Indholdsfortegnelse for September 2023 i Game & Fish West

I still get chills when I remember my first encounter with a bugling bull elk at close range. Hunting northern New Mexico with a muzzleloader, I shadowed my guide, Troy, through the cedars as he occasionally blew a cow call. The day wasn’t an hour old when a bull responded just down a low ridge, and we hustled, quietly with the wind quartering across our foreheads, to close the distance. We had gone 300 yards or so and then stopped to listen. Hearing nothing, Troy hit the cow call again, and the bull screamed in our faces. The response was so loud that it seemed like the bull was standing on our toes. I had heard plenty of gobblers sound off within mere yards before, but this was something else.…

I was two days into a seven-day archery elk hunt in the Montana backcountry. On the first morning I had found rubs running along one particular ridge, more than I’d ever seen before or since. The mid-September conditions were hot. By 8 a.m. the thermals were rising, forcing me to keep the high ground above the elk. All the rubs were below me, some more than 100 yards down the hillside. They were easy to see with a binocular in the sparse, young pine forest. I’d hunted the entire length of the ridge, well over 2 miles of it, multiple times. With so many rubs, I moved slowly, calling when it felt right. I never heard a single bugle. After two days of this, I decided to drop down the…

Few things impact your performance and how you feel on a backcountry hunt as your nutrition. Most hunters I talk to and interact with in online forums—everyone from noobs to die-hards—seem to think there is one universally standard meal plan for the backcountry: Plain oatmeal packets for breakfast, granola bars and gas station snacks for lunch and a freeze-dried salt bomb in a bag for dinner. Does such a grub regimen get it done? Technically, yes. You’ll survive. But, it’s nowhere near optimal nutrition for fueling those days of high physical output and overnight recovery. So, what does your body really want and need? The short answer is adequate calories and proper macronutrients. Start by determining what your individual caloric needs are. Calories equal energy. Each person’s body consumes a…

Grabbing a decoy, I headed into thick timber with a buddy. I’d already filled my tag on this public-land hunt in Montana. The bulls were fired up, but my friend was reluctant to call. We hiked up a ridge thick with Ponderosa pines and set up. Below us at about 200 yards were two wallows. The trails connecting the wallows to the bedding areas ran straight up and down the mountain. Fresh sign was thick. My buddy was new to bowhunting and had never arrowed an elk. This was his third season, and the first time we’d hunted elk together. He got set up against two fat trees. In front of him was a small meadow, 30 yards long and 10 yards wide. If a bull approached, it would be…

Unless you’ve been under a rock for the past few years, odds are you’ve caught wind of the tree-saddle movement. If you believe even half of what you’ve likely heard about these odd contraptions, you’ve probably been led to believe they are the single-greatest invention since the digital trail camera. Admittedly, I’ve used saddles for a while and, in fact, employed one long before the current saddle hoopla took root. After several seasons using a saddle setup in a handful of states, I definitely have an opinion based on experience. And? They’re just OK. Surprised? Well, I am quite certain my less-than-enthusiastic opinion on them will raise a few eyebrows from the die-hard proponents of saddles. However, that’s just the way I feel about them. In some situations, saddles are…

I rolled into a camp after midnight one season. I pitched a small tent next to my truck and tried getting some sleep as it had been a long drive. About 3 a.m. bugling bulls awoke me. I couldn’t get back to sleep, anxiously awaiting sunrise. I hunted all day and didn’t see or hear an elk. The same thing happened the following night, and again I hunted the area and didn’t see an animal. On the third night I got up when I heard the elk. I followed them and could even see them in the glow of the full moon. I learned those elk were traveling 3 miles every night to feed, returning to their bedding area in the middle of the night. Over the years I’ve scouted…

Coastal fog dimmed the trail ahead as I slipped quietly through thick spruce timber, following a narrow trail heavily marked with the dainty, heart-shaped prints of Columbia blacktail deer. These lush, coastal mountains in Six Rivers National Forest, fronting the mighty Pacific Ocean, are where a rifleman can set up ambushes for deer by waiting alongside trails they use regularly twice each day. I’ve hunted blacktail deer for many decades, from high-tide lines all the way up to sky-high peaks that see deep winter snows. In this spot, a lone ambush works best. Six Rivers National Forest (fs.usda. gov/srnf) is an enormous chain of mountains in the northwestern part of California that begins at the Oregon border and runs south a full 140 miles to Mendocino County. It encompasses one…

