Innholdsfortegnelse for June/July 2024 i Petersen's Hunting

Range bags are designed to organize gear so we don’t have to look for this here and that there and tote around an assortment of bags, ammo cans, etc. The 5.11 Range Ready Trainer Bag is well thought out with customizable dividers and pockets in the right sizes and in the right places, allowing me to get organized once and for all, and show up with everything I would ever think of needing at the range. Won’t the fellers be impressed with that? The Range Ready Trainer Bag features plenty of pockets, without going overboard, so you don’t forget where you stashed what. 5.11 also strategi- cally placed elastic straps for magazines or accessories on the back interior, as well as handily located under the lid. The padded walls are…

Modern hunters are all too willing to gamble on long shot opportunities. More than a trend, long-range shooting at big game is, like it or not, here to stay. Modern rifles, scopes, and bullets are capable of killing cleanly from distances that were unheard of to our grandfathers. If you’re willing to eat, sleep, live and breathe the long-range shooting lifestyle, fair enough. I’ll never naysay a hunter that’s put in the hard yards to become an honest-to-goodness precision rifleman. However, few hunters put in the time to become accomplished shooters, and at the moment of truth, they simply don’t have the skill to predictably place bullets through vitals. Let’s take a look at the common progression of long-range hunting. Usually, a hunter with a traditional rifle equipped with a…

Most of us aren’t exclusively trophy hunters or meat hunters. We’re deer hunters who love eating venison, but who would also rather shoot big bucks than little ones. I’ve been deer hunting for about 30 years myself, and I’ve always hunted areas with high deer numbers and generous bag limits. As a result, I’ve killed my share of whitetails. I’ve lucked into some decent bucks along the way, too, but my success rate on mature animals has increased dramatically over the past decade. Is that because I’ve started trophy hunting exclusively? No, I still have an itchy trigger finger. Is it because I have all kinds of great new land to hunt? Far from it; most of my best bucks have all been taken on the same family ground I’ve…

I guess I’m in the minority, but I find it amazing that a “custom rifle” that apparently all the “real” hunters have is $2,500-$3,500. I know few friends/hunters that own or look to own such a firearm to actually hunt with, but I guess that is the new direction of hunting. When a new Marlin lever action .30-30 now costs over $1,200, I think we have reached a new level of craziness with high prices. This would be like charging $800 for my Remington 760 in 1980. Unheard of ! By the way, it was under $300 scope and all. Then again, as long as there are enough folks willing to part with the cash, companies will crank out the product. Interesting to see how this affects new hunters and…

SINCE ITS INCEPTION in 1972, Dallas Safari Club has been a beacon of light in the worldwide hunting and conservation community. DSC’s vision revolves around creating a society that values wildlife, engages in its conservation and understands and supports the role of well-regulated hunting in the sustainable use of wild resources. DSC’s three-pronged mission to protect and preserve our hunting heritage includes conservation, education and advocacy. In just the past couple years, DSC has channeled millions of dollars to qualified projects, organizations and programs in support of their mission. CONSERVATION DSC funds mission-driven projects, organizations and programs annually throughout the conservation community. Recent projects include: desert bighorn sheep reintroduction and habitat enhancement in Mexico and Texas; bear management in British Columbia; elephant and lion projects in Africa; anti-poaching efforts abroad…

Safely secure valuables at home or on the road with Streamlight’s new lockable storage container, the Speedlocker. The portable vault features a patented, mechanical keypad design that eliminates the use of batteries and easily allows one-handed access. For extra protection, a padlock is also included. Most compact handguns, as well as a variety of personal items and documents, will fit inside. $100; streamlight.com The Velociradar chronograph from Caldwell goes above and beyond, measuring downrange velocity, energy and your projectiles ballistic coefficient. Caldwell also conveniently designed the unit to sit adjacent to the shooter, eliminating the risk of a bullet impacting the chronograph or having to wait for the range to clear before setting up. The Velociradar is compatible for rifle, shotgun, handgun, air gun and archery use. $550; caldwellshooting.com Walker’s…

