Indholdsfortegnelse for June/July 2025 i Petersen's Hunting

THIS SPRING my colleagues and I will be hoping to complete a combined Grand Slam of the wild turkey, hunting toms from coast to coast. Our staff is uniquely equipped to take on this task, as we are literally spread out from sea to sea. Adam Heggenstaller, editorial director of sibling publication Game & Fish lives and hunts in Pennsylvania, home to the Eastern subspecies of wild turkey. Publisher Kevin Steele is just miles from the western horizon, where Rios roam the beautiful central coast of California. I’m stuck here in the middle, and have ample access to my favorite turkey – the Merriam’s. Only Kali Parmley, publisher and editor of Gun Dog and Backcountry Hunter, will have to travel far, heading to the home of the Osceola in Florida.…

The new Tactix 8 smartwatch from Garmin provides a host of useful features including in-depth navigation, built-in speaker and microphone, dedicated rucking profiles, built-in LED flashlight, 24/7 health monitoring and more. Garmin also integrated Applied Ballistics into the new watch, allowing the travelling hunter to access their ballistic profiles wherever and whenever they are needed. Comes in both 47mm and 51mm sizes, as well as the option to choose between battery or solar power. $1,300-$1,600; garmin.com Kuiu’s new Waypoint Roller 3000 is the ideal carry-on for the travelling hunter. It features dual main compartments and a front lid panel pocket for optimized organization while its molded polycarbonate bottom, paired with its 420-denier nylon lid, provide rugged durability wherever your hunting adventures take you. The interior is also fully padded providing…

Over the last 15 years, the overlanding industry has grown to near bursting. Just look at the growth in popularity of the roof top tent: the beginnings of mass-appeal are likely rooted in South African and Australian products, with basic yet beefy fold-out designs proving popular, but rather expensive once imported to the US. That monetary hurdle eventually spawned several successful U.S.-based imitators utilizing Chinese production to craft affordable alternatives. As time went on, a near-infinite number of brands joined the space. Going into 2025, RTTs could be had in all shapes and sizes and at prices from $600 to $6,000. Funny enough, roof top tents are likely an American idea (though a few Italian firms would beg to differ). The 1950s was prime time for inventions and quirky product…

THE HOT WIND blew down valley, pushing fine desert dust along with it. The boots belonging to my fellow shooters that had pounded the ridge top all day didn’t help settle the dust, nor did the muzzle blast of my Browning X-Bolt 2 when I yanked the trigger rearward. I wasn’t surprised when the range officer behind me yelled a word I had heard all too often that day. “Re-engage!” I lay prone, contorted around a sandstone outcropping, with my head lower than my feet. I wiped the dust from my eyes as best I could, peered through the Leupold and hovered the crosshairs on a tiny steel target cut in the shape of the prairie dog exactly 427 yards across the valley. Holding tight to the right edge of…

Though I’ve been fortunate enough to hunt in some far corners of the globe, I’ve lived my entire life in the southeastern United States. Growing up in Florida chasing feral hogs, predators and relatively small deer, I learned the virtues of a light and handy .22 centerfire as a utilitarian rifle. In those days we were hampered by slow rifling twists and bullets intended for varmint hunting but, as a handloader, I was able to make do. Today we have cartridges and rifles specifically designed for this type of duty. The new Howa Mini Action Yote chambered in .22 ARC is just such a rig. Howa is one of the few rifle manufacturers in the industry building a bolt action that is appropriately scaled for cartridges at the smaller end…

Following the end of World War II, homeowners began to rely more and more on electronics. Television, washing machines, toasters and most every other aspect of modern life at that time moved along to the hum of an electric device. The world was learning to run on electronics, and that set the stage for Aimpoint to develop the world’s first popular electro-optic. The concept of the Aimpoint electro-optic didn’t begin in a lab. Instead, it started in a bathroom. Swedish inventor and technician Arne Ekstrand was freshly out of bed and, as he stood shaving and staring into the mirror, he noticed the light reflected on the wall behind him remained stationary even when he moved his head. A seemingly minor observation in the wee hours of the morning sparked…

AS I TURNED the rental car south on Ireland’s M50 motorway, jumbled thoughts raced through my mind. I was still in a bit of awe to finally be in the land of my maternal great-grandparents. Near Shankill, I merged onto the N11. At Ashford, I left the highway to continue my journey on the stonewall-lined lanes of rural Ireland. In my mind, the weather that Sunday afternoon in early October was perfect as I headed up into the Wicklow Mountains. Fog gripped the tops and wafted down the wooded dells in misty fingers. There were few vehicles on the road, which was a blessing as it was taking some getting accustomed to the ancient, one-lane cart paths that had been paved in generations past for automobile traffic. I arrived at…

There’s a movement trending in certain online circles suggesting that small-caliber cartridges (.223 Rem, 6mm Creedmoor, etc.) are not only adequate for use on big game such as elk and moose, but are actually better than traditional, potent cartridges such as the .30-06 and .300 Win. Mag. Additionally, certain small-diameter target bullets are believed to kill more effectively than traditional hunting bullets. Promoters of this trend suggest that most hunters can’t accurately shoot a cartridge with much recoil, so they place shots better and kill more predictably with a light-kicking cartridge. They also claim target-type bullets such as Sierra’s 77-grain .224-diameter TMK (Tipped MatchKing) and Hornady’s 108-grain ELD Match bullet have properties that excuse them from the demands that proven traditional hunting bullets were engineered to meet. If they are…

It’s difficult to say whether I felt more naked or more liberated. Perhaps there’s only a fine line between the two. It was a cool evening in early October, I was 18 feet off the ground in a climbing stand, and a big doe was munching on red oak acorns about 20 yards from my tree. Bow season had been open for a month, the freezer was low, and it was time to fill a tag. Normally I’d have just settled my top pin on her heart and squeezed the trigger. But even at 20 yards, this deer wasn’t close enough for me to shoot because, instead of my compound bow, I had a wooden recurve across my lap. For many experienced “trad bow” hunters, 20 yards is close enough.…

THE BUFFALO’S TRAIL disappeared into Africa’s legendary long grass. I had just put a second solid into the old bull. The first round had hit him an hour before, in front of the shoulder as he quartered toward me, taking out a single lung, but unfortunately missing the heart. Cape buffalo can live a long time on one lung, days as professional hunter Len Taylor would tell me later. But at this moment Taylor only said “Now it gets dangerous.” Now? So all that had happened before—the long tracking job, following fresh spoor for hours before the first shot; the two dagga boys staring at me from 30 yards away; the initial blood trail and the low, slow crawl to get in range for the second shot—none of that had…

MY VANTAGE point on the slope was perfect. I looked down over a basin that screamed mule deer. So I wasn’t surprised when a big four-point muley emerged from the heavy vegetation and slowly nibbled his way across a wide opening, disappearing in the high brush. My rifle, unfortunately, was 100 yards away in my tent. I walked away cussing as the lid slammed shut on the porta potty. All members of the animal kingdom have mandatory bodily functions that facilitate their, and our, survival. In a perfect world, these functions would be orderly, predictable and convenient. But the world is not perfect. There will invariably be times when natural urges require us to take immediate action. Hunters are well aware of this necessity when no restrooms are available. Sometimes…