Terry Moore and I were working a brushy pocket in western South Dakota. There were tracks going in, and the wind was into the cover. Something was bound to happen. Yep, sure did. I was on the downhill side when the buck exploded. A gorgeous four-by-four headed for the skyline but didn’t make it. I dropped him on the open hillside. An hour later, Terry shot a big-bodied, heavy-antlered three-by-three. We both used familiar rifles built by mutual friend Lex Webernick at Rifles, Inc. Terry’s was in .280 Rem.; mine in .300 Wby. Mag. Neither shot was far. You could say that Terry’s choice was better than mine. I wouldn’t argue, but regardless of chambering, there is never anything wrong with using a favorite rifle that gives you confidence. I…

I doubt we know who first uttered the words, “The .308 is great.” I first heard them from outdoor writer John Barsness. We were in a hunting lodge near Uvalde, Texas, and he was advising a young man on what cartridge to have his first custom rifle chambered in. Since then, I’ve unapologetically stolen those words when offering similar advice. But I’m told the great gun writer John Wootters once wrote something similar in an article about the .308 Winchester. Regardless, those four words are a declaration that is undeniably true. I believe the .308 Win. is the best general-purpose big-game rifle cartridge. You probably don’t agree, and this is partly because cartridge selection is a very personal thing; it’s how we all individualize our hunting tools. Often, relationships between…

Pity the recent hunter education graduates this month, brand new hunting licenses in their pockets and gleaming new shotguns on their shoulders. They are over-ready to use both in the dove seasons that open in 41 states on Sept. 1. Why should you pity these particular humans? Because the dove opener, the day that may send more American hunters into the field than any other day of the year, is so fraught with expectation and disappointment that few new hunters come out of it unaffected. For some, the fast action and communal spirit of wingshooting cements a lifelong passion for hunting. But for other beginners, it’s just too chaotic for their liking, and they associate all other methods of hunting with the cacophony and undirected energy of a dove field.…

When I informed my buddy that all three pronghorns browsing 600 yards away were shooters, he quickly took off his pack, nestled his gun on it and attempted to find them in his scope. Frazzled by some brush in the way, he stripped off his jacket, wadded it up and put it on top of the pack. Finally, he could see the bucks, but his rest was far from steady. I looked at him and shook my head. “What?” Shawn asked incredulously. “First of all, you’re not going to shoot a buck from this far away. Second, you’re certainly not shooting off that wobbly pack. That’s why I brought these,” I said, motioning to the tripod shooting sticks I was using to steady my binocular. It was Shawn’s first antelope…

The greatest game dog I’ve known was Nimrod of the Limpopo. His exploits recovering game and fighting with leopards and baboons made him a legend in South Africa’s Limpopo province. I was fortunate to share the field with Nimrod on three safaris. He was a big dog, a crossbreed with some bulldog, some pointer and probably a little Rhodesian ridgeback mixed in. He was relentless on a blood trail and could bring down wounded game as large as wildebeest. Though I didn’t need his services, I never knew of him to fail when supporting other hunters. Nimrod was a one-in-a-million dog, and I doubt another like him will ever follow a trail. Game dogs the likes of Nimrod are not used very often nowadays, especially here in the states. Even…

Christensen Arms was founded in 1995 by Dr. Roland Christensen, an aerospace scientist, and initially focused on utilizing carbon-fiber materials to create lightweight, high-strength components for the aerospace and medical industries. Driven by his passion for firearms and a desire to revolutionize the industry, Dr. Christensen turned his attention to applying carbon-fiber technology to rifle barrels. In 1997, Christensen Arms introduced its first carbon-fiber-wrapped barrel, setting a new standard for accuracy, weight reduction and heat dissipation. This break-through technology quickly gained recognition and established the company as a pioneer in the field. Eventually, Christensen Arms expanded its product line to include complete rifles based on its success with barrels. These rifles featured state-of-the-art stocks and precision components to offer shooters outstanding performance and accuracy. The combination of aerospace-grade materials and…