The first hunting day in Africa is the toughest. You’re on unfamiliar ground with serious jet lag, mushy legs and a fuzzy head. Whether it’s the first day or last, when you see a nice kudu bull you go after him. So, on the first day in July 2023, a big bull came over a ridge a mile away, briefly skylined. It was an older bull with a big horn. Singular intended. The bull had just one horn. One-horned antelopes are abhorred by game managers. They may be big but never beautiful, and likely to kill other males. “Uncle Craig, we should go get him,” said PH Fred Burchell. Sigh, thinks me, in that first day funk. I guess we should. In July the rut is still on. Females led…

WHEN FRANCIS MOSE invited me to hunt deer with him in the Adirondack Mountains, I was thrilled. Born in nearby Quebec, Mose was widely known as the best whitetail hunter in the area. He and his wife were caretakers in a backwoods dormitory where I lived with a few dozen other students while studying forestry at a small college. To give you an idea of what era this was, those of us with vehicles carpooled and were paid 5 cents per mile to drive other students three miles to the college campus. Mose and I each carried Winchester Model 94 .30-30 carbines. I noted he smiled with approval when he saw my rifle. In those days, scopes were starting to become popular. We’d be hunting in a mix of black…

The supple texture and worn creases of time-aged leather tell a story of consistant repetition over the course of a well-lived life. The same can be said of a seasoned hunter. Their trophies are earned through countless experiences in the field, honing their craft little by little, until success comes regularly and not by happenstance. Experience cannot be replaced, but preparation can expedite the process. Preparation is paramount to the success of a hunter. Summer is busy with time and attention being pulled different ways, but with fall hunts knocking on the door, now is the time to prepare. Whether it be on adventures abroad or getting some trigger therapy at the local range, the summer months provide ample opportunity to dial in your hunting gear repertoire. There is also…

BULLET BASICS This bullet was designed specifically for the .280 Ackley Improved—a very cool turn of events for disciples of the cartridge. It’s endowed with all the finest characteristics of Barnes’ flagship long-range X bullet: Sleek profile, pressure-reducing grooves around the shank, a boat tail and polymer tip to aid aerodynamics, and a rapid-expanding hollow nose design optimized for low-impact velocities. Being an all-copper design, this LRX will also hold together well during high-speed impacts at close range. TESTING GROUND Austin Brown used the bullet shown to take an old, free-range oryx bull in Namibia. Barnes factory .280 Ackley ammo generates about 2,960 fps in the 22-inch barrel of his rifle. Shot presentation was quartering away at about 330 yards, at which distance the LRX was still packing more than…

For the past few years, gun manufacturers have been chasing two divergent trends. They’re either making ultra-lightweight mountain rifles for high-country hunters or heavy platform guns with futuristic designs for the precision-rifle fans. So, I was a bit surprised when I hefted the new CVA Cascade Varmint Hunter (VH) from the box. With a more traditional profile, albeit with some modern touches, and a bench-worthy overall weight, the Cascade VH took me back to my early days of shooting prairie dogs in the hot, Wyoming wind. BUILT FOR THE BENCH While coyotes certainly count as varmints, and the Cascade VH would make a fine fur-taker, a true varmint rifle is meant for other members of the small-game family. Prairie dogs, rockchucks and other similarly sized vermin require a firearm capable…

Whether archery or gun hunting, there are very few (if any) pieces of modern equipment that have been more instrumental in the ultimate success of hunters than a reliable rangefinder. Since their inception in the hunting space in the mid 1990s, modern rangefinders have advanced at a rapid rate in both size and capabilities from cumbersome units capable of ranging only a few hundred yards to the most modern rangefinders that now fit in the palm of your hand. These handheld wonders accurately spit out yardages at extreme distances and feature a wide variety of onboard ballistic calculators. Leupold Optics new RX-5000 TBR/W rangefinder does all of that and then some, putting cutting-edge technologies into the palm of your hand with the sole purpose of making you a more efficient…