Indholdsfortegnelse for November 2020 i Petersen's Hunting

BULLET BASICS In the late 1940s, a hunter named John Nosler had an argument with a bull moose that declined to die properly even when well-shot with traditional cup-and-core bullets. Back home, he went to work and designed the Partition, a bullet that became—and still is—the benchmark by which all other controlled-expansion, deep-penetrating premium bullets are judged. Featuring a flat base, exposed lead tip, and front and rear lead cores separated by a copper wall (the “partition”), this bullet cannot fragment entirely to pieces and fail to penetrate. It’s not aerodynamic, but it’s failproof. If you really need something to die politely, you can’t go wrong with a Partition. TESTING GROUND The bullet shown was recovered after being used as a finishing shot on an old oryx bull in Namibia.…

The BOG BLOOD MOON Trail Camera has an invisible infrared flash that cannot be detected by animals. Using a 0.2-second trigger speed and a 120-foot flash range, that big buck is going to have a hard time sneaking by this camera. The Blood Moon has the BOG Dominion removable menu that has a three-inch, color viewing screen. With five different camera modes—including 1080 FHD video—you can get to know the ins and outs of your deer herd. $229; boghunt.com Forloh is making quality hunting gear driven by technology. The FORLOH ALLCLIMA jacket is a do-it-all jacket sporting the company’s own Airadigm Pulse Plasma Technology to keep you comfortable in a variety of weather conditions. This softshell jacket is double DWR treated, has YKK Aquagard zippers, and carries a 22+/mm waterproof…

I read with great interest, Jim Zumbo’s column about problems making sage grouse fit to eat (“Rear View,” September 2020). Two years ago, I traveled from my home state of Michigan to hunt sage grouse in Wyoming. In two days of hunting I was successful in bagging my annual limit of four sage grouse and was advised by my guide that cooking them with red wine was a good idea. He did not tell me any details, so coming home I went to the grocery store and, bumping up the red wine idea, I bought some Witches Brew mulled red wine. I proceeded to inject the wine into the sage grouse, as well as marinating the bird in it for three hours or so before sautéing. I was very careful…

HISTORY Introduced in the late 1800s, when black powder was the propellant of choice and soft lead bullets the projectiles, the .38-55 successfully made the transition to smokeless powder. Notably, it was one of the two original cartridges that Win chester’s legendary Model 1894 was chambered in at its introduction. It occupies a sort of no-man’s-land middle-ground between the classic .30-30 and .45-70 lever-action cartridges, and it’s arguably more versatile than either. APPLICATION Traditional factory ammo pushes 255-grain bullets, and out of respect for vintage firearms, most ammo is loaded to mild velocities of around 1,350 fps. The cartridge—and most firearms—can easily take more; Buffalo Bore loads a tough, bonded 255-grain bullet to 2,950 fps. Careful handloaders can equal that, using Hornady or Barnes jacketed bullets designed for the purpose.…

Before splitting ways one evening in November long ago, my father told me he’d come to my stand just before dark so we could walk back to the truck together. I nodded “OK,” before walking to my old, homemade treestand deep in the woods, located near the base of the area’s tallest ridge. I didn’t see much that evening until about 10 minutes before last light. I heard a noise, and being fairly sure it was my father, I hardly had time to get buck fever when the biggest whitetail I’d ever seen strolled down the ridge towards me. I shot the 11-point buck 20 yards from my stand. I hadn’t yet climbed down when my father appeared. The shot had startled him, as he had no idea what I’d…

Hornady’s new Handgun Hunter ammunition features the company’s MonoFlex bullets with elastomer material inside the bullet’s open nose cavity. When the bullet strikes, the elastomer interior of the bullet rapidly expands, prompting the copper jacket to expand along precut skives. This results in maximum energy transfer; deep penetration; and quick, clean kills on game. I used Hornady Hunter ammunition to harvest three whitetails with a .44 Magnum revolver last year. The results were excellent, with none of the deer traveling more than 20 yards after being shot before piling up. I recovered one of the bullets, and it had retained nearly 100 percent of its original weight and expanded to roughly double its starting diameter. This is the type of performance that serious handgun hunters demand.…

The gig economy has deflated. Restaurants and small businesses are closing at unprecedented rates. The airlines are failing, which is even impacting our ability to forecast the weather. (OK, the airlines were already failing.) But amid financial ruin and political turmoil, a phoenix arises from the ashes: the outdoors. It didn’t take long for people to become stir crazy, and as a result, interest in the outdoors, and therefore the outdoor industry is booming, while others flounder. Hunters, this is our chance to shine. The social distancing era may be just what hunting needed to bring the community together. However, the same restrictions that are tightening the limit on public gatherings and social interactions are going to have an impact on how we recruit, educate, and mentor this new generation…

Hunting and fishing will now be allowed on 147 national wildlife refuges and federal fish hatcheries managed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service that had been previously closed to public recreation. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt announced the expansion of approved uses in August at an event on the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge in Michigan. The administrative rule allows some measure of new access on a total of 2.3 million acres of federal land whose purchase was often funded by hunters and anglers, and is often managed for hunters and fishers, but which had previously been closed to those very activities. The allowance, which affects 850 opportunities across 147 national wildlife refuges and fish hatcheries, is the single largest expansion of hunting and fishing opportunities by the U.S.…

MANY YEARS ago, when I was the editor of these pages, my old friend and mentor, the late (and great) gunwriter, Bob Milek wrote in his monthly column: “You can’t argue with a dead deer!” In hunter-speak, we know what Milek meant: Once you’re admiring your deer, it no longer matters exactly what you used. By definition, the combination of your rifle, sight, cartridge, and bullet performed their mission. Around the campfire, we can thump our chests and assert that our choices are best. We may achieve consensus that some combinations are better than others, but there are so many effective deer cartridges that it’s tough to make a bad choice. However, even the best deer rifle and cartridge can look bad if the bullet is poorly steered. CHOICES, CHOICES…

One of the largest challenges hunting faces is participation based on the premise that it’s too difficult or too expensive. “Let’s suppose there’s a 14-year-old kid who doesn’t hunt,” Zach Ferenbaugh said. “Neither his father nor grandfather hunt, so he has no one to teach him. He wants to hunt, but from TV he sees that people hunt from treestands. He thinks he has to go through hunter education and buy a hunting license, a bow, camo, treestands, a ground blind, etc. “That mindset creates so many barriers to entry,” said Ferenbaugh. “All you need to do is buy a hunting license, a bow, and accessories, and you can go deer hunting. You don’t need all the fancy gear you see on the TV shows to kill a deer. And…