SH 42 Full

Why You Should Climb High For Elk!
SUCCESSFUL HUNTER
GUNS & GEAR

for Mule Deer
4 Southwest Hunt Alternatives

GO TRADITIONAL:
Cast Bullets for Big Game
Nov/Dec 2009
$4.99
No. 42
12
Backcountry Meat Care
74808 01198
$4.99 U.S./ Canada
November-December 2009
Volume 7 / Number 6
20 Elevate Your Success

Elk hunting is an uphill battle, but the sweat of a climb is important if you are to succeed. by John Haviland
32 Southwest Alternates
Whether you hunt birds or big game, there is more opportunity than meets the eye. by Lee J. Hoots
Spiral-Horned
By Kevin Thomas
JOUSTER
Africas forest dwelling bushbuck may be the noblest antelope of them all.
ing along a footpath toward a maize field my dad was working. Watching over me was a black farm laborer, probably in his mid-20s; he was wandering along in my wake, his bare leathery feet kicking up damp leaf matter. To our left was a thick, green wall of forest, and as we rounded a bend, a most impressive sight awaited us. A bushbuck ram was standing broadside mere meters away staring in our direction. He was dark Bournemouth chocolate in color, his chest, flanks, rump and knees spotted and streaked in brilliant white markings. His large eyes, natures gift for maximum resolution in the reduced forest light, were fixed on us with an unwavering stare. Atop his head were the most magnificent barkstained spiraled horns, perhaps 16 inches in length, the tops flaring out before terminating in stiletto sharp tips. It was an awesome sight for a spindly-legged 7-yearold, and for me, time stood still in the distance the liquid call of a coucal, the knocking of a diesel engine, closer, the musty smell of dank forest and the feel of damp soil under my bare feet, glistening snail trails on the path. Then the bushbuck chose to decamp. With his tail flagging, the white underside clearly visible, he furiously barked a series of alarm calls before disappearing from view but not before I had brought my trusty Daisy BB gun into my shoulder and plinked a pellet off in his direction. Makandende, my erstwhile minder actually went to look for blood sign! Rural tribal Africans of that era had no knowledge of things ballistic. In Makandendes eyes, my 7-year-old-kids Daisy BB gun was on par with my dads 7x57mm Mauser, a favorite World War II memento during that era. That long-ago incident, between a 7-year-old boy, his Ndau minder, a bushbuck and the forest, was to be
successfulhunter.com
2009 Gary Kramer
imbabwes eastern border with Mozambique is a scenic, mountainous area a world of deep gorges, boulder-strewn icy streams and steep, forest-shrouded slopes. Scattered amongst the tracts of almost impenetrable forest are verdant, sun-dabbled glades. Often, in the early mornings, there is ground-hugging guti (pronounced gooty), a peculiar cocktail of thick fog and drizzle blowing in from the Indian Ocean. Zimbabwe, once called Rhodesia, was one of Britains last colonies in southern Africa. During part of that early colonial era, circa mid-1950s, our dairy and crop farm was situated close to the Mozambique border.
The mountain forests guti-shrouded slopes rising imposingly above our cattle pastures and crops were the habitat of a majestic, albeit shy, yet pugnacious antelope the spiral-horned bushbuck. When we wanted to hunt the larger, easier species like kudu and impala, we had to venture into the dry, shale-ridged mopane woodlands and acacia thorn scrub in the lower elevations to the west. We often did that, quite simply because it was easy hunting, and we could bulk up on venison. My very first encounter with a bushbuck is indelibly imprinted into my memory. At about age 7, I was walk-
46
SUCCESSFUL HUNTER
Nov-Dec 2009
Mule Deer Gear
40 Snow Flurries
The right rifle and optics can make all the difference out West.
By Brandon Ray e elow the colorful horizon were s steep cliffs, skeletons of giant ju junipers, the faint scent of sage o on the air and coyotes serenading the end of the day pure untamed h d western beauty and everything I love about mule deer country. With a heavy load on my shoulders that included a set of symmetrical 4x4 mule deer antlers, I paused just long enough to take it all in.
The first mule deer buck I ever shot, an ancient 10-point in the Texas Panhandle more than 20 years ago, was collected with a scarred-up Sako .30-06, my dads old gun. The next half a dozen were taken with the same rifle. That old gun wore a scraped-up Redfield 3-9x scope. My choice of ammunition was typically 165-grain Federal Premium loads, although I remember a couple of times shooting whatever the local gun store had to offer. That setup was a good choice for mule deer hunting back then, and its still a solid choice today. With all the hype today over magnum cartridges, sometimes I think we hunters forget we are chasing deer, not Bigfoot. A couple of Octobers ago, on a
Todays white goose hunting opportunities seem endless. Here are nine of the very best options. by M.D. Johnson
Todays white goose hunting opportunities seem endless. Here are nine of the very best options.
By M.D. Johnson
46 Spiral-Horned Jouster
Africas forest dwelling bushbuck may be the noblest antelope of them all. by Kevin Thomas
26 Mule Deer Gear

The right rifle and optics can make all the difference out West. by Brandon Ray
Cover: 2009 Stacey Huston / Table of Contents: 2009 Denver Bryan
Flur ries
ach spring, millions of snow geese leave the continental United States and trek northward to the Canadian Arctic, a centuries-old migratory tradition in and of itself without issue. However, these same birds must feed, and millions of black-tinged pink beaks plucking fragile grasses from a delicate and slow-recovering Arctic ecosystem have proved environmentally devastating. In response to such evisceration of the tundra, as well as an alarmingly increasing population of geese, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS), in cooperation with neighboring Canada, amended the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 to allow for the establishment of the Spring Conservation Order (SCO).
The SCO permits individual states to extend traditional snow goose seasons beyond March 10, thus providing hunters the opportunity to harvest additional light geese snows, blues and Rosss before the birds reach their Arctic nesting grounds. The SCO additionally allowed for the use of electronic calls, unplugged shotguns and extended legal shooting times to one-half hour past sunset. The growing goose population and liberalized methods of taking now authorized through the SCO have provided outstanding hunting opportunities throughout much of the country. While good gunning can be found in just about any state, weve narrowed down the best hunts and have highlighted them here.
52 Come Out Heavy

Sound advice that will make moving meat much easier once youve got your buck or bull down. by Jack Ballard
Top Fall Opportunities

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: The first shot, both literally and figuratively, at fall snows comes courtesy of
2009 courtesy of Tyson Keller, Avery Outdoors
Nov-Dec 2009
SUCCESSFUL HUNTER
41
Issue 42 November-December 2009
Publisher/President Don Polacek Associate Publisher Mark Harris Editor in Chief Dave Scovill Editor Lee J. Hoots Managing Editor Roberta Scovill Art Director Gerald Hudson Production Director Becky Pinkley Graphic Arts Chris Downs
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Berit Aagaard Jack Ballard John Haviland Gary Lewis Brandon Ray
Bob Robb Phil Shoemaker Ron Spomer E. Donnall Thomas Jr.
ADVERTISING
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12 8 6 The Great Land

Air Taxi Savvy
by Phil Shoemaker
Successful Hunter (ISSN 1541-6259) is published bimonthly by Polacek Publishing Corporation dba Wolfe Publishing Company (Don Polacek, President), 2625 Stearman Rd., Suite A, Prescott, AZ 86301. Telephone (928) 445-7810. Periodical Postage paid at Prescott, Arizona, and additional mailing offices. Subscription rates: U.S. possessions single issue, $4.99; 6 issues, $19.97; 12 issues, $36. Foreign and Canada single issue, $6.50; 6 issues, $26; 12 issues, $48. Please allow 8-10 weeks for first issue. Advertising rates furnished on request. All rights reserved. POSTMASTER: Please send address corrections to Successful Hunter Magazine, 2625 Stearman Rd., Suite A, Prescott, AZ 86301. Canadian returns: PM #40612608. Bleuchip International, P.O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2.
8 Observations
Performance Projectiles
by Lee J. Hoots
16 57 Trophy Board 58 Hunting Gear 62 One More Shot

