Aram von Benedikt

Exactly what you need for a western spot and stalk mule deer.

Smaller calibers and cartridges kick less. They tend to be accurate and are certainly easier to shoot well. Loaded with a premium bullet they penetrate deeply and create a devastating wound channel. They do everything a big, hard-kicking caliber can do, right?

There are as many differing opinions on what makes a great western hunting rifle, as there are western hunters.

Have a special someone in your life that loves to hunt? Father? Husband? Shirttail relative? Here’s a list of items that range from inexpensive to costly, little to big, subtle to showy. All are geared toward the serious hunter. All are awesome. Listed in no particular order.

Now, a dead turkey is a dead turkey, and no kind of shotshell can make a turkey even deader. What they can do, though, is kill them faster, and from a greater distance.

In part three let’s take a detailed look at the remaining essential gear, as well as great backcountry rifle setups. Remember; good quality gear lasts longer, works better, and offers the best chance of keeping you alive when the chips are down.

This is the second article in a three-part series on the gear needed to be a successful wilderness-territory bivy hunter. In it, I’ll detail good gear and techniques for obtaining and purifying water, and carrying and cooking food.

To bivy hunt effectively, you must have the right gear. It’s got to be good stuff, and most importantly of all, it must be super lightweight because more often than not you’ll be carrying it all on your back.

The Garmin Xero S1: think of it as your magic wand for learning exactly what’s happening every time you miss a clay bird. It’s like Doppler radar for shotguns.