t know he’s being hunted. But when paranoia over spooking a “target buck” means going years without killing a deer at all, the strategy can be counter-productive. I’ve known hunters who are good at getting close to big deer, but not at killing them. Some calamity always seems to arise at the moment of truth. The shot angle isn’t right, or they…

SOME HUNTS are framed by the trophy—a tangle of antlers or sweep of horn taken home—and some are simply a place. Some hunts are both. The small, but rugged mountain ranges across the Trans-Pecos and the Carmen whitetail, a little deer whose secrets still escape hunters and biologists alike, are inseparable, and hunting one across the other is a humbling experience not soon forgotten. It might be the deer or the mountains or both, but it sticks with you long after the shot ceases to echo back at you from across the way. Last November with a bunch of good friends, I trekked deep into the heart of a 36,000-acre ranch south of Marfa, Texas. From the hill above the old cowboy camp where we stayed you could see into…

Leupold’s SX-4 Pro Guide HD spotting scope first earned my “tested tough” stamp of approval two years ago after it braved -20-degree temps and extreme winter conditions on Kodiak Island without a glitch. Its compact size is also an added bonus as weight and pack space are a premium on backcountry hunts. Since then, the SX-4 Pro Guide HD rarely leaves my pack and has seen the world. The HD glass and edge-to-edge clarity have allowed me to scrutinize everything from elusive bushbuck in the Umkomaas Valley of South Africa to massive grizzly bears above the Arctic Circle and many, many other critters in between—never once letting me down. For a compact scope, the SX-4 Pro Guide HD is packed with features to make you a more effective hunter. First…

When you’ve planned, traveled and endured gut-wrenching effort to get into mountain country and earn a shot opportunity, the last thing you want is for your cartridge (and the bullet it launches) to let you down at the moment of truth. The ideal cartridge for mountain hunting must fit in lightweight rifles, so your shootin’ iron doesn’t weigh you down. It must also be authoritative, so you can cleanly kill your quarry. Those two features are often at odds with one another—powerful cartridges recoil a lot, particularly in ultralight rifles. Every hunter must find a balance—a cartridge that imparts as much terminal performance as possible without recoiling too much for accurate shooting. Additionally, a cartridge for hunting mountain country must have reach. Whether hunting alpine-country mule deer in Colorado, or…

THE DUCK hunt was exceptional with perfect weather, numerous foolish ducks and hard-working dogs. Our host counted the birds as they were retrieved and piled up next to the blind. My buddy and I were still two short of our limit when our host announced the hunt was over. When he saw the quizzical look on my face, he explained that since the dogs were unable to find two in the marsh we technically reached our limit. In his mind, those wounded ducks would never recover and were considered part of the bag. I understood and respected the host. So did my pal. It was refreshing to know those ethics still prevail. That same attitude can also be assigned to big-game hunting. Nowadays if you’re hunting with an outfitter and…