Pushing the Envelope
by Ron Spomer
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Polacek Publishing Corporation Publisher of Successful Hunter is not responsible for mishaps of any nature that might occur from use of published loading data or from recommendations by any member of the staff. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. Publisher assumes all North American rights upon acceptance and payment for all manuscripts. Although all possible care is exercised, the publisher cannot accept responsibility for lost or mutilated manuscripts.
12 Rifle Rack
Wheelweights
by John Haviland
16 Wingshots
Where Grouse Go
by John Haviland
The Great Land
by Phil Shoemaker
with dogmatic, type-A personalities and those whose lives run on a time schedule, need to be aware of this. Pushing a reticent pilot to fly is a recipe for disaster, as even the slightest miscalculation, carelessness, oversight or neglect is likely to result in a pile of twisted aluminum. Here on the Alaska Peninsula, the last week of July this year was quite windy. That week two close friends both highly experienced, professional float plane pilots wrecked their planes trying to get in one more flight in inclement conditions. Each was caught during a vulnerable moment in their takeoff by an unexpected gust from a williwaw. Williwaw is a term, originating in the Straits of Magellan, that describes fiercely high wind gusts that result when pressure builds up on one side of a mountain range and then unpredictably funnels down through bays and passes into relatively protected areas. My intent here is not to scare anyone but, like the passenger warning given to all airline travelers, to illustrate the possible and inherent dangers and to give some pointers on how to avoid them on your next visit. As is typical in most Alaskan aviation incidents, in both of the above cases the pilots and all the passengers escaped unharmed.
AIR TAXI SAVVY
Let Your Pilot Do The Flying And Youll Have A Safe Trip In And Out Of Camp.
There is no more scenic method of travel in Alaska than low and slow in a bush plane. Nor is there a more efficient method of travel.
hen describing Alaska, the term Great Land certainly is an apt approbation. Distances truly are immense, and the majority of the state remains road-free wilderness. In order to reach prime, game-rich areas, most hunters must rely on travel by small bush aircraft, and due to Alaskas notoriously fickle weather, schedules and even destinations are fungible. At its core, bush flying is a simple
although demanding skill. First-time hunters, especially if they also happen to be pilots, are typically in awe at the places where bush pilots land, as well as the conditions and weather in which they fly. Bush pilots quickly learn, however, that wind, weather and terrain, rather than some arbitrary schedule, dictate when, where and how they fly. Hunters contemplating trips in Alaska, especially those
Slammin Laminate
im Brockman is a gunsmith who needs little introduction to readers of our sister publication, Rifle magazine, but he may not be as well known to hunters reading Successful Hunter. He should be, however, as he is a clever gunmaker building practical rifles for hunters. He is a wizard with Marlin lever-action rifles. He also offers slim, comfortable, laminated stocks that are similar in style and handling to classic English sporters. I used one on a .416 Rigby CZ rifle that I gave my son when he graduated from col-
lege. I liked it so much I ordered another for my .505 Gibbs. I also had Jim install one of his simple, rugged peep sights and front sight blades. The .505 Gibbs is a bit of a brute. It is a big stick that I use when I have to follow a wounded brown bear or when I am guiding bow hunters. Brockmans improvements make the rifle quicker handling and more reliable. Contact: Brockmans, Dept. SH, 445 Idaho St., Gooding ID 83330; or online: www.brockmansrifles.com.
Ph Phils .505 Gibbs with Brockmans hil Gibb Brock Phils 505 Gibbs ith B kmans English-style laminated stock and simple, rugged rear sight.
SUCCESSFUL HUNTER Nov-Dec 2009
The first and foremost fundamental rule of bush flying is to never, ever attempt to pressure your pilot into flying when he or she does not want to. Period. Thats as sanctified as keeping your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot. You may be losing valuable hunting days or had flown in worse weather on other hunting trips, but the pilot is certain to know more about the local conditions as well as the weather at the destination. Second, dont beg the pilot into taking just one more bag of gear. If it really is important, tell him so and offer to switch it with another piece of gear you are not as likely to need. Most pilots are reasonable about this and will work with you, but if you brought too much gear and they feel it is unsafe, believe them. Third, listen to their safety talk at the beginning of the flight. You are unlikely to ever need it, but if the unforeseen happens, it is comforting to know where fire extinguishers, satellite phones, flotation devices or sleep-
Like many Alaskans, Phils family depends on air travel for their livelihood. Phils best advice to Alaska hunters is to trust your pilots ability to make the right decisions when heading into the backcountry.
ing bags are. In addition, it is a good idea to wear your hunting clothes, including a sweater or jacket and to have on your person at least a pocket knife and a lighter. During the summer I also carry a small container of bug repellent in my pocket. During the fall and winter, I exchange it for my small SureFire flashlight. Also, be sure not to forget your camera.
Armed with minor preparation and common sense, flying in Alaska is a safe and truly grand event. Flying low and slow over massive tracts of wilderness surrounded by hundreds of square miles of scenic terrain epitomizes the beginning of an Alaskan hunting experience. There is nothing to compare with it anywhere else in the hunting world.
Observations
by Lee J. Hoots
PERFORMANCE PROJECTILES
Do Modern Bullets Allow Hunters To Fine-Tune Wound Channels?
t was kind of an odd thing to hear: You need to start shooting different bullets! I was somewhat surprised. Why? I asked. You didnt have much of a blood trail on that buck, my Texas host insisted. You need a bullet that goes all the way through. I nodded my head to let him know he made his point. I shot the deer he was referring to with a peach of an Ed Brown Denali 7mm WSM and a Nosler Ballistic Tip, and it ran less than 20 yards before piling up in clear view of the tower blind I was in. I wasnt about to argue that point with my well-known and gracious host,
though. Besides, I didnt fully disagree with him. A bullet that passes through an animal is more likely to create a wound that leaves an obvious blood trail that you might have to follow. Ill take that any time I can get it. On the other hand, a bullet need not penetrate completely to kill game. That is the crux of one of the greatest debates in the history of man-the-hunter: Should a bullet pass completely through an animal and leave an exit wound, or should it release all its energy inside the game? Given a choice, I prefer a complete pass-through on deer and larger game. At the same time, I
Lees Texas buck fell within 20 yards of where it was shot with a Nosler Ballistic Tip from a 7mm WSM Ed Brown rifle. Tipped bullets are hard to beat for deer.
Tried and true, the Nosler Partition is the granddaddy of penetrating bullets, though newer designs penetrate farther.
find it hard to argue with folks who prefer that a bullet not pass through an animal. I have used and have seen standard lead core deer bullets and tipped bullets both kill like lightning without passing through. The Texas deer described above is an example. So which hunter is right? The reality is that bullet placement and raw energy are much more important than bullet construction when it comes to anything we hunt in North America, with perhaps the exception of the big bears the grizzly and the brown or so Ive been led to believe. The only experience I have in this area is a chance encounter with a very old Eurasian brown bear some years ago in the foothills of the Ural Mountains in central Russia. As the guest of a Russian gun manufacturer, I stalked and shot a wonderfully old and battlescarred bear neatly through the ribs behind the shoulder at about 30 yards with a .30-06 loaded with a 200-grain bonded Norma Oryx bullet. While I admit to feeling undergunned at the time (there were no other caliber options), the Oryx, a penetrating bullet, was easily up to
A 200-grain Norma Oryx bullet from a .30-06 was plenty for this Eurasian brown bear, although Lee would have preferred a larger caliber. The core of the Oryx is bonded to its copper jacket.
the task of cleanly killing a bear the size of a large interior U.S. grizzly. I cant recall if that bullet passed through or not. My point in all this is that there are so many great bullets being made these days, like the Oryx, the Ballistic Tip or the Trophy Bonded Bear Claw, that you can, by using one or another, predict with great confidence the outcome of a given shot. Thanks to the will of the shooting public, if you want a complete pass-through, you can have it. If you want complete internal upset,
you can have that too. If you want performance parameters for elk that are different than those you prefer for whitetails, choose two different loads. Heres the other side of the coin: There are so many bullet offerings that trying to choose one from the shelving under the gun rack at your local gun store can be intimidating and downright frustrating at times, especially given the current cost of ammunition. Nobody wants to drop $75 for two boxes of wrong. Deciding what you want from a big game bullet and learning which bullets fit in that category should alleviate most of the frustration and make choosing an appropriate bullet easier. Here are some generalizations that might help clear up some misconceptions. Garden Variety: This includes standard lead core bullets with a copper/alloy jacket that typically feature an exposed lead tip or hollow point. These mass-produced bullets are generally the least expensive and most readily available, because they are easy to make in the grand scheme of bullet-making. Typical examples include the Remington Core-Lokt, Hornady InterLock, Sierra GameKing and others. This type of bullet may or may not hold together once it enters an animal, and it may or may not penetrate as
Youll get accuracy, upset and penetration with Hornadys tipped and bonded InterBond bullets.
a whole or in parts. However, these bullets represent the deer hunters bread-and-butter, and they have been used successfully by big game hunters around the world for decades. The design generally shoots well through most rifles. Tipped: Take the same description and general performance characteristics as above and swap out the lead tip or hollowpoint for a plastic cone, and you have the very popular Nosler Ballistic Tip, Hornady Super Shock Tipped and Remington Accutip. The plastic tip serves a couple of functions: It usually improves a bullets ballistic coefficient, which translates to better downrange performance, and it initiates bullet upset upon impact. Tipped bullets are not designed for complete penetration. What they do bring to the table over garden variety bullets is accuracy in almost all rifles. Tipped & Bonded: My favorite bullets fit in this category, including the Swift Scirocco, Nosler AccuBond, the Trophy Bonded Tip and the Hornady InterBond. A high ballistic coefficient and a lead core bonded to a copper jacket make for a bullet with predictable upset and deep penetration potential. These bullets retain a great deal of their weight and generally are held in the animal only by its offside hide, if at all. Partitioned: The Nosler Partition is the granddaddy of the modern
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The Swift Scirocco, here loaded by Remington, was super accurate in this Rifles, Inc. .300 Ultra Mag. Bonded, it also has great penetration abilities.
penetrating bullet. Its lead core is split in two by a thick layer of copper, allowing the top half of the bullet to mushroom consistently while the shank, pushed on by the weight of the protected lead, continues its drive through flesh and bone. The Swift A-Frame is another fine bullet in this category. High weight retention and good to excellent accuracy can be expected. Pass-throughs are common. Bonded: There are several bullets on the market that look like garden variety bullets but hold together like nobodys business. The Trophy Bonded Bear Claw and the Remington Core-Lokt Bonded are prime examples. Newer examples include the Winchester Power Max and Federal Fusion, and feature a molecular bonding process that is said to reduce manufacturing costs, a savings that is passed on to the end consumer. Deep penetration is the norm from these bullets, and they are also generally the most expensive option, the newer Fusion and Power Max being the exception. Hunters like to use them for heavy-boned game like black bear, elk and moose due to their penetrating qualities. Pass-throughs are common. Accuracy is hit-and-miss. Monolithic: For many years the Barnes X-Bullet, made of solid copper, was the only bullet in this category, and it has proven its ability for extreme penetration day in and
day out. Today, due in large part to societal attitudes toward lead and its effects on the environment, Hornady and Nosler have introduced examples made of gilding metal. Some designs are tipped; others are not. If you want complete penetration 99 out of 100 shots, this is your bullet design. There are many bullet manufacturers that make quality bullets in one or all of these categories, such as Norma, Berger and Speer. These bullets are more commonly used by handloaders who have already learned the benefits of fine-tuning their hunting loads. Given the fact that there are now hundreds of factory loads for dozens of calibers available throughout each category, however, you dont necessarily have to handload to get the end result you want. Just consider the game and hunting environment and use that as your guide when you load up. Keep in mind, though, that there is no magic to be found in any of these bullets, and all too often magazine writers (Ive been guilty) put too much emphasis on penetration or bullet design, ballistic coefficient or some other ballistic factor or ideology. The truth is, shot placement supersedes everything. Only when we shoot straight do the nuances of a bullet design matter. Only then can we expect a bullet to do what we want it to shot after shot.
Nov-Dec 2009 SUCCESSFUL HUNTER
11
Rifle Rack
by John Haviland
WHEELWEIGHTS
isheartened over the spiraling price of big game bullets? For only pennies apiece, you can cast your own lead alloy big game bullets. This economizing is not penny-pinching, either, because cast bullets of the correct lead alloy and design at the right velocity will kill big game dead. Last fall I walked across new snow and took a seat under a towering ponderosa pine overlooking a ridge top covered with whitetail tracks. After an hour, seven whitetail does came prancing up the ridge. They stopped broadside at about 65 yards, and I put the front bead of my rifle on a big doe to the right of the bunch. The deer scattered at the shot, but the 180-grain cast lead bullet from the .30-30 Winchester had punched a hole through both lungs of the doe, and it collapsed within 30 yards. That good bullet performance cost about a nickel. However, to reach the point where I was confident enough to use a cast
Cast Bullets Save Money And At Moderate Velocities, They Bring Down Game.
The .35-caliber roundnose (left) barely expanded in a block of wax. The .35-caliber flatnose bullet (right) expanded well in wax. Cast of ductile wheelweights, it retained most of its weight.
bullet on big game resulted from spending a lot of time at the loading bench and shooting range. All that testing can be summarized as: Use a flatnosed bullet cast with a lead alloy of about the hardness of common wheelweights at a muzzle velocity of up to 2,000 fps.
Lead Alloys
Wheelweights are commonly
available and contain nearly the correct mix of lead, antimony and tin (95.5 percent lead, .5 percent tin, 4 percent antimony) to cast a bullet hard enough to shoot accurately at relatively high velocities. They are also soft enough that they readily expand and are sufficiently ductile to retain their expanded nose. I shot wheelweight bullets and two other lead alloys cast in a
Most deer, even mule deer in wide open country, are shot at distances closer than 200 yards well within the range of cast bullets.
12
.35-caliber LBT 358-200-FN mould into ballistic wax. The impact velocity of these bullets was about 1,700 fps, which is the velocity the bullets would have at 80 yards with a muzzle velocity of 1,935 fps from my .35 Whelen. Cast comparatively soft, 7 parts wheelweights and 3 parts lead, one of these bullets fired in wax created a wound cavity 5.5 inches long and 1.25 inches in diameter at the channels widest point. Total penetration length was 7.6 inches. The forward portion of the bullet expanded to .636 inch and retained 94 percent of its initial weight. Thats pretty good performance. An LBT bullet cast of slightly harder wheelweights demonstrated similar performance. Its total pene-
tration was 8.6 inches with a wound cavity of 5.25 inches in length and one inch in diameter at its widest
point. The recovered bullet had a frontal diameter of .582 inch and retained 87 percent of its original
Bullet Casting 101

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successfulhunter.com Nov-Dec 2009 SUCCESSFUL HUNTER
13
weight. An LBT bullet cast of rather hard Linotype showed no expansion at all. It simply drilled a full diameter hole straight through two blocks of wax and may still be circling the planet for all I know. From previous experiments, a much higher striking velocity is required to make Linotype bullets expand. In fact, when these hard bullets do expand, they crack and shatter. The only problem with wheelweights is that it can be difficult to cast fully formed bullets with them. Adding 2 percent tin to wheelweights refines the grain of the alloy and improves the flow to cast more completely shaped bullets. However, a friend says he sets his furnace at slightly over 800 degrees Fahrenheit when casting with wheelweights. This increased temperature helps the alloy flow more freely.
Thomas Haviland used a Winchester .30-30 to take this whitetail doe with a 180-grain flatnose cast bullet.
Velocity and Powders

Perhaps the most important factor in cast bullet accuracy is how the Kellys Africa Pvt. Ltd.
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lead alloy responds to powder pressure. Sufficient pressure is required to give the bullet a hard enough kick in the base to upset it so it fills the bore and forms a tight gas seal. Too hard a hit, though, distorts the bullet, and it starts its journey toward the target like a crooked arrow. Relatively fast burning powders seem to give the best accuracy for low-velocity loads of up to about 1,400 fps, which is about the top velocity for plain-base bullets. At these slow speeds, powders like Red Dot, IMR-4227, SR-4759 and Unique develop enough pressure to slightly upset the bullet but not enough to deform a plain-base bullet. The trick is to find the sweet spot. To determine the pressure at which accuracy begins to suffer is as easy as starting with a minimum amount of powder, then increasing the charge a grain or so at a time until accuracy deteriorates. For example, RCBS 150-CM plain-base bullets cast of wheelweights grouped three shots in 1.20 inches at 100 yards fired with 10.0 grains of IMR4227 from a Winchester Model 94 .30-30. Group size shrank to .75 inch with 10.5 grains, and then opened slightly to 1.40 inches with 11.0 grains of the powder. With 11.5 grains of powder, one flyer opened the group to 2.33 inches.
With 12.0 grains of powder group size shrank to 1.35 inches. The lower pressures developed by slower-burning powders provide better accuracy at higher velocities. The Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook states that a 170-grain bullet fired in the .30-30 develops 1,555 fps and 35,500 CUP (copper units of pressure) with a top charge of 10.6 grains of Unique powder. Twenty grains of slower-burning Reloder 7, though, produced a slightly higher velocity of 1,623 fps, but at only
H-4198 is a good powder for cast bullets in the .30-06. It produces velocities of about 2,000 fps at low pressure. successfulhunter.com
14
19,800 CUP. Even with the bullets velocity increased to more than 2,100 fps with Reloder 7, the pressure is less than the Unique charge that develops 1,550 fps. Ive obtained good accuracy with relatively slow burning IMR-3031, IMR-4064 and Varget with the Lyman 330-grain hollowpoint, plain-base bullet in the .45-70. At muzzle velocities of nearly 1,500 fps, groups are as tight as one inch at 50 yards from a Marlin 1895 with open sights. Once velocities exceed that, though, accuracy of the plain-base bullet starts to suffer. Switching to a bullet that accepts a gas check is necessary when a higher velocity is desired. A gas check on the bullet heel protects and stiffens the base to better withstand gas pressure. With a gas check, wheelweight bullets can be shot accurately at muzzle velocities up to 2,000 fps. That is an ideal velocity for good expansion and weight retention with a wheelweight bullet out to 200 yards or so. As with the faster-burning powders, at what pressure accuracy begins to suffer with these slowerburning powders can be determined by increasing powder weight a grain or so at a time until accuracy deteriorates. The Velocity and Accuracy table accompanying this article shows the accuracy results of shooting various charges of SR-4759 powder in a .30-30 with RCBS 30150-FN bullets with a gas check cast of three different alloys.
eter at 100 yards. My son and I have shot several whitetails with this bullet at distances between 40 and 80 yards. The deer ran a short ways and were in their death throes when we reached them. Lately Ive been shooting quite a few hollowpoint bullets in my .4570. The Lyman 457122, 336-grain flatnose, hollowpoint bullet cast of wheelweights expands well at an im-
pact speed of only 1,300 fps. In fact, Ive retrieved hollowpoint bullets that have been nearly flat. The ductile wheelweight alloy, though, helps keep most of the bullet together. When I head out after deer this fall with these wheelweight bullets in the magazine of my .45-70, I will be pleased with their performance and not a bit disheartened at their price.
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Nose shape contributes even more to cast bullet expansion than lead alloy. Wheelweight bullets with a round or pointed nose failed to expand and drilled a pencil-size trail through bundles of wet newspapers and ballistic wax. But a flatnose bullet, like the Lyman 375449 that weighs 266 grains when cast of wheelweights, expands to nearly twice its original diameter when fired from a .375 Winchester. With a muzzle velocity of 1,900 fps, a Lyman flatnose expanded to nearly twice its original diameter at 50 yards and to nearly .5 inch in diamsuccessfulhunter.com
Barry Taylor, ARCTIC SAFARIS

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E-Mail: info@arcticsafaris.ca
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Wingshots
by John Haviland
WHERE GROUSE GO
ast fall was one of the best hunting seasons in several years for ruffed and blue grouse. The grouse flushed from open fields and timber clearcuts, meadow and creek bottom edges and even the deep of the dark forest. The grouse were so stacked up finding them was easy. My family and I finished our hunts early enough in the day to dress the grouse by a creek of meandering water and pools clogged with gold aspen and cottonwood leaves, then drive home and bake a couple of the grouse for supper. But easy wont last. Following every good year or
Food And Cover Are Key To Any Bird Hunters Success.

