Innholdsfortegnelse for December/January 2024-25 i Petersen's Hunting

Using two primary tools, Delta Waterfowl’s efforts make critical breeding habitat in the prairie pothole region of the northern U.S. and southern Canada more productive. Hen Houses are cylindrical nest structures built of steel, mesh and flax straw. They are deployed in wetlands and readily used by hen mallards. The overwater location deters mammalian predators from reaching the nest. A hen using a Hen House has up to 12 times better odds of a successful hatch than another nesting in upland grass near the same wetland. Predator Management seeks to restore balance on the northern prairies where predators like raccoons and skunks have proliferated beyond their natural numbers. Historically, raccoons were not even present on the prairies until human settlement allowed them to prosper. Delta Predator Management targets zones of…

Whether you are sitting on the frozen prairie calling song dogs or glassing the windswept ridges of the Rockies for elk and mule deer, a packable, lightweight seat, like Crazy Creek’s new Hex 2.0 Chair, will keep your your buns warm and your back from cramping. It features sturdy carbon-fiber stays, an 8mm high-density foam pad and rolls up to a mere 4 inches in diameter, the perfect combination for your backcountry adventures. $75; crazycreek.com Magellan Outdoors Youth Ozark Insulated Waist Jacket is specifically designed and engineered to keep your young hunters warm in the field, an important factor in providing them a positive hunting experience. The jacket is both wind and waterproof and features sealed seams, a detachable hood and six pockets to fit all of their favorite snacks and…

Robert Ruark wrote: “The hunter’s horn sounds early for some, later for others.” Its music is not a gender issue. Humans developed as hunter-gatherers. There have always been skilled and avid female hunters. Recent archeologic research suggests that, in prehistoric societies, women and men participated equally in the hunt. More recently, modern males have usurped a major role in hunting, leaving the less exciting gathering to the ladies. This being the case, many girls and women of all ages have never been exposed to hunting, with no idea if they would love it or hate it. In our urbanized society, this applies to males as well. In part, that’s okay. Humans are the most numerous large mammals on Earth. Wildlife resources don’t exist for all of us to revert to…

Cold weather. Pressured animals. Minimal daylight. These are just a few of the factors that challenge hunters still holding a tag this time of year. Late-season hunting isn’t for everyone. In fact, most hunters have already hung up their camo. But, for hard-working sportsmen, it provides the best chance of success. Some of us just prefer the solitude so common when the clock is ticking down to the last day, the last hour, the last minute of the season. Even loyal hunting partners often back out when conditions are tough, which leaves intrepid hunters alone, against the elements in search of the wise, old bucks that made it through opening day and the weeks that followed. These are true trophies. Mature animals who disappear under the slighest pressure, only to…

BULLET BASICS The Long Range Pro is a special Tipped Sierra GameKing bullet commissioned by Browning specifically for the 6.8 Western cartridge. It features a polymer tip to enhance aerodynamics, ensure instant mushrooming on impact, and prevent tip damage while in the magazine. The base is boat-tailed to additionally boost aerodynamics and the bullet’s profile was engineered for the best-possible ballistic coefficient—while still retaining that legendary accuracy potential Sierra is known for. It’s not a bonded-core bullet, but excellent jacket geometry enables the bullet to hold together quite well during close-range impacts and to expand reliably on long-range, low-velocity impacts. TESTING GROUND Shaundi Campbell used the bullet shown to take a massive old zebra stallion in South Africa. Zebra are known for being tough and hard to kill cleanly. They…

For most of my adult life, the answer to the question “what’s the most-accurate hunting rifle for the money?” has almost always been the Savage 110. These days, there are a pile of bolt-action rifles that use manufacturing hacks to produce great accuracy on a tight budget, but Savage was the originator of the concept. The good news is that Savage rifles continue to perform with the best of them and, today, are being offered with a laundry list of options. Savage’s bolt-action product lineup is one of the most diverse on the market. There are currently 29 different versions of the Savage 110 listed on the company’s website ranging from very spartan hunting rifles to highly upgraded precision-shooting rigs. I tested the new Trail Hunter Lite, which combines the…

If a new cartridge can win the hearts and minds of whitetail hunters, then it will be successful, regardless of what gunwriters have to say about it. The .350 Legend is proof of that. It is, on the one hand, maligned by many of today’s most influential gun-writers. But real-world whitetail hunters seem to love it. In fact, those hunters—who pay retail price for their ammunition—buy so much .350 Legend ammo that it easily makes Winchester’s annual list of the 10 best-selling cartridges. Though the Winchester staff is coy when asked about exact sales figures, they did reveal to me that in some years, sales of .350 Legend exceed that of .270 Win. and .30-06. I’ve hunted a fair bit with the .350 Legend, and I own a couple rifles…

WHEN I SLOWLY eased around the trail, I saw my two pals kneeling, aiming into the underbrush below. Something had their keen attention. We had been moving at a snail’s pace, glassing every inch of cover that was a favorite hangout for bedded mule deer. Finally, one of the hunters shot, and his buddy slapped him on the back. The buck was so well hidden, only one of the hunters had a shot through a small window in the brush. The bedded buck had them pegged, staring at them with ears alert. It was either a quick shot or nothing. There was no dispute about which hunter should shoot first. If we hunt long enough, we’ll invariably be faced by scenarios where the first shot is debatable. Coin flips are…

The sweater was one of those afterthought Christmas gifts, purchased by my mother because she didn’t know what else to buy, and viewed with horror by my wife, who said it looked like something Uncle Buck would wear. It sat for years, forgotten in a dresser drawer until, one trapping season, I pulled it out and said, “Michelle, where did this awesome wool sweater come from?” “Your mom bought it for you for Christmas years ago,” she said. “I’ve hidden it for your own good ever since.” I pulled the sweater on regardless, and by that evening, once it smelled faintly of beaver castor and red fox piss, I knew that I’d found my new favorite garment for hunting, trapping and general cold-weather kicking-around. As modern hunting clothing goes, there…

Are modern hunting cartridges better than proven classics? Do they actually shoot more accurately and kill better? Let’s dig past the marketing hype and see if we can uncover the practical truth. According to Hornady, Browning, Federal, Winchester, Nosler and the other cartridge companies that have introduced new hunting cartridges in the past 15 years or so, these modern rounds are more accurate than traditional cartridges. They are more efficient. Being more efficient, they drop less and drift less at extended distances—which seems counterintuitive to some folks. Allegedly they also hit harder at long range. And for those that care, they have better barrel life than many traditional cartridges. Let’s unpack these various characteristics, and either myth-bust or prove them out. TIGHTER TOLERANCES How about an increase in accuracy? Modern…