Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2025 i Petersen's Hunting

Years ago, I was planning a hunting and fishing trip to Alaska and asked several experienced hunters which handgun and holster they recommended for bear defense. Handgun suggestions varied, but everyone agreed on one thing: carry your bear gun in a Kenai chest holster. I did just that, and for over a week my Rock Island Armory TAC Ultra FS 10mm remained tucked close to my body secure in my new Kenai chest holster from GunfightersINC. I was never uncomfortable throughout a week of around-the-clock carry with a 40-ounce 10mm 1911, and I was also never far away from my backup gun. I was so impressed with the Kenai holster that I contacted company president Adam Harris to discuss what inspired him to create the Kenai chest holster. Harris, a…

Federal’s 7mm Backcountry shoots high-BC bullets faster than all competitors, including the big magnums. And it does so out of a case about the size of a .30-06. Even more impressively, the Backcountry is as fast in 20-inch barrels as most magnums are in 24- to 26-inch barrels. This new cartridge could be the most significant evolution in cartridge technology since smokeless powder was developed. By finding a way to safely increase internal pressure by 25 percent or more, Federal’s engineers enabled their new 7mm Backcountry to generate unprecedented velocity. Also key to the 7mm Backcountry’s unparalleled performance is the fact it’s optimized for use with modern high-BC bullets. It’s got fast rifling (1:8) so it shoots heavy-for-caliber bullets ranging from 155 grains up to Berger’s 195-grain Extreme Outer Limits…

As North American outfitted hunts go, a late-season elk effort in the mountains probably gives you the best odds for a good skunking. But a guided whitetail hunt isn’t too far behind it. Sure, whitetails are our most abundant big-game animal, and simply killing one isn’t all that difficult. But on an outfitted hunt, most deer hunters expect a trophy buck. And therein is the challenge. I’ve been on dozens of guided whitetail trips over the past 20 years, and I’ve come home without pulling the trigger at least a third of the time. I’m also a licensed outfitter in Kentucky, and so I’ve gotten a good grasp on what you should expect when you pay for a deer hunt—and of what an outfitter can realistically provide. Here’s what to…

NO TWO cartridges are discussed more when it comes to self-defense than the 9mm and .44 Mag. While the 9mm gets the nod as one of the best overall self-defense handgun cartridges on the streets for everyday carry, the .44 Mag. is touted as the end-all/be-all cartridge for backcountry defense. Recent tests and viral videos have shown these cartridges being tested against bear skulls and gelatin to disprove the theory that you need a giant bullet to penetrate a bear skull in a defensive situation. The 9mm, stuffed with properly constructed bullets, can penetrate completely through a grizzly bear skull, effectively stopping the bear and deterring further aggression. I am not here to necessarily put the two cartridges together in a showdown comparison as there is no doubt the .44…

WHEN THE fox squirrel hit the forest floor with a soft thud, I was elated. The big, red squirrel had been on my bucket list for years, since I was raised in the east where there were no fox squirrels – only grays. And I dearly love to hunt squirrels. Let’s dispel the notion that all squirrels are accustomed to human presence, such as those that raid your bird feeder or scamper around city parks and streets. The squirrels I speak of are wild as a whitetail buck in the Back 40. These wary bushytails, either gray or fox, will disappear like smoke when you crunch your boot down on the first dry leaf. My debut to squirrel hunting was with my best hunting buddy, Louie. I was 15, working…

LIKE MANY READERS, I was celebrating the day after the recent election, though I had a more local, personal reason than just a preferred Presidential candidate. I happened to be holding a hunting license for the 2024-25 Colorado mountain lion season, and the defeat of Proposition 127 meant my tag was still valid for the upcoming season. More than 1.6 million Coloradans, or 54% of the voters, rejected the attempt by out-of-state, anti-hunting groups to ban lion and bobcat hunting in the state. That’s an impressive number, and proof that sportsmen and women can win at the ballot box. I do admit to being a little surprised by the outcome, as Colorado’s urban population had forced its will on the the rest of state just a few years earlier, mandating…

My dad’s favorite hunting rifle was a pre-’64 Model 70 Featherweight chambered in .308. He used it for almost all his big game, up to black bear and moose. Me, a child of the late-‘60s magnum craze, had a .264 as a teenager. I considered dad’s favorite cartridge underpowered and boring. It took 40 years before I properly appreciated the powerful, versatile, accurate and useful .308 Winchester. It wasn’t that I had no experience with the .308. Aside from its stated attributes, the .308 is so popular that it’s unavoidable. Over the years, I messed with a lot of test rifles in .308 and accepted the gunwriter’s axiom that, if you wanted a test rifle to shoot tight groups, ask for a .308. However, after recovery from magnumitis, I discovered…

THE LATE SEPTEMBER air felt like a relief after going through one of the hottest summers on record in Arizona. And the bear I watched beneath me wasn’t too shabby either. It was a lone boar feeding on acorns just 80 yards away. My blood was pumping and I had a smile from ear to ear. I was scouting for an upcoming October bear hunt and feeling good about my chances. Little did I know my expectations of what was to come would change entirely in more ways than one. A week later, my eyes kept glancing in the rearview mirror at the small camper I towed behind me as memories of past hunts replayed through my mind. The many memories of successful bear hunts in the area I was…

In the October 1962 issue of Playboy, noted author Robert Ruark outlined “The Gentleman’s Hunting Arsenal.” His article described a battery of long arms suited for a variety of tasks and ranged widely in price and practicality. Much of what he wrote six decades ago holds up today, particularly his praise of the .22 rimfire. “The .22 rimfire is indispensable to the big-game hunter because the spit of a .22 makes no more noise than a snapped stick, making it invaluable as a meat gun and particularly priceless for finishing off wounded animals without rousing the neighborhood.” Imagine if Ruark had a suppressor on safari? Whether we’re talking about hunting small game, shooting varmints, practicing or simply plinking for fun, a rimfire is ideal. The rimfire rifle remains, in Ruark’s…

The old adage “ounces equal pounds and pounds equal pain” rarely rings more true than when referring to backcountry hunting adventures. With that in mind, one of the most common gear trends in recent years, specifically amongst the western hunting community, is that of reducing weight while preserving performance. It makes sense. And with that trend, a smorgasbord of ultra-lightweight gear has flooded the market in recent years. Optics are generally viewed as “mission-essential” gear and few, if any, hardcore hunters are willing to sacrifice the edge optics give to save a few pounds. Fortunately, optic companies have taken notice, and a new genre of compact optics are making their way into the backcountry, including the new compact Razor UHD binoculars and Viper HD spotting scope from Vortex. COMPACT RAZOR…

AS THE FLOAT plane banked, our first look at the large bay we’d found on a map months prior was a welcome sight. The plane passed over the Forest Service cabin before touching down on the water. My friend Jesse Tillman and I unloaded all our gear onto a gravel bar at the head of the bay. This would be our first Alaskan hunt. Excited as we were, there was work to be done; we needed to inflate the Alpacka rafts and shuttle all our gear over three miles to the cabin we would call home for the next nine days. Tillman and I have been hunting partners for nearly two decades. After becoming friends in the military, we quickly developed a bond over hunting, old country music and NASCAR.…