2009 Bob White whitefishstudio.com
two of grouse hunting, there are a half-dozen mediocre seasons, and a couple when the birds are so scarce I forget what they look like and the left-hand pocket of my vest remains void of fired shotshells. Even during those lean years, though, grouse are about. The birds can be found in pockets of their core habitat. You just have to conduct your search with a little more legwork and a sharper eye to find these niches. Hunt for food and cover, and youll flush birds.
Food
Grouse carry little fat, and their energy reserves can last the birds only a few days. Consequently, they feed regularly, early and late in the day, and pack their crops with dozens of different food items. Feeding grouse are roaming grouse, and they leave a wide scent trail for a good dog to work. Snowberries are a common food for blue, ruffed and sharp-tailed grouse in the West. The plant grows in wide stands near ponderosa pines, aspen and spruce. Coralberry is a similar berry ranging from New York south to Georgia. During seasons of abundant grouse, a walk
Ruffed Grouse
Spruce Grouse
along the edge of this knee- to pocket-high brush is good for a grouse or two. In arid country grouse stick close to streams and seeps to feed on the moist plants and the insects that hatch every week or so. Clover is a favorite food. One early October in Utahs Monte Cristo Mountains, the ridges and hillsides were dry of grouse. But ruffed and blue grouse were near every spring and trickle of water, and their crops were stuffed with clover and the last black currant berries of the summer. Blue grouse are more a bird of the
Avian Predation
hat causes the fluctuation of grouse populations? Predators and fickle spring weather swings are often blamed for nesting failure. Certainly, winter weather together with predators is especially hard on grouse. The study, Predation Effects on Forest Grouse Recruitment, published in the Wildlife Society Bulletin in 2001 stated that the annual winter mortality of juvenile grouse was 66 percent for ruffed grouse, 48 percent for spruce grouse and 43 percent for blue
grouse. It also indicated that winter survival of blue and spruce grouse is relatively high because both species roost and feed in conifer trees, which provide good cover and food. However, ruffed grouse are more susceptible to winter predation because of the generally sparser canopy cover provided by deciduous forests in which they feed. Predation is the cause of cyclic changes in ruffed grouse populations in Canada and the Great Lakes region of the U.S. Ruffed
grouse are alternative prey for raptors in Canada, whose primary prey is snowshoe hares. The more hares, the more predators, resulting in greater predation pressure on ruffed grouse, primarily during the summer, according to the 2001 study. When the hare populations crash, goshawks and great-horned owls migrate south during the winter into the Great Lakes region, where they increase winter mortality of ruffed grouse and cause an overall decline in grouse populations.
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forest border, the meandering edge of evergreen stands and grass. This ecotone combines the forests moisture and sunlight to grow a variety of berries and buds. Grasshoppers are the blue grouses favorite food in early fall, and at dawn the birds are at the perimeter of fields after hoppers still sluggish from the nights cold. When the first frosts of fall kill insects and wither moist plants,
the grouse shift to other foods. Blue grouse head to ridge tops to roost and feed in conifers. Evergreen needles give a baked blue grouse a turpentine flavor, so once I shoot a blue with Douglas fir needles packed in its crop, the blue grouse season is over for me.
Cover
With a turn in the weather, ruffed
grouse move up to hillsides and benches. They also stay beneath conifers like spruce for thermal protection, especially on a windy day. Flocks of 30 or more sharptails often spread out across grain stubble fields during the day. While they feed on grain, they cant survive there. They need the cover of native grass for protection from the weather and predators. Sage grouse
The Six Common Grouse of North America

Blue Grouse: Dendragapus obscure Nicknames: dusky grouse, sooty grouse, pine grouse, fool hen Mature males are gray to bluish-gray with a red or yellow eye comb. Females are spotted brown with a dark tail. Habitat: mountain meadow and forest edges, shrub steppe, mountain forests and above timberline Prairie Chicken: Tympanuchus cupido (greater), Tympanuchus pallidicinctus (lesser) Nickname: pinnated grouse Tails are short, round and dark. Adult males have a yellow comb over the eyes and dark, elongated head feathers. Adult females have shorter head feathers and lack the males yellow comb and orange neck patch. Habitat: undisturbed tall grass prairie Ruffed Grouse: Bonasa umbellus Nicknames: ruffs, partridge Theyre gray or rufous coloring with a black tail band and dark bars on flanks, slightly crested head. Habitat: mixed-age aspen, alder and birch woodlands intermixed with evergreens such as hemlock and pine, moist sites within clearcut hardwood stands 10 to 30 years old Sage Grouse: Centrocercus urophasianus (greater), Centrocercus minimus (Gunnison) Nicknames: prairie chicken, sage hen Largest North American grouse, females are a mottled brown with black feathers on their top and sides and a black belly. Cocks have a black throat and a white chest and a long, pointed tail. Habitat: sagebrush plains Spruce Grouse: Falcipennis Canadensis Nicknames: Canada grouse, Franklins grouse (subspecies), fool hen, taiga grouse Tail feathers of both sexes are tipped with white. Males have a black breast patch bordered with white-tipped feathers and a scarlet eye comb; females are white below and barred gray, brown above. Habitat: coniferous forests of alpine fir, spruce or lodgepole pine in the mountains of western Alaska, northern Pacific rainforest, northern Rockies and northern Atlantic forest Sharp-Tailed Grouse: Tympanuchus phasianellus Nickname: prairie chicken Feathered legs and upper parts are mottled with white, brown and black, wings have white spots, and the breast and flanks have V-shaped brown markings, males have yellow eye combs. Habitat: native grasslands interspersed with shrubs, intermixed with trees, brush-filled coulees and big sage
2009 Bob White whitefishstudio.com
Sharptail Grouse Blue Grouse
Sage Grouse
Greater Prairie Chicken SUCCESSFUL HUNTER Nov-Dec 2009 successfulhunter.com
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are eternally tied to sagebrush for food and cover from summer heat and winter blizzards. A coulee clogged with sagebrush and a stock pond at the bottom end is a sure sign that sage grouse are about. Keep in mind too that grouse need vertical cover that provides a fairly closed canopy for protection from hawks. In addition, for forest grouse to move about freely, ground cover should be rather thin with little slash or extensive thickets. What brush there is should be in small clumps or along the edges of forest openings. Early to mid successional forests and uneven-aged forest provide this type of grouse cover and grouse food. A study in Wisconsins Sandhill Wildlife Area indicated that in years with low numbers of grouse, aspen and oak forests that were 25 years old and younger contained significantly more grouse than older and unmanaged sites. Four times as many grouse showed a preference for young aspen stands with a mix of alders as compared to birds found in oak forests. Older timber stands will attract grouse, if the stands contain a suitable understory of hazel, serviceberry and red maple. In lean years its best to key on small patches of these successional stands created by a burn or timber thinning. A logging cut of a few hundred acres or more all looks good. However, you might well wear yourself out before finding the exact spot where grouse have settled in. My wife and I always end our grouse season on a five-acre flat between a creek and a swamp bottom. Ruffs are always there for the juicy berries on a scattering of short shrubs of serviceberry. The crowns of the 15-foot tall ponderosa pines provide cover from hawks, and the full branches act like a catchers mitt to an ounce of No. 6 shot. Despite that, we add one or two birds to our game bags. On the final day of grouse hunting, I leave any loose feathers in my vests pouches. That way, if grouse are scarce during the next season, I will remember where they were when the old feathers float up and swirl away on the wind.
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Elevate Your
Elk hunting is an uphill battle, but the sweat of a climb is important if you are to succeed.
By John Haviland y son Brian knew the elk grazed at night in the open foothills below the steep mountain. He also knew that when hunted the elk made a beeline at daylight for the cover of the forest above on the mountain. Once the elk made it to the timber, finding them was a shell game without snow to follow their tracks. So he began his hike to the timber an hour before daylight, using his binocular as he walked to make sure he didnt stumble into any elk.
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Once inside the timbers edge, he glassed below in the gaining daylight. Twenty-some elk grazed on a ridge top far below and a mile to the north. The new sun reflected off antlers on several bulls. Soon the herd started uphill, and Brian made his move, cutting across the heads of the creek bottoms and in short order was one draw to the side of the climbing elk that, he suspected, would pass within 150 yards. When the elk noticed hunters in the flat below and spooked, sidehilling away in a trot and swinging back up the hill, Brians elevation advantage gave him a head start. After an all-out run, he stopped and dropped into a sitting position just as the elk came up the opposite side of a shallow draw. A bullet through the lungs stopped the 6-point bull bringing up the rear of the herd. Elevation is the foremost advantage hunters can have over elk. Elk commonly graze in parks and clearcuts
2009 Denver Bryan
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Elevate Your
during the night and at the first light of morning start moving up into the timber to bed for the day. Even the most fleet of foot hunters cannot catch up to elk meandering uphill. Plus, once the sun shines, upward wafting thermals carry the scent of danger from below. The best approach to elk is from above. If you know the country and the elks movements, you can predict what routes they will follow going there and where they will wind up. My brother David has hunted a chain of low mountains for years, and one day I was with him when we crossed a bunch of elk tracks meandering up the mountain. He said the elk were eventually headed for the top of the far buttes and that they would go through the head of a draw he called The Stump. He called it that
Once a bull is in its bed for the day, it is well protected from predators by thick cover and the wind bringing the scent of danger. A hunters only approach is from above.
because over the years he had killed several bulls while sitting on the stump overlooking the draw. I made a beeline up there and was almost to the stump when I saw the tan flank of an elk in the timber below. The elk took a couple of steps, stopped and slowly swung its head back and forth, looking ahead, then stepped through a gap in the trees. Its antlers swept behind its head. When the bull took another step, I shot. It turned to go back the way it came, but fell in the new snow. When tracking elk its fine to follow right in the track at first. Once the tracks start to wander, its a sign the elk are looking for a bed for the day. Then is the time to run a cartridge into the rifle chamber and follow the tracks from above. I learned this bit of information after many miles of following elk tracks. One November I had been hiking for an hour in the dark before morning when I crossed a large track. The elk a bull I figured by the size of the track had passed sometime during the middle of the night, because the tracks were slightly frozen. The elk had stayed to the inside edge of the timber and gone out the head
Above, make your way to the high country before the morning sun gets too bright. To elk, elevation means bedding, cover and security. This bull is headed over the top of the mountain into the timber to bed for the day. Below, knowing which draws and canyons elk use to cross the mountains is the first step in catching them headed uphill.
of the park. It lined out once it reached the timber, so it would be a mile or so at least before it started looking for a bed for the day. After a couple of miles, the track finally started to wander. I slowed my pace and knelt every few yards to look ahead through the open between the ground and the lowest branches on the trees. For no apparent reason, the tracks turned down the hill. I thought I had spooked the elk and took off on the track. However, I had fallen for the old dodge elk have used to elude hunters since the Folson point spear was the weapon of choice among elk hunters. The elk had only made a loop that brought it back up the hill and above its tracks to bed. As I came trudging up over a short rise, I saw the bulls bed, empty since the time the bull had seen me following its tracks below. The bed lay on the crest of a finger ridge where the elk could watch over both edges and below while remaining unnoticed. The breeze came mainly from below but also swirled somewhat, so the elk could smell danger from nearly all directions. A deadfall covered its back. Still, a quiet hunter could have approached the elk from above. A few years later that lesson was put to the test. A single track came out of a creek bottom, straight up the hill and over the ridge top. A quarter of the way down the far side, the elk slowed its pace. It turned parallel to the ridge to keep its elevation. When the track turned sharply downhill, I resisted all temptation to follow. In-
Haviland has shot many elk as they moved to high country cover, including this dandy bull. Horses made this downhill packing job much easier, thankfully.
stead I climbed up the hill a ways then continued in the original direction. Within 100 yards I came to a thicket of short spruce crisscrossed with waist-high deadfall. The elk was down in there, somewhere. As I worked my way carefully through the deadfalls, down through a lane in the trees I spotted a cow elk in its bed with its head nodding in sleep. I had a cow tag, so I shot. The cow jumped up, then went down kicking as the whole place erupted in a racket of fleeing elk. Looking for the
Elevate Your
easiest route to carry out the meat, I found the tracks where a half dozen elk had entered the thicket from the opposite side. The one elk had simply joined them. Luck was with me in that thicket. More often than not, elk see, smell or hear even the most cautious hunter closing the distance. When I jumped an elk out of its bed, I used to desperately run after it grasping at straws. One time I cut a track and did my best to sneak up on the elk in its bed. When the bull stood and showed its long sweep of antlers, I had half a second to shoot, but it turned and was gone. I ran after the elk. Like I knew it would, it ran uphill. I had always thought that elk always ran uphill to escape danger, but I finally saw the obvious in its tracks. The elk had stopped on top of the first rise it had come to and peered back down at its backtrack. Many of the other elk I jumped over the years had run the same route, and I knew all is not lost when an elk jumps from its bed and tears off through the forest. If the elk had heard only a branch break or caught a glimpse of me and were not completely spooked, they ran up to a ridge top or at least looped back above their track and stopped to watch their backtrack. The elk stood
Bulls like this one feed during the night in the grass parks and foothills, but at first light they head for the tops of the mountains.
Johns son Brian made it to a high ridge under the cover of darkness before this bull was spooked by hunters down the mountain. He worked quickly to intercept it before it got above him and out of range.
there looking down for a long time until they were satisfied danger was not following them. But if elk saw me trudging along on their tracks below, they ran right out of the country, leaving me to find another track and start at square one. Elevation gain is the best and last hope of shooting such a bull before it clears out of the country. In late November of the following year, I again took up a track actually three sets of tracks, all big. The
tracks led up a timbered ridge and over the top into a north-facing slope of thick spruce and waist-high deadfalls. I tried my best to remain quiet. I even crawled under the higher deadfall logs to keep from breaking branches. Several times I sat in the snow to catch my breath and let the shake in my hands settle. When the elk split up, I followed the top track. When the track cut downhill, I refused to follow. A few hundred yards farther, I saw the round profile of an elks backside down the hill next to the base of a fir. I stepped to the side with the rifle up. The elk was looking up over its shoulder. I had no clear shot. The bull kicked out of its bed, and with four jumps it was gone and the forest was quiet. I made a wide uphill loop toward a ridge across the swale where the bull had run. Reaching the ridge took 20 minutes of sweating and climbing. I slowed my pace and watched ahead for the tan of elk hide. The bull first came into sight as I noticed the line of its back crossways to the vertical trees. The 5-point stood looking down over the crest of the ridge. It never saw me raise my rifle.
Mule Deer Gear
The right rifle and optics can make all the difference out West.
By Brandon Ray e elow the colorful horizon were s steep cliffs, skeletons of giant j junipers, the faint scent of sage o on the air and coyotes serenadi h d ing the end of the day pure untamed western beauty and everything I love about mule deer country. With a heavy load on my shoulders that included a set of symmetrical 4x4 mule deer antlers, I paused just long enough to take it all in.
The first mule deer buck I ever shot, an ancient 10-point in the Texas Panhandle more than 20 years ago, was collected with a scarred-up Sako .30-06, my dads old gun. The next half a dozen were taken with the same rifle. That old gun wore a scraped-up Redfield 3-9x scope. My choice of ammunition was typically 165-grain Federal Premium loads, although I remember a couple of times shooting whatever the local gun store had to offer. That setup was a good choice for mule deer hunting back then, and its still a solid choice today. With all the hype today over magnum cartridges, sometimes I think we hunters forget we are chasing deer, not Bigfoot. A couple of Octobers ago, on a
Mule Deer Gear

