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Competing in the Extreme Tough Man Division of the Mammoth Sniper Challenge is a test of both shooter and gear. This 3-day event held each January requires competitors to carry all their gear 25+ miles between stages and campsites, camp out, and engage precision rifle targets out to 800+ yards. Many of the lessons learned are applicable to hunting and backcountry scenarios. Here are a few of those I discovered over the years.

Developing and eventually truing your ballistic data is going to start at the zero range. Getting a solid zero for the rifle is essential.  I prefer a 100 yard zero for my precision rifles because at that short of a range the environment is going to have a negligible effect on the bullet.

In a powerful op-ed in USA TODAY, law professor Glenn Harlan Reynolds argues that authorities who fail to stop massacres should face consequences, that “incompetence should be penalized.

In one particular area, the Italians really outdid themselves during World War II. Their Model 38 submachinegun was the finest pistol-caliber automatic weapon of the war.

Even in an age of very reliable and well-sized auto-loading pistols, I am still a big fan of carrying a snub-nosed revolver. I am drawn to their simplicity and reliability — two key attributes of a self-defense tool.

Land Navigation is a perishable and somewhat arcane skill, but it has proven its worth time and time again.  I know that in the digital age it is not cool to carry around a compass and paper map, but then again neither is getting lost. 

The Hornady Iron Press is an extremely smooth operator. Priming was so easy I was certain it wasn’t working, only to find primed brass on the other side.

Whether you’re doing formal training or just running some drills at the range, there are few necessities to bring with you. I’m not talking about the obvious ones such as eye and ear protection, a gun, holster and target ammo.

The so-called “news” media has disguised or totally hidden this revealing truth. Journalists have become virtually as much an enemy of the nation’s health as the murderers themselves. That’s a hard thing to say, as a journalist myself.