One November Saturday I woke up early to see an owl perched on the power pole next to house, hunting for mice or skunks or housecats I guess. "Good omen," I thought, and got dressed. Drove 30 minutes through thick fog. I hiked a little ways by headlamp and hunkered against the rootwad of a...
Well there's a good question. I guess I don't see hunting as a competition against nature as much as an opportunity to engage with it. I want to experience all of it, not just parts. I have enormous respect for an animal that is smaller than me, yet can pull down a bull elk with its teeth. I...
I think this is a good example of how the loudest voices on the ends of the political spectrum can distort the entire discussion. Wolves are here. Wolves need to be managed. I like having them around, like I like having lions and bears around. The place is a bit dull without them. But I do get...
Deer are primarily browsers, not grazers, and most of the time will take a shrub over grass when given the choice, IME. Elk are about the opposite. Where I live, the whitetails love to mow down young cottonwoods, almost as much as the beavers do. Here in NW MT they depend on fir needles and...
30-06. IMO 270 is on the light side for elk and larger game. It can be done, it has been done, but I like the penetration that comes with a heavier slug.
I mean, I have smelled a herd of elk a half a mile away when the wind and humidity has been just right. I have no doubt an elk can smell me at a far greater distance. I think it's hard for us to even imagine how an elk perceives the world via scent. I think people emit a particular chemical...
Great idea about the club. I'll check in on that. I'm sure there is something. I have not settled on a load yet, in terms of powder load. I am using 54 caliber lead balls. At least for now.
My dad has a break action single barrel 16 gauge that he still uses to hunt grouse and turkeys. I think it is 75 years old. (He is 91). Maybe its a Stevens or Sears or something. Still works. Very simple, serviceable gun. The stock, well, shows its age. I'm thinking of having it restocked if I...
I have it sighted in and feel pretty good with it out to 50 yards or so. I did not hunt with it during the general season. I thought about taking it on some tree stand sits for whitetails in November but it was raining so took my 30-06 instead. Our muzzleloader season isn't until late December...
I think the challenge is to steer the power that media outlets have toward more habitat conservation and restoration. It will never get the clicks of some snuff film featuring another bull soaking up bullets, but it is what matters. (BTW, habitat loss includes habitat security lost to too much...
Ok. I'm biased. I've been in the media biz for 35 years and have taken checks from MeatEater and others. I've unintentionally burned my own spots! But overall, I think the reason we are seeing more crowding and more difficulty drawing tags is because of habitat loss. There's just less space to...
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1240290928132368&set=a.442098107951658
Looks like the search was delayed by bad weather. Lots of lessons to be learned from this tragedy.
One November when I was a kid, in the late 70s/early 80s, my dad and I found a snowed-in pickup truck in that part of unit 6. i want to say Windy Creek? We reported it. Turned out it was left by an elk hunter who was caught in a storm while packing out quarters. They found his body in the...
I'm using a Ruger American in 30-06 this year. Overall, I'm impressed with its accuracy, for the money. At 100 yards i could cover three shots with my thumb, using factory loads. I'm not in love with the trigger, however. I haven't weighed it, but it feels a good bit heavier than I'm used to...