memorable mulie hunt in the snow in Colorado, I shot a big-bodied buck at 250 yards. The big-racked stud stumbled a few steps and collapsed on his nose from a well-placed bullet through both lungs. The deadly projectile on that hunt was a 150-grain Winchester XP3 bullet fired from a Browning A-Bolt .270 Winchester a round that was, is and always will be an excellent choice for deer anywhere. At minimum, a .25-caliber rifle is the smallest round a serious hunter should carry for mule deer. In this class I like the .25-06 Remington and .257 Weatherby Magnum. You could use something smaller, but its too much work to set up a shot at a trophy mulie buck to use a borderline cartridge. Top picks for excellent mule deer rounds would include the .270 Winchester, .270 Weatherby Magnum (a round I once used to snipe a wide 10-point at 270 yards, my longest shot ever at a mulie buck), the .270 WSM and the .280 Remington. Rounds like the .308 Winchester, .30-06, .300 Winchester Magnum and .300 WSM are other good options. Once youve selected the caliber of your choice, consider stock type and gun weight. Western deer live in rocky, unforgiving country. A synthetic stock is more practical than wood in such places. Mule deer hunting also requires miles of tough walking. For that reason, a light- to medium-weight rifle is always appreciated. Two years ago I shot a desert mulie with a lightweight custom Match Grade Arms .300 Winchester Magnum. That synthetic stocked rifle weighed a little over 7 pounds, including the scope and sling. Scaling red rock canyon walls to glass for bucks, that camo synthetic stock took a pounding. My nephew Will Monning shot a fine 8-point using a synthetic stock, stainless barrel
Brandon used a Match Grade Arms .300 Winchester Magnum topped with a 3-10x Swarovski scope on this dandy Texas mulie.
Winchester Model 70 .270 WSM. Wills rifle weighed closer to 8 pounds, including the scope. Leave the 10- and 12-pound rifles at home for sniping whitetails from tower blinds. Rifles with synthetic stocks and lightweight scopes are easy to carry and bulls-eye accurate for the typical 100- to 300-yard pokes at western bucks. Optics makers tell me that far and away, the best seller in riflescopes is variable power designs. I tend to favor the same designs I started with 20 years ago. I like scopes that mount low to the gun barrel with a 40mm objective and a 3-9x or 4-12x magnification. More magnification and a wider objective comes at the expense of too much extra weight and bulk. Mil dots and custom reticles can aid with long-range hold, but I have yet to need fancy dots for a really long shot. When sighting in, I like my rifle set dead-on at 200 yards. Depending on the caliber and bullet, that usually means sighting in 1 to 2 inches high at 100 yards. Drop at 300 yards is typically 8 inches or less, depending on the round. Check ballistic charts for your specific caliber to know exactly and practice accordingly. Shots out West tend to be a bit farther than the average whitetail poke, but even after 20-plus years of hunting big-eared bucks, I have yet to shoot a mule deer past 300 yards. In fact, most of my shots have been less than 200 yards.
Glassing Gear
Mule deer hunting is like sheep hunting; youll spend hours and days peering through a binocular. Top-notch optics will let you glass longer with no eye strain or headaches and probably even help you find more animals, simply because you spend more time behind the glass since your eyes dont get fatigued. At the core of a mule deer hunters essential tackle is a top-end binocular. The bare minimum for good optics would be an 8x32 binocular, but most western guides and veteran hunters favor 10x40 glass. Eight power holds a bit steadier
This desert buck was taken with a Ruger Model 77 .30-06.
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Mule Deer Gear

with less vibration because of less magnification, but 10x helps your eyes reach farther and probe deeper for details in shadowy canyons and tall sage. Top-end binoculars will set you back $1,500 to $2,500, but there are other good binoculars that will cost you less if you cant afford the best. There are times when mule deer hunting that you might need a spotting scope. The one youll use depends a lot on how you plan to hunt. For scouting agriculture fields close to roads, I prefer a window mount and a large spotting scope. Since weight has no bearing on glassing from the truck, I like something with a big objective. In this category, I like magnification of at least 12x and preferably 20x, and an objective lens of 60mm. For glassing close to the rig, Ill use one of these same scopes combined with a heavy tripod. Ive found a heavy tripod holds much steadier in the wind. Its not practical for carrying in a backpack, but for glassing right by the truck the extra weight makes a difference. For long walks in wild country, my favorite way to pursue big mulies, stuff a small spotting scope and light tripod in your pack. You just want enough extra magnification to judge antlers. Theres no question that range estimation is a challenge in open country. In my opinion, compact
A combination of a proper rifle and caliber, binocular and spotting scope are important in the wideopen habitat in which big mule deer live.
laser rangefinders that fit in a shirt pocket instill confidence and are worth the extra weight, even though you might only use them once on a week-long hunt. Knowing the exact range to a deer offers a serious mental boost when faced with a difficult shot. Rangefinders that compensate for steep uphill and downhill angles are especially helpful if you hunt steep canyon country.
Guides Choice
Ive got my favorites when it comes to mule deer guns and optics, but its always good to get a second or third opinion. Greg Simons of San Angelo, Texas, has operated Wildlife Systems (wildlifesystems. com) since 1987. Gregs business specializes in guided hunts in Texas for whitetails and mule deer. Wayne Zachary of El Paso, Texas, has op-
erated Trans-Pecos Guide Service (transpecosguideservice.com) since 1983 and specializes in desert game like pronghorn, mule deer and desert sheep. These guys know what works in vast mule deer country, and heres their advice. My favorite setup for mule deer is a Remington Model 700 XCR .270 Winchester, says Simons. I shoot 130-grain Barnes TripleShock bullets out of it and top the gun with a Leupold 3-9x scope. Other optics gear includes a 30x Leupold spotting scope and my binocular is a 10x50 Steiner. I also carry a Leupold rangefinder. I tell my clients to buy the best optics they can afford, but I think Leupold is hard to beat the value for the dollar. Regarding guns, Im not hung up on caliber choices, but I suggest a .25-06 or larger for whitetails and a .270 or larger for mule deer. Bullet construction is more important to me than caliber choice, and I highly discourage rapid expansion bullets. Partitions, A-Frames, bonded bullets or other bullet types that expand but retain their mass are whats important to me. Zachary prefers a larger caliber. For the past eight years, I have exclusively used a custom .300 WSM. I have found the .300 WSM to be an exceptional mule deer caliber for the majority of our hunting conditions in West Texas. I shoot 165-grain Sierra GameKings for my
Brandon shot this Texas mulie with a Weatherby rifle chambered in .270 Weatherby Magnum. At 270 yards, its his longest shot on mule deer.
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light work and a Barnes 168-grain TSX boat-tail for my heavy work. Light work generally refers to desert mule deer below Interstate 20, and heavy work refers to those largebodied deer north of Interstate 20. The mule deer bucks north of I-20 and toward the New Mexico state line tend to have larger bodies, more muscle mass and a thick layer of fat to penetrate. The Barnes bullet just works best for me under those conditions, especially when you blow out a big buck going away from you and shot placement is less than optimum. Regarding scopes, my personal preference is a variable scope with a 40mm or 42mm objective lens. The Leupold VIII 2.5-8x and Nikon Monarch 2.5-10x42 work extremely well. When properly mounted they sit low on the rifle and allow a really efficient sight plane. Im not a fan of the 50mm and larger tubes for my hunting. I find the 50mm tubes a bit bulky and overpowering on a deer rifle. It seems that when a client has
a rifle fitted with a 50mm objective lens, its the first thing on the rifle to take a ding in the rocks! If you are worried about light-gathering abilities, Id suggest a 30mm scope tube, which will gather about the same light as a 50mm objective lens. Regarding binoculars, the 10x42 Nikon Premier, Zeiss FL and, of course, the Swarovski EL are all excellent. These same companies make excellent spotting scopes. My personal favorite spotter is the compact Nikon Fieldscope ED 50. Whether I use it attached to my window mount or an Outdoorsmans tripod, it has always performed flawlessly and without the bulk of a standard spotting scope. Last, I think rangefinders are a great asset in determining questionable distances in wide open spaces. The majority of my clients tend to overestimate the distance. They are amazed when I [measure] the distance with my rangefinder and show them the yardage. Mule deer are one of my favorite
Brandons Colorado buck fell to a .270 Winchester. He prefers a synthetic stock on mule deer rifles such as this Browning A-Bolt.
animals to hunt. Being armed with the right rifle, scope and optics, it really does make an open-country hunt more enjoyable, and youll have a better chance of packing big slingshot-sized 4x4 antlers out of some hell hole in the rugged American West. Burning thighs and ragged, short breaths never felt so good.
Whether you hunt birds or big game, there is more opportunity than meets the eye.
By Lee J. Hoots
Lee glasses for javelina in Arizonas high country following a snow storm.
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ention the Southwest and hunters are likely to dream up images of wide-racked mulie bucks or arid-country elk, massive rutting bulls screaming and running into bow range. The truth is, states like Arizona and New Mexico have been and remain rich with largeantlered game attracting pursuers from around the world. Its equally true that most of us will never be lucky enough to pull one of either states coveted big game
tags. So blow Arizona off and turn your nose on New Mexico? Throughout much of the Southwest, there are plenty of other game animals to pursue. They may not be as large as a bull elk or as dreamy as a 30-inch spread atop an unsuspecting mule deer, but they offer every bit the real hunt most of us live for. In some cases, this surrogate game will allow you to extend your time afield well into the early months of the year. Here are four that come highly recommended.
2009 George Barnett
Mearns quail hold for pointing dogs, and a covey rise generally includes an entire family unit. Serious Mearns hunters take only one or two birds from a covey.
Border Quail
The Mearns is a delicate bird. More than any other quail, it suffers greatly from the mood swings of Mother Nature. Following a succession of dry years, the Mearns may all but disappear over its midelevation desert woodland habitat. Conversely, two or three years after good spring rains, you can find family groups exploding from under just about every scrub oak, stunted juniper or patch of grass taller than your ankle. Like the great bobwhite or blue quail, the Mearns has a cult following. Die-hards revere and appreciate this quail unlike no other, and they would rather chew off their trigger finger as hunt another bird come winter. Hunting season ranges from October into February, depending on where youre at, and in years of plenty, the Mearns hunter collects his quail with delight. In times of drought, he takes only one or two per covey rise as standard practice. When bird numbers really plummet, many hunters just stay home, content to hole up in their easy chairs hoping for timely spring rains the following year. Weighing about 6 ounces, the potbelly Mearns is properly known as the Montezuma quail and is also called harlequin or fool quail. Its homeland stretches from deep in the backcountry of Mexico northward
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into southern Arizona and east into New Mexico and West Texas, where it is found in small numbers in and around the Davis Mountains and Trans Pecos region. It is a beautifully colored bird with a rust belly, and its wings and backside are speckled in brown, black and white. Its cheeks are painted in black and white striping (hence its harlequin nickname), and its rounded topknot is tan in color. The Mearns quail is as quick in flight as any quail, yet it seems as if they could easily be stepped upon when you hunt them, holding as tight as can be for approaching bird dogs. When flushed from its hillside habitat, a covey spreads loosely, and singles generally stay put for another flush if your objective is to limit out. Coveys of five to eight birds are most common, and they dont move far from day to day, nor do they run from approaching hunters like the Gambles or cottontop blue, the other desert quail. Limits are liberal in all three states but use your own judgment. Bird dogs are highly recommended. In spite of its delicate appearance, or perhaps due to its seemingly unnatural tendency to stay put when man and dog approach, the Mearns quail lives untroubled by modern sport hunting. Drought and poor grazing policies have done more to harm its future, and that of other Southwest quail, than any other adversary. The best Mearns quail country I am aware of is found east of Nogales, Arizona. I have also flushed sizable coveys in Sonora, Mexico, while running ridges for Coues deer.
Southwest Tuskers
I had seen them from above on the ridge as they moved through the heavy bush in the bottom of the wash. A quiet approach straight down the face of the steep slope was nearly impossible, but I managed it
2009 Denver Bryan
and in short order was near to within bow range of the whole herd. When my shot opportunity came, I made good and sent a green Zwicky broadhead in front of an old camo XX75 2114 shaft from my recurve through the broadside animals coarse hair. More than 20 years ago, that was my first introduction to the javelina, a gregarious herd animal that thrives throughout much of the Southwest, including most of Texas. The javelina, or collared peccary, looks a bit like a pig and acts a bit like a pig, but it isnt a pig even though its often referred to as such. It goes by other names too, including Mexican hog and musk hog. It can not only survive but also thrive nearly anywhere there is ample food and cover, and it is little bothered by human encroachment. The javelina feeds voraciously on fruits, roots, tubers, nuts, grasses, invertebrates and any small critter it can catch or find dead. Cultivated crops are targeted by javelina young and old. An old boar can weigh 50 pounds or more and is con-
sidered the trophy of its species. Its tusks are well over an inch long and polished to a razors edge from years of common wear. A large scent gland in the skin just forward of its rump makes it smell bad, but not to its own keen sense of smell. Javelina will hear you if you step on the wrong twig, but approach slowly with your face to the wind, and you can sneak close to an entire pack. The javelinas habits and habitat make him just right for bow hunters, pistolieros and muzzleloader men, though you are certainly not limited to short-range hunting tools if thats not your style. Though javelina often feed throughout the night, they are quite active during daylight hours and can be hunted to good effect with the help of high-powered optics. Take your best binocular to the top of the tallest hill and park your rear. Spend, sometimes, hours scouring the countryside looking for the little tuskers as they go about their business in pairs or packs of 15 or more. Spot the big boar youre after, and then plan your approach. In Texas javelina are hunted throughout the year, but in Arizona and New Mexico they are hunted during fall and/or winter with special draw permits required. While spot-and-stalk is the most preferred method of hunting them, a javelinas aggressive nature can sometimes help you along with an option you may prefer, at least the first time it works. A very social animal, javelina are prone to defend each other against attackers. A predator call mimicking a dying rabbit sounds very
Spot-and-stalk tactics are preferred by javelina bow hunters, as herds can be scattered throughout their brushy Southwest habitat.
similar to the sound an injured immature javelina might make. On occasion, causing such a racket in the company of adult javelina can bring them running into your lap, teeth popping and ready to fight. Stay calm, then carefully sink your arrow or musket ball through the ribs of the biggest one.
Flying Lawn Chairs

I like being in a waterfowl blind, anytime, anywhere. But this was something new. Waterfowl outfitter Mark Meissenburg operates Panhandles Best (806-467-0273; panhandlesbest.com) out of Amarillo, Texas, where he specializes in sandhill crane hunting. We had just finished putting out several dozen stuffed crane decoys, erected his portable A-frame blind and were now listening to the morning come alive. The first flock of cranes working the spread didnt make a whole lot of noise, but Marks calling was more than they could take. Have you all shot cranes before? Mark whispered as the birds circled the field. I was the newbie in the group and was unanimously elected to miss the first shot of the morning. When the cranes stretched their long legs and wings and the Judas birds hit the ground, Mark ordered me to shoot. Take em, Lee. With a shove the front of the blind swung open, and I chose what looked like the closest bird as my target. When it jumped from the muddy field and gained maybe 15 feet, my aim was true and one shot quickly brought the bird back down into
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Waterfowl outfitter Mark Meissenburg specializes in sandhill cranes, and his clients hunt almost exclusively over a spread of stuffed crane decoys.
the spread. Two other cranes were felled by other hunters in the blind. With a limit of three per hunter, I planned to take mine one at a time, each from a different flock, which took less than an hour. Within two hours we all had limits. It was the most unusual waterfowling experience I have ever had. That was a good 8 years ago. While this is not meant to be disrespectful, the only way to really get an idea of what a crane looks like as it glides into a decoy spread is to imagine the tallest, gangliest kid on your high school basketball team all arms and legs. Or imagine tossing one of those trifold lawn chairs off the roof of a five-story building. Thats what a crane looks like in the air, only slightly more graceful. Because of their size and a wingspan measuring nearly 7 feet, it can be easy to misjudge and shoot behind a crane. Their large body and heavy wing bones can take a pounding. Focus on the birds head and take your lead
2009 John Eriksson
Lees muzzleloader buck is a prime example of a mature axis. Note the deers striking coloration.
from there. If you can center a cranes head in your shot string, your game strap will grow heavy. Sandhill cranes breed throughout Canada and up into the Arctic. They are hunted in most states throughout the Midwest and down into the Southwest. Along with Texas, Arizona and New Mexico both have seasons. Because of the specialized approach to hunting sandhill cranes (How many waterfowlers do you know with a giant spread of crane dekes?), its best done with a guide. Crane hunting in New Mexico and Arizona requires a special permit allotted through a special drawing. Texas only requires that you buy the appropriate licenses.
India Native
The chital deer is better known here in the U.S. as the axis deer. It is perhaps the very best tasting venison on Earth, and Ive been told that its tender flesh is nearly fat-free. I wish I could tell you that they run wild throughout the Southwest, but the truth is youll only find them in Texas (and Florida and Hawaii, which
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dont quite fit in the scope of this story). Youll also only find them on private land, which makes hiring an outfitter the best way to fill your freezer. The good news is, however, that even though most of Texas is fenced and much of it limits the movement of animals, there are areas where broad-antlered axis bucks run free. A mature buck is a striking animal. Its coat is a rusty brown-orange, vividly marked with white dots. Its antlers are comprised of a main beam and forward protruding eyeguards, and a second point branching inward from the main beam about two-thirds up its length. Additional points are uncommon. A mature buck may weigh 175 pounds on the hoof and measure about 3 feet at the shoulder. You need not shoot him with anything more powerful than your favorite deer rifle. Sharp broadheads or a muzzleloader will also do. The axis deer thrives in the dense forests of its homeland, India, and it is quite comfortable in the Texas brush. There are two ways to hunt him there: spot-andstalk and hunting from a blind, feeder or no feeder, your choice. Several years ago I hunted these stubbylegged deer with Steve Jones of Backcountry Hunts (backcountryhunts.com; 575-887-6178) and with a muzzleloader took a very fine buck on my first morning on stand. The meat is fantastic and a mounted mature axis buck will look quite impressive on your den wall. And did I mention the meat is fantastic?
2009 George Barnett
Todays white goose hunting opportunities seem endless. Here are nine of the very best options.
By M.D. Johnson
ach spring, millions of snow geese leave the continental United States and trek northward to the Canadian Arctic, a centuries-old migratory tradition in and of itself without issue. However, these same birds must feed, and millions of black-tinged pink beaks plucking fragile grasses from a delicate and slow-recovering Arctic ecosystem have proved environmentally devastating. In response to such evisceration of the tundra, as well as an alarmingly increasing population of geese, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS), in cooperation with neighboring Canada, amended the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 to allow for the establishment of the Spring Conservation Order (SCO).
The SCO permits individual states to extend traditional snow goose seasons beyond March 10, thus providing hunters the opportunity to harvest additional light geese snows, blues and Rosss before the birds reach their Arctic nesting grounds. The SCO additionally allowed for the use of electronic calls, unplugged shotguns and extended legal shooting times to one-half hour past sunset. The growing goose population and liberalized methods of taking now authorized through the SCO have provided outstanding hunting opportunities throughout much of the country. While good gunning can be found in just about any state, weve narrowed down the best hunts and have highlighted them here.
Top Fall Opportunities

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: The first shot, both literally and figuratively, at fall snows comes courtesy of
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Canada. Headed southward from their home turf in the Arctic, white geese find plenty to feed on from Lloydminster through North Battleford and Saskatoon and down to Regina. As far as snows are concerned, the attraction here is twofold. One, we have a lot of food peas and a lot of water. You go farther south, and you start to lose much of that agriculture, says call-maker Bill Saunders. And second, this is a traditional staging area for snows on their way south. The birds have always been here. Season: mid-September through early November, with prime hunting taking place in midOctober Saskatchewan Ministry of the Environment; (306) 787-9037 Outfitter Resource: Bill Saunders Big Guns Outfitters; (509) 582-0190; billsaunderscalls.com Edmonton, Alberta: Due west of Lloydminster, the airspace around Edmonton, Alberta, is filled with white geese throughout October. Like Saskatchewan, Alberta provides ample high-energy food for the transient snows, as well as abundant bigwater roosting possibilities, both of which serve to hold birds in the area until weather drives them out. We have the bigger lakes here, says Dog n Duck Outfitters owner,
Bob Rip Clark, and the birds feel safe there, both to roost and simply to stage on as they head south. And, too, here around Edmonton and points east, were right in the flyway. Go west, and you just dont see that many snows. Season: mid-September through late October, with prime hunting taking place in midOctober Alberta Sustainable Resource Development; (780) 427-2711 Outfitter Resource: Bob Clarks Dog n Duck; (780) 913-1337; dognduck.ca Minot, North Dakota: There was a reason why the Greater Bottineau Shoot-Out, an incredibly popular snow goose hunting competition, was held northeast of Minot in North Dakota throughout its tenure. Actually, there were tens of thousands of reasons. Today, the Shoot-Out no longer exists, but the snow geese still pass through extreme north-central North Dakota each fall, taking advantage of safe-haven rest stations such as the J. Clark Salyer and Upper Souris national wildlife refuges. These open-water roosts help keep birds local, while North Dakotas hunterfriendly private land access statues make the region a goose hunters dream. Season: late September through early January, with the best hunting in late October
North Dakota Game and Fish; (701) 328-6300 Outfitter Resource: Dean Kerstens Central Flyway Outfitters, Kramer; (701) 228-3455 Skagit County, Washington: From Russia Wrangel Island, to be precise come scores of hungry snows each fall, their final destination being the green grass fields of northwest Washingtons Skagit and Snohomish counties. Lying between the north and south forks of the Skagit River, Fir Island provides a no-hunting sanctuary for these Siberian white geese, However, in recent years, the states game agency has instituted controlled snow-specific hunting opportunities on private lands on the island in an attempt to decrease a burgeoning annual population currently estimated at 80,000. That translates into good news for hunters fortunate enough to be drawn for these quality hunts. South of the island, private holdings provide good gunning throughout the season. Season: mid-October through late January, with prime hunting taking place in December Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife; (360) 902-2200 Outfitter Resource: North Sound Waterfowl; (425) 377-6890; northsoundwaterfowl.com El Campo, Texas: Situated halfway between the famed Eagle Lake Region (an area long synonymous
Heres a mixed flock of snows and Rosss geese (the two smaller birds at left). The U.S. Fish & Wildlifes Spring Conservation Order allows for the taking of each. Individual states set final hunting regulations.
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Spring snow goose hunts are often more demanding of dog and man than traditional fall hunts. Most sets are a major undertaking before the birds fly and after the last bird falls.
with waterfowling) and the traditional oceanfront roosting waters of Matagorda Bay lies El Campo, Texas, a location of vast rice fields that is often referred to as The Snow Goose Capital of the World. Refuge waters help hold birds, but its the rice and the grains growth and harvest processes thats the major draw. The snows here, says Randy Triplett of Third Coast Outfitters, have historically roosted on the salt marshes. Its served as the wintering grounds for these birds. But [Hurricane] Katrina changed the marshes, so now these birds are roosting on artificial ponds and flooded rice fields west of Houston. Season: early November through late January or early February by zone, with prime hunting taking place in December Texas Parks & Wildlife; (512) 389-4800 Outfitter Resource: Third Coast Outfitters; (888) 894-3373; thirdcoastoutfitters.com
Top Spring Opportunities

Mound City, Missouri: Its the refuge system down here that helps us tremendously in terms of spring snow geese and consistency, says Kirksvilles Tony Vandemore, co-owner of the new Habitat Flats outfitting service. Vandemore and his crew of rabid white goose chasers shot more than 3,000 birds during the 2009 Conservation Order believe it or not, a number slightly down from past years.
These refuges, and Squaw Creek in particular, says Vandemore, make these birds much easier to pattern. We know where they go at night, and we know where theyre coming from in the morning. Theres still a lot of scouting involved, but dawn and dusk are pretty well set. On the downside, a refuge like Squaw Creek also concentrates hunting pressure. Its damn near impossible, he laughs, to hide 1.4 million snows from other guys. Mound City, in northwest Missouris Holt County, has become synonymous with spring snow goose hunters and the Squaw Creek NWR, which will, as Vandemore so rightly says, hold in excess of one million white geese at the peak of the northward migration. Southeast of Mound City, the 11,000acre Swan Lake NWR also harbors plenty of spring birds. Season: late January through late April, with the best hunting taking place mid- to late March, weather dependent Missouri Department of Conservation; (573) 751-4115 Outfitter Resource: Tony Vandemore, Habitat Flats; (660) 7343195; habitatflats.com Swan Lake NWR, South Dakota: The state of Missouri, says Avery Outdoors staffer and Pierre resident Tyson Keller, is a bottleneck for snows migrating north. However, these same birds tend to spread out over much of east-
ern South Dakota once they get up here. And thats a good thing when its combined with plentiful public and private opportunities and overthe-counter nonresident hunting licenses. There are a wealth of places for people to hunt up here. Keller says South Dakotas pothole region provides excellent roosting and loafing water for migrating white geese. The states refuge system, too, works as an attractant. Says Keller, who often hunts with Tony Vandemore, We have the same situation in South Dakota in terms of refuges and large openwater roosts. Lake Thompson, Sand Lake NWR and the whole of the James River Valley serve as layovers for snows in-transit. Season: mid-February through early May, with the best gunning in mid-March South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks; (605) 773-3485 Outfitter Resource: Chuck Hamre; (605) 530-1331; sdwaterfowlers.com
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Riverton, Iowa: Viewed from above, it quickly becomes obvious why migrating birds would use the Missouri River as a navigational tool as they depart the Show-Me State and head northward into Saskatchewan and points beyond. Lying slightly east of this great blue line, Iowas Interstate 29 passes to the west of the Riverton and Forney Lake wildlife management areas, traditionally the focal points of the states spring snow goose action. The WMAs hold the birds, and hunters set their spreads on nearby private land, thus making the drivescout-knock-ask routine a necessity. The Riverton area can still be good, says Johnson County waterfowl professional Travis Mueller, but its not what it used to be for spring snows. Squaw Creek refuge
[Missouri] holds so many birds, and then its a short hop north to get to Desoto Bend and beyond. Its hitor-miss, but it can be good. North of Council Bluffs, the Desoto Bend National Wildlife Refuge will seasonally stage birds, making the fields between the Missouri River and the sediment hills (aka Loess Hills) to the east prime real estate for goose hunters and their decoys. Season: mid-January through mid-April, with the best hunting taking place in mid- to late March Iowa Department of Natural Resources; (515) 281-5918 Outfitter Resource: Ken Lamb, K.O. Waterfowl; (319) 331-1154 Kearney & Grand Island, Nebraska: Drive from North Platte east to Lincoln on Interstate 80 any day in mid-March and the chances are near 100 percent you will see white geese skeins high overhead,
huge flocks in corn stubble and congregations huddled on roadside borrow ponds. Kearney, Grand Island those are your hotspots, says Rick Olson, the man behind the 40-year-old Riverfront Hunt Club. Headquartered in Tekamah, Riverfronts spring operation overlooks the Missouri River. Our birds, says Olson, are coming from Squaw Creek. A few from Desoto Bend, but mainly up the Missouri from Mound City. All the snows used to come through here; now, you can find them across the state and into Colorado. Season: early February through mid-April, with prime time being mid- to late March Nebraska Game & Parks Commission; (402) 471-0641 Outfitter Resource: Rick Olson, Riverfront Hunt Club; (402) 3742582; riverfronthuntclub.com
Is Spring Hunting Working?

Has the U.S. Fish & Wildlifes Spring Conservation Order (SCO) been effective in thinning the midcontinent population of lesser snow geese and reversing the destruction taking place on the birds fragile Arctic habitat? Only partially, says Dale Humburg, Ducks Unlimited chief waterfowl biologist. A native midwesterner, Humburg has served in his current capacity with DU for the past two years and for 10 years prior to that was a Missouri Department of Conservation waterfowl and wetlands research biologist. The objective was a 50 percent reduction in population, and what weve seen in recent years is stabilization of white goose numbers, but at a number higher than our objective. The bottom line is, we may have capped a population increase, but we havent reduced the overall numbers. The damage in the Arctic continues. According to Humburg, determining current and objective populations of midcontinent white geese depends greatly upon the sources of data used. Its probably best in terms of objective to say a 50 percent reduction in populations from numbers seen during the late 1990s and early 2000s, he says. The problem is the levels at that point in time, as measured by the midwinter surveys, were in the range of 3 million midcontinent lesser snow geese. The more recent estimates from band recovery data and other sources suggest those numbers could be well above that, exceeding 15 to 25 million depending upon the sources. At this point, its not so much what that number is, but recognition that regardless of the estimate, the birds have exceeded the carrying capacity afforded them on the breeding grounds. And the future of spring snow goose hunting? The first thing that has to happen, he says, is the population does indeed need to be reduced. And then questions arise as to whether or not those same tactics would be necessary in the longer term to maintain those levels. The whole process needs to be adaptive. That is, we employ management actions such as the Conservation Order, then measure populations, including distribution and trends. Then over time, if populations fall below objective levels, one action might be taken; if they increase, another action might be appropriate. At the current time, the question becomes, Given weve tried pretty much everything with traditional methods during regular hunting seasons and nontraditional methods during the Conservation Order, what strategies remain? The jurys still out on that one.
Snow goose numbers have been curbed, but a reduction in numbers has yet to be noticed, likely making spring hunts a long-term management tool.
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Spiral-Horned
By Kevin Thomas
JOUSTER
Africas forest dwelling bushbuck may be the noblest antelope of them all.
ing along a footpath toward a maize field my dad was working. Watching over me was a black farm laborer, probably in his mid-20s; he was wandering along in my wake, his bare leathery feet kicking up damp leaf matter. To our left was a thick, green wall of forest, and as we rounded a bend, a most impressive sight awaited us. A bushbuck ram was standing broadside mere meters away staring in our direction. He was dark Bournemouth chocolate in color, his chest, flanks, rump and knees spotted and streaked in brilliant white markings. His large eyes, natures gift for maximum resolution in the reduced forest light, were fixed on us with an unwavering stare. Atop his head were the most magnificent barkstained spiraled horns, perhaps 16 inches in length, the tops flaring out before terminating in stiletto sharp tips. It was an awesome sight for a spindly-legged 7-yearold, and for me, time stood still in the distance the liquid call of a coucal, the knocking of a diesel engine, closer, the musty smell of dank forest and the feel of damp soil under my bare feet, glistening snail trails on the path. Then the bushbuck chose to decamp. With his tail flagging, the white underside clearly visible, he furiously barked a series of alarm calls before disappearing from view but not before I had brought my trusty Daisy BB gun into my shoulder and plinked a pellet off in his direction. Makandende, my erstwhile minder actually went to look for blood sign! Rural tribal Africans of that era had no knowledge of things ballistic. In Makandendes eyes, my 7-year-old-kids Daisy BB gun was on par with my dads 7x57mm Mauser, a favorite World War II memento during that era. That long-ago incident, between a 7-year-old boy, his Ndau minder, a bushbuck and the forest, was to be
imbabwes eastern border with Mozambique is a scenic, mountainous area a world of deep gorges, boulder-strewn icy streams and steep, forest-shrouded slopes. Scattered amongst the tracts of almost impenetrable forest are verdant, sun-dabbled glades. Often, in the early mornings, there is ground-hugging guti (pronounced gooty), a peculiar cocktail of thick fog and drizzle blowing in from the Indian Ocean. Zimbabwe, once called Rhodesia, was one of Britains last colonies in southern Africa. During part of that early colonial era, circa mid-1950s, our dairy and crop farm was situated close to the Mozambique border.
The mountain forests guti-shrouded slopes rising imposingly above our cattle pastures and crops were the habitat of a majestic, albeit shy, yet pugnacious antelope the spiral-horned bushbuck. When we wanted to hunt the larger, easier species like kudu and impala, we had to venture into the dry, shale-ridged mopane woodlands and acacia thorn scrub in the lower elevations to the west. We often did that, quite simply because it was easy hunting, and we could bulk up on venison. My very first encounter with a bushbuck is indelibly imprinted into my memory. At about age 7, I was walk46
2009 Gary Kramer
Spiral-Horned JOUSTER
the start of a lifelong passion I have had for bushbuck hunting. Dwelling beneath impressive broad-leafed trees bound by tangled lianas with waist-high bracken at ground level and dank smelling leaf matter underfoot, the elusive bushbuck seldom ventures out from his dark, shadowy refuge. He is equally at home in mountain forest as is he in coastal dune forest and any other dense impenetrable thickets found across his range. At times, on an early winter morning, just as the warm sun touched the glades between tracts of moist mountain forest if I was lucky a brief glimpse of a shy, majestic bushbuck ram was often the prelude to my departing for school aboard the milk truck. The bright sunlight enhanced his chocolate form, with his stark white neck, knee and flank markings alluding to the piercing light and deep shadow inside his murky vegetation-bound world. Bushbuck may not be among Africas biggest, but believe me, pound for pound, if pushed, they are without a doubt our most pugnacious of all southern African antelope. After hunting professionally and for sport since the mid-1960s, Ive had numerous opportunities to observe various antelope species under stress, including wounded antelope and those subjected to live capture for translocation. Some species such as gemsbok, sable, waterbuck and the black wildebeest need to be watched more than others. On the other hand, kudu, eland, impala, blue wildebeest and hartebeest afford no threat at all, or at most, token. Not so the noble bushbuck. Throughout history bushbuck rams have made short
Ideal bushbuck habitat is comprised of a combination of thick cover and water. Dense overstory provides a dark habitat in which the small antelope thrives.
Bushbuck Realities
lthough stories of dogs and bushbuck doing battle abound, a blending of fiction and fact has also led to quite a lot of urban legend. I have only ever read media reports of fatalities in humans as a result of bushbuck-inflicted injuries among those who were around hand-reared bushbuck rams. Obviously, when a fully mature bushbuck ram lowers his head for offensive work, his height places his horns at the level of the average adult humans femoral artery. Hand-reared males of any wild species inevitably mature into sexually frustrated males living in a testosterone blizzard, and it is often those responsible for the rearing who unwittingly fall victim to them. Of the many wounded bushbuck I have seen, none have actually made an attempt to attack me, although when approached, lowering their head in a defensive stance is common practice. I guess if a hunter stupidly stepped within range of a horn thrust, a stabbing would occur. Further qualification of a bushbucks tenacity, despite its size (70 to 170 pounds) is that research has shown bushbuck suffer greater mortality in rivalry fights over females than any other antelope species.
work of dogs and continue to do so with vigor. I know of a fine Irish terrier, Blue, who has been trained to follow the blood of wounded game. His owner Russ Field had explicitly instructed an inexperienced PH not to take both of his Irish terriers on a bushbuck hunt, because the two dogs encourage each other to chase and attack. As PHs, we do not want this to occur. Our dogs must locate wounded game not attack or chase it. When I first saw Blue, his rib cage was shorn of hair and protruding nylon sutures held horn puncture marks closed. One bushbuck horn had obviously hit the ribs, penetrating behind the dogs shoulder. The other horn penetrated right through the top of the terriers neck. The bushbuck had obviously been a smidgen quicker than the dog. After first seeing the maimed dog, I asked Russ, Baboon or warthog? He answered with one word, and given where we live and hunt, I shouldve known. Bushbuck. Then bending over and fondly patting Blue, he added, And we damn near lost my dog. As a dog lover, I could empathize with Russ but I also salute the bushbuck. Defensive tenacity is programmed into their gene pool. Most sport hunters who visit Africa focus on dangerous game, and after the dangerous game is in the salt, they start hunting kudu, sable, roan, waterbuck, nyala and other media promoted species. As a veteran PH who has hunted and guided on virtually all that southern Africa can offer, I would like to suggest any visiting hunter give serious consideration to Africas bushbuck. In 1983 I was hunting on a relatives ranch in South Africas Eastern Cape, carrying a .338 Winchester Magnum loaded with 250-grain bullets to shoot a kudu for venison. With me was my faithful yellow Labrador cross, Shandy, and as we sat on a hillside overlooking the Bushmans River, an old representative bushbuck ram stepped out of the thick riverine bush and wandered into the open. It was a long shot and perhaps I was a mite irresponsible for attempting it, but after holding high on the shoulder and using a handy deadfall as a rest, I squeezed off the shot. With the sound still reverberating across the valley the bushbuck leapt sideways, then bounded back into the dense bush barking
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loudly. As it disappeared, I could clearly see a shattered right front leg swinging freely. My bullet had dropped at least 14 inches and left me chastising myself for having risked the shot in the first place. I quickly slipped and slid down the steep-sided hill with an eager Shandy at heel and made my way across to where the luckless bushbuck had been standing. With a whispered Seek him up, I sent the streetwise Lab into the dark shadows within the tangled bush. He was not long gone before he began to bark excitedly, his own barks soon being challenged by those of an angry bushbuck. The noise gave me something to home in on, so on hands and knees I slowly made my way toward the joust. When I reached the scene, the bushbuck was on his front knees, his hindquarters tucked into a thorn bush and his stiletto sharp horns parrying and thrusting at a determined Shandy. Calling the dog off, I put an end to the tenacious bucks suffering. Because of the dense habitat that bushbuck dwell in (they are specialized browsers and do not graze grass), the early 1820 British settlers to the eastern Cape began using hounds to drive bushbuck toward waiting guns. This form of hunting still holds in parts of the eastern
Bushbuck tracks along the fringe of a coastal dune forest. The tenacious antelope are very shy by nature and spend little time far from thick escape cover.
Cape, but it is not the ideal way to secure a bushbuck trophy quite simply because the target is invariably opportunistic. Driven bushbuck hunts are part of eastern Cape tradition and bound by a strict code of ethics. They are fun to participate in; however, my preferred method
2009 Gary Kramer
Spiral-Horned JOUSTER
of hunting a bushbuck trophy is to glass and stalk or still-hunt. Shooting an animal may confirm marksmanship skills, but stalking an animal successfully indicates that one knows something about hunting, as does butchering and skinning the animal out afterwards. Because of a bushbucks addiction to the rays of warm sunlight on a cold winter morning, they can often be spotted along the very edge of their forest habitat. Though they tend to be solitary animals, if the hunter can glass from a high vantage point, a number of different trophy
A beautiful trophy by a any standard, there a are 40 separate races of bushbuck found in o various parts of southern v A Africa. Unique differences include subtle variations in white markings.
Loaded for Bushbuck
prefer a well-constructed bullet that may be called upon to hold its own in fairly dense undergrowth. In my experience, the .308 Winchester, .3006, 7x57mm Mauser, .270 Winchester and other similar calibers all perform perfectly. While the .243 Winchester is more than adequate in the open, if a bushbuck is inadvertently wounded and gets back into the thick stuff, problems may arise. A hunter preferably needs a stream of blood to follow in the dark thickets you dont always have a trusty hound present and a .243 bullet wound may not provide that. Spotting a healthy bushbuck in his normal habitat is nigh impossible. Trying to find a wounded one leaving no blood sign would be about the same.
bushbuck can often be monitored, spread out enjoying the sunlight or feeding. Bushbuck have good senses of smell, eyesight and hearing, and as with any form of hunting, wind direction is important. Approaching a bushbuck from upwind is an exercise in futility. Once I have decided upon a bushbuck, I commence the stalk extremely slowly from downwind, and from cover to cover, at all times trying to avoid standing or moving in bright sunlight. Each time the bushbuck raises its head, I freeze and remain motionless, preferably while on my haunches. When he looks away or starts feeding again, I move forward once more. It may take time, but time is an integral part of hunting, and no predator rushes a stalk. On occasions like this, my client and I move in single file because a wider uncoordinated front offers a greater chance of compromise. If you hash the stalk, with a bound or two the bushbuck will disappear back into his safe forest haven, lost from view and impos-
sible to see. You may well hear him giving his throaty doglike staccato bark of alarm, but it will only add to your frustrations. Everything inside that quiet patch of forest works for the bushbuck and against the hunter. To succeed when hunting a trophy bushbuck, your first stalk should ideally be your only stalk. Due to the considerable variation in bushbuck coloration and size, more than 40 races have been described. Different races are mainly distinguished by their degree of spotting, striping and intensity of coloration. Those hunters in Africa who are familiar with the species revere them.
This is ideal eastern Cape dune forest bushbuck habitat adjacent to the Indian Ocean. Bushbucks like to feed along the fringes of the forest during early morning and late afternoon.
Come Out HEAVY

Sound advice that will make moving meat much easier once youve got your buck or bull down.
By Jack Ballard
e efore you cringe at the thought o of hefting the quarters of an elk o or deer in a backpack or pack f frame, lets get one thing cleared h up f from the outset. Unless the law prohibits it and a few backward states have such dimwitted statutes on the books efficiently backpacking meat from the field means completely skinning and boning it beforehand, leaving you to pack less than a quarter of the animals body weight. A patch of hide attached to the genital area as evidence of sex, as required in many western states, is all that follows the meat into my pack. The remaining hide, bones and offal stay in the field.
Though a seemingly complex task, completely boning an animal is no more difficult than field-dressing it and can be accomplished without gutting the critter at all. With the animal lying on its side, make a dorsal incision in the hide from the base of the tail to the back of the head or vice versa. Then skin the top of the animal away from the backbone, exposing the quarters and the rib cage. With the meat exposed, peel the loin from the ribs and backbone. Youll need game bags in which to transport the meat. Lay the loin on a clean bag away from the carcass.
52
Next, separate the front quarter from the animal by exerting upward pressure and slicing between the connective tissue in the armpit area. After freeing it, remove the meat from the front quarter by working your knife along and around the scapula, or shoulder blade, keeping the knife edge close to the bone. Place these cuts, which make excellent stew meat or hamburger, on the game bag with the loin. The hindquarters are the trickiest part of the boning process; but after a couple of trials, youll find that they can be boned with ease, especially if you have the help of a partner. First, exert upward pressure on the hind leg, stretching the muscle in the pelvic area. Begin cutting the meat that directly attaches to the pelvic bone until it releases. At this point, the hip joint will become the primary impediment to freeing the quarter from the carcass. Continuing to exert upward pressure on the hind leg, slice through the ball and socket joint, an easy task with a sharp knife. Youll know youve found the proper place to cut when the ball releases easily from the socket. Joint cut, detach the quarter by cutting the muscle free that still connects the quarter to the carcass. Free from the critter, place the quarter on a game bag or other clean surface with the ball joint pointing upward. Work your knife carefully around the joint and along the bones on either side. With a little practice, you should be able to remove the meat from the hindquarter as a single piece. To complete the first half of the boning process, gingerly cut into the body cavity just behind the point at which the rib cage meets the spine. With care, you can then strip out the tenderloins. Finally remove the exsuccessfulhunter.com
If boned completely out, two fit hunters can pack out the venison, head and cape from a mature whitetail in a single trip.
Come Out HEAVY

posed meat from the neck and garner any other grinding or stew-sized pieces from the carcass. Place all the meat youve taken from this half of the critter into game bags. For deer, a single bag will suffice for half of the animal. For elk, youll want two bags for each half, one for the rear quarter and another for the front quarter, loin and smaller pieces. Separating meat in this way yields bags that are fairly close in weight. To complete the boning process, flip the carcass over and repeat the procedure on the other side. Butchered and bagged, its time to place the meat in your pack and carry it to a waiting vehicle or camp. Although there are specialty packs on the market for moving meat, any good backpack will do. Among my everyday backpacks that are used for summer excursions are a large Coleman Exponent pack with an external frame and a midsized Mountainsmith internal-frame pack. Ive used both of these extensively for packing meat, using large plastic garbage bags over the meat to shield the packs fabric from blood. Pack frames with or without remov-
Begin the boning process with a dorsal cut from the cape to the tail of the animal.
able bags are available from some outdoor retailers such as Cabelas. These typically incorporate a shelf of sorts near the bottom of the frame upon which meat can be lashed when the pack-bag is removed. Packs of this type work well if carrying quarters with the bone in or for transporting the heads and capes of larger animals such as caribou and elk but are inferior to standard backpacks when transporting boned meat. Its much easier to stash meat into the compartments of a good backpack than to lash it onto a pack frame.
When choosing a backpack, remember that the weight-to-volume ratio of meat is considerable. An average-sized backpack fully loaded with meat will be more than the typical person can carry. In most cases, you can load the meat in the bottom of the pack and still have enough room on top for extra clothing and emergency gear. At times, Im unprepared to pack boned meat immediately to camp. If you need to leave meat in the field overnight, several precautions can be taken to avoid spoilage and damage from scavengers. First of
Whether packing the meat on your back or a horse, completely boning an elk reduces the weight by 75 percent or more.
all, cache the meat well away from the animals carcass. If a bear or other critters show up to share your bounty, theyll typically target the carcass and gut pile before your meat. When its cold, I often leave boned meat covered by the two pieces of hide skinned from the carcass during the boning process with a couple of rocks weighting the top. This helps keep small cuts from drying out and provides an excellent measure of defense against marauding magpies, jays and other scavenging birds. In cold conditions, it also helps prevent the meat from freezing solid, though in especially frigid areas the hide will freeze around the meat. If you expect a hard freeze, hang or otherwise leave the meat in the basic shape you want it for packing, as theres no altering the form of a large chunk of frozen venison. Though opinion is mixed regarding its effectiveness, I also urinate in several places in the vicinity of the stored meat. It seems logical that this is similar to the scent-marking that animals use as a territorial designation. I have never had a fourfooted scavenger bother a carcass or cached meat that Ive marked in this way. But I dont typically hunt in overrun grizzly habitat, so Im not sure if such a process would actually deter a hungry bear. However, its warm weather, not bears, that represents the greatest challenge to meat storage in the backcountry. In a society that has the luxury of being oversanitized and views meat slightly discolored in the supermarket as inedible, its easy to become panic-stricken about spoilage in the absence of any real concern. That said, its imperative to cool meat quickly and store it in the chilliest location possible. To facilitate the cooling process, its best to at least quarter the animal immediately after the kill. Even if youre planning to transport the quarters on packhorses, remove them from the carcass. Encase the quarters and the loins in stretchy game bags to discourage insects, then hang them from a sturdy limb in the shade or prop
them upright in a shady spot to minimize contact with the ground. In mild weather, the ground serves as an insulator that holds heat in the meat. Remember to store your meat well away from the gut pile and rib cage, as these are usually the first pickings that attract predators. In mountain lion or bear country, locate your stash of meat in a spot that is easily visible from a distance so you can discern if such a large predator has claimed your venison
before you return to pack it out. If so, dont attempt to chase the critter away. Contact a game warden or other game management official for instructions. If youre camping and need to preserve meat for a few days before taking it home for butchering, the most important principle is to keep it cool and out of the sun. In prairie environments where there are no trees for shade, take along extra coolers for storing meat. Once the
55
Come Out HEAVY
Meat Care Kit

reparing a critter for packing is much easier if you have the right equipment from the beginning. Beyond basic first-aid and survival gear, heres what goes into my pack. Two small, sharp knives with 2- to 4-inch, nonserrated blades. One is used for removing meat, the other reserved for skinning hide from the skull of a trophy animal, a task that can dull a knife quickly. Compact whetstone or other knife sharpener. Boning is much easier with sharp knives. A small saw with a blade suitable for sawing bone is perfect for removing the antlers and skull plate from the head of a trophy animal. Game bags for meat storage. Heavier, reusable models offer superior strength and better protection from insects than the cheapies. Washed in cool water at home, theyll show some blood stains but last several seasons. Heavy-duty trash bags can be used to line your backpack to avoid bloodstaining. Rope or stout parachute cord is useful for hanging meat, lashing it to a pack frame or attaching antlers to a pack. Orange flagging tape can be used to blaze a trail from your meat in unfamiliar territory. Tie it onto antlers when packing them from the field as a safety measure. Plastic zip-ties are great for attaching a tag to antlers, securing the tops of game bags and can even facilitate some backpack repairs.
Above, with bones removed from the carcass, a pack horse can transport an entire elk and the head and cape of a bull shot by Jacks smiling son. Left, a sizable frame pack allows the hunter to carry half of the meat from a deer and still have room for extra clothing inside. Tie the cape and head on the outside.
meat has thoroughly cooled for a night, keep it in the coolers on the shady side of your tent or in the shade of a ravine. If nighttime temperatures wont be dipping into the 30s, its a good idea to pack along some extra ice for meat storage. At a couple of dollars a bag or block, it wont break your wallet and will go a long way toward preserving your meat. Beyond backpacking, horse-pack-
ing and sledding are the other two methods that I most commonly use to retrieve meat from the backcountry. When sledding, you can use an inexpensive childs sled, modifying it slightly by drilling some holes into the lip around its top to accommodate quarter-inch rope for securing the meat. Also build a ladder-type frame from one-inch PVC pipe for pulling it. This keeps the sled from sliding into your heels when traveling downhill. For ease of transportation, completely bone your meat when using a sled.
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Horses or mules make packing chores much easier if you have access to such stock. If two animals are available, an elk-sized critter can be packed in quarters with the skin left attached. By completely boning the animal, however, its possible to move the meat from an entire elk in pack bags on a single horse. Although some hunters see moving meat without the aid of a vehicle as a compelling reason to stick closer to motorized access roads, its not an overwhelming task to retrieve an elk from the backcountry. In fact, with the right equipment and attitude, it can be a challenge that enhances ones physical fitness and sense of self-reliance. Ill never again drag an elk, but I dont mind moving meat.
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Please include information about the type of animal, location of the hunt and your hometown. All used submissions will receive a free issue of Successful Hunter containing the used photo. Photos cannot be returned.
57
Hunting Gear
Slick Trick Broadheads
ne of the very best broadheads I have ever used is one Ill bet most bow hunters have never heard of the Slick Trick. Its made by a relatively small company with a miniscule promotional budget. Slick Tricks are four-bladed broadheads, which give them a much larger overall cutting surface area than popular three-blade broadheads, yet they are as accurate as any broadhead I have ever shot. I have shot these heads into everything from the ribs of deer and pronghorn to hard-sided 3D targets to the side of a 55-gallon drum and a sheet of -inch plywood, and the blades have not yet come loose or broken. Chipped
a little bit, yes, after the barrel shot, but not snapped off as is the case with virtually every other broadhead I have similarly tested.
I weigh each and every broadhead I shoot on the same highly accurate electronic grain scale I use to weigh gunpowder when reloading. So far I have weighed three dozen 100-grain Slick Trick heads; all have weighed between 100.0 and 100.7 grains, with the average being 100.4 grains. It just doesnt get any better than this. slicktrick.net Bob Robb
Field Proven
twentysub3 Bino Carrier System

lution with a built-in shoulder strap for optics. He nailed it with this space-age fabric carrier that rides out of the way between the shoulder blades and keeps a binocular ready for action. Fergus added blaze orange to make it easy to find his optics in a cluttered pickup cab. After two weeks on safari on the banks of the Limpopo, the system became an essential part of my kit. It kept my binocular right where I wanted it, on my chest, close to hand. When not in use, the optics were protected from dust in a fleece case. A shoulder strap connects to the
Field Proven
binocular with black polymer clips and slides on one-inch, low-stretch elastic straps. The loden exterior can be reversed to blaze orange fleece for visibility. A zippered pouch can be employed to carry a small camera or lunch. When wearing a backpack, the lightweight fleece and shell compress between back and pack. 20sub3.com Gary Lewis
Darn Tough Vermont Socks

or the past year Ive been wearing the best socks I have ever worn. Made by Darn Tough Vermont, its entire line is built with an abrasion resistant, fine gauge, shrink treated merino wool and Coolmax yarn. There is a dizzying array of styles, colors and weights from light, open mesh to heavy, warm extra-cushion and varying heights from tennis shoe low to over-thecalf. What makes these socks stand out though are their fit, comfort and unmatched durability. The yarn
he twentysub3 Bino Carrier System unites the utility of a lightweight optics case with the practicality of a hunting harness. Oregon-based elk hunter Derek Fergus envisioned a storage so-
T
58
Field Proven
Monte Carlo-style cheekpieces, slim-line grips and soft, recoil absorbing buttpads. A detachable box magazine; smooth, quick-handling bolt; free-floating, 24-inch buttonrifled barrel; and factory-installed Weaver-style scope bases are included. Caliber options include a variety of popular offerings from .25-06 to .338 Winchester Magnum. Average rifle weight is 7 pounds. mossberg.com
Vero Vellini Cartridge Case

The Vero Vellini multipurpose shotshell and rifle cartridge case allows for quick one-handed operation by employing a unique magnetic locking clasp on the case cover. This keeps the cartridges, shotshells or a combination of both clean and safe, yet easily accessible. Handmade, the
used is said to survive an abrasion test of over 30,000 test rubs seven times longer than any leading brand. They are so tough the company offers a lifetime guarantee! Being a fundamentalist skeptic, I put this hyperbole to the test and have come away a convert. My daughter does a lot of hiking. This summer she led an extensive, twoweek backpacking trip in the Alaska Range. She wore a single pair of Darn Tough boot socks the entire trip, never had a blister and, after a good washing, they still appear new. Darn Tough have become my first choice for extended hunts. darntough.com Phil Shoemaker
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Built wi the lines of a w with c bolt-action rifle, the classic b Ameri ica American-made 4x4 Clasatu sic fea features the new adjustable Lig L Lightning Bolt-Action (LBA A) (LBA) Trigger System. With the di distinctive skeletond lightning bolt trigized l ger bl blade, the LBA is user adju ust adjustable from 2 to 7 pou un pounds. The trigger assem is machined from mb sembly air rcr aircraft-grade aluminum the hard-coat anodized en then o military specificato m ti ion tions, preventing corrosio and minimizing sion w wear over time. With i its traditional styling, th the new 4x4 models will be offered in walnut, laminate and synthetic polymer stocks featuring
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Carry-Lite EZ-Buck Decoy y

The EZ-Buck Deer Decoy is a combination of conveat tion ke k nient features and a tremendously lifelike paint job; it weep w also features fold-up legs that quickly sweep up against si ide the body and a head that slips down inside the body he h cavity for incredibly easy transport in the included hunter orange bag. Its also made of a lighter, quieter material than previous decoys. The ears are firmly attached; the tail is a new fiber material that looks and feels like a real deer tail, and the lightweight material moves easily in the wind. All this adds up to the easiest set-up and take-down, and most realistic, of any threedimensional deer decoy on the market. It can be set as a doe or a buck, standing or bedded. carrylitedecoys.com cartridge case is available in either 1000 denier DuPont Cordura or in soft, naturally tanned, suede leather. The standard case includes a 12-cartridge insert sized for most big game cartridges. Other inserts are available in various configurations. Each insert locks into place to prevent it from being unintentionally pulled out when reaching for a cartridge. pioneer-research.com
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Swarovski Z3 Riflescope
The Z3 variable power riflescope features a trim design that allows it to be mounted closer to the receiver. The new scope features a one-inch main tube and a much narrower ocular lens for a trim profile. It is available in three models: 3-9x36,
3-10x42, 4-12x50. A wide variety of reticle configurations is available as well as the Swarovski Optik Ballistic Turret. Length is 12.13 to 13.78 inches, depending on model. Weight is 12.0 to 14.5 ounces, model dependent. swarovskioptik.com
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60
One More Shot

(from page 62)
Guide Bryan Martin of Asian Mountain Outfitters embodies this principle more than most, but then hes a special breed of masochist. Aint happy unless hes suffering physical torment that would kill mere mortals. Rain or sun, day or night, food or nothing, Martin presses on. Ive ridden with him until 2 A.M. more than once. Camped with him at elevations where even shrubbery wouldnt. Sometimes you gotta suffer, he said. Guys who want a bunk and heated cabin every night may enjoy their comforts, but they arent going to get the big ones. Trophy bulls and rams dont live in cabins. Theyre out there in the wind and snow, and if you want them you have to go the extra mile. Martins right, painful though it is to admit. That doesnt mean we must all knuckle under to his advice. This is still, more or less, a free country, and we get to pick our pleasures. If paying $10,000 for a guided hunt and sleeping through half of it at base camp turns your crank, fine. But if you want to realize your goals, you might heed the advice of your guide and expend enough energy to beat your way out of a paper bag. Dawson Deveny, one of the kindest, most helpful, hard-working, all-round effective guides I know, sometimes pushes his clients. Its their hunt and they should get to conduct it the way they want, but sometimes its a guides job to push them a bit, especially when it could make the difference between getting game or skunked. I hate to do it, but sometimes Ill kid them or nag them or sorta even chew them out a bit to get them up and moving. They hate it at the time, but their attitude takes a quick adjustment when they see their game on the ground. We hunters would do ourselves a favor by adopting this philosophy before our guides chasten us into it. Some folks are self-motivated, selfstarters. Others have a tougher time. Which will you be?
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61
One More Shot
by Ron Spomer
PUSHING THE ENVELOPE

ast day. Raining. Heavy fog. Linda Powell and I and a couple of horses had been dragging our carcasses up and down Montanas lovely mountains for five days and had seen a total of no elk. Our guide had gotten nervous, nearly gotten lost, and finally went home for a family emergency. Wed had our fill of snow, rain, wind and flatulent horses. The horses could have said the same of us. Whatdya think? Linda asked as we stood under the fly at the cook tent door. I dont know. Seems like every elks been run out of this country. But he seems to think therell be one right back of camp. He was a retired guide helping out the camp at the last minute, and a nice gentleman. His advice had put two other hunters onto elk over
2009 Chris Armstrong
the previous five days. Could he do it again? Wed soon find out. With a longing glance back at the coffee pot on the cook stove, we stepped into the rain, braving mud and gravity and cold one more time. By late afternoon we were hungry, tired, damp if not soggy, and staring at a 6-point bull. At least I think its a six, Linda said, squinting through her dewcovered Swarovskis. Farther up there than it looks, isnt it? Hey, I think he just bugled! Id seen the head tilt back and the nose jut forward, too, and a second later heard a thin, high whistle sift down through the mist. Hes got just four cows, but he looks big enough to be the herd bull. Hour til dark . . . I said. We gonna call? Linda asked hopefully. I dont think so. What with all the calling thats been going on all season, wed probably just warn him, let him know were after him. Might even
inspire him to push his cows back into the timber. I think we should just stalk him. You should stalk him. No, we both go, I said. The mind is willing, but the knees are weak. Ill never make it. Just slow you down. You go, Linda said back. Climbing one more mountain alone in the rain wasnt the most appealing idea, and it became less attractive the higher I scrambled, grabbing Douglas fir saplings to keep from falling backward. Mud squirted from under my feet. Knees slammed into gravel. Vibram soles slipped off rain-slicked boulders. Heart racing, I gasped and wiped rain from my brow. Couldnt see the elk. Climbed some more. Gasped some more. Still no elk. More scrambling, slipping, sucking air. The light was going, the rain wasnt. Then a cow fed from behind a fir. A calf. Another cow. And the bull. Six ivory tipped tines glistening and bobbing. Finally, after six days as ballast, my Remington 700 was about to earn its keep. That 6x6 bull took five solid hits from the .300 Short Action Ultra Mag as fast as I could bolt and fire. At this stage of the game, I was taking no chances. He came spinning down the mountain, stones and boulders and broken tines flying. That hunt wasnt the first in which Id forced myself to do unpleasant work for pleasant rewards. Sometimes you just have to push the envelope.
(Continued on page 61)
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Why You Should Climb High For Elk!

GUNS & GEAR

4 Southwest Hunt Alternatives

Backcountry Meat Care

$4.99 U.S./ Canada

20 Elevate Your Success

Mule Deer Gear

26 Mule Deer Gear

52 Come Out Heavy

Top Fall Opportunities

Issue 42 November-December 2009

Bob Robb Phil Shoemaker Ron Spomer E. Donnall Thomas Jr.

12 8 6 The Great Land

16 57 Trophy Board 58 Hunting Gear 62 One More Shot

WOLFE PUBLISHING COMPANY

The Great Land

AIR TAXI SAVVY

SUCCESSFUL HUNTER Nov-Dec 2009

SUCCESSFUL HUNTER Nov-Dec 2009

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SUCCESSFUL HUNTER Nov-Dec 2009

Bullet Casting 101

Catalog #544.10 . . . . . . . . . . $20.00

Wolfe Publishing Company

Velocity and Powders

Namibia - Zimbabwe South Africa-Tanzania

Hunt Specials for 2010!

SUCCESSFUL HUNTER Nov-Dec 2009

Barry Taylor, ARCTIC SAFARIS

Food And Cover Are Key To Any Bird Hunters Success.

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The Six Common Grouse of North America

Sharptail Grouse Blue Grouse

Greater Prairie Chicken SUCCESSFUL HUNTER Nov-Dec 2009 successfulhunter.com

Thompson Center Arms Company

Heavy Jacketed .224 Hunting Rounds

RB Outfitters and Guide Service

Nov-Dec 2009 SUCCESSFUL HUNTER

2009 Denver Bryan

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Mule Deer Gear

Mule Deer Gear

This desert buck was taken with a Ruger Model 77 .30-06.

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Mule Deer Gear

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SUCCESSFUL HUNTER Nov-Dec 2009

2009 George Barnett

2009 Denver Bryan

Flying Lawn Chairs

2009 John Eriksson

2009 George Barnett

Top Fall Opportunities

Nov-Dec 2009 SUCCESSFUL HUNTER

SUCCESSFUL HUNTER Nov-Dec 2009

2009 courtesy of Tyson Keller, Avery Outdoors

Top Spring Opportunities

2009 courtesy of Tyson Keller, Avery Outdoors

Nov-Dec 2009 SUCCESSFUL HUNTER

Is Spring Hunting Working?

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2009 courtesy of Tyson Keller, Avery Outdoors